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Japanese trend alert – spooky gothic earrings

October 23, 2012 by

Since it’s Halloween season, I’m very pleased to confirm that gothic motifs are everywhere in Tokyo – even the jewellery! Yup, a mini-trend I’ve spotted is spooky gothic earrings – not just in gothic lolita stores (see Marui One below), but in gyaru and general accessories places!

Halloween in Tokyo, Marui One Shinjuku

There are a lot of spider earrings, some with skull faces (see below). There are also a lot of bats and skeleton hands adorning the jewellery, as well as punk motifs like zippers and tattoo-derived serpents. The trend I especially love is that of the ear cuff attached by chains. So put it all together and you have an earring that has a bat, a cross and a spider with a skull body, attached to an ear cuff. Fierce!

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Filed Under: Fashion, gothic fashion, Japanese Fashion Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Randa Shoes A/W 2011/12

September 28, 2011 by

Is it too soon to do another shoe post?? I thought it was time to check out Randa‘s latest offerings, as my last post on Randa’s Spring/Summer collection was back in March.  I was so taken with this season’s styles, that I’ve ordered three pairs already!

Aren’t these over-the-knee brightly coloured boots just delish? I fell in love with the orange ones, and so I bought them:

There are some amazing shoes showcasing the new colour block trend, like these:

Although I loved the blue, I settled on the pink and orange, as it’s such an unusual colour for shoes…and I have the outfits to match!

Some others I loved but didn’t buy, also in great colours (love the button detailing too):

Unusually for me, I fell for a pair of baby pink shoes (even though they also came in grey or black). They are just so ladylike, I loved them! They would be perfect for a lolita, hime or dolly kei outfit. The coral booties next to them I find an unusual shape, but managed not to buy them.

There are many more styles worthy of a good peruse, either at the Randa online store, or at the Rakuten store Hitotei, where I purchased mine from.  Yes, they deliver to overseas destinations, but at around $25 to $30 per pair of shoes. I’ll let you know how it goes, time and costwise.

November Vivi has a Randa spread showcasing some of the best styles too:

And that is probably enough pictorial goodness for now. You know you really want to hit those websites and have a drool…

Filed Under: Blog entry, Fashion, Japanese Fashion Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Circus Lolita

July 15, 2011 by

Hey, thanks for dropping by and again sorry for the lack of posts. I STILL don’t have internet at home except through my phone which is tedious and slow, and we still have to wait 2 weeks to get it connected. But enough grumbling.

I thought I could at least post a few pics each day from the Germany/UK holiday and WGT.  Here is an outfit from WGT that’s a bit “circus lolita” due to the mix of harlequin diamonds, spots and stripes in the outfit (those on twitter will have already seen it). 

Mini tophat: made by me
Harlequin corset: Dangerous Nude
White ruffled top: Bodyline
Striped jacket: Cue
ruffled skirt: Sheike
Diamond tights: Leg Avenue
Platform boots: Yosuke
Cross on chain: Studio Alta

So it was a largely Japanese outfit, in black, white and red, with pops of green in the wig and the eyeball hairclips (from Kreepsville, I think). I will be posting more regularly from now on….just no detailed analyses of japanese fashion trends just yet, that require lots of research (cos it would take me 6 hours instead of 2, such is the slowness of my net connection).  

I’ll also be pleased to show you my new house soon, once I get a bit more done to it decor and furniture wise.  Thanks for hanging in there, and more soon!

Filed Under: Alternative Fashion, Blog entry, Fashion, gothic fashion, Japanese Fashion Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Naoto News!

March 3, 2011 by

There are so many exciting events coming up shortly in the gothic fashion and music stakes, which I’ll be posting about in the next week. Some of them are in Tokyo and I’m getting VERY excited now, as I leave for o/s again on the 14th – a week Monday!! After 3 days in Seoul, South Korea, I head once again to Tokyo, which leads me back to the topic at hand.

Today I want to focus on fave Japanese gothic designer, Hirooka Naoto.

March 19 – h.NAOTO Frill Collection 2011

To display his latest “Sweet Frills” range, Naoto is throwing a Lolita Sweets Party! (And it’s when I’m there, muahahaha…) Gothic Lolita celebrity Aoki Misako (world ambassador for “Cute”) will be there, having returned from her jaunts round the world (read more at her website):

Naoto Creative Designer Hiroshi Oka will also be there, as well as other guests, photo sessions, and from what I can make out, a Best Co-ordinate Competition. Oh, and of course, delicious sweet cakes and tea, all in a genteel atmosphere. So Tokyo lolitas have a wonderful excuse to dress up and come along! I think I *might* just get to this for the photo opportunities, even though I myself am not at all into the sweet side of things.

  • DATE / March 19 (Sat)
  • OPEN: 15:00 START: 16:00
  • PLACE / h.NAOTO + Harajuku
  • Tickets dealer / h.NAOTO + Harajuku, Laforet Harajuku, Shinjuku Marui * Tickets are 1,575 yen (tax included) 
  • Contact / h, NAOTO + Harajuku (03-3478-6454)

March 26 –  T. KUNITOMO & gouk FASHION SHOW & PARTY

Fashion show of brand new collections, set in a party atmosphere with food and drinks

  • DATE: March 26 (Sat)
  • OPEN: 18:00 START: 19:00
  • PLACE: T.KUNITOMO Gallery
  • Contact: 03-5766-3910

There are soo many upcoming Naoto events – check this page for what’s happening in the next few months. One I definitely want to check out is the exhibition in Marui One from March 24-30:

h.Anarchy Army Collection

ANARCHY will present a punk rock and “ARMY” theme.  Expect wild and powerful camouflage fabrics in military designs. 

  • DATE:  March 24 (Thu) ~ 30 (Wed) 
  • PLACE: h.NAOTO store, Marui Shinjuku
  • Contact:  h.NAOTO + store (03-3478-6454) , h.NAOTO Marui Shinjuku (03-3358-1889)

    •  

    Pet cat 101 MINT SHOP 

    This is a pop-up store in Marui One, on the 2nd floor from 5 – 23 March, featuring the popular Sixh offshoot brand, “MINT Cats” . To commemorate this, the character “Sakurako” T-shirt has been designed, and  the first 50 people who spend over 5,250 yen,  will win a “Sakurako” badge.  See the t-shirt and badge below.

     

    Naoto has also released new items on the website for March 2011 from h.ANARCHY, Blood, and H.JELLY, Gramm, Frill,Sixh, Hangry & Angry, and Gouk.

    Just last week on Feb 26th, the Sixh 2011 Summer Collection was unveiled at Naoto HQ in Harajuku. This time there was definitely a rock and quirky/indie vibe happening, and far from being all-black, there was blue and purple in the designs, and even plaid! 

      

     

     

    Of course you want to check out the runway show, I’m sure:

    Fans will recognise IBI, Mint and Gashicon from Sixh the band – who will all be attending the Anime Matsuri convention March 18-20 in Texas, along with La Carmina! See her post on Anime Matsuri here for more details. And…the band itself will be playing only a day later, back in Tokyo, on the 21st of March!

    Sixh. Night Vol 3 in Ikebukuro BlackHole

    Of course it will be an event fusing fashion and music. Sixh is joined by God Circus Dog

     

    Sixh. Live sponsored project

    • DATE: March 21 (Mon)
    • PLACE: Ikebukuro BLACK HOLE
    • Doors open 18:00 for 18:30 start
    • Advance ticket 3,000 yen / 3,500 yen

    That’s another one to try to get to…but there’s so much else on!

    So that’s a whole lotta Naoto love for now; hope you enjoyed 🙂 Other posts you might like: Naoto at Japan Fashion Week, Naoto fukubukuro day and h.Naoto gothic lolita fashion designer extraordinaire.

    Filed Under: Alternative Fashion, Designers, Fashion, gothic fashion, Japanese Fashion, Music Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

    Sweet Streets hits Tokyo!

    November 11, 2010 by

    In a spooky doubling-back-on-itself kind of move, Sweet Streets, which is an LA art movement inspired by Tokyo Street fashion, will be exhibiting in Tokyo!

    Caro of blog Hi Hi Caro! curated 2 exhibtions at Gallery Nucleus, where the art was inspired by Japanese, and especially Harajuku, street fashion. Sweet Streets 2 ran from September 11, 2010 – October 4, 2010 and included a fashion event called the Harajuku Kawaii Experience, in association with 6%dokidoki.  Here fans got a chance to meet and discuss Japanese kawaii fashion with 6%DOKIDOKI founder Sebastian Masuda and shopgirls Yuka and Vani!

    A great article on the event, and interview with Caro is here. Artists involved in the works included Eimi, Shibuya Girls Pop and the Chicks Riot group (check the links!)

    Well, now Sweet Streets is taking it back to the place of inspiration – Tokyo! Here Caro tells us in the Sweet Streets blog in her own words:

    Earlier this week, i received a humbling offer to curate a select exhibition of “sweet streets” artwork at lovlies laboratory, aka lov-lab.  Lov-lab is located in the heart of Harajuku, japan above the 6%dokidoki shop.  “Sweet streets tokyo” will feature several artists- akira ebihara, bwana spoons, eimi, kayo tamaishi, marie, misa tsutsui, nico, and tammy- in a short and sweet version of the los angeles show.  Many have already inquired about the possibility of another tokyo exhibiton.  Yes, we are also discussing a larger exhibit for the near future. For now, please stop by and enjoy the art if you are in tokyo on november 15th & 16th.  I am honored by this amazing opportunity presented to me by 6%dokidoki! thank you!

    So, if you’re in Tokyo next week you can see it for yourself! For others like me, we’ll just have to wait til the BIG exhibition is announced, and hope we can get to Tokyo in time to see that one.

    Filed Under: Blog entry, Fashion, Japanese Fashion Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,
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