A Tweens Guide To: Japanese Street Fashion

Japan is a country of uniform. All schools have school uniforms, and when you get a job, you have to wear a work uniform. Yet on weekends and evenings, Japanese people have the freedom to express themselves with what they wear. Because Japanese usually have to dress very strictly, they come up with some wild street fashion. Most of these fashion styles first emerged in Harajuku, an area of Tokyo, and most of Japanese street fashion is under the general category of Harajuku. Now as this blog is titled
​‘A Tweens Guide To Japanese Street Fashion’, It is my job to educate you in the basic types of Harajuku Fashion. So, here we go!

Lolita: Lolita is a very feminine, modest style inspired by aristocratic European fashions in the Victorian, Edwardian and Rococo eras. Lolita often involves lots of lace and frills.​

• Sweet Lolita: Sweet Lolita often uses light colors and child like fantasy themes. Princesses, fruits, candies, and classic fairy tales are recurrent themes in Sweet Lolita. 

• Gothic Lolita: Gothic Lolita uses dark colors, and lots of frills and lace, and makes you look like a living Victorian Doll.
  

• Classic Lolita: Classic Lolita is most like the Victorian, Edwardian, and Rococo eras fashion. It uses more down to the earth colors, such a brown, light green, and off white.

Punk: The punk style was inspired by the punk movement that began in London in the 70s, Punks are rebellious, and they wear black, torn, clothes, scary accessories, dark makeup, and a myriad of piercings.

Cosplay: Cosplay is when you dress up as you favorite cartoon/anime/manga character.

Decora: Decora style favors bright colors, flamboyance, plastic trinkets and accessories from head to toe. You decorate yourself with plastic toys and jewelry, most Decora girls and boys where so many plastic trinkets, toys and accessories that you can hear them clink when they move.

Kawaii: Kawaii, (which means cute in Japanese,) my personal favorite, emphasizes on childlike playfulness--anime characters, ruffles, pastel colors, toys, and so on.

Wamono: Wamono mixes traditional Japanese styles with western styles.

I hope you enjoyed learning about a few of the basic Harajuku Fashion styles. There are so many more out in the streets of Tokyo, but we would be here all year trying to work our way through each style. Maybe you want to try out one of these styles for a day are two, they sure are fun! I have been dressing Kawaii for the past few days, at least I am trying to. Please comment you favorite style below, and if you are a boy, all of these styles are also worn by boys, (even Lolita)! 

Goodbye my Harajuku Friends!
​Liv Kawaii, Harajuku Expert

P.S. Don't forget to comment you favorite Harajuku style!