Gothic Lolita Theory, 1st Semester

I have an unreasonable interest in the Japanese cosplay subculture, Gothic Lolita. It's not age or culturally appropriate, but whether the tiny Japanese girls are dressed as little maids, little vampires, Victorian baby dolls, or just some sort of doll that's been employed as a maid but is for some reason dead, it makes me smile....I had to stop buying the Gothic Lolita bibles after the fifteenth, because I ran out of three-foot tall bookshelf space. I like watching trends run through Lolita-land in Harajuku. One Summer, inexplicably, everyone had a bloody eyepatch, like all the dolls had a fight over the cutest coffin-shaped handbag.

I made a Lolita dress for myself for Halloween two years ago, and I am still waiting for an event where a six-foot tall Western lolita might be appropriate.

Last year, I wanted to do Strawberry Switchblade with my extremely easy-going spouse. I don't think there's another hetero male in the world that would agree to dressing as half of a defunct Scottish girl-group, and don't think I don't know I'm lucky. Here's my initial sketch and
a reference picture-

Strawberry Switchblade were an adorable pop duo who had a hit with "Since Yesterday", and later a minor ripple with a cover of Dolly Parton's "Jolene." They were best friends who later split up messily, and the tiny one, Rose McDowall, went on to work with Death in June, Coil, Current 93, Nurse with Wound and Psychic TV, and has thus developed a certain amount of street cred. I think that Jill is driving a cab in Glasgow.

Here's how our costumes turned out,

And here's how they look when paired with French bulldogs:

While I was doing my Strawberry research, I noticed that there were a lot of photos of Strawberry Switchblade touring Japan in the early 1980's, and then http://www.strawberryswitchblade.net/ offered up this nifty pic of an early Visual Kei group, Velvet Eden, that used to dress as Strawberry Switchblade, and who also covered their songs. Half the group, a drag artist named Dada, is also involved with/models for Lolita clothes label Arachnophobia. Which brings us to the question: was anyone dressing like a doll who was not first into Strawberry Switchblade?

(If you're interested in some very detailed Strawberry Switchblade costumes, contact me and I'll sell 'em to you at a reasonable price, from wigs to jewelry to outfits! I gotta hold onto the petticoats, but they're easy to find.)

Recently, J-pop star Tommy February 6 has covered Strawberry Switchblade's "Since Yesterday". Tommy February 6 has also been immortalized in a Blythe doll as an exclusive for Portland's own Just Be toys http://www.justbecomplex.com/:

And here is a gallery announcement for Gothic Lolita Blythe dolls in Tokyo:

What does it all mean? Did Strawberry Switchblade invent Gothic Lolita?

Where are the Strawberry Switchblade Blythe dolls?

Here's a picture of a real-live Lolita playing with herself in Blythe form: