Written by Corey D’Anna
Japanese street fashion is a big draw for many tourists to visit Tokyo, Japan. Whether a traveler is interested in kawaii (cute) or kakkōī (cool) styles, they can find it on the fashion-forward streets of Harajuku, Shinjuku, Shibuya, and many others. These fashion trends tend to incorporate a mixture of traditional and modern styles in Japan, while simultaneously featuring foreign influences as well. There are three major style categories in Japanese street fashion: Lolita, Visual Kei, and Gyaru. Each category has many subsets of similar, but equally unique, styles within it — from Sweet Loli to B-Gal. With so many varieties, everyone is sure to find a style they love.
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Lolita
Lolita fashion has become the poster child of Japanese street fashion all around the world and could possibly have the most subcategories of any style. Coming into fame in the 1980s, Lolita fashion draws inspiration from English Victorian-era clothing as well as love for a childlike aesthetic. Some common features for all of the styles under this broad category are fluffy dresses, petticoats, bows, and frills. A few popular versions of Lolita are:
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Sweet Loli
This style tends to feature light and bright colors and emphasize doll-like qualities. Light shades of pink, blue, yellow, and white are favored, as well as cute patterns like fruits, toys, and hearts. Usually, a person wearing Sweet Loli fashion will wear ballerina flats or Mary Jane style shoes. The look tends to be finished off with fluffy pigtails and a big bow on the head as well as in the back of the dress.
Goth Loli
This style is the direct opposite of Sweet Loli. It features darker tones, mostly black, red, grey, and white, and traditionally Gothic patterns such as crosses, chandeliers, and skulls. While Goth Loli still incorporates large bows to emphasize the doll-like look, the shoes tend to be chunky platforms or belted boots. The style grew in popularity due to the Japanese rock artist Mana-Sama and also takes influence from Western goth rock bands such as The Cure.
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Visual Kei
Visual Kei is a style that first became popular among rock groups in Japan. It is a fashion-forward style that features dyed hair, bold makeup, and punk and Gothic elements such as black and plaid clothing. A few popular subcategories of Visual Kei are:
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Fairy Kei
This street style spawned from Decora, a subcategory of Lolita fashion, but fits more firmly within Visual Kei fashion because of its lack of Lolita elements and incorporation of punk accessories. It has a unique spin because it uses a pastel color palette. Fairy Kei is commonly identifiable by tutus, bright/pastel-colored hair, and many-layered accessories, though not as many as Decora.
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Angura Kei
Beginning in the 1960s, Angura Kei has a much longer history than Visual Kei; however, it has since been absorbed and elaborated on by followers of the Visual Kei scene. The style involves the Glam Rock elements of Visual Kei with the addition of traditional Japanese clothing, particularly kimono, and traditional hair accessories.
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Gyaru
Gyaru (or Gyaruo for men) is a glamorous style that originated in the 1970s. It seeks to break from traditional Japanese beauty standards and tends more towards American Hollywood ideals of beauty. There is a major emphasis on man-made beauty additions such as false eyelashes, eye-widening contacts (called circle lenses), and artificial tanning. Lightened and bleached hair, as well as flashy makeup, complete this style. A few popular subcategories of the Gyaru style are:
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Ganguro
A style that first gained popularity in the 1990s, it features the Gyaru stylistic traits to the extreme and with a Hawaiian twist. Dark, artificial tans, bleach blonde hair, and bright white makeup are common characteristics of the Ganguro look. Long, bejeweled, acrylic nails, crystals near the eyes, hibiscus flowers in the hair, and high-end attire complete this flashy fashion.
Image By Justine Smith
B-Gal
This is a relatively new style, with its popularity rising as the rap and hip-hop music genre rises in Japan. The B-Gal style features a lot of the characteristics of its parent, but with an emphasis on big jewelry, chains, and gold. Club ready wear completes the B-Gal style.
Along with these interesting fashions to see on the streets of Tokyo, Western-style clothing is very common, as is traditional Japanese clothing depending on the time of year. It is common to see girls and women strolling through temples dressed in yukata in the spring and summertime, and particularly during festivals. Overall, Japanese fashion is ever-evolving and always interesting!
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