I have had an amazing week in Tokyo, even if very brief. I got to vist some very special stores (as well as the big-name ones), and caught up wth some great people.
Yesterday I met up with a local photographer and blogger and we went on a walking tour of Shibuya. I really wanted to visit the store Sister (& ground floor store Candy), as mentioned in my cool tights blog post.
Well, we went! I will do a proper post with pictures next week, but we did indeed buy the grey lace-patterned tights I’d seen on the dolly kei girl.
Saw a groovy girl in Shibuya, crossing the road, so got a photo with her. I like how she has a mainly black/white/grey palette with a touch of red (a bit like me!).
I also love the playing card pattern on her skirt, the pop of bling in the lurex of her crochet shawl, and the little meat cleavers dripping blood around each of her buns. A bit of a spooky gothic touch.
We then dropped into famed Dolly Kei store Grimoire…and the girls whooped and exclaimed to see us! I hadn’t seen them since Merry Go Land…when I had blonde & purple hair! It took one or 2 a minute to suss it was me, now with red hair. They were kind enough to admire my tights (mauve floral from Isetan, brand name “Antipast”, ~2200 yen). Anyway onto a photo!
Lucky for us, the lovely Marie dropped in from her work on the 4th floor – she has really good English, which helps with conversation and jokes! When I held up a beautiful vintage black collar with jet beading all over it, Marie said it was one piece Courtney Love really liked when she was there. Courtney took all the girls back to her hotel room to party on (for those who don’t know that she dropped in on her last Tokyo visit).
Anyway, though it wasn’t cheap, I did love the piece and knew I’d wear it, so onto the credit card it went!!
Nice to see a guy in the shop doing his version of the look – shall we call it Dandy kei, perhaps? I am in love with Heri’s look here – the coin-embellished wide belt, the bubble skirt, the military hat…I think hers is overall my fave dolly kei look. Kaori and Marie also looked lovely of course, and I noticed that Kaori wore black & white, not the rich colours we often associate with Dolly Kei. Awesome! As I often favour this monochrome look myself. Hitomi was absent, hence not in the photo (sorry to Hitomi fans).
News on the Grimoire front – each of the girls will shortly have ther own indvidual blogs, as well as the combined store blog, so stay tuned for that! I also video’d the store while I was there, so as soon I get home and upload it, I’ll post that too, for your viewing pleasure.
We also visited Virgin Mary, but I didn’t take more pictures…the store looked very much the same as when I was there in September. I did look at some of the little antique dolls to buy, but resisted 🙂
This was meant to be a short post! Now I have to pack, send stuff home, sell stuff to Closet Child and make last minute purchases in the next 3 hours, so adios for now 🙂
looks like so much fun! It’s so interesting to see how you’ve embraced this unusual style! Very cool too!
Ack, I don’t really do very well with the style..just kind of add some elements. But I love researching these things, and seeing how I can adapt for my own lifestyle and wardrobe 🙂
Great photos! You’ve done a fantastic job adding the dolly elements to your unique style… dark dolly? gothic grimoire? 😉 Whatever you could call it, I really like it!
Oh thank you!! I *did* try to be a little dolly, even while keeping my dark aesthetic – thanks for noticing!
gothic dolly kei elements… we really *are* two peas in a pod, where our love for such things is involved! I am so totally jealous of you for getting to go to Grimoire! It would make my whole YEAR to be able to travel over there. And if I met Hitomi… well, I would probably faint. She is my fashion she-ro.