Deep in the streets of Harajuku under the famous Jingu Bashi (Harajuku Bridge) lives a 16-21 year old girl decked out in the latest not-yet-released brand reservation items from head to toe, down to her brand underwear, completely coordinated. Her measurements are not too tiny and not too large, and somehow she fits into every brand dress ever created. Every Sunday she rises from the bellows of the river bed and feeds off the judgement she places on each and every Lolita that appears on the bridge that is not wearing all one brand, or anything off brand, in particular, the dreaded Bodyline. Her favorite hangout is on her laptop laughing at the latest coordinates posted on Daily Lolita while Misako and RinRin join her in their constant, never-ending tea party.
Does this sound ridiculous? That is because it is absurd! Especially in the last five or so years, the "brand whore" is the entity everyone blames for their reasons for not getting into Lolita fashion or being the reason they cannot be involved with the online or their local community.
I hate to tell you, but this "brand whore" people are scared of is not real. It is more a joke thrown around the community, and unfortunately, the newer folks seem to be latching onto this as truth.
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| Grab these awesome knuckledusters from Deerstalker Picture's store! Stock photo from the store |
I hate to tell you, but this "brand whore" people are scared of is not real. It is more a joke thrown around the community, and unfortunately, the newer folks seem to be latching onto this as truth.
How Did This Person Come About?
I do not think I can officially source a single spot for the creation of the "brand whore", but I do believe that there were a couple of events that triggered this entity into existence.
- The guidelines started being interpreted as hard-fast rules. When the Lolita Fashion Handbook came out, it was just meant as trying to solidify what is Lolita fashion and what is not - just to give it some general guidelines. As new people came into the fashion, they took this as the bible of the style, and started going around telling people that either you followed these "rules", or you were ousted. Lolita veterans sighed, trying to explain that they are just guidelines, and the newbies declared war against the older crowd. Well, maybe not all out war, but something like that. Sounds more dramatic that way.
- A burst of people with a bit of a "special snowflake" complex. Especially when OTT Sweet Lolita became the new favorite style with Angelic Pretty's releases of various different over the top prints and photo spreads with these prints, this attracted a not-so-mature crowd. Not saying that every single person who likes Sweet Lolita is immature by any means - just that the style itself, to this day, can appeal to someone who likes to squeal about bunnies and rainbows and cupcakes - you know who I am talking about. These happy-go-lucky folks also had a tendency to be slightly emotionally immature, and suddenly everyone was offended if you even breathed a word of constructive criticism towards them. This caused the next event in the Western Lolita fashion world ...
- A lot of older, veteran Lolitas jumped ship (from the communities). Seeing the communities get overrun with these hypersensitive crowd, a lot of older girls got sick of it. Some people just left because adult life got hectic - bills, kids, etc. Some people did not like the direction it was going in. The reasons were all different, but it can definitely be said that their was a huge exodus in the online community (and my local community as well, although I cannot speak for other local communities).
- The "negative" communities hit their peak in popularity. In particular, loli_secrets (which is now defunct and has turned into behind-the-bows) and getoffegl (which was started with the intention of ousting scammers, and then started targeting the special snowflakes that were being annoying/not-so-great) really hit their high point in terms of use. Although behind-the-bows is active and occasionally has high points, loli_secrets used to be booming (100+ secrets every week) and getoffegl was updating multiple times a day. So you end up with a lot of newer, highly-offended people within the community finding these "negative" communities, and now you have newer people blaming the older people (which in some cases were not involved that much longer than the new people) for being these strict meanies.
- Japanese people in general are known for brand loyalty, and the brand whore may have been a play on words for this devout loyalty. It is known that the Japanese typically relate to a single brand and basically wear only that. When I was in Japan about 3 years ago, I saw two distinct types of Lolitas walking about - decked out in head to toe brand, or a mix of items - brand and off-brand (no specific brand was distinct). I think that can be said about the Western world too; I myself swear to a certain brand of under garments. I do not like the feel of other brands, and the one I shop at in particular is the most comfortable and stylish to me (but not affordable by any means - I pay for quality). It would be easy to say I am a "snob" in terms of what brand of under garments I am willing to wear, but I do not look down on others' choices. To assume the worst of a person because of someone's loyalty to a particular brand seems childish to me.
Other things that may have contributed to it as well include squabbles within the local communities, bad experiences people have with a bad apple or two in their local life, and of course, a plethora of other things that I cannot think of that most likely contributed (people needing a scape goat to blame for their problems, people not having the ability to understand that guidelines are meant to keep the style's look - not to restrict the person wearing it, people needing to call it Lolita fashion for some reason or another, etc.).
People have different meanings of what a brand whore is as well. Some people think a brand whore is just simply someone devoted to a single brand for a particular item or style. Others feel it is more the attitude rather than the devotion. I think it is a similar mindset on how people feel about the term "ita" and how it is used.
People have different meanings of what a brand whore is as well. Some people think a brand whore is just simply someone devoted to a single brand for a particular item or style. Others feel it is more the attitude rather than the devotion. I think it is a similar mindset on how people feel about the term "ita" and how it is used.
This is how I feel it may have come about. At this point, I just chuckle at the sight of someone saying "brand whore" in a serious way; I usually sigh and think, "They must be new!" because no one that has been involved in the fashion for a long time truly believes this mythical creature exists. It is more of an inside joke just to giggle at between Lolita fashion friends. Do you think that "brand whores" exist? What is your personal definition of a "brand whore"?
The Unfinished Series is a collection of drafts that have never been published over the years of having this blog. I have been rehashing these posts over and over again because I am too nit-picky about the tone or what is being said in the post. After talking with other blogging friends, in particular Caro, I have made a decision to try to get these drafts finally published. Some of them may be a little dated in their topic, but I will try to update them before they go up to keep them current.
The Unfinished Series is a collection of drafts that have never been published over the years of having this blog. I have been rehashing these posts over and over again because I am too nit-picky about the tone or what is being said in the post. After talking with other blogging friends, in particular Caro, I have made a decision to try to get these drafts finally published. Some of them may be a little dated in their topic, but I will try to update them before they go up to keep them current.