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Japanese youth stands out for its special musical preferences, philosophy, and, of course, clothing, which in turn is closely related to the definition of “street fashion.” Often, Japanese clothing style is associated with kimonos and ethnic elements in clothing, however, this is not at all the case. Since the mid-19th century, Japan has been imitating Western fashion, but despite this, Japanese clothing style still contains notes of something unusual and individual. Modern youth in Japan give their preference to street style, which is distinguished by its shockingness and brightness.

It is worth noting an important thing: each is not just a style of clothing or a way of self-expression, but entire subcultures.

The main features of the Harajuku style are brightness and layers of clothing. This style of clothing, like no other, emphasizes individuality and originality. Things that are made or altered with your own hands are welcomed, and therefore it is almost impossible to notice repeating elements in clothing on young girls and boys.

The more colorful and contrasting clothes layered one on top of the other, the better. An abundance of accessories will not spoil the Harajuku style. The more rings, chains, bracelets and everything else, the better! And of course, you can’t do without bright makeup and an unusual hairstyle with colorful strands.

Ganguro (Ganguro)

A glamorous and unusual style that focuses not on clothes, but on appearance as a whole. A characteristic feature of the style is a tanned face. And this is quite obvious, because “ganguro” means “ black face”.

Hair color should emphasize the tan of the face, so the hair is quite light, and often pink or green. Clothing is no less bright, preferably mini. Shoes must definitely be on a platform; these can be either boots or shoes. The makeup is unusually expressive due to light pearlescent lipstick on the lips, dark eyeliner and white eye shadow. Accessories should be no less bright and glamorous; preference is given to flowers and rhinestones.

Lolita (Lolita)

Something childish, something fabulous and tender. Being like a porcelain doll is the main feature of the Lolita street style. White stockings, low-heeled shoes and a Japanese-style dress, preferably made of material in calm shades. An important attribute of style is powder or foundation, with the help of which Japanese women carefully try to make their face lighter.

The makeup is expressive and at the same time restrained; neat curls of hair are usually pinned up with bows. The choice of accessories is also more restrained - there is very little jewelry, preference is given to handbags, hats, gloves and bows.

Lolita is a calm and at the same time mysterious image, behind which can hide both a very accomplished woman and a harmless one small child.

Cosplay

A style that receives no less attention than all of the above. From the English “costume play” means “costume game”.

It's based on imitation of your favorite anime characters, computer games and manga, by selecting the most suitable costume elements and accessories. Among the representatives of the cosplay style are not only young boys and girls, but also the older generation.

Kawaii (kawaii)

Kawaii style is somewhat similar to cosplay. The basis of the style is to imitate not only anime characters, but also all other cartoon characters, animals and even soft toys. Kawaii has something particularly childish and naive about it. Preference is given to materials in light pastel shades, touching children's accessories and handbags reminiscent soft toys, and the toys themselves are important attribute.

To create a modern Japanese look, you just need imagination and a little courage. Combine incompatible things, for example, a lace dress and an old leather jacket, combine old vintage things with new ones.

Leg warmers and platform boots or bright sneakers will also be very relevant for the Japanese look. Don't forget soft hoodies with animal prints and whimsical toy-shaped bags, as well as bright and colorful accessories. Bright makeup, angular haircuts, and also better hair completely hide it under knitted hat. The image can be based on a Japanese cartoon character.

Surprisingly, it is in Japan, whose residents are famous for their special restraint and reverence for traditions, that perhaps the most informal youth in the world lives. Only here, in broad daylight, you can meet girls and young men with terrifying makeup and completely crazy clothes. True, these fans of bright individuality live only in one district of Tokyo - Harajuku. It is here that crowds of tourists flock, eager to see with their own eyes all the diversity and riot of colors characteristic of the style of the local inhabitants.

Harajuku is a unique fashion center Japanese capital. Large shopping centers and boutiques of world brands are located here. And this is where all the progressive and rebellious youth of the country strive rising sun. Local fashionistas have managed to create their own, very special world, which has its own rules and trends. Gathering every day in the vicinity of Harajuku, young men and women organize a kind of fashion show here, designed to show the diversity of styles and trends popular among Japanese youth.

Today, Harajuku style is one of many different looks. If you think that these young people are just mindlessly putting on whatever they can get their hands on, then you are mistaken. It has its own trends and its own unconditional authorities. Here are just some of the styles that can often be found in Harajuku (by the way, some of them are popular not only in Japan):

— “Lolita” - this trend originated in the 70s. “Lolita” is an entire subculture that is incredibly popular in Japan. The fashion movement really flourished in the 90s, when youth began to use it. musical groups, playing in the visual kei style. The subculture has several directions: “Gothic Lolita”, “Sweet Lolita”, “Punk Lolita”. Young people who popularize this style prefer doll-style clothes, shoes high heels, intricate headdresses and bright makeup.

— “Cosplay” is a style of manga and anime fans. Fans of cosplay real life dress just like their favorite comic book characters. “Cosplay” is a complete copying of the anime style: the closer to the original source the image, the greater the chances of being noticed in the crowd.

— “Wamono” — fans of this trend combine in one set elements of traditional Japanese attire with things typical of Western fashion.

— “Kawaii” is a style created on the basis of a children’s wardrobe. In other words, kawaii fans try to create a cute and playful image.

Of course, these divisions are very arbitrary, because the youth of Harajuku prefer not to stand still, but to constantly create completely new directions. It is no coincidence that this area is called the center of Japanese street fashion. Local creatives know how to surprise: crazy combinations, bright colors and completely unexpected images are the order of the day in Harajuku.

Fans of the unique Japanese fashion even have their own version of the famous “Vogue” - the “Fruits” magazine. It was this publication that played a big role in popularizing Harajuku fashion trends not only in Japan, but also in many countries around the world. All the diversity of Japanese street fashion is often combined into one term - the “Fruits” style.

In general, in Japan, the Harajuku phenomenon is studied not only by fashion critics, but also by sociologists. The latter are trying to find out what is the reason for this desire of Japanese youth for self-expression. According to experts, the Harajuku style is a kind of response of rebellious teenagers to the structured and traditional Japanese society. We can say that Harajuku is not just an attempt to surprise and stand out from the crowd of similarly dressed townspeople, but also a desire to declare oneself as a bright individuality with a special inner world.

The average Japanese teenager doesn't care about long reports from boring college clerks. In pursuit of bright new products and unusual accessories, they hardly think about what is behind the craze of the inhabitants of Harajuku.

Looking at this motley crowd, many people think of a comparison with the theater of the absurd. However, Harajuku is still not just youth outrage, it is, first of all, an amazing combination of creativity, the spirit of freedom and an ironic attitude towards oneself and others.

In my articles I often mention this place: and not only as a city landmark, but rather as a habitat for all these strange Japanese subcultures. Let's take a closer look at the cradle of frantic Tokyo fashion.

Harajuku is one of the largest trading bases in central Tokyo. This is an area where renting land is incredibly expensive and, accordingly, prices in local stores are noticeably high. Now it is no longer just a district, but the center of the fashion industry not only in Tokyo, but throughout the world. And Omotesando Street is equated to the Champs Elysees in Paris, where largest stores Louis Vuitton, Chanel and Prada.

Harajuku style became a trend after World War II. Before the war, there was a small village on this site, where mainly low-class samurai lived with their families. After the war, the Americans built their barracks there, which they proudly nicknamed Washington Heights. And serious Japanese youth tried to borrow Western style, shopping in local shops owned by Americans. And what came out of the mixture of American and Japanese fashion inspired Japanese designers to create a unique style.



In 1964, the Olympic Village was opened there for visiting athletes, and when a crowd of tourists went to Harajuku to see the Olympians, they could watch a fashion show from Japanese designers - the so-called “Harajuku procession”. Opened in Harajuku in 1978 fashion house Laforet, which became one of the main attractions of the area.

In America, the Harajuku style became popular thanks to Gwen Stefani, when she left the group and began a solo career, taking on a team of 4 as a backup dancer. Japanese girls, which later also became a kind of trend.


Harajuku is home to branches of famous fashion houses from around the world, and small local businesses right next to them. Some items can only be found in Harajuku and only in one store. Also, young designers and artists who try themselves in this difficult business open their own stores in Harajuku.

Hanging out on the streets of Harajuku is that small percentage of Japanese who at one time did not follow a single path (単線型 (tansenkei): school - university - work in a company - the dull life of a sarariman - family). These are beauty school pupils/students, designers, consultants in local stores, models, artists, musicians. Sometimes you can even meet a visual performer somewhere in a store; they stroll peacefully through Omotesando or Takeshita. Local magazines or just informal enthusiasts periodically organize fashion shows on the streets, and some stores host festivals and fashion shows.


The style of youth from Harajuku has several distinctive features:

1. Mixing of cultures. Kimono with platform boots? Easily. Yukata with mohawk? It couldn't be simpler. Complete freedom and flight of fancy.

2. Layered clothing. Pulling a T-shirt over a sweater and throwing a jacket on top, or putting a skirt on trousers - only the Japanese can do this.

3. Handmade.Harajuku youth love to go beyond store fashion by creating something new with their own hands. They don’t stop at torn jeans, but come up with unique models, armed with threads, scissors, buttons and sequins.

4. Accessories. You can attach the entire arsenal of hairpins from “ Children's world”, and you will be accepted as one of their own. The wildest combinations of jewelry, and their unlimited quantity. The same applies to piercings: guys with 20 earrings in one ear and two tunnels, or a girl with five barbells in her tongue.

5. Hair and makeup.Again, complete freedom of choice of color and hair length: ponytails, braids, visual hairstyles, mohawks, straight long hair. You can do whatever you want.

6. Don't be shy. You can put on anything, even a potato sack, the main thing is not to be ashamed of yourself. There you will be accepted as anyone. Even if you are not Asian, to the youth of Harajuku you will be beautiful in any form.

7. Chiizu! The main thing is, being in a suitable outfit or even in home pajamas, while in Harajuku, smile in time, make peace with your fingers and say “Chiizu” when you are photographed.


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Surely, many of you have long been familiar with the fashion style that is extremely popular in the big cities of Japan, and even if you did not know that it was called Harajuku, you still undoubtedly saw the strange and defiantly bright dressed girls, with flashy makeup.



Harajuku is a trend in Japanese youth fashion. The Harajuku style originated among teenagers on the streets of the Harajuku shopping district in Tokyo, hence the name. Harajuku began when young Japanese living in the area began to incorporate elements of traditional Japanese clothes into their everyday outfits, particularly kimonos and geta (Japanese shoes with wooden soles). Picking up new trends from the West, teenagers combined typically Western things with traditional clothes, and also combined items from second-hand and designer clothes. From the mixture of all this, the youth direction of Harajuku appeared. This Japanese fashion trend has a mixture of different styles and incompatible colors are only supported - you can do whatever you want, as long as your appearance is an expression of your individuality.



The clothes of super fashionable teenagers are emphasized by accessories - belts, earrings, clips, handbags and jewelry. Remember, accessories can be multi-colored, heavy, and it is not at all necessary that they harmonize with clothing.
The appearance is complemented by various creative, one might even say, theatrical makeup (funny, scary, bright). You can create crazy hairstyles with braids and ponytails, and dyeing your hair is also popular.


It is impossible to single out just one “Harajuku style”. Many styles originated and evolved on the streets of the Harajuku area, and many Harajuku girls (and boys too) incorporate elements of one or even more of these styles into one outfit.

Gothic Lolita - adherents of this style combine gothic with feminine and elegant clothing, reminiscent of a porcelain doll.



Japanese punks, inspired by the punk movement that began in London back in the 70s, emphasize defiance by wearing appropriate clothing, accessories, makeup and piercings.