The Lolita Complex: - Scholarly Commons Home

members, particularly the marketing department, who ran with the idea that
the Lolita movement was a thriving subculture in Auckland. While it existed
here it was by no means vibrant. There was a group of us who were at the
time dressing up, meeting up and continue to do so. But this is still a small
collection of women who are part of the larger Goth community.
On the last Sunday night of every month the Goths of Auckland attend
the Church, a themed event at a local nightclub, for which I am one of the
administrators. This is now generally the only time that some of us dress in
the Lolita style. A few girls get together at my place, very occasionally, and
play with my dolls, which has encouraged some of my friends to become
doll collectors. We have also participated in festivals, such as the Taste of
Japan, the Japan Festival and Japan Day, performing in runway shows as
Gothloli. And I have lent my Lolita wardrobe to the local singer-songwriter
Plum Green, a fan of the style herself, to dress models who performed in a
recent shooting of one of her music videos. In regard to the availability of
fashion, most girls buy Japanese brands online or create garments
themselves, although there are a few stores in Auckland that sell authentic
pieces of Lolita clothing, and there is still just one successful local designer
who refers to herself as a Gothic Lolita, Kath Bridges of the label Kitty
Bridges, who I mentioned in the body of my thesis. But, there is no Lolita
“scene” in New Zealand, in Auckland or elsewhere. Lolita do not
congregate in large groups anywhere here as they do in Japan, or the US,
Paris or Baden-Württemberg.
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