We meet Devi, a woman who sends a message that age is not a determining factor when passion becomes a lifestyle.
The picture by the headline is a photo of resistance, even if it is not obvious at first glance.
A beautiful woman posing with the teddy bear engulfed with ribbons, and adorned with a dress of many frills, and hands covered by many rings, with a big white corsage on her right arm. A portrait showing a model in a perfectly coordinated outfit balancing modesty and beauty.
It so happens that Devi, the person in this photo, is a budding influencer, most prominently on YouTube, where her content features coordination of her outfits and promotion of her accessory brand, Anges et Demons.
Whilst her YouTube career is only just getting started, Anges et Demons was launched 13 years ago, a passion project to go with her interest in Lolita and Gothic fashion coordination.
Lolita is the name of this style of street fashion originating from Japan, not derived whatsoever from the book titled the same name by Vladimir Nabokov. Lolita fashion is inspired by Victorian fashion, emphasising modesty and elegance.
“Much of my work has been showcased in many different fashion events nationwide (Japan). It fills my heart with joy when I see people having fun coordinating their clothes with my accessories.”
Devi notes that she dresses as a Lolita “not just to go to events or meetups, but also to go to the shop and to eat out with friends.”
J-fashion, an umbrella term for Japanese fashion, is frequently attributed to cosplayers at events such as Comic-Con, due to its heavy overlap with Japan’s anime and game culture. This is a misconception that applies when people explore the Lolita community.
Whilst some characters in anime, manga, games and movies dress in a similar way, this usually doesn’t mean Lolitas try to imitate those characters.
Lolita is a lifestyle, not cosplay, after all.
Which is why it is so interesting that Devi, as a woman who is 51, living in Japan, chose this passion. Even though her brand was launched 13 years ago, she only got into Lolita fashion in her late 30s. And a lifestyle in which the coordination of clothes costs a lot of time and money.
The biggest issue is societal, however. Within a structure as stifling as Japan’s, everything from a person’s gender to their status is scrutinised.
However, seniority is taken extremely seriously. The rule of thumb is that those who are even slightly older than yourself should be respected, most commonly with honorifics when spoken to.
This also means that those in their late 30s, meaning you are expected to have some status or higher role, are generally expected to bear heavier responsibilities for their work and families. Picking up hobbies which consume your life at that age could be a reason why relatives, colleagues and neighbours look down on them.
The stricter a mainstream culture is, the more colourful and plentiful the resistance towards it becomes. This is one of the reasons why Japan, and other East Asian countries, have such a rich vein of influential alternative cultures.
Charlotte is president of the University of the Arts London J-fashion society. She started to take an interest in J-fashion when she was a teenager, moved to London from Hong Kong at 15 and started actively coordinating her outfits at 17. She experienced a similar experience in relation to older generations becoming involved in J-fashion subcultures.
“My mum has personally expressed that she wanted to dress (the same way I do) as well, but due to age and personal likings, for example, the way I do crazier make-up, she is less confident to want to try it,” Charlotte told us.
“Maybe it’s a personal preference, as my mum is a very stylish person, but I think that might be why people in the age group can’t do it as well, because they’re a mother or a father and have responsibilities in daily life.
“J-fashion can be quite inconvenient with mobility and, especially if you are in Asia, it is harder at that age to deal with a label imposed onto you that you are different from everyone.”
To stand out puts people in a spotlight, and when the chances of it being negative attention is high, people will tend to shrink away or be deterred from committing to their passions altogether.
However, Charlotte felt strongly that pursuing a passion will manifest itself one way or the other.
“There are some places where coming out as different is a genuine safety concern. More commonly, people laugh and treat you like a freak,” she said.
“If you really want to do it, even if you are in an environment which may not be as supportive, people will usually find a way to defeat the inconveniences and pull through.”
Preconceived misconceptions from a broader, less understanding society are always hard to shake off. However, whilst many places have similar, much more hostile social systems towards Lolitas, in London there is significantly less outward judgement or restrictions due to how culturally diverse the city is.
As a result, the strongest core of the Lolita community in the UK is centred in our capital and the South East of the country, in which the events and meetups happen at a larger scale.
A recently opened shop in Brick Lane known as Minna-no Petit Sekai, which translates as Everyone’s Little World, is becoming one of the pillars of Japanese fashion in London, and one which Charlotte has been keeping her eye on recently.
Each shelf is stuffed with a vibrant array of accessories, clothes, magazines and gadgets, not just of Lolita and more niche subcultures like EGLs, or Elegant Gothic Lolitas, but of Decora and Gyaru fashion, styles equally as significant as Lolita but are arguably less well-known in the West.
Petit Sekai are big advocates of installing collections made by grassroots artists, putting visibility into local styles and establishing relationships between already closely knit communities in London.
Georgia, who co-runs Petit Sekai, notes the customers are usually younger: “I think that with the age of the internet and now a lot of teenagers know about different subcultures which they wouldn’t have known before.”
The rise in interest in Japanese fashion, art and music in the West during the 2010s coincided with the assimilation of social media in everyday life.
While the majority of those social media literates are of a generation born after the ’90s, older adults are starting to gain influence from social media too. And, like it or not, new cultures are being exposed to a demographic which may never have investigated it in their youth.
With Devi, it must ring a couple of bells.
On her YouTube channel, a significant portion of her content is Q&As and coordination advice. She has stated she wants her channel to be informative for viewers who want to start getting into Lolita fashion.
「同世代の女性には、年齢を理由に好きなことを諦めなくてもいいんだと思ってもらえたら嬉しいです」
“But I also would love women of my generation to believe that you don’t have to give up your passions because of your age!”
– Devi
When starting out on a hobby, it is natural that you will not have the knowledge or experience which people expect you to have, compared to some others in the scene. Many look for a community to bond with, so that they don’t feel as alone as they may think they are.
But to have someone of a little seniority, who aims to forge a path not only for themselves but to leave the door open for others, is empowering for someone setting out. Enjoying hobbies shouldn’t be a competition or a comparison with each other.
“It is respectable to have someone who has been there and doing that themselves. To have older people in any subculture is very strong and encouraging,” Georgia notes.
“Each journey is personal. I felt pressure to mature and fall into the crowd when I was in my 20s, and then I circled back to what I liked as a teenager. For people, it could even be that they’re only just exploring what they’ve always wanted to do.”
Nothing about Lolita fashion was meant with the intention of dressing for other people or for work. It is highly individualistic in this way, with lots of variations and styles making it highly customisable.
The community is centred on people getting together, trading ideas, and having fun in the outfits in which they feel most comfortable and liberated. It is the ultimate form of self-expression in a world which tries to restrict them by trying to ignore or point fingers. At its core, it’s rebellious, and it’s empowering.
Devi shows us it is never too late to start. Not only was she intent on pursuing her passions amidst all expectations and personal setbacks, but she was able to maintain it for well over a decade.
Now she is creating a path with the intention of guiding newcomers, making herself visible, and shining a light for all in her path. The brightest light of them all.
「私の夢は、いくつになってもロリィタを楽しみ続けることです！ 」
“My dream is to enjoy being a Lolita at any age I am!”
– Devi
Featured image courtesy of Devi.