Trying to sum up 'Harajuku fashion' in one big 'section' would be almost impossible. Because, of course, it doesn't just consist of one style. Harajuku fashion consists of many, many different styles, all combined on the wacky streets of Harajuku, giving the entire place a feeling of individuality that you're unlikely to find anywhere else in the world. Harajuku is the one place where you can dress in anything you like, you could cover yourself head-to-toe in Ostrich feathers, or dress in Sweet Lolita. You could wear the usual jeans and t-shirt, or dress like an extra from The Hills. The possibilities are endless in this fashion report, but one thing's for certain... No matter what you wear, you will be accepted, at Harajuku.
Firstly, I'll list the more 'popular' fashion types found in Harajuku:
✧ Cyber Punk
✧ California Girl
✧ Cosplay
✧ Ganguro
✧ Lolita
✧ Visual Kei
✧ Fairy Kei
✧ Hip-Hop
Some of these terms, you're likely to be familiar with. For example, 'Lolita' is a very common fashion style in Japan, so a lot of people will already know a lot about it. If not, I've written an article on it, which can be found in the 'Fashion' section of this blog. Another common term is 'Visual Kei', Japan's slightly OTT version of what most European people would class as 'Emo'. Although I hate the word 'emo' in itself, it seems to be the best word to describe the style.
Other terms may not be so familiar to you. This is where this article is heading. One by one, I'm going to attempt to explain these styles the best I can, so that you can grasp a better understanding. Okay, here goes~
✧ Cyber Punk ✧
The ultimate style for colour-lovers. Cyber-punks usually wear their hair in thick wefts of artificial hair, in ridiculously bright colours, such as neon pink and lime green. Cyber-punks were originally derived from cyber-goths, whom, unlike regular 'goths', follow electronic dance music, rather than rock. Thus, they prefer to dress in a way that is much more colourful than regular 'goths' or 'punks'. One woman, Julia Borden, quotes the style as "combining elements of industrial aesthetics with a style associated with "Gravers" (Gothic ravers). Gravers hybridized "the British Raver look and the NYC ClubKid look with a 'freak show' spin." And this, pretty much, sums up the entire style quite nicely. Brightly coloured hair, worn almost like neon dreadlocks. Brightly coloured clothes, often tutus or other puffy skirts. And finally, to complete the look, a pair of decorative goggles, or sometimes even a gas-mask, if you can find one.
✧ California Girl ✧
Ridiculously simple, this fashion is basically just stolen from the beaches of California. Combining faded shorts with sandals and a cropped t-shirt, this look seems almost boring in comparison to the other fashion styles seen in Harajuku. Typically, followers of this trend will have either blonde hair, or a very light shade of brown, like honey. They very rarely have a dark hair colour, as the traditional 'California look' consists of minimal clothing and peroxide-blonde hair.
✧ Cosplay ✧
Cosplay can be described as dressing up as your favourite character from a cartoon, TV show, movie, manga or anime. Typically, in Japan, it tends to be more anime and manga-related, however, that doesn't mean that characters whom are not classed as being anime or manga do not count as cosplay. The word 'cosplay' is derived from the two words 'costume' and 'play'. So, essentially, it means to 'play dress-up' as a character. Cosplay is a very popular fashion style in Japan, with anime and manga becoming increasingly more popular, more and more people want to try out looking like a cute anime character.
✧ Ganguro ✧
This is the point where people turn around and ask me if I'm kidding. Nope. Ganguro fashion is just as popular as the other styles, despite its absolutely crazy appearance. Layer after layer of bright orange foundation, mixed with fake-tan must be applied for the base coat, followed by another few layers of crazy make-up. Originally, Ganguro is believed to be derived from American fashion, as almost a 'parody' of the look that is seen as beautiful on American girls. Blonde hair, false tan, and a LOT of make-up. This fashion style can be seen as a statement against what is seen as 'beautiful' amongst Japanese women. The picture of beauty in Japan is a pale-skinned woman with dark hair, however, more and more young girls are taking on this trend and accepting it as their daily-wear now, meaning that the whole concept of 'Japanese beauty' is being dissolved into nothing.
✧ Fairy Kei ✧
Most likely my favourite style out of all the fashion types listed above. Combining floaty pastel colours with a cutesy-Lolita like style, we come across Fairy Kei, the sweet, innocent cousin of Visual Kei. Popular colours for Fairy Kei include: lavender, baby blue, light pink, mint green, pale yellow, etc. It is often expected to find aspect of Western toy companies incorporated into an outfit, such as My Little Pony or Strawberry Shortcake. The original store that first created Fairy Kei fashion was the popular Japanese boutique 'Spank'. Wanting to create something sweet and cute, yet different, Sauri Tabuchi began to mix and match pastel colours with vibrant bows and other forms of cutesy decora. The end result: Fairy Kei. Since then, the fashion style has majorly taken off, fast becoming one of the most popular fashion trends to hit Japan.
I truly hope that this article has been of use to people who were considering adopting a Harajuku-inspired style. I, personally, decided to mess around with some items of clothing I had at home, to get into the feel of writing this article. The following pictures are the results of those experiments.
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