Life as a Spanish Lolita

By: Bianca Valenzuela

“When I’m in regular clothes, normally I feel like I’m in costume. Like I’m dressed like something I’m not.” — Jessica Ruiz.

Jessica Ruiz lives a perfectly normal life.

She studies at the University of Valencia as a sociology major and works at a popular Japanese restaurant called Kento.

But those are the only times Jessica dresses in “regular clothes” as she calls it.

“When I’m in regular clothes, normally I feel like I’m in costume. Like I’m dressed like something I’m not,” said Ruiz.

When she’s not at school or working, she dresses in “Lolita” clothing, a fashion subculture from Japan, highly influenced by the Victorian era, especially children’s clothing and styles from the Rococo period.

“What inspires me are my emotions,” Ruiz explained. “Finding a garment which I can pick or see it and it transmits a sensation of happiness is what guides me on how to dress myself and when to dress myself.”

Ruiz and her friends, who are also fans of Lolita attire, gather at Rambleta Park on the outskirts of Valencia, Spain a few times a year to host tea parties and picnics when the weather is nice outside.

Both Ruiz and Beatriz Piorno have been dressing in Lolita clothing for over 10 years. They met through a Lolita online forum and later met in real life.

“If it’s a special day and I go out with my boyfriend or my friends, even though they don’t dress like that, well, I’ll still get dressed up,” said Piorno.

It was the first time Clara Pulgarin joined the tea party picnic. She has been dressing in Lolita since she was 16 years old.

“The people stare… they look at you with smiles and everything’s good. The girls you know, typical, ‘ooh, it’s a doll, it’s a doll!,” Pulgarin said.

The main feature of Lolita fashion is the volume of the skirt, created by wearing a crinoline. Lolitas sometimes also wear Victorian style drawers under their petticoats. Although the origin of the fashion is unclear, many fans believe Western culture has definitely influenced Lolita fashion — Disney’s Alice in Wonderland comes to mind for many when describing a poster child for Lolita fashion.

“I would love it if this was something normal and people wouldn’t even notice when we pass by on the street because these are our clothes,” Ruiz confesses.

“It’s not something we do so people can look at us or ask for photos. We are normal people, we dress in our clothes because we like it and we want to spend our day-to-day normally.”