Young Writers Society

Comment before text: Just want to get some information out there that really interested me. If there's anything that's wrong feel free to call me out on it - everyone's human and I'm not always perfect in getting my facts straight. Hope you enjoy and maybe learn something too!

Japanese fashion has always been of interest to me since learning of this culture. Japan is a dramatically more technologically advanced country with booming cities like Tokyo and Kyoto where the cost of living is as much if not more than our own New York City. It stands to reason that their style would be fashion forward, right? I’m not really sure about that but I do know that Japans old traditions are shown even now through their everyday attire. I’m not talking about the big, Shinto robes and the ever popular kimonos – I’m talking about their ability to take something foreign and make it their own. You can see that clearly in the gothic styles as well as the pink Victorian dresses all the way to the rocker looks with the heavy use of eyeliner. Japan has always done this throughout history, why should it be any different in what they put on their backs? There are at least twelve different types of Japanese street fashions as well as six different forms of ‘kei’ styles and I want to talk about all of them, because each one is just as unique as the last.1

Containing many different subcategories, Lolita is a classic and most known Japanese style in the United States, and just to prove it, here in America even a Microsoft Word Processor knows how to spell it. I can say one thing for sure: it certainly has a lot of variations. From ‘Gothic’ to ‘Sweet’, from ‘Punk’ to ‘Classic’ there are so many variations. There is even a Lolita design for boys called ‘Ouji’ also known as ‘Kodona’ here in the west. The Ouji style, though known for its Victorian boy pants commonly referred to ‘prince-pants’ and manly attire, are mostly worn by women. Men who were Ouji call themselves ‘Dandy’ which to Americans would seem like an insult. The look is characterized by bow ties, suspenders and top hats with minimal makeup with perhaps a bit on darkening around their eyes.2 You can probably tell by the name ‘Gothic Lolita’ that this style revolves around black, but what you probably didn’t know is that it also includes use of crosses, bats, and spiders in their accessories along with the traditional Victorian flavoring of bonnets, brooches, and parasols. Most of that was probably known and the ‘Sweet Lolita’ isn’t that much of a stretch of the imagination either. Sweet Lolita styles are mostly focused around child-like attitudes as well as pastel colors accompanied with the use of baby dolls, large head bows, and stuffed animals. All of that is really cute, but also expected. Next comes ‘Classic Lolita’ which is more of a business and mature style with still having that Victorian influences. ‘Punk Lolita’ is more experimental since the clothing isn’t really put together and really American’s definition of punk in the first place is spiky hair dyed unnatural colors.3 There are at least ten other different types of Lolita fashion, but those were just the main ones, and I promised an over view of all the different kinds.

Moving on to: Gyaru, or sometimes known as Ganguro. The Ganguro style is based on all things fake: fake eyelashes, wigs, fake nails, dark tans, you name it. It basically started around the 1990’s though the actual Gyaru styles started all the way back in the 1970’s.4 But that’s not all Gyaru has to offer, there’s also a subcategory of basically the school girl image with loose socks, short skirts, and a school uniform. Both of these styles, however popular with the westerners are in the decline since their peak in the 2000’s.

Like the Ganguro subculture that tan their skin till it’s really dark, the ‘Shiro-Nuri’ style is almost the exact opposite in that instead of making your skin darker, you make it as light as you can. Shiro-Nuri literally means 'painted in white' in Japanese though their skin is really the only ‘rule’ of Shiro-Nuri because their clothes can vary widely from Gothic Lolita to traditional Japanese elements like kimonos and yukatas.5 This new style of painting your face white and wearing bold clothing is actually pretty new despite its Gyaru 1970’s background.

Thought hard to pronounce, the ‘Bōsōzoku’ style is also one of those stereotypical styles that the west has liked when in Japan itself the style has declined since the 1990’s and 2000’s. This street fashion features a brightly colored jumpsuit with bandages torsos and pants shoved into boots.6 It’s often portrayed in manga and animes still today and recently on the hit TV show ‘King of the Nerds’ was worn by a NASA scientist for a rap-off competition. Though a style, Bōsōzoku was mostly known as a biker-like gang who like to project a yakuza-like image.

Another popular street fashion known as Decora are not particularly known for their clothes, though their accessories are another matter. They tend to wear hot pink with short tutu-like skirts and a hoodie, and then precede the cover it almost completely up with necklaces, legwarmers, armwarmers, bracelets, stockings, and knee socks. What’s really interesting is that they are all worn at once; one on top of the other. Even though this look is popular overseas, it eventually merged with ‘Fairy Kei’.7

Fairy Kei is a fashion style of just a mix of Decora, Sweet Lolita and the eighties all rolled into one. With accessories featuring the Care Bears, Strawberry Shortcake and My Little Pony it’s basically a style focusing on all things cute – which is more than you can say about ‘Angura Kei’. Angura Kei is the darkest subcategory of ‘Visual Kei’ which focuses on more of a glam-rock western fashion. Angura makeup is worn dark and heavy with spikes and chains covering the body and just like the other Visual Kei it’s influenced by underground music with similar names. Though Angura may be underground, Oshare is a Visual Kei that is seen as being more fashionable with patterns, bright colors, and punk influences it’s unlike others in its category with lighter makeup and face piercings.8 Two newly emerging Kei styles include ‘Cult Party Kei’ and ‘Dolly Kei’. The Cult Party Kei mainly focuses on crosses, lace, satin, and bible patterns with natural make up and roses in their hair.9 The Dolly Kei is another popular style just coming out of Japan. It focuses on Japan’s view of the Middle Ages with a more vintage style of clothing focusing on a more idealistic European fairy tale style.10 ‘Mori Kei’, also known as ‘Mori Girl’ is very similar to Dolly Kei as in its appearance and preference for vintage style clothing however tends to have more earthy tones and themes; “Fashions that look as if they just popped out of a mythical forest.”11 This style is actually the only one I identify with personally because of my own style preferences and also my preference for a more mainstream look.

The one big underground street fashion I’ve left out? You guessed it: cosplayers. Though some might argue cosplay is not actually a fashion it is a style that is known throughout the world because it is modeled after popular culture in Japan like manga and video games. Though it’s uncommon to actually see them in the streets except in maybe Harajuku or Yoyogi Park some argue that all Japanese street fashions can be traced back to simply cosplay and the ability to model yourself after someone you admire or look up to.

Despite all of these different styles there is no one Harajuku style like Gwen Stefani implicates in her 2004 hit “Harajuku Girl”. Since the song came out many Americans came to Tokyo to find that Harajuku girl and because these subcultures don’t recognize themselves as that there really is no ‘Harajuku Girl’ fashion.12 Within all of these fashions the people still try to be unique and everyone puts their own spin on it and makes it their own.

After all of that I’m sure you will agree with me that Japan not only took in fashion from around the world but also made it distinctly theirs. From what seems like hundreds of subculture popular fashion they are all Japanese where this level of creativity and uniqueness will probably never be able to be matched. Whether you view all of these styles as outlandish and ugly or if you identify with just one we can all agree they are definitely one of a kind. You might think it’s odd that in the middle of a technology boom over in Japan styles like these are emerging, but who knows, it could be so fashion forward it’s foreign. We might all be wearing these fashions in twenty years time.

Work Cited:

"IMF's 'Local Feed' Tokyo – Lolita Fashion" July 03, 2007

McInnes, Paul. "Tokyo Fashion News." Tokyo Fashion News [Shibuya-ku, Tokyo] 13 Mar.

2010: n. pag. Print.

Sollee, Kristen. "Japanese Rock on NPR." The Big Takeover 25 June 2006: n. pag. The Big

Takeover. Web. 24 Apr. 2013.

Spacey, John. "20 Tokyo Subculture Fashions Explained." Japan Talk. Japan Talk, 20 July 2012.

Web. 24 Apr. 2013.