Elegant Gothic Lolita

Their outfits need more frills and lace, don't you think?

One-Winged Angels aside (except those that involve the Bishonen Line), everything can be a cute girl.

The Elegant Gothic Lolita wears an outfit that makes her look like a Victorian doll: puffy skirts, lots of frills, bonnets, huge ribbons, mostly black. There's also shades of Alice in Wonderland (though it is beginning to fall out of favor), with the aforementioned dark motif. On occasion, her hair may be in Princess Curls.

Gothic lolita is actually a sub-style of the "lolita" subculture in Japan based on dressing in EGL as fashion, not costume. The specific Trope Namer is Mana, a Visual Kei artist, who uses "Elegant Gothic Lolita" to refer to his own brand of clothing, Moi-Meme-Moitie. So referring to lolita clothing as EGL is like saying "I'm going to play Nintendo" when referring to video games. "Gothic Lolita" is also referred to as "gothic and lolita", "GothLoli" (gosurori), or "loligoth." Western Goth fashion is referred to as "goth punk" in Japan. A list of the most prominent sub-styles of lolita fashion can be found here.

Keep in mind that although creators might draw inspiration from lolita fashion or intend to show lolita outfits, they might not necessarily make accurate representations or real-life lolitas—who are almost always adults dressing the style for fashion and would be highly offended at any implication of encouraging or endorsing pedophilia.

Can overlap with a Parasol of Prettiness, Fairytale Wedding Dress.

Not to be confused with Original Gothic Lolita or "OGL".

Examples of Elegant Gothic Lolita include:

Anime & Manga

  • Liselotte in 11eyes.
  • Belarus from Axis Powers Hetalia.
  • Hildagarde from Beelzebub dresses like this.
  • Black Lagoon
    • An extremely disturbing example in Creepy Twins Hansel and Gretel.
    • There's also the comparatively subdued example of Sawyer the Cleaner, who dresses in this style when she's not head-to-toe in surgical scrubs.
  • Cirucci Thunderwitch fills this role in Bleach.
  • Chobits features several characters with "gothloli" looks, though mostly notably are Chii, with the dresses Chitose gives her. Freya is a better example, as Chii is more sweet-loli than goth-loli.
  • Code Geass
    • Mysterious Waif C.C. inexplicably wears an Elegant Gothic Lolita costume in one episode; side materials suggest that Lelouch bought it for her without bothering to check her tastes first. As she was going out in public, it's still less conspicuous than her normal apparel of what appears to be a straitjacket.
    • A special mention needs to go to the Picture Drama where Milly forces the entire student council to cross-dress, and Lelouch gets dressed up like this. He is not exactly pleased, but there's a certain amount of Squee from everyone else over "Luluko."
    • In the Lost Colors game, Nunnally ends up dressed in a red and white Lolita outfit.
  • The SISTERs of Coyote Ragtime Show.
  • Lala the doll in a few chapters of D Gray Man. The sadistic Road not only dresses up like this, but in her introduction she also dresses a kidnapped and paralyzed Lenalee as one too, mostly to tick off Allen.
  • Misa Amane in Death Note was originally styled this way, though her looks became more mainstream after the Time Skip to indicate her maturity and fame. In the anime, Misa also wears this in the Grand Finale... as she quietly stands atop of a rooftop, after Light's death... and it's strongly implied that she threw herself off it. As a matter of fact, it's possible that her original montage actually takes place directly before her scene in the finale, which may be why she, in the montage, is seen on a rooftop looking forlornly at the horizon. The outfit may have been so distinct specifically to draw us to this conclusion.
  • Digimon
  • The manga Doll by Mitsukazu Mihara is filled with tons of characters wearing lolita, specifically the Dolls (androids) of the story. Mihara also did the first covers of the Gothic Lolita Bible.
  • Illyasviel von Einzbern from Fate Stay Night. Although, she's more genki than elegant, but still...
  • Dolce in Geneshaft wears a distinctively Elegant Gothic Lolita outfit, in contrast with the colorful and Stripperific uniforms of the rest of the (mostly female) cast. It helps underline that she's quite a nutcase as well.
  • In the second season of Genshiken, the males discuss what Ogiue would be like as an ero-game character. The answer: she would be a shy girl in a Gothic Lolita dress who would nevertheless be sexually aggressive even if it was her first time.
  • Merriweather from the manga Godchild.
  • Pii-chan in Gokinjo Monogatari.
  • One of Ayumu's idol outfits in Best Student Council is GothLoli.
  • Rika and Hanyuu from Higurashi no Naku Koro ni dress this way quite a lot in promo art for Kai and Rei.
  • Kanako from Love Hina Again; she even persuades Keitaro to dress in a goth-like manner briefly. Check out the credits for that episode of the miniseries, which have the other characters, save Haruka, similarly... modified. The cover of volume 11, in which Kanako first appears, has all the characters except Keitaro dressed in this style. Keitaro's not on the cover because he happens to be away until the last three pages of the book.
  • Cosette d'Auvergne from Le Portrait de Petite Cosette.
  • Anju Maaka from Karin.
  • The outfits worn by the girls of K-On! in the ED, "Don't Say Lazy", and "Fuwa Fuwa Time".
  • Kyouran Kazoku Nikki
    • Before changing families Senko Himemiya's (later known as Chika Midarezaki) standard outfit was of this variety.
    • There is also the random shots at the end of the opening video where the female family members are seen wearing EGL.
  • Everyone and everything from Black Butler. (With, of course, the guys tending more toward Elegant Gothic Aristocrat.) Even grim and steely little Ciel Phantomhive wears tiers of lace and roses spilling off his top hats.
  • In Loveless, Nagisa's outfits are all traditional gothic lolita. Yes, even when she's at home or eating lunch.
  • Vita of Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha A's and Lutecia of Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha Striker S. The latter has the attitude, but the former is more of a mix between Little Miss Badass and Cute Bruiser who probably only has the outfit because her master Hayate thought it was cute.
  • Mahou Sensei Negima
    • Evangeline A.K. MacDowell (on the picture above together with Chachamaru), who dresses like this all the time when not wearing her school uniform. In one chapter of the manga, Evangeline takes on Asuna as an apprentice and demands that she dress only in gothloli style. In another, she dresses those still at school campus during the holidays in cosplay/Goth Loli, because she's bored. The fanboys were entertained, at least.
    • Another example would be Tsukuyomi and her victorian-stylized outfits she wears into combat (never seen without one). She rarely leaves battle with the outfit intact.
  • Marika from Marie and Gali.
  • Lulu from Monochrome Factor is a perfect example of this trope.
  • Moyashimon. Kei Yuuki, Tadayasu's childhood friend has a distinct love for this style of dress apparently.
  • In Tsukuyomi Moon Phase, Hazuki/Luna when we first meet her in her castle/home/prison.
  • Kuesu from Omamori Himari.
  • Perona from One Piece.
  • In the shoujo manga Othello the main character Yaya's secret hobby is dressing in EGL as cosplay for her favorite Visual Kei band (the manga has nothing to do with Shakespeare's Othello).
  • Paradise Kiss
    • Isabella dresses in Elegant Gothic Aristocrat style, which is basically Elegant Gothic Lolita with floor-length skirts and a more ladylike look. Probably because it's hard to pull off the lolita part when you're a six-foot-tall Transsexualism.
    • Miwako Sakurada sometimes dresses in Sweet Lolita dresses.
  • The three "princesses" from Princess Princess are forced to dress up in an Elegant Gothic Lolita style because that year's costume designer is a gothloli fan.
  • Princess Resurrection: Hime, with heavy emphasis on elegant and Gothic, as well as her younger sister Sherwood.
  • Quon from RahXephon certainly qualifies, cute umbrella and all. One of the DVD covers has her dress in a more traditional Gothic Loli outfit. Her facial expression and being taller than most lolis makes it border Uncanny Valley.
  • Rozen Maiden
    • Suigintou; the other dolls are also dressed in Victorian fashions, but are generally more colorful.
    • Souseiseki has roughly the same palette as Suigintou, but wears a style of dress based on Victorian clothing for boys, known as "ouji" or "kodona".
    • All of the dolls could be seen as different types of lolita in general. Hina Ichigo is a Sweet Lolita, Kirakishou is a Classic Lolita (or a slightly more refined Sweet Lolita, take it either way), Suiseiseki and Shinku are Aristocrat-lolitas, and Kanaria is more like mix of Classic Lolita and Aristocrat-lolita.
  • Hotaru Tomoe (Sailor Saturn) in the second half of the third season of Sailor Moon.
  • The lead trio in Saint October. They even call themselves the GothLoli Detectives.
  • Ekaterina from Seikon no Qwaser, who manages to be Bitch in Sheep's Clothing and Arrogant Kung Fu Guy, when it suits her—she uses this trope manipulatively on everyone around her.
  • Chikage from Sister Princess is borderline EGL. Although Aria from the same series may be a better example - in clothing style, anyway. Chikage is more 19th century male dress, for the most part.
  • Emily from Soukou no Strain is dressed that way by Sara.
  • Soul Eater: Patti Thompson's outfits when she dresses casually have elements of this. More explicitly, the maid outfits she and Liz wore in the manga.
  • Haruhi Suzumiya
    • The manga adaption features this during Kyon and Mikuru's date. They stumble upon Yuki (What was she doing there, anyway?) who got dressed up like this by some clothing-store owners. Kyon remarks that it looks "pretty damn good" on her.
    • Due to the popularity of the aforementioned, PVC figurines have been released of the female leads in personally-tailored GothLoli costumes.
  • Silky from Tenshi ni Narumon, especially in the first season where she poses for a doll.
  • Sakura during the Infinity arc in Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle.
  • Umineko no Naku Koro ni
    • Bernkastel, Eriko Furudo, and Virgilia are the best examples.
    • Maria, Lambdadelta, and Zepar can also count, though Lambda, with her pink-overload, would be more of a Sweet Lolita.
    • Also worth noting are Natsuhi and Beatrice, who, due to the drawing styles of Natsumi Kei and Jiro Suzuki, are heavily styled like this in the manga.
  • Guilt-Na from Vampire Doll is often one, much to her chagrin.
  • Venus Versus Virus
    • The manga has one of these as a protagonist. She also has a clothes' store that sells dresses in the same style.
    • The twins, Layla and Lola, dress in gothic lolita fashion.
  • In The Wallflower (Or Yamato Nadeshiko Shichi Henge), we are given the "GothLoli Sisters" who are rather less than elegant, not very lolita-ish, and also not very gothic... but that's what they call themselves, and often chant "Goth Goth Loli Loli".
  • Tsukiyo Kujou from The World God Only Knows counts as this, even while still wearing her school uniform. Her Creepy Doll Luna fits this trope to a T though.
  • The Ame-Warashi in xxxHolic.
  • Kiku of Yoki Koto Kiku.
  • Ashley of Uragiri wa Boku no Namae wo Shitteiru.
  • Kuroneko from Ore no Imouto ga Konna ni Kawaii Wake ga Nai!.
  • Stocking of Panty and Stocking With Garterbelt embodies a few traits of the stereotypical lolita including a fondness for Gothic decor and sweets.
  • Sunako of Shiki has outfits inspired by EGL.
  • Cat Street has a lolita character who couldn't fit into a normal public school because of her unusual fashion choices.
  • The Embalmer, created by Mihara Mitsukaz who has done illustrations for lolita magazines, has two secondary characters who dress in EGL and a short story about a gothic lolita.
  • Just as real Vivienne Westwood clothes appear in Nana, at least some of Misato's clothing are actual lolita designs.
  • Hagall from Ah! My Goddess dresses in this style.
  • Perrier La Mer from Amuri in Star Ocean has this kind of fashion sense but in white. While under the influence of her darker persona, Vernier, she wears black.
  • Janette of Zero no Tsukaima.
  • Myouga Unzen of Medaka Box.
  • The spirit Iyaritikki in Shinkyoku Soukai Polyphonica is almost doll-like in her appearance, including very impressive Princess Curls.
  • Victorique from Gosick. To be fair, it's a period piece... but not Victorian.
  • Kuro from Kodomo no Jikan prides herself on her extensive (and costly) GothLoli-wardrobe.
  • Yurika Todo prefers wearing clothes made by LoLi GoThiC.

Comic Books

  • Marvel's Livewires miniseries featured a character actually named Gothic Lolita, who served as the Cute Bruiser of the title Five-Man Band. To be fair, she is a self-named Robot Girl, and her teammates have equally odd monikers.
  • Also from Marvel, Runaways leader, Nico Minoru, is explicitly referenced as such in the comics first script.
  • Kim Pine during the gig in Scott Pilgrim and the Infinite Sadness.
  • Used in Gloomcookie, naturally, as it satirizes a lot of Goth tropes.


Fan Works


Films -- Live-Action

  • The lead killer in Ulli Lommel's Black Dahlia.


Literature


Live-Action TV


Music

  • Mana of "Malice Mizer" and now "Moi dix Mois" is the Ur Example, as well as the owner of one of the major brands, "Moi Meme Moitie". Also counts the the Trope Namer, as the term Elegant Gothic Lolita was coined by him to describe his own style.
  • Yui Itsuki of Yousei Teikoku.
  • In the music video for "Black Heart Inertia" by Incubus, Gothic Lolitas (mainly Sweet Lolitas) are seen in the video, especially toward the end.
  • Emilie Autumn.


Video Games

  • In Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin, the two vampire sisters are this. Interestingly, we find out they dressed the same way before they became vampires.
  • Super Robot Wars Original Generation
    • Little Miss Badass Latooni Subota finds herself turning into this. First by accident, second in order to match her with the Princess she was assigned to guard, and finally ordered into it by one of her superior officers because frankly, she looks so damn cute in it. To be fair, however, every time she wore that dress, she ended up with a fair amount of Character Development, and the officer giving the order actually says as much.
    • And don't get us started on her giant robot. There's a reason the game's development staff nicknamed it the Gothlolion.
    • Irui Guneden, is also this in her child form.
  • Soul Calibur
    • Amy from Soul Calibur 3. In the arcade version, at least. Soul Calibur IV even more so. She's "Ero-lolita" at best; most lolitas value modesty.
    • Soul Calibur IV also includes a robotic Elegant Gothic Lolita in bonus character Ashlotte.
    • And if that's somehow not enough for you, the game's character creator has more than enough frilly, lacy clothing for you to make your own.
  • Tabitha from Advance Wars: Days Of Ruin. She's more of the Alpha Bitch in personality, however.
  • Chidori in Persona 3 has both a gothic dress, an icy personality (except when she's busy cutting herself), and a supernatural power.
  • Yurika Kirishima of the Rival Schools sequel Project Justice dresses in this style (and her profile even lists a like of frilly and lacy clothing) but the colors of her clothing (light blue dress and a bright red ribbon) contrast to the typical dark colors associated with this trope.
  • Ninon Beart of The King of Fighters Maximum Impact 2 practically defines Gothic Lolita.
  • The "Dark Beauty" dress Cordelia can acquire in Shadow Hearts: Covenant is, appropriately enough, in this style. In From The New World, Hilda takes up the fashion.
  • In The World Ends With You, Lapin Angelique, the store in A-East, carries Gothic And Lolita attire as its main stock.
  • Virtually the entire Touhou cast is dressed in goth-loli style; even the traditional Japanese outfits seen in the games come with frills and lace. One gets the impression that the artist (ZUN) doesn't know when to stop adding details. He's once explained the expressive frills as "I don't know how to draw straight lines."
    • Mountain Of Faith's second boss, Hina Kagiyama, Undefined Fantastic Objects sixth boss, Byakuren Hijiri, and Phantasmagoria of Flower Views Medicine Melancholy are actually some of the few who fully represent this trope.
    • Also, series protagonist Reimu herself started as a rather traditional Miko whose outfit was progressively wa-lolified.
  • Cave has two series, Ibara and Death Smiles, which are Shoot Em Ups with gothic lolita elements. The latter is more heavily centered on them.
  • The generic female mage characters in Disgaea all dress this way.
  • Pokémon
  • No More Heroes: Desperate Struggle
    • Shinobu is fashioned like a cross of this and a ninja.
    • Margaret rocks this style to a T. The look of her outfit seems to be a Shout-Out to Suigintou, along with the hair color and all.

"Thigh-high socks are my absolute territory..."

  • Growlanser V has a mute gothic loli. Being designed by Satoshi Urushihara, emphasis on "insane detail".
  • Len in Tsukihime, although she's only given a proper model in the sequel, Kagetsu Tohya.
  • Lady Rachel Alucard, a centuries-old Vampire, and one of the most powerful (and snarky) characters in BlazBlue.

"You do need the obligatory gothic lolita, after all."


Web Comics

Web Original

  • Melanie and Militia Malachite in RWBY. Plus Ruby Rose's "working clothes" have a definite EGL feel to them without being full-bore Gothic Lolita.

Western Animation

  • Chimera, from the 3rd season of Winx Club, is a GothLoli. It has been criticized that Stella should know this (especially since it's a well-known fashion style), but she doesn't act that way, calling her look "pre-teen meets goth".
  • Misery from Ruby Gloom.
  • Argent in Teen Titans looks like this.
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