FASHION: Amai Furiku? 10

Amai Furiku?
-The sweet freak's guide to VK fashion

First of all, sorry for the delay this month! I hope the wait is worth it.

Another month, and another sparkly article bringing you some fashion tips straight from Japan! Although, this edition may not be so sparkly. We will be looking at Nagoya Kei and monochromatic clothing.

First, some news!

Following the devastating earthquake and tsunami on 11^th March, various fundraisers and schemes have been set up to remedy the situation, both financially, and I suppose spiritually.

Of course you can still donate via the Red Cross, and there are many events going on all over the world to help raise money.

The whole of Japan has been affected in one way or another by the disaster, and Tokyo is no different. Being effected economically, above all else, Sebastian Masuda has set up “Mighty Harajuku”, a campaign to let everyone know that Japan is strong, and that the bright, colourful and happy attitudes of the people within Harajuku can be seen and felt all over. 6%Dokidoki have been handing out free badges with the Mighty Harajuku logo and phrase on it.

Photos of various colourful Harauku-ites and Harajuku fans have been posted across many websites, the main ones of interest being the 6%Dokidoki blog and Tokyo Fashion. Click through to Tokyo Fashion!

Back here in the UK, Edoh over at Synthetic Rendtion (the UK updater) is still taking pre-orders for her J-rock tshirts! She is shipping worldwide and needs a minimum order of 25 shirts to place the order, so support the Western J-rock scene and pre-order your shirt today. It's an incredibly limited run, so get something unique!

Pre-orders end in less than a week's time! Get in quick!

Now then, when you think of Nagoya kei, you probably think of bands such as lynch and Deathgaze. With their dark and layered clothing, it conjures images reminiscent of UK 80s goth and metal. And this is exactly where the roots of Nagoya kei lie. Borrowing ideas from the 70s British punk scene and the general western goth and metal scenes, Nagoya kei has built up a style and changed it, evolved it for over 30 years. The style has evolved into something unique to Japan, something very distinctive.

It can be hard to wear all black and make it look amazing though. Since black is a very dark, block colour, to wear it in a similar way to the aforementioned bands, you need to layer well.

A friend of mine, Rozzi, is the best person I know to demonstrate layering in monochrome and other dark tones.

Using differing textures is the best way to showcase this style. As you can see, here, Rozzi wears distressed stockings which contrast with the soft and block colouring of her boots. The lace on her top provides some interest, also. Both the stockings and the top show a little flesh which gives a better effect- the eye can differentiate between one item of clothing to the next.

A big mistake I've seen many people make with monochrome dressing is that they will wear the same material over their whole body, for example a black wool dress, black wool tights and black wool boots. This could work if accessorised well, but too many times have I seen people do this without any additions of jewellery or belts etc.

n this photo of Rozzi, she wears a black hoodie with a small amount of white text. This instantly breaks up the top half. Her skirt is black and white striped which in this case works beautifully as there are flesh tones and other varying tones of black to even it out.

I always feel that to pull of this look effectively, silver is a good contrast from the black. It doesn't always come across as harsh as white may do in accessories, so the use of a silver belt or some bangles or such can work wonders. Use white in clothing and silver in accessories.




















Lastly, we have this outfit. This is much more typical of the Japanese styling you will see. Rozzi wears a shirt layered with jumpers, one distressed, with a black and silver belt underneath the upper layers to tie it all together. This also brings in her waist. The creasing down each side of the shirt adds a different dimension and again, allows the eye to see each different layer. The sleeves of the distressed hoodie hand down and bunch up creating creases at the wrists which also creates an interesting feature. Her skirt is slightly puffed and ruffled, much to the same effect. She also is wearing a long necklace with silver details adding to the layered effect.

So, now for my turn!

Here we have myself wearing an old Metallica shirt with the sleeves cut off, a woolly hat and a black and silver belt to nip it in at the waist. Over the years, I have noticed that within Japanese fashion, it is quite popular to wear band tshirts of Western groups and artists. It is still unknown to me why Suicidal Tendencies caps are quite so popular there!

The shirt itself is quite simple with a small amount of white detailing. The shape of the shirt is almost batwing as it is an old men's shirt which has been cut up. This already creates some nice folds and shapes.

The hat, being made of wool, is of a different texture and material to the shirt and belt. This works quite nicely.

I decided to wear some black wetlook leggings with this top as once again, it is a different texture. Finally, I added some black leather boots, left slightly open at the front. I feel that this look as a whole is very simple and very easy to throw on! The outfit also didn't cost much with the shirt being a hand me down, the belt being a gift, the hat was around £3, leggings £5, boots £19.

My next look is leaning into the more gothic side of the fashion. I'm wearing a black ribbed cotton strap top with ruffle detailing and a bow on the front. I teamed this with black and white striped circus trousers from Collectif, black and silver armwarmers and a large black satin bow. Each material is different and each stands out more in certain lighting. When the light catches the arm warmers, they glint silver and when there is strong lighting on the satin bow, it nearly lights up white/grey.

With the same top and trousers, I used the satin bow as a headbow and then added a lace cardigan. It's quite long and flows nicely when walking. This, much like Rozzi's lace top, allows some skin to peep through which breaks up the black tones and adds something else.

Now, what to do with super oversized band tshirts?



















This is one I got from Charles. He had it when he was about 13/14, so it's got to be around 6 years old. The material itself has faded to a sort of grey colour. The shirt is at least 4 sizes too big for me, but it's really comfortable. Problem is, it's not hugely flattering, especially not when layered with a large black cardigan!




















So what do we do?

I added the belt from before over the cardigan. This pulls it all in and gathers material at the sides making more creases. The cardigan has some waterfall like detailing on the front, like a large frill running down each side and round the collar. I love this detail and I feel it adds a lot to the overall outfit. I wore these with some plain black skinny jeans, which are also now an off grey colour, slightly darker than the tshirt. So in this outfit I am wearing 3 different tones of black and grey. This cardigan is also really long so has some nice movement to it when I walk. This counts for a great deal in an outfit- not just how it looks standing still, but how it moves too!

You can also pull off this look in a relatively gyaru-esque style. I teamed this black, partly see through shirt dress with a cute tuxedo design bra (I got mine from a cheap high street store, but Japanese underwear brand Aimer Feel also sell something similar) and my black skinny jeans. You could also go with some frill shorts and long socks if you wanted to show a little more flesh. I layered a long black and silver studded belt over the shirt, low on the hips to tie it together.

Other than this, I used a relatively bright turquoisey colour on my eyes just to add a slight colour pop. The wig I am wearing is actually a mid-dark brown. This look can of course work with all hair colours, I just feel that it is easier to pull off with much darker hair- it brings the look together a little more.

Taking inspiration from your favourite Nagoya kei bands, you could probably get away with wearing heavier makeup and doing your hair a little different, but I really wanted to look at the very basics of monochromatic fashion.

Thank you to Rozzi for allowing me to post her photos here and showcase her brilliant sense of style! And thanks once again to Charles for putting up with me making him photograph me!

See you next month with a possibly more sparkly and shiny edition, ready for summer!

All photos of me by Charles Shepherd, all others are copyright of their respective owners.

Share on Google Plus