JSG x Evangelion

This mix is practically opposite. But that's why it's so amazing.

One of the most famous animated series from Japan called Neon Genesis Evangelion did a collaboration with a Gal brand called JSG. They made this over-the-top nylon zipper parka-dress that looks like the giant robot-like "Evangelion" units. I am totally in love with it. 

JSG has always been kind of a contrast to my style (when it comes to Gal brands, I like the harder, 

more masculine looks like SLY, Moussy, Barak, etc.), but I totally just ordered one for myself.

Also, they did a collaboration with a brand called Soul Franky, which is targeted at the male version of Gal fashion (Gal-Oh... I'll explain later if necessary). My boyfriend's not into that kind of fashion, but he ordered the hoody from the collaboration. But it does have my favorite character, a warm-water penguin named Pen-pen, across the front, which totally makes up for the brand.

It's being modeled by one of the most famous gyaru-oh male models here. I'm surprised that Eva went to this length to expand its merchandise sales. 

It has me sold. 

I love flashy accessories.

I was poking around on Drop Snap to see if there were any inspiring pictures here and there, and I found an interview with Mademoiselle Yulia, a female DJ on EMI Records. She released her own jewelry line called Giza (inspired by the city in Egypt), and it's amazingly gold and flashy:  

I hope I can achieve something like this in the future. In the interview, she explained that because there aren't many designers who make bulky jewelry in Japan, she just thought "I might as well make some myself" and then went and did it. She told that she just made what she would have wanted to have for herself, something that has impact and is easy to understand. 

I'm totally inspired after reading about people like her. She is only 21, and her jewelry is sold in boutiques around the country. Some of it can be found on Zozo, one of the coolest online shopping sites from Japan for young people. I would link directly to the stuff, but my Internet is being really slow right now, so I can't load the page properly!! I will get back with that later. 

beru

 

ME:BAE - do more, look good

One of my very close contacts is setting up a website for male fashion and grooming in Japanese. Maybe if he makes an English version of the site, I will feature it on here. The name is ME:BAE and the subtitle is "Do more, look good." The design is super cute, and it covers content including how to style hair and which products to use; images of popular street fashion for guys and where to buy the clothes; and even skin care, makeup and hair removal products for guys. This is what the world needs!! 

The name ME:BAE comes from the phrase 「見栄えを良くして、芽生える」(mibae wo yoku shite, mebaeru). The phrase in a whole means that if you take care of your appearance, you will sprout (mibae means appearance, and mebae means bud or sprout). So you can read the "ME" in the title like either word. The idea is to communicate that if you take care of your appearance, you can be born again as a new person - one who has more confidence, is happier about his appearance, and who will draw the attention of others more. I'm excited to see how it plays out.  

Review: Teen Vogue takes a look at Tokyo Fashion / What are Gals??

I am a big fan of photojournalism. We all know the saying that "a picture tells a thousand words". But there is one big problem with media imagery - anything that has the power to inform equally must carry the power to misinform. Teen Vogue is one of the most popular American youth fashion magazines that is sold in Japan, so I am a bit surprised to say that they were quite a bit off target with this photo collection. The description talks about taking kawaii to the extreme, or something along those lines, but the girls skipping around Harajyuku every Sunday in layers of used clothing tend not to fit the word quite accurately. 

There's no doubt that one might call this style of clothing a Japanese fashion, but it is in no sense representative of Japanese youth fashion culture, and I feel that people see these and tend to feel that they do depict the essence of such. In fact, these images epitomize an outcast group that is not involved in pioneering fashion in a new direction but instead following an anti-fashion subculture. I note this as following, because while these kinds of girls certainly aren't welcome socially, they are still plentiful, and they repeat the same trend of over-layering that exists within their own sector of street fashion. Creative fashion is really applauded in Japan, but not a single one of those girls would be called kawaii by those standards. 

So, if these statements are disillusioning, then please give me the chance to help at least a little bit to guide you throughout your enlightening. 

I think that one important thing to do before exploring the really creative and amazing fashionistas in Japan is to learn about what the popular trends are. The first one is Gal (pronounced like gyaru in Japanese) fashion, which will be an important topic in this blog. 

You can find many websites that Westerners dedicate to the Gal style, but they tend to be outdated in their information, talking about outrageous sub-styles such as "Yamanba" and others that carry negative images like "O-Gal", which have long been abandoned by the majority of Gals in Japan. Of course, there are many exceptionally up-to-date sources, as well, but in case you haven't found one of those yet, below are some snaps from one of the most popular Gal magazines in Japan: S Cawaii.  

Okay. I know. It's hard to tell what Gal fashion is because... well... all of these girls are dressed quite a bit differently (except for the presence of small hats in a lot of these pictures; that's not something defining of Gal fashion; they just happened to appear a lot in this edition of S Cawaii). But typical Gal fashion is not simply classified, as others might insist. The point is not to put colors together logically but creatively; to test the borders of flashiness or cuteness; to dress, do hair, and just look differently.

The really sectionable subsets of Gals, i.e. Princess Gals (himegyaru), are not the norm for street fashion by any means. In retrospect, Gals lead the street fashion category with their creative color combinations, their pioneering of new street styles and their desires and efforts to express themselves through fashion and beauty. 

Gals are the real driving force of street fashion trends in Japan. Of course, to have numbers, there are followers, but within them, there are many who lead new styles and new definitions of matching and coordination. This is one thing that I hope to convince others of.

Beru