Hardy Bernal, K. A. (2023, October 25-27). La moda Lolita Mexicana y día de los muertos: A Hallowe’en celebration [Conference paper presentation, abstract]. Retro-futuristic Visions: Looking Back to Look Forward. The 2nd International Academic Conference of Yoobee College of Creative Innovation. (original) (raw)

The image of a grinning skull wearing a large, feathered hat is ubiquitous in Mexico. The popularised figure of Catrina, la calavera (“the skull”), first appeared as an illustration by the Mexican political satirist and lithographer, José Guadalupe Posada, in about 1910, and was later appropriated by the radical Mexican artist, Diego Rivera. La Catrina Calavera has become a mascot of Día de Los Muertos, or Day of the Dead. Día de Los Muertos is a time of remembrance and celebration of those who have passed to the afterlife, and a chance for the souls of the deceased to revisit their loved ones in the earthly realm. Associated with the Catholic feast days of All Saints and All Souls, as well as Hallowe’en, Día de Los Muertos has also evolved from pre-Hispanic traditions. The customs of the festival have thus emerged from the syncretism of colonial and indigenous belief systems. Resonating from this hybrid landscape is the alternative fashion-based identity of the subcultural Mexican Gothic Lolita. Developed from Japanese streetstyle foundations, the Mexican Gothic Lolita style draws from the original model in weaving together sartorial sensibilities of the Rococo, Romantic, and Victorian eras, historical mourning dress, twentieth century goth style, and neoromantic, neogothic fashion movements. However, it has evolved to reflect its own cultural flavour. The Mexicanised example introduces an eclectic fusion of local indigenous, historical, and contemporary influences, inspired by Mesoamerican, Spanish colonial, Catholic, Gothic, Baroque, and Hispanic iconographies, motifs, and spiritualities. This research stems from my completed doctoral thesis, which utilized ethnographic field studies and surveys, undertaken in Mexico and online, in order to recognize the contributions of the subculture’s participants, to hear their voices, and discuss their inspirations in context. Also explored were the ways in which the Mexican movement reflects, and differs from, the philosophies of the original Japanese movement. This paper addresses some of those aspects, while analysing complex symbolism embedded in the innovative subcultural expressions of La Catrina Lolita and the Gothic Lolita in the Mexican environment. Dr Kathryn A. Hardy Bernal is Head of Research and Postgraduate Studies at Yoobee Colleges, incorporating Yoobee College of Creative Innovation, South Seas School of Film and Television, New Zealand School of Tourism, Elite School of Beauty and Spa, and the Cut Above Academy. She is the convenor of the international academic conference, Retro-futuristic Visions: Looking Back to Look Forward. She is a critical theorist in the fields of art, design, fashion, film, subculture, gender studies, psychoanalytical anthropology, and cultural history; publisher of international book chapters and academic journal articles; and has had over thirty years’ involvement in the arts sector, including tertiary teaching, editorial management, and curatorial practice. She was previously tenured at Auckland University of Technology as Programme Leader for the Department of Fashion and Textiles and Coordinator of Contextual and Theoretical Studies.