The Lolita Complex: - Scholarly Commons Home

While I tend to ignore the show’s subtitle when mentioning it in any
literature, it turned out to be connected, in a roundabout sense, to the
outcome of what would be exhibited. After funding for purchasing
authentic Japanese Lolita fashions was not forthcoming, we decided to
alleviate the problem by making the garments ourselves. Staff members of
the Fashion Department and AUT University created the following
ensembles: Angie Finn, Evangeline, Classic Gothic Lolita (Fig. 10); Yvonne
Stewart, Adorabelle, Sweet Lolita; Lize Niemczyk, Violette, Punk Gothic Lolita
Bride; Gabriella Trussardi, Sebastien Isadore, Gothic Aristocrat; and Kathryn
Hardy Bernal, Amorette, Sweet Country Lolita (Fig. 14). While I designed and
cut the pattern for my dress, petticoat and bloomers, and did all the hand
sewing and embroidery, Carmel Donnelly assisted me in the machine
stitching. The fabrics I used were authentic G&L textiles, which were being
used by a couple of Lolita designer brands for their 2007 collections, which
I purchased from a haberdashery shop in Shibuya during the research trip I
took with Chuang the same year.
These garments, which were displayed on dress forms in large
individual glass cabinets, were supported by a wall backdrop of large street
photographs and DVD footage, playing in a loop on a computer screen, that
Chuang shot of Gothloli and Gothic boys in Harajuku and Shinjuku during
the same trip. Further photographs were taken in Auckland of models
wearing our exhibition fashions, as well as studio portraits of local Gothloli
in their own creations, including Chuang and myself wearing Gothic Lolita
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