LOLitas! Apparently, the Lolita style is a burgeoning trend among New York City girls who are opting out of wearing those same fucking little bubble-hem dresses and gladiator sandals all over SoHo while working in media jobs and drinking arugula lattes. The trend favors ruffles, petticoats, and Victorian influences - with several variations:

The style, which emerged from the Japanese street fashion scene in the 1990s, has many incarnations and subsects, among them Elegant Gothic Lolitas, Erotic Lolitas, Gory Lolitas, Sweet Lolitas and White Lolitas. While some practitioners veer toward the goth influence with inky black garb, others emphasize what they describe as “cuteness” expressed through pastel colors and pretty bows.

In New York, Sweet Lolitas are especially popular. “It is the most childlike of the looks,” Ms. Rutland said. “A lot of the prints are fruits and sweets or cute animals.”

It’s also the look that’s the hottest when a stranger lets loose all over your face after a night of cooing and making little kitten sounds at one another over Shirley Temples. Oh we kid! We actually like certain elements of this trend, a lot. Just a few weekends ago, we bought a high-necked, ruffley Victorian-looking jacket with mutton sleeves. Because we’re, you know. So quirky and different.

And lonely. God, so lonely.

Plus it beats having to make all that effort cultivating a personality. Now, be honest: You want to see some non-threateningly cute guys with awkwardly hang out with girls dressed like babies, don’t you? We aim to please / terrify. Check out a video explaining the fashion sub-culture where it all started, in Japan:

That knocked your lace-trimmed umbrella right out of your be-gloved little paw, didn’t it? No? Fine.

A New Generation of Lolitas Makes a Fashion Statement [NY Times]