MYX TV: I'm Asian American and I'm a Living Doll
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Cyril of dolldelight
Paula aka Manager-san
Ona
Stephanie
Kiran
Tiffany
(Added/Updated) Important notes:
The Lolita Label & Dolldelight:
Dolldelight was inspired by Lolita fashion. In my first few years of sewing, I only made Lolita style clothing. I really loved the fashion. However, come 2011, I wanted to incorporate my own style and deviate from the traditional Rococo/Victorian aesthetic. This when I made most of my Oriental pieces which still had the silhouette of Lolita. I described my fashion as a fusion of Oriental (print-wise) and Lolita (silhouette). I described my work as inspired by Lolita. Eventually, in 2012, I wanted and decided to try other styles. This is when I announced that dolldelight is no longer all about Lolita.
My point here is, dolldelight would always have Lolita as its personal history. It's what inspired me to begin sewing and designing. The problem I've had is that some take the usage of the label Lolita out of it's historical context within dolldelight. I'm really, really conscious with how I describe my history and I make it a point to stress that while I started with Lolita, I've done other styles, and dolldelight, therefore, is not limited to the said fashion.
I can't control how others think and interpret things. I can't control if they can't accept the fact that I started with Lolita, that I need to recount doing Lolita style when asked about my history and inspiration.
Some even go as far as bashing me for labeling myself as a Lolita designer *then*, but doing non-Lolita fashion *now*. There's no logic to that argument but I've seen that's the cause of the hate I get from the Lolita community.
Now, the thing with producers and networks, that's different. The practical side of me sees the need for being labelled as a "living doll" or even Lolita, the first for sensationalism's sake, and the latter for familiarity as the fashion has become popular. The ways to correct the labeling are to have everything limited and defined legally (so the network is forced to subscribe to the popular and accepted definition) and to talk about it in shows as much as possible.
In the episode, when I talked about dolldelight starting with Lolita fashion, the images accompanying the voice over were, indeed, Lolita. When Steph was talking about kicking ass, she was in Lolita. However, when Kiran came out, I described her dress as Mori Girl. When Ona came out, I described her dress as punk. These were obviously not Lolita and I, or any of the girls, did not call them Lolita. From our side, I think we've been careful and conscious with how we used the term because we know the definition.
From MYX's side though, it's their advertising that has clearly misinterpreted the label. Now, are the Lolitas annoyed because we used the term in the show or because that's how MYX's advertising made it seem, that dolldelight *is* Lolita fashion? Because honestly, I am close to being pissed at how some of them begin a hate campaign just because I mentioned Lolita. I'm so sorry but the fashion was and remains to be part of dolldelight history.
The Living Doll Label:
"Living Doll", to my limited knowledge, is a fairly new term associated with, popularized by, and attributed to the likes of Valeria, Kotakoti, VA etc. I think these are extreme examples and that's why they are popular. But who is to say that we cannot neutralize / tone down the term and just make "living doll" as a girl who is really simply into the fashion of dressing up like a doll? The examples above are just people who have had interesting experiences and ways of life. We are people having interesting experiences and ways of life. I don't see how we could not remove the taboo associated with the phrase.
It's a social construct. People create the meaning. People re-create the meaning.
On fetish living doll community:
If their community's definition of living doll is more sexualized, then we could adapt a more positive, wholesome perspective to our living doll community. Nobody owns the phrase (and the most one could do is trademark it and legally own it but that still doesn't limit anyone from defining/ interpreting it the way they want). Ultimately, it's going to be up to the more popular/accepted community to re-define the term and that would only be possible if there are people who would like to re-define it.
What did you think of the episode? Please let me know below!
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