Gothic Lolitas in Gothic Beauty magazine vol.9~

“Gothic Beauty magazine- Issue 9”

Hello again. I bought a pdf of this western gothic magazine because the EGL livejournal wrote (10+ years ago) that this issue existed and contained an article on gothic lolita fashion. I didn’t particularly care for the article- the livejournal lolitas were in agreement that it kind of sucked- but I read that it contained photos of oldschool lolitas and mentioned brands such as Alice Auaa and Kazuko Ogawa, so I knew I had to see it.

 This blog post has nothing to do with the article itself. Western articles on lolita during this era tend to rely on sensationalised aspects of the fashion that have nothing to do with what it truly means to be a lolita. After reading what must be hundreds of articles and dissertations on this fashion, I’m really just bored of the same stuff repeating over and over again that never treats lolita with the respect that it deserves, or uses its conclusions to make any valuable insights into alternative Japanese culture. “Living doll” “French Maid” “Is it sexual?” “Bizarre Japanese style” *insert-popular-goth-or-metal-band* “Why don’t men like gothic lolitas?” 

Yawn…

So I will take this moment to simply appreciate the lolitas in these photographs for who they are, rather than who they aren’t. ♡

If you noticed the Gackt cosplayer that is because these photos were taken just before a Gackt live in Osaka at Osaka Jo Hall in 2001. The good era of Gackt’s solo career ft. Mizerable (single- 1999), Mars (2000), and in time for Rebirth (2001), as the live was in June.

This article was taken from pages 16, 17, 18 and 20 of this issue. I will add a link below to the pdf of the entire volume so you can view the rest of the contents and download these pages in higher quality than what is shown here ~

View this issue in onedrive