fashion style: Gothic Lolita ~Sweet Lolita ~Classic Lolita ~Ganguro ~Kogal ~Hime ~Visual Kei ~Oshare Kei

~Cosplay ~Decora ~Dark Decora

Boho Preppy Alternative Southern Scene Alternative Gothic Beatnik Hipster Goth Rockabilly Retro Hippie Punk Frat/Sorority Cool Britannia o o o o o o o o o o o o o o
1 Modern Japanese street fashion 1.1 Lolita 1.2 Gyaru 1.3 Ganguro 1.4 Kogal 1.5 Bszoku 1.6 Decora 1.7 Shironuri 1.8 Visual kei 1.9 Oshare kei 1.10 Angura kei 1.11 Cult party kei 1.12 Dolly kei 1.13 Fairy kei 1.14 Mori girl

Lolita[edit source | editbeta]

Gothic Lolita

Main article: Lolita fashion Containing many different themes within its boundaries, Lolita has become one of the larger, more recognizable styles in Japanese street fashion. Now gaining interest worldwide, Lolita is seen as one of the many different styles that brings the "cute" in Japan. The more well-known styles within Lolita fashion are as follows: Gothic Lolita - is Lolita with a heavy influence from the Eastern and Victorian Goth style. Often characterized by dark colors, crosses, bats and spiders, as well as other popular gothic 'icons'. Victorian iron gates and architectural designs are also often seen in dress prints. Skirts are usually worn knee length with petticoats beneath for volume. Blouses or shirts are lace-trimmed or ruffled in the Victorian style. Knee length socks with boots, bonnets, brooches, and a parasol finish out this style of Lolita. Sweet Lolita - is the most childlike style, mostly characterized by baby animals, fairy tale themes and innocent, childlike attire. It is inspired by baby dolls and Hello Kitty is popular among the SweetLolis. Pastel colors are used, as well as other muted colors like black and dark reds and blues. Large headbows, cute purses, elegant parasols and stuffed animals are popular accessories for Sweet Lolita. Punk Lolita - An experimental style, mixing the influences of Punk with Lolita. It can sometimes look deconstructed or crazy, while keeping most of the 'Lolita silhouette'. Classic Lolita is very traditional. It is very mature, and business-like and focuses on light colors such as, blue, green, and red. Kodona, a.k.a. 'boystyle' and 'ouji', is a more masculine version of lolita, influenced by Victorian boys' clothing. 'Prince pants', which are short capri-style pants that are cut off the knee, usually with some sort of detail (such as lace-edged cuffs) are commonly worn with masculine blouses, top hats, knee socks etc.[3]

Gyaru[edit source | editbeta]

Gyaru get their photo taken in Ikebukuro.

Main article: Gyaru

Gyaru, which is sometimes known as ganguro, which is actually a subcategory of gyaru, is a type of Japanese street fashion that originated in the 1970s. The original ganguro look is no longer popular in Japan[citation needed]. Gyaru is a huge uproar of girly-glam style, breaking all the rules of "what is pretty", and dwelling on man-made beauty (wigs, fake lashes, fake nails etc.). Gyaru is also heavily inspired by Western fashion. Contrary to stereotypes [citation needed], not all gyarus dress in a sexually provocative manner. The gyaru look is varied and is not limited to blonde hair and tanned skin.

Ganguro[edit source | editbeta]

Two ganguro girls in Tokyo, April 2008

Main article: Ganguro

The ganguro style of Japanese street fashion became popular among Japanese girls in the early 1990s and peaked in the early 2000s. Ganguro falls into the larger subculture of gyaru. Ganguro typically includes brightly colored outfits, mini-skirts, and tie-dyed sarongs. The ganguro style consists of bleached hair, a deep tan, fake eyelashes, black and white eyeliner, bracelets, earrings, rings, necklaces and platform shoes.

Kogal[edit source | editbeta]

A kogal can be identified by her loose socks and shortened skirt.

Main article: Kogal

The kogal (kogyaru) look is based on a high school uniform, but with a shorter skirt, loose socks, and often dyed hair and a scarf as well. The girls sometimes call themselves gyaru (gals). This style was prominent in the 1990s, but has since declined.

Bszoku[edit source | editbeta]

Japanese cosplayers dressed up inbszoku-style outfits

Main article: Bszoku While bszoku fashion has not been popular since the 1990s, the stereotypical bszoku look is often portrayed, and even caricatured, in many forms of Japanese media such as anime, manga

and films. The typical bszoku 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. These are usually worn open, with no shirt underneath, showing off bandaged torsos and matching baggy pants tucked inside tall boots.

Decora[edit source | editbeta]

The Decora style originated in the late 90s/early 2000's and rose to great popularity both in and outside Japan. The clothes are usually in black, dark pink or baby pink, but other neon colors were also acceptable (pastels could be found rarely). A plain shirt and hoodie was often worn with short tutu-like skirts in the same color-way. The hair (often worn in low ponytails with long bangs) and make-up itself tends to be quite plain. However, the most significant part of decora is to pile on many layers of cute accessories until the bangs and shirt are barely visible. Stockings, legwarmers, armwarmers, and knee socks are also worn atop each other in different layers. Common details also include leopard prints and patterned dental masks. The style was eventually merged/replaced in the late 2000s by fairy keiand OTT-lolita in Japan, though it is still a relatively popular style overseas.

Shironuri[edit source | editbeta]

Shironuri literally means 'painted in white'. It is so called because people who dress in the shironuri style wear white makeup. This is the only rule of shironuri, although traditional Japanese fashion elements (kimonos, hakama, etc.) are common, as well as elements of gothic lolita style. Minori is a well-known shironuri artist who has been interviewed by Tokyofashion.com.

Visual kei[edit source | editbeta]

Main article: Visual kei Visual kei is a style created in the mid-1980s by Japanese musicians consisting of striking makeup, unusual hair styles and flamboyant costumes, similar to Western glam rock and glam metal. Androgyny is also a popular aspect of the style. Some of the more well-known and influential artists of the style include X Japan, Luna Sea and Malice Mizer.

Oshare kei[edit source | editbeta]

Oshare kei is the happy-go-lucky version of Visual kei and is seen as the most fashionable and cutting edge of the styles. The style focusses a lot on mixing different patterns, bright colors and punk elements to create a unique look. Unlike Visual kei, the make-up is toned toned down a bit and focusses more on the eyes alone. Facial piercings are also common. Just like Visual kei, Oshare kei has been largely influenced by musical artists. Some of those include An Cafe, Panic Channel, Ichigo69, Lolita23q, SuG, LM.C and Aicle.

Angura kei[edit source | editbeta]

Angura kei is the darkest visual kei style. The clothes of the style tend to be mostly black, but with spikes and chains. Make-up is worn dark and heavy. The style has been compared to the modern goth. Like the other two styles mentioned, Angura kei is heavily influenced by underground music with the same name. Some of the most well-known ones include MUCC, Floppy, Guniw Tools, Metronome andNookicky.

Cult party kei[edit source | editbeta]

Cult party kei, named after the Harajuku shop Cult Party (now known as the Virgin Mary), is a relatively new coined style that is based on Western religious artifacts like crosses or bibles. Common aspects include crosses wired in yarn, layers of fabric in soft colors, lots of cream lace, satin bows and bible prints. The make-up and hairstyle is not as over the top as other styles. In fact, Cult party kei is often worn with natural looking make-up without any larger emphasis on the eyes and simple hair-dos with roses. Cult party kei is considered by some to be a subset of dolly kei.

Dolly kei[edit source | editbeta]

Dolly kei is a newly-emerging style based on Japan's view of the Middle Ages and European fairy tales, especially the Brothers Grimm. It includes a lot of vintage-style clothing and sometimes has religious symbols.[4] Grimoire is a store in Japan that has been described as 'the pioneering store behind the Dolly-kei fashion scene'.[5]

Fairy kei[edit source | editbeta]

A more sweet lolita, decora blend, with a hint of 80's. It uses mostly bright pastel colors (like lavender, baby blue, light pink, mint green, pale yellow, etc.), and elements and accessories from Western toy lines of the 1980s and early 1990s, such as My Little Pony, Strawberry Shortcake, Rainbow Brite, Popples, Jem and the Holograms, Barbie andCare Bears. Fairy kei originated from Sauri Tabuchi, the eminent Tokyo fashion figure's store Spank! [6]

Mori girl[edit source | editbeta]

Mori (which means forest) fashion uses soft, loosely fitting layers of garments such as floaty dresses and cardigans. It places an emphasis on natural fabrics (cotton, linen, wool) and handmade or vintage accessories with a nature theme. The color scheme tends to be light and neutral, but patterns such as gingham and florals may also be used. In terms of hairstyles, bangs (often curled) and braids are very popular. It is similar to dolly kei in that the aim is to create a doll-like appearance, but in a more casual, earthy manner.[7]