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3 great vintage shops you must visit in Shibuya (and one gothic one)

May 22, 2010 by

Many people into fashion and Japan now know about Grimoire which I wrote about here, but there are other vintage stores with similar aesthetics and offerings in the area. Valerie and I visited a few while in Shibuya back in March. Here are 3 more fantastic vintage shops you must visit while you’re in Shibuya.

Cabaret
As the name implies, there is a lush theatrical feel to the place, with red and gold baroque wallpaper, deer heads and furs, ornate gold mirrors, tutus, hats and chandeliers everywhere. There is a lot of glamorous clothing such as ballgowns and furs, evening bags and shoes.
Cabaret has a blog which list new items in stock. Stylists visit often for pieces to help with magazine shoots, and these too are detailed in the blog. Mags/mooks such as ViVi, SCawaii!, Glamorous, Zipper, JJ, Sweet, Forest Girl…just too many to mention.
As always, Style Arena does a great rundown on the store, with beautiful photos.
Coop Napoli 2nd floor 1-14-1, Jinnan, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo　　

TEL:03-3462-0022 　
Business Hours:12:00-20:00

Rosy Baroque

Like Grimoire and cabaret this has an elegant feel, with clothes from the 20’s thrugh to 70’s stuffed together on hangers, lots of furs, tutus everywhere, hats, chandeliers, and so on. There’s a beautiful pink chair to rest in while your friend tries clothes on…or to rest your shopping purchases on while you trawl the racks.

Tokyo Arena profile on Rosy Baroque.

Hoshi Building 6th floor 1-12-14, Jinnan, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo　
Tel: 03-3463-7809　
Business Hours:12:00-20:00

Nude Trump

This one is a lot bigget than the others, and has a more modern feel to it, in that it has a lot of 70’s and 80’s represented. There are tons of shoes and boots, lots of blingy jewellery, uniforms and drag queen pieces. I liked the skeletons and other humorous elements in the shop. Overall it’s more hip and less elegant.

While you’re there, nip upstairs to check out the Trump Room, site of many a glamorous party and club.

Tokyo Arena profile on Nude Trump

Hoshi Building, 3rd floor 1-12-14 Jinnan, Shibuya
Tel: 03-3770-2325
Business hours: 13:00 – 21:00

And a store that is not vintage but new, original and gothic in  style:

Kikirara Shoten

Kiki is one of the people featured in the Gothic Lolita book, and has designed for years, her work featured constantly in Kera magazine, the Gothic Lolita Bible and Alamode magazine. Her blog is here. There are various sub-brands such as Dangerous Nude and Dangerous Deco within the Ziggyvamp company. However, it is the Kikirara Shoten store that we visited in Shibuya.

There are fantastic finds instore, although they are not cheap!

 

There is also an online shop, filled with one-of-a-kind corsets, hats, bags etc…so when they’re sold, that’s it. There are whole lolita ensembles:

 

But I’m partial to her hats and accessories. How about this super-tall tophat in leopard with cross and crown insignia?

or this Evil Queen neck corset?
 
3-7 Yamaguchi Building 2nd floor
Fsakuragaoka shibuya-ku TOKYO
TEL: 03-6677-4649
Business hours: 11:00 – 20:00
As for Dangerous Nude, the theme for the 2010 Summer range is Petit Horror, with new bat fabrics utilised; Spring 2010 was Girly Stripe.

 

I visited the store in Osaka last year and bought an awesome corset in argyle fabric- very Alice in Wonderland. It is well worth a visit.

1-16-10 Shinsaibashi Loncourt bld. 2.5F-1 nishi-shinsaibashi

chuou-ku osaka-shi OSAKA
Tel: 06-6245-1066
Business hours: 11:00 – 20:00 closed Thursday

For those in Tokyo now, Tokyo Decadance on May 29 will feature a Dangerous Nude fashion show.

And you can see a spread in Alamode Magazine, issue 4.
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Grimoire – Vintage, Fairytale, Dolly Kei

April 21, 2010 by

A few weeks ago I had the pleasure of teaming up with a fellow blogger for a day tour of Shibuya’s clothing stores. But not just any stores – oh no. We ventured into those with a fairyland /vintage feel, discovering more about an emerging japanese fashion trend.

Grimoire  is at the forefront of this antique, vintage, Dolly-kei phenomenon, and when you go there, you can see why.

It’s like a Victorian museum come to life, with Rococo Elements, Alice in Wonderland and other fairytales thrown together with some Gypsy spells and a sprinkling of fairy dust, before being breathed into life as a curio shoppe set in the heart of a forest.

 

See what I mean?

Everywhere there are pretty and unusual “things” crammed into nooks and crannies: little bird skulls, crosses, old dolls, tiny flowers, rocking horses, jewellery boxes, clocks, cherubs, puppets, moneyboxes, vines, leaves, bronze ornate picture frames, and hats, hats, everywhere vintage hats.

As for the clothes and accessories themselves, they are sourced from the US and eastern Europe. There are lots of floral dresses, a definite boho feel, vintage furs, delicate hair ornaments, blush and dusty pink colours accented by darker rusts and reds, with pops of ivy green and a smidgen of black.

Photo: Will Robb

The girls were lovely and said they liked my blue hair very much, emboldening us to ask if we could take a few pictures. You can see the controlled chaos behind us.
We rifled among the racks, and while there were items I would not wear, there were certainly some exquisite pieces in silk or wool with intricate embroidery and embellishments that I coveted. For those who cannot get to Japan to see it for themselves, the Grimoire blog posts outfits and influences daily, as well as photos of new stock. It serves as a creative storyboard for Hitomi, the blogger.

A discernible style is emerging, which has been noticed by many.

Tokyo New Tribe featured the Antique Doll style in January, noting that unlike Lolita style, the Dolly fashion fan dresses as one who was in Europe in the Middle Ages (or as the japanese imagine this to be).
There is a real mix of texture and pattern, with gypsy and other ethnic folklore influences, and a “maximalism” or “more-is-more”, layered approach to dressing. We see fur (often with the fox’s little face and tail in situ, or even racoon hats), tapestry bags, paisley and floral print, insects on jewellery, religious icons such as crosses and images of Mary, textured ornate tights, lace, animal skin and embossed leather (sorry vegans), pompoms, fringing, braid and curtain tassels.

There is even a community on Live Journal, called Grimoire-Japan, dedicated to the fashion style of the store. It was started by a previous Lolita-follower in January, and in it girls share places to buy similar things, and show off their outfits, as well as those of their Japanese heroines.

There is likewise a Live Journal community for Dolly Kei style, referencing the same websites and looks, but adding the store “Cult Party” to the mix.
So there is a groundswell of enthusiasm for this emerging Japanese street style, and it is certainly one to keep an eye on.
Other places for information and photos on Grimoire (and Dolly style):
Style Arena  in their Shop Style section.

La Carmina
fyeahlolita

Grimoire: 7th floor, Jinnan 1-10-7  Shibuya-ku, Tokyo
Tel: 03 3780 6203
Open: 1pm – 8pm, or 12 – 8 on weekends/holidays

Next up in our Shibuya mission: visits to Cabaret, Rosy Baroque, Nude trump and other vintage and secondhand stores – but that is food for another post.

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