Outre is in for ‘Gosu-rori’
Fashion Borrows from Past, Rebels against Present
The Daily Yomiuri, February 2008
She walks down the street on platform shoes, with tights covering her legs and a skirt flaring wide from her hips, seemingly inflated by a hidden device called a pannier. A frilly blouse and dramatic hair ornaments complete her look.
This is a portrait of "Gosu-rori" fashion, which is unique to Japan. For about a decade, women dressed in this style have turned heads around the nation.
Gosu-rori is a colloquial abbreviation of the terms "Gothic" and "Lolita."
Gothic Lolitas combine the two themes in a fashion that has acquired a significant fan base. In and around fashionable Harajuku, Tokyo, there are some boutiques that specialize in Gosu-rori clothing and accessories.
These days, it is also receiving attention overseas as yet another intriguing Japanese subculture..
It is said that a popular Gosu-rori fashion brand has even opened a store in one of the world's major fashion centers, Paris.
Why do they want to dress like that?
When asked, one Gosu-rori girl said, "l feel at ease with this fashion," while another replied, “I like the attention."
One girl said, “I can feel I’m not alone whenever I see people in a similar attire."
In 2006, photographer Masayuki Yoshinaga took photos of about 500 women in such attire.
His photos are currently on display at the Yokohama Museum of Art as part of an exhibition titled Goth: Reality of the Departed World.
The photos of women in their outre outfits conveyed to me a magical fever of excitement.
Museum curator Eriko Kimura explained that Gothic culture became a subject of interest in Britain and elsewhere in the19th century, when society was being modernized on an unprecedented scale.
Reacting against the rationalism dominating society, a large number of novels were published during the period, including horror stories set in the Middle Ages.
We sometimes feel suffocated by the rational and rule-bound society of the contemporary world, which is dominated by "globalization," mostly emanating from the United States.
Gosu-rori lovers may be rebelling against the cooped-up feeling of this period by daringly draping themselves in drama and excess.