[coord] Barbie-core lookbook! video clip

Check out my latest entry on my Barbiecore lookbook video! I came up with 5 very spontaneous pink and Barbie-related outfits and painstakingly created a 4 second video using a soundclip from the Barbie movie. It seriously took hours to make a short video lol. But I love most of the outfits and wanted to share.

https://starsbegantofall.com/2023/08/18/fashion-hi-barbie-barbie-lookbook-video/

[DIY] re-fashion and altering Meta Jewel Leopard jumperskirt

 Posted originally at my domain.

 

https://starsbegantofall.com/2023/07/23/j-fashion-re-fashion-and-altering-meta-jewel-leopard-jumperskirt/

I dunno if anyone is actively following this blog, but if you still are, I recommend also following the blog at my domain starsbegantofall.com for lengthier J-fashion posts, such as this "sew with me" post on how I made a low-waist jumperskirt dress with broken zipper into a top and skirt combo that is not as tight!

Stay tuned for worn photos... whenever... It's hot here, okay?

[links] at the domain y'all

 I made a "best of..." link list of my blog entries here for your and my reference on my domain. There is no new content, I just wanted a quick reference to remind me of what I already wrote about since my memory isn't so great in my old age. I do have over 120 posts over several years on this site, so I figured it might be useful especially if the tags aren't specific enough for you.

 

https://starsbegantofall.com/2023/07/07/fashion-ultimate-resources-links-page-from-my-j-fashion-blog/

Make sure to put my domain's blog on your feed reader or favorites list so you are reminded to check back! I will put all of my long form or image heavy posts there first instead of here (unless I feel like it's too personal to archive), but I will post the links here just like in this post, and on tumblr and instagram and twitter occasionally.

[meet/coord] Okashi-con 2023 - J-fashion Mixer!

 I decided to not post this on my domain anyway, I feel like it's kind of personal stuff that doesn't need to be archived forever on a portfolio site. Lol. Anyway, here are some photos from Okashi-con 2023 and related J-fashion recaps!

Okashicon is a small convention in Pflugerville, Texas and emphasizes inclusivity, Japanese street fashion and a safe and welcoming environment for all Japanese culture fans. This year the con invited Japanese guests Haruka Kurebayashi and Sebastian Masuda, along with a handful of western indie brands and vendors. They have a fashion show, several J-fashion panels, a swapmeet and a fashion mixer each year (when able to meet in person) along with the usual anime panels, cosplay contest, tabletop gaming, maid cafe, voice-actor guests, artist alley and dealer's room. If you are even slightly interested in Japanese fashion and kawaii culture and have the means and desire to travel to Texas in the summer, you could do much worse (I mean that literally lol).

One of the panels I went to is the Lolita Loteria! It's basically bingo but with lolita related imagery, some of which were translated to Spanish but some not for entertainment factor. I won the first round and got a cute little sweet!

Unlike a traditional lolita brand-sponsored tea party, the fashion mixer is open to all Japanese street fashions such as lolita, decora, ouji, gyaru, fairy-kei, rave, etcetera. This year's theme is space uchuu, featuring the cutest space girl mascot and very creative table decorations! The favor bags for attendees are hefty ones with tons of space-themed treats and small goodies from the vendors and fashion guests, kudos to the staff for putting it together!

 

[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!