One of the major Japanese fashion movements is the Lolita movement. First off, this is not the lolita from the sexy novel. It's not a movement about a sexual style. In point of fact, there is less skin showing in this fashion style than in most others worn by young people.
The young men and women dress in a fashion related to the Victorian era, in a style that the dolls of the time were dressed in. There are a number of categories of the fashion, but frills, lace, petticoats and half-dresses are common elements.
This is related to the concept of kawaii or cuteness which can be related to a desire to return to a more innocent past time, a sort of reaction against the psychological pressures of present-day life that the young people have to contend with. When one thinks of the Victorian era one thinks about politeness, courtesy, grace and a refined approach to other people, all traits that are sadly lacking in today's world.
"The concept of kawaii includes elements such as ‘cute,' ‘pretty' and ‘lovely,' but it is not restricted to these. It also implies something precious: something that we are drawn towards and which stimulates one's feeling of wanting to protect something that is pure and precious." Consuming Bodies: Sex and Contemporary Japanese Art, 2002.
The fashion can also be a desire on the part of young women to rebel against the constraints still put upon Japanese women. Basically, there's a lot of reasons and explanations why people choose this fashion style.
The style is about as peaceful as you can get; there's not really anything aggressive about the style (other then all-black color which upsets some people.) The categories include:
1. Sweet Lolita: Pink and white are the main colors with lots of frills and lace. They young women will carry around teddy bears, parasols and other things which increase even further the cuteness quotient. It has a very, very innocent look to it, nothing challenging or nasty at all. (There is some argument about this, though, in that some sources say that carrying toys around shifts the style into kawaii and not lolita.)
I like one description that I read which compared the Gothic Lolita look to that of creepy dolls, saying that "We are dolls, they seem to say, but don't play with us. We bite."
5. British Aristocrat/Dandy: a more adult version of Kodona.
6. Wa-Lolita: A mix of the Lolita fashions with the more traditional kimono and yukata fashions.
In addition, there are "elegant" variations of some of the above, so there's quite a few variations on the theme.
In any event, the appearance is still very cute, very doll-like.
Para mais informações você pode olhar também na wikipédia a matéria sobre lolitas:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lolita_fashion (está em inglês)