Lolita fashion and Lolicon are seperate things, and I think this is where a lot of confusion comes from (because there's a TON of overlap in anime in games).
Lolita Fashion is (usually) actually about modesty based off victorian styles and isn't really meant to be sexualized... That's not to say people don't sexualize it, but that's like saying Furries are all about Yiffing. Lolita fashion usually does emphasize a youthful dollish look, but isn't really about actual kids and most real life Lolitas are adults. That's not even getting into the whole subculture that goes beyond the appearances, but I don't know as much about that.
Lolicon however is short for Lolita Complex, and is in refrence to the
book lolita and refers to a sexual interest in underaged girls or girls who look underage. Usually in japanese media the term Lolicon is used to refer to people who are interested in, or percieved to be interested in underaged girls or girls who look underaged (again, either seriously or in jest). I've RARELY heard Loli on it's own used but like in the west I think it's used to refer to characters or people who are underaged, or look it, usually to mock someone else's interest in them. If I remember correctly at least. Either way, Lolicon has nothing to do with how they dress or act, only if they're treated as a potential object of sexual attraction while having physical features usually associated with being underage (flat chest+small height+baby face).
The problem is a lot of Lolita characters in games an anime have childlike features even if they're sexualized so there's a lot of confusion between the terms.
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