Japanese Street Fashion Is Amazing
18/03/08 15:52 Filed in: fashion
I love Japanese street fashion. The looks are to the extreme. Street fashion has become the most popular trend in Japan today. Great deals of young Japanese wear the outlandish clothes in large urban fashion districts such as Harajuku, Ginza, Odaiba, Shinjuku and Shibuya.
Many of these trends has been chronicled by Shoichi
Aoki since 1997 in the fashion magazine FRUiTS,
which is a notable magazine for the promotion of
street fashion in Japan. FRUiTS is a very
different magazine with no ads and tons of
photos of people on the street. Each persons
look is broken down and they talk a little about
the person.
The term 'Street Fashion' is used to describe fashion where the wearer personally customizes the outfits by adopting a mixture of current and traditional trends. Such clothes are generally home-made with the use of material bought from the stores.
There are many styles of dresses in Japan, created from a mix of both local and foreign labels. Some of these styles are extreme and avant-garde, similar to the haute couture seen on European catwalks.
Lolita
There are a few variations on the lolita style; GothLoli, PunkLoli and SweetLoli.
Gothic Lolita styles focus more on Edwardian pieces and darker colors. Big brooches, bonnets, and umbrellas are popular accessories. A popular style now is "Alice in Wonderland", with skirts, tops, accessories, bags all with playing cards on them.
Punk Lolita styles have a lot of plaid in the clothing. Chains, pearls, big bows patterned with plaid , lace, and lots of wristbands are popular accessories.
Sweet Lolita styles are inspired by baby doll clothing. A lot of pinks and whites and blues are used. Bows, lace collars, and stuffed animals are common accessories. Aprons are worn over dresses as to give the appearance as if someone had been baking. Hello Kitty is very popular with SweetLolis.
Kogals
Kogals are known for wearing platform boots, a miniskirt, copious amounts of makeup, hair coloring (usually blonde or brown), artificial suntans, and designer accessories. If in school uniform, the look typically includes skirts pinned very high and loose socks (large baggy socks that go up to the knee). Kogals' busy social lives and desire for new material goods lead them to be among the first consumers of Japanese mobile phone technology, and their taste in clothes tends toward Burberry scarves and Louis Vuitton handbags. Think Asian Paris Hilton.
Gnaguro
In ganguro fashion, a deep tan is combined with hair dyed in shades of orange to blonde, or a silver gray known as "high bleached". Black ink is used as eyeliner and white concealer is used as lipstick and eyeshadow. False eyelashes, plastic facial gems, and pearl powder are often added to this. Platform shoes and brightly-colored outfits complete the ganguro look. Also typical of ganguro fashion are tie-dyed sarongs, miniskirts, and lots of bracelets, rings, and necklaces
Bōsōzoku
Is often portrayed, and even caricatured, in many forms of Japanese media such as anime, manga and films. The typical bōsōzoku member is often depicted in a uniform consisting of a jumpsuit like those worn by manual laborers or a tokko-fuku, a type of military issued over-coat with kanji slogans usually worn open with no shirt underneath showing off their bandaged torsos and matching baggy pants tucked inside tall boots. Leather jackets, often embroidered with club/gang logos, and even full leather suits, are also seen as common elements of the bōsōzoku look. Items in the bōsōzoku attire consist of sunglasses, usually round or wrap-around, long hachimaki headbands, also with battle slogans, and a pompadour hairstyle, most likely akin to the greaser/rocker look, or perhaps because of the hairstyle's association with yakuza thugs. The punch perm is considered a common bōsōzoku hairstyle as well.
Elegant Gothic Aristocrat
The style of Elegant Gothic Aristocrat/Lolita is based on the concept of androgyny and often has identical outfits for both men and women. The typical colors of the clothes are black, white and other dark colors, but sometimes you will see light blue or light pink with black detailing. The main image is founded on elegance and simplicity where the clothing lines are usually simple and tight, with pants or long skirts that stand in contrast to the Lolita style. Dark, heavy makeup may be worn by both sexes.
The term 'Street Fashion' is used to describe fashion where the wearer personally customizes the outfits by adopting a mixture of current and traditional trends. Such clothes are generally home-made with the use of material bought from the stores.
There are many styles of dresses in Japan, created from a mix of both local and foreign labels. Some of these styles are extreme and avant-garde, similar to the haute couture seen on European catwalks.
Lolita
There are a few variations on the lolita style; GothLoli, PunkLoli and SweetLoli.
Gothic Lolita styles focus more on Edwardian pieces and darker colors. Big brooches, bonnets, and umbrellas are popular accessories. A popular style now is "Alice in Wonderland", with skirts, tops, accessories, bags all with playing cards on them.
Punk Lolita styles have a lot of plaid in the clothing. Chains, pearls, big bows patterned with plaid , lace, and lots of wristbands are popular accessories.
Sweet Lolita styles are inspired by baby doll clothing. A lot of pinks and whites and blues are used. Bows, lace collars, and stuffed animals are common accessories. Aprons are worn over dresses as to give the appearance as if someone had been baking. Hello Kitty is very popular with SweetLolis.
Kogals
Kogals are known for wearing platform boots, a miniskirt, copious amounts of makeup, hair coloring (usually blonde or brown), artificial suntans, and designer accessories. If in school uniform, the look typically includes skirts pinned very high and loose socks (large baggy socks that go up to the knee). Kogals' busy social lives and desire for new material goods lead them to be among the first consumers of Japanese mobile phone technology, and their taste in clothes tends toward Burberry scarves and Louis Vuitton handbags. Think Asian Paris Hilton.
Gnaguro
In ganguro fashion, a deep tan is combined with hair dyed in shades of orange to blonde, or a silver gray known as "high bleached". Black ink is used as eyeliner and white concealer is used as lipstick and eyeshadow. False eyelashes, plastic facial gems, and pearl powder are often added to this. Platform shoes and brightly-colored outfits complete the ganguro look. Also typical of ganguro fashion are tie-dyed sarongs, miniskirts, and lots of bracelets, rings, and necklaces
Bōsōzoku
Is often portrayed, and even caricatured, in many forms of Japanese media such as anime, manga and films. The typical bōsōzoku member is often depicted in a uniform consisting of a jumpsuit like those worn by manual laborers or a tokko-fuku, a type of military issued over-coat with kanji slogans usually worn open with no shirt underneath showing off their bandaged torsos and matching baggy pants tucked inside tall boots. Leather jackets, often embroidered with club/gang logos, and even full leather suits, are also seen as common elements of the bōsōzoku look. Items in the bōsōzoku attire consist of sunglasses, usually round or wrap-around, long hachimaki headbands, also with battle slogans, and a pompadour hairstyle, most likely akin to the greaser/rocker look, or perhaps because of the hairstyle's association with yakuza thugs. The punch perm is considered a common bōsōzoku hairstyle as well.
Elegant Gothic Aristocrat
The style of Elegant Gothic Aristocrat/Lolita is based on the concept of androgyny and often has identical outfits for both men and women. The typical colors of the clothes are black, white and other dark colors, but sometimes you will see light blue or light pink with black detailing. The main image is founded on elegance and simplicity where the clothing lines are usually simple and tight, with pants or long skirts that stand in contrast to the Lolita style. Dark, heavy makeup may be worn by both sexes.