Gothic Lolita has become a distinctive style of clothing for a minority of adolescents in Macau. This style of clothing is known as Gothic Lolita. It is inspired by Victorian clothing, more particularly Victorian mourning clothing. There are mainly two types of Gothic Lolita styles: Elegant Gothic Lolita (EGL) and Sweet Love Lolita (SLL). EGL emphasizes the elegant but creepy elements of the style and typically is limited in color to black and white, or a combination of both. Sometimes red, pastel blue and pastel pink, whereas SLL is typically very girlish and innocent, and the color of the costume is primarily in white. Platform shoes are worn for the both types to complete this look!

Regarding the make-up and hair style of SLL, it requires a pale complexion where little to no make-up is worn. Any shade of red lipstick is fine with black eyeliner and black eyelashes. More make-up can be worn for the EGL since it places emphasis on the frightening look. Long hair or short large curls are worn sometimes with bangs as well. But if you don't have long hair, it is fine too because you may also wear hairpieces and wigs to achieve the style. The hair color is mostly black but can be any shade of brown.

"I enjoy the attention from others on the street since I am confident with my Lolita style," said Yannie Fong Sio Kei who was standing near the McDonald's in Shui Keng Wei waiting for her friends. Fong, 14 years old, a high school student was dressed in a Lolita style, a lace cup on her head and with black make-up on her face and thick black eye-shadow. She has been keen in dressing Lolita style for about one year and has learned it from Japanese magazines and the Internet. "I initially had curiosity on the Lolita fashion style, so I began to search the information of Lolita from the Internet. Afterwards, I decided to try this costume and bought it from the store at Xin Da Cheng and in Zhuhai. I would mix and match my dress after consulting the owner of the store," Fong mentioned enthusiastically.

In addition, she said she would pay about MOP500 to MOP800 for Lolita costumes and the accessories even though her parents disagree with her. Fong sighed, "Indeed, my traditional parents do not accept and disapprove of my Lolita image since they think it is too ugly and not appropriate for my age to wear like this (Lotita style). However, Fong insisted on her Lolita image because it always earned praise from her friends rather than her old dressing style. "I would like to try various fashion styles," Fong said with a little smile.

Fong disagreed with the people who regard Lolita as pretentious and horrible. In her perspective, Lolita is just a fashion style that can bring her confidence and awareness. "Actually, my friends at first felt it strange while I was dressed in a Lolita costume with them. Nevertheless, they either admired me or appreciated my look." Also she will encourage her friends to try this costume instead of the normal dressing.

Katherine Cheang Ka Mui, 25 years old, the owner of the store which sells the Lolita costumes in Xin Da Cheng. "My shop sells both EGL and SLL style costumes. The most popular one is the former that is taken by the girls between the ages of 17 to 20. The girls among 13 to 16 like the SLL most.

According to the survey of local people and foreigners aged from 15 to 55, about 60 percent of people know what Gothic Lolita is. About 62.5 percent of people have seen adolescents wearing Lolita costumes on the streets and most of them will not accept that their relatives and friends wear such Lolita clothing.

Only a small percentage of people (25 percent) will try to wear it if Lolita Costumes become one of the fashion trends because they think it is lovely, beautiful, elegant, princess, special and pure. And the rest (75 percent) will not try it due to strangeness, ugliness and horribleness. The majority think that youngsters' purpose of having this kind of style is to stand out of the crowd. Other reasons rest on personal interest (60 percent), trendy (35 percent), peer influence (30 percent).

According to Anise Wu, a psychology lecturer of the Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities (FSH), Gothic Lolitas do not have a very strong impact on the society of Macau. "Lolitas in Macau don't have a strong influence on the social context yet, but it might have social significance in the near future," Wu said. She also explained that the reason they act as they do as the purpose of gaining self-identity in society. " They act like that because they have a lack of social identity and through this behavior they can gain back their self-identity in society."

Although Wu says that Gothic Lolitas do not have much social significance now, there is evidence of Gothic Lolitas present in the adult entertainment scene which is exposed in movies and on the World Wide Web (WWW). Therefore it is highly expected that there may be a significant impact on the fashion trend in the future.