Japan’s Lolita maternity wear lets you keep looking girlish even when expecting kids of your own

Getting ready to add a new member to your family doesn’t mean you have to ditch the fashionable frills.

While the term “Lolita” carries a scandalous, sexualized vibe when used in English, Japan’s Lolita fashion movement isn’t really concerned with provocative promiscuity. Instead, Lolita fashion is all about ornate, elaborate girlishness, as aficionados dress in outfits that wouldn’t look out of place on an aristocratic young lady of the Victorian era, or perhaps her dolls.

But youthful fashions can continue to hold their appeal even after a person enters adulthood, which brings us to a new line of Lolita dresses that are designed with grown-ups in mind, since they’re also maternity wear.

Mocolle, the company behind Japan’s shrine maiden swimsuit and bunny lingerie, proves that it can grab attention without showing off skin, although the airy sleeves of the of the Lolita Maternity One-Piece are somewhat see-through. A key design point is that the dress uses no elastic in the waist or torso, instead opting for a loose-fitting cut and including an organdy cotton ribbon to tie around the midsection, ensuring that the garment is never too tight across the stomach.

Designer MerryGORound says his goal was to create Lolita fashion that mothers can wear both before and immediately after giving birth. To that effect, buttons on the front of the dress can be undone to allow for easy breast-feeding.

For further versatility, the dress can be worn completely unbuttoned, as a light jacket, and the ribbon and collar are both removable.

The Lolita Maternity One-piece is currently being offered in three colors: navy blue, lavender, and off-white, here through crowdfunding site Campfire. Reward tiers that include the dress start at 23,850 yen (US$215), meaning this isn’t quite the economical choice that Uniqlo maternity wear is,  but such is the cost of being a Lolita loyalist.

Source, images: Campfire

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