[discussion] Japanese street fashion spectrum chart

I didn't do a post for April as I was getting ready for an overseas trip that was so stressful lol. But I'm back now. I don't want to dress up because it's humid out, but I had this inspired idea brewing for a while and I want to share it before I forget.

[alt text for readers: titled Japanese Fashion Spectrum (effort versus accrual). Left side states lifestyle (gyaru, hime gyaru, agejo) with a picture of a hime gyaru model, captioned "the most effort; hair, makeup, nails or skin upkeep. The center states "vibes" (jirai kei, larme, mori kei, any trend on tiktok probably, western styles - cottagecore, etc) with a picture of a larme kei model, captioned "amount of effort and clothes vary as long as the vibe is recognizable and complete". The right side states wardrobe (lolita, historical styles) with a picture of a lolita model wearing a red jumperskirt, captioned "the most stuff: clothes, accessories, shoes, structure garments"]

 Obviously this is a very high level overview of Japanese street fashion, not including the fact that most common fashion items for Japanese women are baggy neutral clothing straight out of Uniqlo.  There can be variables between substyles within each category, but for a general summary, I think this chart differentiates the most popular fashion trends succinctly for the new or casual fan of Japanese fashion.

Let's start with the lifestyle, or most effort side, in which I placed gyaru even though it's no longer  popular in Japan (although it seems to be making a slight comeback with idols and Korean or Chinese trends.) This includes hime gyaru, hime kaji, agejo, maybe even shironuri, all of the styles in which personal individual effort is required, especially for makeup and hair, and depending on the substyle, skin and nails care.  Clothes and jewelry are of course important, but if you didn't make an attempt with makeup or hair, you really did not complete the assignment, whereas if you have the perfect hair/makeup, you can wear more casual normie clothes and still be recognized as a gyaru.  I call this lifestyle because the time put in makes the style, which takes a part of your day, as you need to either learn the skills or go to a salon or have a friend do it for you.  The question is, if you decide to not wear makeup for a while because you are having a rash or eczema flareup for example, are you in the fashion? Many gyarus would say they compensate by putting extra effort into their hair or nails or clothes and maybe do some gyaru life stuff, like blogging or shopping or socializing.  But the appeal and fun of these fashions is the time/effort in the upkeep of personal appearance. (Addendum, this is not necessarily a daily lifestyle fashion, although it usually is for many gyarus because they love makeup that much, however, some fashions do aim for fairly long-lasting changes to their appearance like bleaching or perming hair or tanning, and that's key to this fashion versus the other 2 categories which are much more temporary or require no change.)

I titled the middle of the spectrum "vibes" for lack of a better word. This includes many smaller street fashion trends that pop up in Harajuku and Shibuya, some of which include jirai kei, larme, mori kei, cult party kei, yami kawaii, menhera, etc although I might classify decora more towards wardrobe.  This category also includes tiktok/douyin trends and western trends, like cottage-core, history bounding, dark academia, royalty core, ren faire, etc.  It does not include established Western subcultures such as goth and punk, which are a little deeper than trends or fashions in my opinion.  What is common about these "vibes" fashions is neither physical appearance nor clothes are more important, as long as the head to toe look is complete and recognized by other people who know the trend.  Although buying a new set of clothes is the easiest way to make the look, many people can start most of these fashions from their existing closet with only a few extra purchases.  Lifestyle is an optional part of these trends; some are more involved such as cottage-core which can encompass your house and daily activities, others are just the right clothes and quick hairstyling for going out with friends.  I also consider these easier for beginners to get into, especially cottagecore or dark academia.

The last part of the fashion spectrum is wardrobe, or accrual, which covers lolita and historical styles (that is not history bounding).  This is where the clothes and stuff you have is the most important, and your physical appearance much less important or doesn't even matter if you don't have the right clothes. For example, you can only truly be called a lolita if you have a complete lolita outfit. It doesn't have to be all brand name, but it needs to be a head to toe coord by definition of any lolita out there.  You do not have to style your hair or have any specific makeup although it would help for historical styles like 1940s retro vintage pinup or rococco era French nobility.  As long as you have the right clothes, including undergarments and structure garments and shoes, that's like 99% of the look and everything else is icing on the cake.  This is especially so now that makeup trends and hairstyles are more natural and inclusive with these fashions, since previously the trends were more over the top layered makeup and artificial hair color wigs, at least for lolitas. (Addendum: what if you only have part of a lolita outfit in your wardrobe, are you a lolita in waiting? Nope, still not a lolita, but most lolita clothes can be incorporated into the other styles in the vibes category and honestly, I think that's just as good and a really great use of the money you spent.)

I hope this helps clarify some of the Japanese fashion styles, especially if you want to explore a trend for yourself, or want to understand what motivates different fans of Japanese street fashion. Again, this is a personal classification system that I made for fun, it's absolutely not the only way of categorizing or describing the fashion out there.  I did try to include the most representative photo to show the differences in appearance all with the same general hairstyle - the gyaru has bleached curled hair and flashy makeup and elaborate nails, the larme kei girl has wavy natural colored hair and soft yet noticeable makeup, while the lolita has (presumably) naturally straight undyed hair and no noticeable makeup. Let me know what you think. And that's that!

[coord] Wanna be a cowboy (lolita)

 Here ya go, worn photos of my cowboy lolita coord! I did this last minute because I haven't worn lolita in a while but my instagram was showing me other people's coords for all those February meetups, I really felt the inspiration. Since it was so last minute, I just wore a coord I had already planned some time ago  (like the previous coord post lol).

[JSK: Artemis; socks: Metamorphose; blouse: Innocent World; gloves: Sexpot Revenge; feather collar: Moi Meme Moitie; jacket, bracelets, boots, toy gun, belt: off-brand; spurs: Starcrossed Lovelies; necklace, flowers and veil: handmade; hat: Daiso]

First of all, I can't find my black straw cowboy hat, so this is just a wide brimmed sun hat from Daiso that I added a black rose crown and veil for some drama. From a distance, it looks fine though. While I did not wear the bandana or vest originally planned, the belt did its best to cut off my circulation so I'm fine without the extra layers lol. Also I am in love with these silver (non-functioning) spurs from Lolita Collective, I bought plain pseudo-cowboy boots for this coord and wanted to dress them up somehow and these spurs did the trick. The main issue with this coord was already mentioned in the previous coord planning post linked above, the jumperskirt has a brass detailing that is not echoed in the majority of the coord which has silver details (the bullet bracelets, gloves, spurs and the chunky belt that apparently came with the dress). Another more personal quibble I have is that the bodice front is sewn asymmetrically where the little buckle sits. Every stock photo I found shows the diagonal pintucks so it seems to be a design point but it drives me crazy because it seems purposeless since the rest of the dress is not asymmetrical.

But other than those minor points that no one would notice unless they were invading my personal privacy, I kinda vibe with this coord. I always love any opportunity to wear cowboy items and these Sexpot Revenge snakeskin gloves with skulls that my friend got me from Japan need to be worn as much as possible. I've been watching the new and old Trigun anime series recently, and this coord speaks Trigun villain to me!

[coord] Moi Meme Moitie blue coord worn

 Oops, I didn't post the follow-up to the previous coord composition blog post in this entry here... It didn't turn out amazing or memorable so I guess I forgot about it, but in case I don't make a post for February (I skipped Valentine's day which was during the week this year), here is my ILD winter 2022 coord for wearing at home.

As you can see, the first coord on the left was basically the worn version of the final coord of my brainstorming post, except I added a double navy rose chain to the bolero. As expected, you can't see the silver on tights because of my short stubby legs. Overall it looks acceptable, but the cropped length of the bolero didn't mesh with the long length of the dress, it just highlighted the wrinkly expanse of the skirt. I probably would have skipped the rose chain and pearl chain if I were really planning to wear this out, this is better as a simple coord.

Not satisfied, I tried again with a different wig and different accessories for the sweet country look on the right. This was not necessarily better as a concept, but I do prefer cream and off-white accents over pure white, and I like the use of a lacy open front duster/cardigan from normal Western fashion. So this has points for being creative and sort of covering the wrinkly skirt. Here I finally used a cream/gold necklace and headdress made by Minori, and wore an off-brand lacy blouse and cream/gold socks and shoes.

Which do you prefer? I think I prefer the sweet country look. It was too difficult to create a cohesive gothic or classic coord without buying anything new, whereas the lace duster was a really inspired decision with an almost mori-kei vibe that went with the long length better. I'm still divided on this dress. I really wanted a Moi Meme Moitie main piece to keep, especially one so lightweight and unusual, but without matching accessories from the brand itself, I don't think I'll wear this dress out, so it would be better to sell.  However, I don't think anyone will buy it lol!

[discussion] happy new year! again lol

In January back in the good old days of livejournal, the EGL community would have a yearly wardrobe theme where everyone would post every lolita piece of clothing they owned in a post for others to ooh and ahh over. I only ever participated twice, and since livejournal days, I only did a quick video clip of my lolita dresses once. I personally like seeing the rarest and most valuable (both monetarily or emotionally) pieces in another lolita's wardrobe because that's just fun and I'm nosy, but I wouldn't go searching for such posts. So I don't think it would be worth the time/effort to post my own wardrobe since it's not the most unusual or rare or even the biggest, and no one would be interested.  No one is interested in my regular coord posts for one thing, not even the amazing ones I've done in the past few years. On the other hand, I should keep better track of my clothes for insurance and just archival purposes.

Here are some upcoming coords for 2023 you should keep an eye out for, and what I need to work on to complete those coords.

1. Alucard vampire aristocrat with the Alice and the Pirates jacket. I need to get a long white or platinum blonde wig and maybe classier knee-high boots, but I do have a vest and various blouses already.

2. Meta bunny, this is the year of the rabbit/cat after all. I don't really have a great headdress for this coord, certainly no bunny ears, no socks either. I wanted to make some jewelry or wristcuffs to match as well.

3. Speaking of, I want to do another cat coord. Or several! I have a good idea for a series but I just need to get the perfect cat ear headdresses.

4. Cowboy lolita. I posted some potential coord ideas here for a steampunk take, then never took worn photos. I also have a really good idea for a series here lol, but would have to buy a bunch more items and I dunno if I want to do that.

5. another handmade dress (or more) from Otome no Sewing. As mentioned before, I have fabrics for a copy I want to make (that may or may not be in a sewing book already), and I have leftover toile cotton for a one piece dress. I also need to finish my Sakizo cosplay (lolita-adjacent). I don't have a lot of other fabrics that are nice enough for lolita (maybe just regular clothes), but I would like to construct a hoop petticoat skirt for summer wear and of course, finish off some scraps to make accessories.

[etecetera] composing a coord #2 - Moi Meme Moitie blue

This is in the same series as my coord composing (see the first post here for cowboy lolita). I wanted to try to create an outfit with another tricky-to-coordinate dress, this Moi Meme Moitie blue checkered high waist one-piece "Juliette" dress. I bought this dress on sale a couple of years ago, interested in the potential of styles from one cut due to the long waist ties, however, I did not consider that I don't own a lot of items in this particular medium desaturated shade of blue. Here's my problem solving process, the method to my madness.

Personally, I would classify this dress as classic lolita, veering into aristocrat or historically influenced due to the straighter silhouette and longer length, almost Regency era. It could be styled as gothic if you used black as the contrast, even though the blue is not the usual navy or sapphire or royal blue seen in gothic styles. I decided to go for an elegant classic lolita look first.

Firstly, while I didn't own a lot of medium blue in this French military uniform hard to describe color, I did own navy blue items. Then I decided on my neutral contrast color, which is white/off-white, and my metallic color, which you will see is a combination of gold and silver. I gathered accessories related to this color scheme but focusing on Moi Meme Moitie items first because I like to wear as much from a brand in the same season as possible if they match, then chose the best coordinated combination.

Here is my first attempt!

 

 

[dress, tights, gloves: Moi Meme Moitie; headband: Alice and the Pirates; shoes: Baby the Stars Shine Bright; necklace: off brand; pearl chain: Baroque]

 

I added some navy accents with the sapphire and pearl chain from a Baroque dress and the navy/white pearl and lace headband. I used gray/white tights which technically doesn't match the metallic color of gold, but the dress is long enough on me that you can't see the grays that much. To match the gold chain, I decided on pale gold shoes that have a silver gray lace frill which would hopefully match with the tights. Finally, the white lace gloves echo the lace headband and give some interest to the wrists instead of leaving them bare. I didn't add any earrings or rings to this coord because it's on a mannequin and you can't see them anyway, but I have a white rose enameled ring and some pearl studs in mind.

After all that, I don't think this coord will look great on the human body. I have doubts about the short gloves just on their own, I think adding a white lace shawl or scarf or even bolero covering the area between the end of the sleeves and the wrists would make the contrast look less stark. Maybe a lace overskirt or apron could work, but that would make the coord much more sweet and country.  Another concern is the lack of other shades of the main shade of blue. As far as I know, the brand doesn't carry anything else in this color which is annoying but understandable. If pressed, I would add a matching blue rose to the headdress, because that's a very Mana thing to do.

Now let's take a look at how this dress in various lengths and colorways was coordinated in the Moi Meme Moitie fashion shows (this one in Scandinavia a few years ago). Obviously the medium blue dress is the shorter version below, but you can see how they chose to sort of match the blues using the white/blue floral tights and then added white hairbow and short bolero and shoes for the contrast. The model wearing the white dress had no other main pieces which gave off a Regency look, whereas the model wearing the green dress (an even rarer color to be fair) wore a black bodice corset over and a black blouse underneath to make a faux two-piece set. The model wearing the black dress wore it over a black nun-style blouse with white sleeve ruffles so it appears to be a long-sleeved dress. I think these are all good styling choices for the Moi Meme Moitie brand of elegant gothic/classic, though I would have changed the necklaces and added bracelets or wrist cuffs. The bare wrists might be ok for historically inspired, but for lolita I feel like they needed at least one thing on the wrist.

Here is my revised coordinate based on further consideration. I basically added a white princess sleeve bolero and changed the shoes to white to match. I also added a white lace collar repurposed from a choker/headdress.  Still not sure if this looks good on though...

[bolero, choker ruffle: Atelier Pierrot; shoes: Sosic Shop]

 

Stay tuned for my worn coordinate for winter International Lolita Day this year and see how it looks on a person!

 

[coord] Miss Danger Heavenly Bones jsk

Happy early Halloween! Here is my spooky coord for the season, wearing my Miss Danger Heavenly bones dress in black 2021 preorder. This is a beautiful piece and I am so happy to have gotten it because it is totally my style. I had a few other ideas for Halloween but I was too lazy to work on costumes even though I had the entire week off, so I just put together this coord from what I already have.

[jumperskirt and sash: Miss Danger; blouse: Elegy; necklace, ring: Tiny Passerine; brooch: Rhapsobroderie; earrings: Metamorphose; tights: Taobao; shoes: Sosic Shop; gloves: Restyle; headdress and chain and flowers: Michaels, Hot Topic, Claire's]

I thought this coord is about as good as it was going to get with stuff I already owned and without making new stuff. I did have another halo headdress that I wore for my angel coord that I could have used since the skirt fabric is church vestment so it would have matched thematically, but the headdress had a lot of pearls on it, and the dress didn't have any white anywhere. Which is why I took the pearl straps off my shoes.

I really love the embroidery and beadwork on the ribcage bodice, so lavish and rich and eerie with the heart brooch. Here I wore my adjustable hoop petticoat so the skirt could be displayed to its maximal size (which was very maximal lol), and I like how the overskirt provided another layer of texture. I did pin a black tulle train from a previous costume to the back but you can't see it in this photo and it wasn't that great so no further pictures. If I felt like it, I would have made a new halo headdress out of just gold and crystal rhinestones and maybe added a tulle veil or better train, but it wasn't super necessary.

I'll save my previous costume ideas for another time. Hope everyone has a safe and fun Halloween, stay home if you can, be careful if you must go out!

[coord] belated summer sailor lolita

 This was the coord I was going to post for summer International Lolita Day except I was doing something else at the time and posted an old coord instead. I love Metamorphose's sailor lolita items, they usually release one banger dress a year as sailor/military seems to be one of their specialties. I ordered this dress  new but the pandemmy progressed and I never had a chance to wear it out and even if I did, I have second thoughts about wearing a white dress outside or to eat lol. I didn't even get to order the matching accessories (they were sold out by the time I remembered) and so I made do with DIY and offbrand stuff.

 

[Dress: Metamorphose; hat: handmade; bracelets and rings: offbrand; socks, hairclips: Forever 21; other hairclip: Liz Lisa; shoes: Secret Shop]

Ignore the sloppy salute, it's bad, I know. Anyway, not much to say about this coord other than I wish I had bought the matching hairpiece, cuffs and socks, but I think flipping it to white stripes on navy is pretty interesting and unexpected and I kinda like it. I sewed the hat myself from Otome no Sewing volume 3. The socks have a little anchor on them. The dress colorway is actually off-white and looks a little dirty and grubby on the seams to me, but through the magic of photography filters, the whites and navys don't look so mismatched in the photo lol.

Most of my dresses aren't A-line, they usually have a seam at the waist and lots of puff for the cupcake look or just an empire-waist babydoll sack cut. A-line dresses may not always fit you perfectly if you don't have the ideal shape (see my nurse dress), but luckily this dress has shirring and back lacing and waist ties and fits me so neatly. Plus the two deep pockets? A rare Meta win!