Do you think overweight girls or thinner girls...

[reihiino]

i can honestly say that i most likely cannot pull off the "full" lolita look. especially my favorite type-the WaLoli. Kimonos look better on girls with smaller chests imo...i tried on a kimono once and it looked...lewd. plus i dont like the idea of having my breasts flattened down. not comfy at all.
but again like most people it depends on how the style of clothing is worn....it if doesnt feel comfortable you will not be comfortable.

[SaintKat]

Honestly no. It's a matter of dressing to suit your personality and flatter your figure.

[Cakes]

I don't think it's a matter of 'plus-sized Lolitas shouldn't exist!' or 'thin Lolitas look awful!' at all. No fashion should ever be limited to one's weight. One can look beautiful at any size. Saying anything else is just disgusting.

As for bigger girls not looking good in fashion: there's a girl in my year at college. She's a big girl, no doubt about it. She's not stunningly beautiful. She doesn't have the latest and greatest of every amazing designer ever, nor a tailor to perfect everything for her. She's just a normal girl, in normal clothes, and yet every time I see her my first thought is always, "Wow!"
She knows how to dress for her shape and colouring. She wears things that fit properly. She wears things that much smaller, prettier girls would never dare to, and she looks fabulous in them. She carries them with such confidence. Try telling her that her size stops her from being one of the most amazing-looking girls I know!

What does matter is that the girl dresses for her size and body shape. For instance, a high-waisted skirt with a big frilly-ruffed-up-to-the-neck blouse is probably never going to look good on a girl with a very big chest. An empire line dress is going to make an apple look pregnant. A really huge cupcakey skirt is going to swamp a very thin girl unless she wears big enough shoes and hair. An hourglass who doesn't define her waist ends up looking plump. So on and so forth.

The other thing that matters so very much is grooming. A Lolita can make the most incredible, flattering coordination ever invented but if her hair isn't done, her makeup is all over the place or her eyebrows aren't plucked neatly (I always think neat eyebrows make the most amazing difference) then she's just not going to look good.

A thin girl and a big girl will look equally beautiful if they are well done up and wearing colours that suit them and things that fit and flatter. Nobody can use weight as an excuse not to look their very best.

[TalnSG]

First, kudos to all of you who acknowledged the fact that fashion is first and foremost an issue of approriate tailoring to one’s own body, not someone’s perception of who should wear it and who should not. Even better were the concrete examples.
But I find questioning of appropriate body types for counter-culture fashion fads rather ironic. At the core of such trends is an insistence on doing something counter to acceptable mainstream norms. The original goal of Lolita was to be outrageous, before the emphasis shifted to cute. What is more outrageous than a fashion style on a body that is clearly not suited to the foundation of the image?

[Cakes]

Originally Posted by TalnSG

First, kudos to all of you who acknowledged the fact that fashion is first and foremost an issue of approriate tailoring to one’s own body, not someone’s perception of who should wear it and who should not. Even better were the concrete examples.
But I find questioning of appropriate body types for counter-culture fashion fads rather ironic. At the core of such trends is an insistence on doing something counter to acceptable mainstream norms. The original goal of Lolita was to be outrageous, before the emphasis shifted to cute. What is more outrageous than a fashion style on a body that is clearly not suited to the foundation of the image?

I think that's a very thoughtful and interesting point of view. I can see where you're coming from, definitely.

I wasn't around at the start, so there's no way I can talk with any certainty about it. But the very first foundings of the look, even before the visual kei wave that influenced it for a while, indeed seemed both about looking strange, and yet also looking beautiful. The emphasis appears to always have been on an old-world image in a place out of its time, and history is generally so romanticised. It's not a true image, only an ideal - we focus a lot on ideals.
Was it Miss Caro-chan who once said that to do the exact opposite of a rule was not to escape its influence; only to be entirely as influenced by it in a different manner? Lolita, while certainly not a mainstream-appearing fashion, has never given at least myself a vibe of actively rebelling against the mainstream. It seems almost more of a rebellion against rebellion itself; escapism.

I deeply respect you for that opinion, but still - I think that in such a sumptuous, gorgeous, hedonistic fashion that to look beautiful is more important than making an effort of doing it to shock. We shock by default. We don't need to try any harder. Sweet Lolita's frilly dresses in little-girl pastels with big historical skirts with cakes on, enormous bows on our heads, huge jewellery, the intrigue of gothic Lolita's juxtaposition of darkness and childhood, classic Lolita's fashions inspired by the clothing of hundreds of years ago; the overall feel of a certain mock innocence to the fashion - it's not going to be blending into the jeans and T-shirts!

Everyone is beautiful; but everyone should know how to show off their beauty, too. We do it for ourselves and it makes us feel good. If we look good in our own eyes, then that is what matters, not the opinions of others. I think that more of us dress this way because we love the aesthetic, and not just because we want to be different. It's a part of the fashion, to be true, but there is an overwhelming magic in the fashion's beauty. To be beautiful in our own eyes is to share in that magic.

Gosh, I hope that made sense.

[TalnSG]

Originally Posted by Cakes

I think that's a very thoughtful and interesting point of view. I can see where you're coming from, definitely.

I wasn't around at the start, so there's no way I can talk with any certainty about it. But the very first foundings of the look, even before the visual kei wave that influenced it for a while, indeed seemed both about looking strange, and yet also looking beautiful. The emphasis appears to always have been on an old-world image in a place out of its time, and history is generally so romanticised. It's not a true image, only an ideal - we focus a lot on ideals.
.........Gosh, I hope that made sense.

It did. My first clues that the look was rebellion were (1) its name - from a scandalous work of fiction & film about a paedophile - "Lolita" and (2) the strong resemblance of the main look to that of the classic "french maid" from another genre of fantasies.

I definitely appreciate the attractiveness of the look when well suited to the person, but then the attractiveness become almost the sole element of the style. That's not bad, just proof that it has evolved.

[Yuna7780]

It totally depends on who the person is. A lot of people were mentioning the build and type of body a person has and it really does make a big difference.

You must also know your fashion strengths and weaknesses where you can accommodate a certain style to look great on you.

I think a lot of people look good in lolita whether they're a stick or have a little pudge.

[MissMisa]

We all (well, most of us) know that some types of clothes suit us, while others don't.

Because of the vast range of Lolita styles, there is most likely something to suit everyone. And Lolita is not a restrictive fashion, it is very suitable for plus size or smaller girls because of the huge range of tailor made clothing. In the lolita world, comission of clothing is very common.

To be perfectly honest, I don't care how a person looks or dressed, I don't even care if they get it wrong in Lolita. I don't care if a big breasted lady wears and empire waist by mistake. As long as they enjoy it, and they feel pretty, then meh.

(Cosplay for me however is different, as I see it as a kind of art that has to be right/accurate, where as Lolita is a fashion. But that's subject to opinion. Lolita of course is an art too, and cosplay can be a fashion, but the two remain leaning towards one thing or another.)

[rozurainbow]

i'm quite fat myself and i would never, ever, wear lolita clothing because i know i will look ridiculous.

[Cakes]

Originally Posted by rozurainbow

i'm quite fat myself and i would never, ever, wear lolita clothing because i know i will look ridiculous.

Oh, sweetheart!

That's absolutely not true. Don't listen to the haters! Do some research; learn about your body shape, what colours suit you, so on. It's just the same as with any mainstream fashion!
Here's a few links:
Tips for the plus-size lolita
Being a confident Lolita and loving yourself
Weight, Lolita and You

To the average eye, Lolita looks pretty silly anyway - so love that silly and rock the hell out of it! <3 Give it a go, even if you don't think it'll work; you may well be pleasantly surprised.