Lolita and Rococo Part 1: Rococo in Overview

Something that's been nagging at me lately has been a few posts that I've bumped into around the internet about how Lolita is absolutely not related to the French Rococo era, usually blaming Momoko Ryugasaki of Kamikaze Girls for the mix-up and following up by saying that Lolita has almost no resemblance to Rococo style, particularly early examples of the fashion.

Pardonnez?

I'm going to state that I respectfully, but absolutely, disagree with that argument.

I also want to say that this isn't a call-out post or anything-- it's just something that I enjoy talking about, and I'm glad I was able to get this out on my birthday! This is a topic that I've researched and given presentations on copiously over the years. Let's start from the top.

What Does Rococo Even Mean?

A Rococo-era mirror; note the shell-like ridges and look closely
at the "leafy" bits-- they're very reminiscent of waves!

Rococo was a lot of things, and not just fashion: it was an entire period of art and aesthetics. While the style is said to have its earliest roots in Southern Germany, Rococo is known as a hallmark of French aristocracy. The word itself is thought to derive from the French phrase rocaille, which is a term describing a type of decoration that makes use of seashells and pebbles. You can see the remnants of this in most Rococo decoration, particularly in the seashell and seafoam-like swirls on furniture and architecture.

Of course, every style or art movement can be described as a revolution against what came before; Specifically, Rococo was a push back against the more popular Baroque period, which was dark, austere, and very much funded by the Church (which is why most of the non-portraiture artwork from the time depicts Biblical figures and scenes).

Blind Man's Bluff by Jean-Honoré Fragonard

Most people would use one word to describe Rococo: extravagance. This isn't surprising because the time was marked by the aristocracy's extreme excesses and debt, and followed by the first French Revolution and the beheading of Marie Antoinette (who was one of the poster-children of the period for her gambling and superfluous lifestyle). The same can also be said for the Baroque movement. However, one of the defining features which distinguishes Rococo from Baroque is its focus on color and natural, organic movement. As we can see in the painting style of the time, instead of crisp, clean lines and dramatic lighting, there is the trademark fluffy, painterly brushstrokes and soft pastels. Rococo is playful, romantic, and exists simply because it's aesthetically pleasing.

Style Icons of the Eighteenth Century

Absolutely everyone knows that "Rococo" is basically synonymous with the name "Marie Antoinette," the last Queen of France before the first Revolution. But there are two other people that you should really also know when it comes to this subject: the Marquise de Pompadour and Rose Bertin.

The Marquise

The Marquise was the mistress of King Louis XV and a great patron of fashion and the arts in France. Not only did she wear the clothes that the rest of society would scramble to emulated, she was deeply interested in literature (best friends with the legendary Enlightenment writer Voltaire), theater, architecture (La Petite Trianon is her handiwork), interior design, and even the production of porcelain. Of course, there was more to her life than this, but for my purposes I'm going to choose to skip over them.

Another person whom it would be foolish to overlook is Marie Antoinette's personal clothing designer, Madame Rose Bertin. Everything about her business was huge-- the coifs, the dresses, and, of course, the price tag. As synonymous of "excess" as Marie Antoinette was, Bertin understood that fashion was the chief vehicle of expression for ladies of the French court. This was why her wigs and poufs were stacked three feet high, and the panniers were massive. A court lady was no longer just decoration, but took up space and could make a statement that would be heard.

Some Bertin creations

Of course, I have to round this out by discussing the lady herself: Marie Antoinette. The less-than-nice nickname "Madame Defecit" should tell you everything you need to know about how much money she would pour into clothes, jewelry, parties, and the like. It's often theorized that the early years of her marriage, which weren't spectacular by any means, contributed heavily to her heavy spending. She needed an outlet, and found it in fashion.

Rose Bertin was one of her worst enablers, and together they popularized what is now thought of as Rococo fashion to the general populace. It's true that Marie Antoinette eventually moved away from her "obvious" extravagance in favor of something simpler and more rural, though it was a lifestyle choice that would still cost her plenty of money and what little remained of her reputation. None of that stopped her from being the woman who brought Rococo to its peak, and its end.

So What Does This Have to Do With Lolita Fashion?

A lot, really. It's easy to brush off the more overt Rococo styles to Hime Gyaru overlap, but it's important to note that the two styles developed around the same time, both achieving popularity among the Japanese street fashions in the early 2000s. Of course there was bound to be crossing of the streams, and that's not a bad thing!

Hime Gyaru takes far more inspiration from Rococo than Lolita does, and is probably responsible for most of the Rococo elements you'll find. But that's not to say that you can't see bits of my favorite French period in early examples of Lolita, too, especially the early 00s.

I'm going to more fully bring this back around to Lolita in the next installment, which might be sometime net week. For now, I hope you enjoyed this very brief discussion about the history of Rococo fashion! Thank you very much for sticking with me through the long post: here, have a bunch of pretty Rococo paintings!

Watteau's The Swing -- why this made it into a
Disney children's film, I will never understand,
and will always giggle at.

The Stolen Kiss by Fragonard -- I really like his work, if you
can't tell.

Another Fragonard: Confession of Love