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Japanese fashion model Nozomi Sasaki tries to reach out to the otaku crowd in this video where she visits a maid cafe in Akihabara dressed as a schoolgirl. It makes for a very fun watch but not for the intended reasons. Half the time her expression screams “GET ME OUT OF HERE!” and the other half it mutters “what the hell is up with these weirdoes?”. Watch her laugh, is she laughing with the maids or at the maids?

And this was easy, she was sheltered. I’d like to see her deal with the attention of a couple dozen otaku. I’m not sure she’d hold up… but it would be quality entertainment!

[JapanSugoi]

The many faces of street fashion in Japan never ceases to amaze, from gothic lolitas to ganguro, there’s always something exciting going on. Today we’ll see two videos about Hime Gyaru or Hime Style. A fashion trend about looking like a pseudo-Victorian princess and apparently adding as much curls and volume to your hair as possible. I guess you could also call it blond Amy Winehouse style.

These two videos deal particularly with a store that specializes in Hime Gyaru clothing called Jesus Diamante. Apparently some of the gowns in there go for over a thousand bucks. Where do these people get all that money?! I don’t really see them leading very well paid corporate jobs dressed like this. But who knows, Sanrio needs executives too I guess!

[Tokyomango]

If you are a fan Japanese fashion and have always dreamed of getting yourself dressed in the latest of J-fashion (and looking like a complete freak everywhere else in the world) you surely have found yourself facing the horrible prices the stuff runs overseas, the excessive cost of importing and the wait that comes with it (and fashion deprecates faster than hardware). Its always been a drag but Japanese businesses seem to be catching on. The see the money overseas and someone’s finally stood up and done something about it.

How FABULOUS are these?!

Maruione.jp is not the typical Japanese clothing outlet, its completely geared towards the international market, featuring the most prominent styles so you can bet you’ll find that gothic and lolita clothing you’d been craving for as well as everything else coming out of places like Harajuku. The prices are pretty fair and their inventory grows every other day.

Good news for the ladies, right now most of the merchandise is for you. As for us men, unless you are comfortable wearing a skirt (which you should if you like J-fashion) you will have to wait and see how things go.

There are also anime goodies such as animation cells, tshirts and a couple of cosplay outfits, all under the watchful eye of master-otaku Patrick Macias.  Go give it a browse!

[Maruione.jp]

The last time we saw a Japanese anime TV ad it was designed to give you that warm fuzzy feeling. This time, however, its so trippy and confusing that you’d have a hard time trying to figure out what on earth sells with that. Not surpisingly its a fashion ad for Luis Vuitton. 

Awesome design, flashing colors, trippy patterns and a psychedelic panda, any more awesome and it would suck, but no, its perfect.

[Tokyomango]

Japan is known for its street fashion, gothic lolitas, cyberpunks, ganguro schoolgirls and all around flashy clothing. Well it seems some may-be ravers took this flashy thing a little too literally. Not content with carrying around glowsticks they took to making this kickass clothes with reflective strips. Some of the designs are so cool I would risk showing my dorkiness by wearing them and trying to bust a move.

Then again, is my dorkiness really secret anymore?

[Comolokko / Via Hemmy]

Book and Schoolgirl lovers rejoice! Patrick Macias’ new book Japanese Schoolgirl Inferno: Tokyo Teen Fashion Subculture Handbook goes on sale today. Its filled with subculture intelligence from Japan and a lot of historic background on the whole phenomenon. From the Amazon description:

Japanese schoolgirl fashions and subcultures have sprung up, burned out, mutated, and evolved into a pop culture phenomenon gone global from Gwen Stefani’s “Harajuku Girls” to Gothic Lolita-fueled manga and the deadly schoolgirl in Kill Bill, it’s no wonder that international fashion designers look to the streets of Tokyo for fresh inspiration. This playful and thoroughly researched handbook examines the key styles and subcultures past and present: sailor-suited gangsters, Pippi Longstockings risen from the dead, girls in blackface, teens sporting giant hamster costumes, and more. Each fashion profile is packed with photos and illustrations, history, ideal boyfriends, and must-have items. Also included are a gatefold evolutionary fashion chart, resources, and makeup tips. At last, an in-depth guide to what the girls are wearing and why on earth they’re wearing it.

Most importantly, its filled with pretty pictures all over! And its cheap to boot, yours for a measly $12 dollars. If schoolgirls are your thing or Japanese fashion insanity makes your day then head out to Amazon and get it while its still unknown. You know, so you can say you’re so hardcore because you had it before it was cool.

WOW This turns out to be our 1000th post as well, yay!
[Amazon / Patrick's Announcement]

If there’s something that’s brought Japan both fame and infamy is their ability to obsess over anything. On the one hand you have superior engineering and administrative process, on the other… this.

The Japanese can and will eventually have an idol for everything, the latest addition to the ominously growing list are these, mask idols. Worn to prevent spreading colds and getting allergies, masks have evolved into fashion items. Gothic lolita masks, maid masks, schoolgirl masks and even masks on gravure idols (glorified bikini models).

Read more!The Mask is Part of the Face

Neomarxisme has posted a very through article on the 90’s Koga, gangs of girls who were sexually promiscuous and antisocial until the Japanese fashion police declared them cool. Thats when the whole trend got made into a national phenomenon of ephebophilia, consumerism and decadence that even lead to creation of the Ganguro (see picture) and Yamamba styles.

An interesting read for anyone who is into the fashion trends of Japan and specially Harajuku.

[Neomarxisme / Via Japan Probe]