A Guide to Harajuku Street Fashion

A beautiful photoshoot titled 'Harajuku-ers', this feature by Harper's Bazaar magazine represents the colorful and edulcorate side of Harajuku inspired fashion, which I note is only of the many sides and aspects it can have. But it illustrates perfectly the concept!

With this in mind, the possibilities could be endless. Take for example the Harajuku street fashion. Harajuku is one of the biggest shopping areas in Tokyo, Japan. Since the late 90's, thousands of teenagers gather there to give way for their self-expression through clothing.

Many subcultures reside there such as punk, gothic lolita, hip-hop, visual kei, rockabilly and lately cosplaying favorite anime series is the latest trend. Their influences have always been popular J-Rock and J-Pop bands, as well as manga and anime.

The rule of thumb to get Harajuku street fashion is to simple take anything you like (a certain shirt, scarf, top, shoes, etc) and then match them, even though the mix could result a bit mismatched.

You could be amazed with the results, especially if you open your mind to new possibilities. The spirit or essence of Harajuku's fashion is to wear what you feel comfortable with.

Stylish today means to get the best of every trend, the best parts that fit your personality and the shape of your figure, and also makes you comfortable without having to be a fashion victim.

Designers wake up every day thinking of forms, lines, words, ideas, and the imagery that shapes the very essence of our culture. It's the other way around of that when fashion used to determine our roles in society, our customs and behaviors.

Come to think about it, we really 'break' the rules now.

SexPotReVeNGe

SEX POT ReVeNGE is Japanese new punk brand based out of Harajuku, Tokyo and is a fashion brand known for its frequent appearances in KERA magazine. The brand designs around the concept of smashing the useless norm and produce items with a shocking, strange, powerful, and fresh feel.

As a fashion brand, SEX POT ReVeNGE works heavily with artists in the Japanese music scene, collaborating with artists like Antic Cafe, STANCE PUNKS, UNDER CODE PRODUCTION (Phantasmagoria, Vidoll, 12012) for new fashion items and by producing their own free music magazine.

Here are some of their very original offerings:

HEART PANDA Exclusive T-Shirt (S) SA06605-10102
SEX POT ReVeNGe

Awesome, isn't it?

I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw this incredible design, for example!

Deorart

Deorart presents gothic and gothic/punk fashion for those of you who want to enjoy concerts in your own style. In the hearts of our graphic designers lurks a devil's castle full of skeletons and angels from which we draw our inspiration. That's why we use the angel wings as our symbol.

Horrors Checker BIG T-shirt (M) DR-1663-BR

MAXICIMAM


Gothic Lolita/Punk Fashion

Maxicimam is a fashion brand placing its core base in Harajuku. Offering unique designs in various tastes, "Ma Maxicimam" explores the world of punk and gothic, "Mam Maxicimam" targets lolita fashion, and "Nekomimi Maxicimam" uses cats and ears for its main theme. Our concept is to have absolutely no rules and no limits against combining different tastes.

Sweet Heart Dot Jupirin Embroidery Pullover (F) MA-9N2029-34

What is this 'scene´ trend? Scene often referes to a certain aesthetique associated with the 'rock scene', the 'alternative scene', the 'visual kei, ska, scene', etc, but mostly it was known as the glam movement in the early 70's.

Long, chopped, layered, spiked hair; heavy use of eyeliner or eye shadow are merely the clichés of rock n' roll 'scene' look. But you can tweak it to make it your own.

Remember that excess is the difference between looking natural yet stylish and looking completely disguised. The 'Harajuku' trend and the 'scene' trend are not opposed; they just feed off each other. A 'Harajuku' girl can have blonde scene hair, for example, and its completely valid. Remember that today's fashion is not about excluding anything or anyone.

Going beyond cosplays, the way most characters dress in japanese comics are just a mere reflex of the way the rich and culturally complex japanese culture have reinterpreted Western culture fashion, adding their own elements to it.



This is the 'kunoichi' style often associated with the female characters in Naruto, though it's not exclusive to them. Ninja or shinobi style in clothing has always been attractive.

URBAN LAYERING: for example, sleeveless tees over fishnets tees or with fishnets will always make you look hip, depending on the combination. Black over white, pink over pink, yellow over gray, etc.

Skirts and socks combo: short skirts and long, black socks will make you look thinner and taller than you actually are, which is always a plus.

They give life and style to any outfit.

The oh-so-necessary over the knee socks : I'd recommend these because they can make your legs look longer and slimmer. Because of their single color, they can look classy with any skirt or shorts you choose.

Lenalee from D.Grayman

Belts: sometimes, a single stylish belt is all that it takes to add a whole dimension of punkyness to your outfit, be it a simple t-shirt and blue jeans. It all depends on the way it's conveyed.



Armwarmers : be it striped, pink, with skulls or simply black, armwarmers allow you to reinvent that sometimes 'plain' t-shirt with casual pants/jeans look. A tip: use them (or only one) as sort of a false 'layer' under your sleeves and you get that instant spunk in your outfit!



Gloves: pretty much the same as with armwarmers, you can just use one or both to achieve any look you want.