mitsuwa

Today Megan and I explored Mitsuwa, the "largest Japanese-themed mall in the US".  It is essentially a huge food marketplace, with restaurants inside, a book store, a make-up store (Shiseido), and a store for kitchen goods.  It was amazing!

 A cute house around the corner - we love the blue!

 Times Square

 View of the city from Mitsuwa (NJ)

 My lunch!  Beef with udon noodles, "brown bag" nijira, pickled ginger, and a green tea bubble tea.

 

A draping book I bought - comes with patterns and instructions (with tons of pictures to decode them)

 

 

 A pencil that conveniently has both a red and blue side - to use for draping markings!

 "Natural Lunch Time"?  For packing my lunches.

japan fashion subculture wrap-up

Just wanted to share a few more pictures of my favorites that I've seen this week.  I've done a lot of picture searching (it's just so interesting that I can't tear my eyes away) and have concluded two things:

1.  Japan has a lot of diverse subcultures, ranging from wearable to outlandish.  All are fun to look at.

2.  These girls seem to just wear whatever on earth it is that makes them happy.  We don't see this kind of stuff in the US (at least not very often or in groups), and it almost makes me wonder why.  Are we too self-conscious of our looks?  Do we try too hard to fit in?  Can we not just let go and wear what we love, regardless of it being a pony-printed skirt and bunny-shaped bag, as long as it makes us happy inside?

Anyway, here are a few more photos to wrap up what I've found.  I hope you've enjoyed looking at these as much as I have!  These photos are mostly street-fashion photos.

All from tumblr

obsession : mori girls

I'm on a Japanese subculture kick - but why stop?  It's interesting to learn about different styles.

After my sweet lolita post (which got a lot of comments!) I stumbled across Susie Bubble's post on mori girls (not the first Japanese subculture post I've seen recently - it must be a trending topic).  Mori girls (forest girls or in some cases but not all, dolly kei) fashion themselves in a similar lolita style but with a vintage inspiration taken from forest fairy tales like the Grimm stories. Many layers, earth tones, reds and greens, sweaters, laces, aprons, and rural pieces are used, some with longer silhouettes, some resembling the traditional lolita.  Vintage and handmade items are heavily stressed.  Doll-like looks are still very much important.

 

There is a much more natural element to the mori girls that isn't in sweet lolita!

To apply to your every day look, focus on layers - the layer of garments, the layering of cultures (Slovic, Native American, anything with history).  Calicos, embroidery, forest prints, reds and greens, horse motifs; all are easy ways to integrate this into your style.

 Source: chictopia

All images that are not sourced were untraceable from tumblr.  If you know the source, just let me know!

obsession : sweet lolita

Fashion is universal.  In high school I had always had a mild interest in the Japanese lolita styles, but never really dressed the part.  I recently ran across photos of the style, and my love for it came right back.  I figured I'd post about it because it is a style that is more unfamiliar in the United States, and while it may not be something you try, it is a fascinating source of inspiration and the lifestyle has an amazing otherworldly quality to it that really sucks you in. 

Lolita is a fashion subculture from Japan based on Victorian clothing.  It has many subtypes, and my favorite is sweet lolita.  More Rococo-influenced, this style features pale colors, pastels, bows, candy and fruit imagery, and anything falling under the "sweet" label. 

Skirts with border-prints are incredibly popular.  Typically outfits match head-to-toe (Source)

Makeup is kept natural.  The idea is to look childlike - neutral eyes, pink cheeks, powdery skin.  Nails are usually a very pale pink, lavender, or mint.  

 Yes, an American girl on the left.  Two-tone hairstyles are also popular, where 1/4 of the hair is a different shade.  Pastel hair is also very common.

It seems a little over-the-top, so how can we use this as inspiration?  Here are how some real girls are doing it:

 Mixing textures like rosettes and lace give a nod to femininity.  Pale florals are sweet and subtle.

Very understated - it's all in the pink socks and shoe - whereas on the right, it's all about ruffles and flowers.

Images from Chictopia.com; all other unsourced images from Tumblr.  If you know the source, posting would be much appreciated!