Hime Lolita is one of those themes that pretty much take an extravagant approach to lolita. It is primarily seen with the Sweet sub style, but it’s not impossible to see Gothic or Classic do this style as well. I don’t recommend this theme to newbies since it often needs many pieces to put together, and might not even be practical financially for a first dress. It’s definitely worth a try once you get to know the basics!
“Hime,” literally meaning “princess” in Japanese, aims to create just that - the look of a Princess. You’ll see this style come into OTT (over the top) territory with big hair, lots of head accessories, much bigger skirts, and even crowns and scepters.
Before we go into making a hime coord, let’s discuss some things about Hime!
♕ What’s the Difference Between Just OTT and Hime? ♕
(One type) of OTT
Hime
OTT is more like an umbrella term for anything on the more extreme side of styling. Hime is simply just one of many themes you could go for. Not everything OTT is hime. The coord on the right is definitely hime, whereas the coord on the left is OTT but more decora inspired.
♕ Hime doesn’t always have to look historical♕
It’s very common nowadays to see hime lolita look very historically influenced. When you Google “hime lolita”, you’ll likely see this:
I myself personally love the historical look, especially if it looks Rococo influenced, but Hime didn’t always start out that way! And you certainly don’t have to stick to this look either!
Around the 2010’s or so, hime moreso looked like this:
The style still had a lot of Rococo influence into it, but wasn’t required for your dress to look like a remake of an actual historical dress.
As seen here, hime didn’t always go super OTT either! The girl on the left certainly went that way with the amazing hat. However, the girl on the right just stuck to a frilly/tiered dress while the rest of her coord is a little more toned down. Her hair is still done in an updo, with some cute flowers!
There was also a lot of influence from hime gyaru, a substyle of gyaru - another jfashion popular at the time. Both liked princesses! I think it’s most obvious in the hairstyles. It was not uncommon to see hime lolita and hime gyaru sharing makeup, hairstyles, accessories, or tiaras.
Gyaru
Hime Lolita
♕ How Historical Is TOO Historical? ♕
While there certainly are lolita dresses that reach tea length, and many dresses that are highly influenced by history - there’s a point where a dress stops being lolita and starts being more historical recreation.
Here is a good example of a dress being historical, while staying within the lolita aesthetic. This dress by Hinana Queena (called their Rococo OP). This still suits lolita because of its length, as well as having the same silhouette. It just happens to be more poofy than a usual dress. It certainly has a lot of layers!
This next dress on the other hand, is straying too far from lolita to really be considered lolita anymore. The length and shape of the dress are too different. The shape starts to become more like an actual historical dress rather than the cupcake or A-line shape of a lolita dress.
In comparison, let’s look at this dress by Innocent World. It’s a dress that’s on the longer side, and yet it maintains the right silhouette and type of poof that you’d see in lolita. It also has enough of the historical influence, especially in the sleeves.
You might also see dresses like this being sold on lolita reseller sites or places like Chinese Lolita Updates. This dress is also very historically influenced, but not at all lolita.
Remember: Just because a dress is being sold by a store that primarily does lolita, doesn’t mean that the dress itself is lolita.
It was inspired by the Regency period, which has a very different silhouette from lolita. It’s more tube shaped, and this dress was not intended for the kind of petticoats we see in lolita. Even though lolita has empire waists, the look of the dresses are still very different.
♕ Get Started ♕
Dress
First thing to cover is the main piece - your dress (JSK or OP) or a skirt. Truth be told, there’s a lot of dresses out there that make it really easy to make a coord hime. These dresses are often already very extravagant on their own.
Sugar Bouquet Rococo OP by BTSSB
Sweet Lacy Basket OP by Angelic Pretty
Secret Garden Princess - Metamorphose temps de fille
Romantic Rose Letter OP - Angelic Pretty
Usually, you’ll want to go for a dress that’s very fancy. It may have a lot more detail, bigger sleeves/hime sleeves, tiers or more ruffles than usual, or has a skirt that can hold a lot of poof! Sometimes there’ll be more detail on the bodice like extra bows, corset lacing, or a larger center piece. Motifs in hime often include florals, roses, birds, tea parties, or are even just solid dresses!
That being said, it’s still possible to use a dress that’s not as extravagant or not as intended for more over the top looks.
Wonder Party is being styled here in a more hime direction thanks to the hair, and fancier shoes. The hat helps to bring it into OTT territory without having the dress be super poofy.
Another toned down example is Rose Princess Doll JSK by Angelic Pretty! This was previously seen above in this blog of how hime used to look back then.
Side Note on Petticoats: Some dresses are going to be really heavy, and will need a strong petticoat or even a hoopskirt to hold it up. Since I’m not a fan of layering pettis, my suggestion would be to use a hoopskirt to hold up the majority of the dress. You could layer a comfy petti on top of this hoopskirt to give the dress an extra oompf.
Blouse
Blouses are a little easy in that it’s not that hard to find hime sleeve blouses at all. These blouses are very extravagant with their big bell sleeves, and lots of frills and details. Of course, not every blouse has to have hime sleeves for your coord to be hime.
You will still want to look for a blouse that has a lot of detail going on. Hime sleeve or not, blouses should be over the top whether in shape, design, or detail.
Legwear and Shoes
Legwear in my opinion can vary a lot depending on the dress, so I almost want to say that anything could go. Matching OTKs or anything lacy works, and sometimes stores come out with very princess-y printed tights.
Shoes however, should look luxurious.
For toned down outfits, I think even tea party shoes should have more detail than a simple solid colored pair, whatever the heel height. This detail could again, be more bows, or even straps.
Flat heel, Too simple.
Also a flatter heel, but much more detailed and works out better!
Some people go for shoes with a historical look to them, like Iris Corolla’s Rococo shoes.
Others opt for simpler shoes, but still have a luxe feel to them. These work out thanks to their jewels, pearls, and the ruffle on the back of the heel.
You can even try out using hime gyaru shoes! Normally, open toed shoes aren’t recommended for lolita. However, because of the decoration on the front part area on these kinds of shoes, I feel like it would work out well specifically for hime.
Accessories
Accessories are really fun with hime! It’s pretty much encouraged to add bits and bobs to your coord such as extra hair clips, brooches, rings, sashes, canotiers, and fancy jewelry. I especially love seeing hats or bonnets in hime!
Just try to make sure they still match with your outfit. Perhaps a dress with more pearls or jewels could go well with a jeweled tiara, whereas a maybe a more floral coord or historical one would look better with a canotier or hat.
Props are also fun, and would be interesting to see at a tea party. BABY is known for their scepters after all.
Hair
Hairstyle can depend on what accessory you’re going with, but I always recommend that you do your hair somehow for hime. Your coord may look unfinished if everything else is fancy, but your hair is not.
It’s not uncommon for hime to draw influences from gyaru hairstyles as well. Twin tails and beehives or bumps are common choices. Other times, people even go for historical Rococo-like hair! I for one fully encourage bigger hairstyles or wigs ;D
Though if bigger hair isn’t your thing, hair being down is done as well! I often see this when people wear bonnets or hats. As long as the head piece is still big enough to balance the poof of your dress, it should work out. Really your goal at the end of the day is to balance out your coord like you would any other style!
♕ Final Thoughts ♕
Hime is a beautiful style that I hope others will try out! It’s really fantastic for tea parties when people want to dress their best. I hope this guide has given you more information on what hime is, as well was what hime is not. I hope you can try it out for yourself as it’s definitely one of my favorite styles!
Thanks for reading!
Lady Grey
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