Fashion trends in VK? J-fashion stuff topic

[Rahzel 110]

Ok I'm starting this topic mainly because I am less than 48 hours away from seeing my favorite kpop boys live so I'm in SWOON mode and in order to calm my tits I am doing the other thing I like, namely, write about j-fashion

 

So irl I am one of those big jfashion hos fans who probably owns more japanese brand clothes than in-house brands and so I decided to search for what's going on in fashion in vk fandom nowadays. I remember around a decade ago the whole vk scene still smelled of Mana doing MMM, full of lolita and esp. gothic lolita enthusiasts (NANA character Reira comes to mind too) and a lot of artists doing their fashion design brands usually after clothing designs for the band or something, but nowadays I don't really see lolita/ouji/aristocratic fashion as a big thing in Japan in general - which mayhaps has to do with the decline of vk as well - and so I wonder what do vk fans in Japan dress nowadays basically.

 

Out of curiosity I started searching for random bangyas self-posting pics on Twitter just to see how they attended lives (This sounds like insightful research but I actually simply typed Vrzel in Twitter search and started digging lolll) the only ... pattern ... I am actually seeing there is they all do Big Anime Eyes makeup and love that creppy ass SNOW filter for making eyes big ...? Anyways, that's about it. But I wanted to see insighters' opinions as well, esp. from people who actually attend vk lives in Japan. Do people even dress in any particular style nowadays? Also, do rokku gyaru actually exist irl or is it internet fiction? Do people ACTUALLY dress up like that for rock lives in 2010s? Being this gaijin gyaru from day one I was simply curious and can def see how gyaru and agejo fashion/hostess lives/nightlife and visual rock scene might kind of overlap (ahem, sujimori hair) but generally I am also curious in knowing what other fashion trends might be here.

 

Anyways, thank you ~

Edited September 14, 2019 by Chell

[Duwang 676]

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Edited October 13, 2019 by Duwang

[Rahzel 110]

1 hour ago, Duwang said:

Most bangya in the indies scene these days just wear what you would typically see at 109, brands like Mars, Ank Rouge, Bubbles, Cecil McBee, etc. Very feminine, (usually) modest clothes.
While there are some gothy/punky bangya, you won't really see people dress in Sex Pot and similar brands in 2019. It's not considered cool anymore.
Band cosplay is super rare nowadays minus the few bands where it's a common practice among fans, but there are some bangya who dress and style themselves like bandman/host-like. They're on the rare side, at least among the fans of the bands I've been going to the past 5 or so years.
Lolita's been on a slow decline for like a decade so you won't see that many people wearing lolita at vk lives. Also lolita/aristocrat fashion really isn't that deeply connected to VK. Most Japanese people I know who are into that type of fashion aren't into vk.

There's also bangya who aren't necessarily goth or punk or whatever but wear plain black clothes.
Then there are bangya who just go to lives wearing band t-shirts, either with a skirt/shorts or by itself like a one piece if its over sized.
To be honest though it depends on the bands fans. Many times you can see a trend among certain groups of fans.

 

Rokku gyaru is dead (gyaru in general is kinda dead). All the brands that sold that style like Glavil, Ghost of Harlem, etc. went under years ago. Even when it was more popular 5-7 years ago I very rarely saw bangya wearing that style, although sometimes you can see some alt people wearing toned down versions of it or using old rokku gyaru pieces in their coordinates. I find that in general (not all of course) Japanese women prefer traditionally feminine styles. 

 

As for makeup, yeah girls make their eyes look huge but isn't that the same pretty much anywhere? 
Circle lenses are still popular but most girls don't wear the super huge ones anymore.
A lot of Japanese girls pile on the blush but I personally think it looks terrible. Don't do it.                  

I see and it comes as a surprise to me actually ... I did see plenty of girls doing the "regular emo clothing" with loads of black and would never guess the goth/punky style wasn't popular anymore. Sure not the same as it was before, but I thought some variation of it would still be popular... It's cool to know!

 

>Band cosplay is super rare nowadays minus the few bands where it's a common practice among fans, but there are some bangya who dress and style themselves like bandman/host-like. They're on the rare side, at least among the fans of the bands I've been going to the past 5 or so years...

Not surprising either about the host dressing thing (heck I'd do dansou myself) but yeah I assumed cosplaying should be a little outdated too since people aren't so into the extreme visuals anymore I guess ... But even those oshare style fans aren't into the whole oshare thing for dressing up? It's nice to know ~

 

>Also lolita/aristocrat fashion really isn't that deeply connected to VK. Most Japanese people I know who are into that type of fashion aren't into vk.

Hmm yeah, I really don't think it is. In the past however (back when Kamizkaze Girls was Really Cool) I think there was still some overlap esp. with gothic / shiro / kuro etc types of lolita outfits ... I don't follow lolita fashion too closely but whenever I see something nowadays it's usually from the lolita niche itself instead of the vk one so to speak, I really don't see any overlap nowadays.  Even in concerts, I think back then were more lolita enthusiasts in general smh but idk  

 

>Rokku gyaru is dead (gyaru in general is kinda dead). All the brands that sold that style like Glavil, Ghost of Harlem, etc. went under years ago [...]

Yea, I reckon. This was actually my question, did people actually do rokku gyaru to actual lives or was it more of "I'm gonna post this on the internet and go with sweatpants lol"? I feel that it's, I dunno, didn't really see it back in late 00s when it should have been popular supposedly ... But yes, that's true about punky in general isn't it... BPN also shut down long ago, Putumayo did later, I believe h.NAOTO remains online, but that's because they did plenty of cute too ...  

 

I dunno, the striking thing about their looks in general was def big eyes. Not simply circle lenses and fake lashes but full contouring and big shiny white parts looking like aegyo sals (ahem, edit, I forgot how it's called - byojaku). It's kind of extreme tbh and this is definitely a trend because of newer bands that do this imo, it wasn't around until 2010s at all iirc. Lol I like the igari though (and gotta admit it's Korean influences too)

 

Still, thanks a lot! Very thankful for the insider insight, happy to know! ♥

Edited September 14, 2019 by Chell

[Duwang 676]

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Edited October 13, 2019 by Duwang

[Rahzel 110]

3 hours ago, Duwang said:

I didn't say goth/punk fashion wasn't popular among bangya, I said that's not what the vast majority of bangya wear nowadays and that Sex Pot is considered uncool. I am very much one of those goth/punk/alt bangya.

 

I think this picture pretty much covers how bangya generally dress when they go to lives.

I'd say 1, 2 and 7 are the most common while 6, 11, and 12 are the least. I honestly haven't seen 12 in like 3+ years but that could be due to the bands I go see.

 

Ohh that is actually super cool and insightful, thanks a lot!!

I have definitely seen 1, 4, 8 and 10 stalking bangya online and occasionally 5, 7, 9, even 3 and 12 (...ish? Granted these are more for cosplay purposes apparently)  but everything else is kinda novelty to me that it happens. Oddly enough, I thought 6 would be popular amongst oshare kids but not so much? I miss the look ... (I was so oot fairykei ... ) 

Edited September 14, 2019 by Chell

[AwesomeNyappy 98]

Actually, I was wondering the same thing only a few days ago! I was watching an An cafe live from around 2016, and suddenly I was noticing how normal everyone was dressed. I didn't see people dressing in oshare kei or anything. I however remember that at older lives from around 2006, people were still more dressed up. 

Also, while the vk scene here in Germany is maybe now a bit more toned down (some fans are now older), the styles of people going to vk concerts here is still pretty wild and "2007"  Then I was wondering why bangya in Japan don't like to dress like their favourite bands so much. I mean obviously most of them like the style, so why do most people not dress up for concerts anymore? The vk scene in Japan is also an underground scene, so it can't be connected to that. 

Does anyone have any suspicions?

[Rahzel 110]

8 hours ago, AwesomeNyappy said:

Actually, I was wondering the same thing only a few days ago! I was watching an An cafe live from around 2016, and suddenly I was noticing how normal everyone was dressed. I didn't see people dressing in oshare kei or anything. I however remember that at older lives from around 2006, people were still more dressed up. 

Also, while the vk scene here in Germany is maybe now a bit more toned down (some fans are now older), the styles of people going to vk concerts here is still pretty wild and "2007"  Then I was wondering why bangya in Japan don't like to dress like their favourite bands so much. I mean obviously most of them like the style, so why do most people not dress up for concerts anymore? The vk scene in Japan is also an underground scene, so it can't be connected to that. 

Does anyone have any suspicions?

Yeah, this is what I am talking about ... I did listen to AnCafe back in 2006 and maybe that's why I was firmly under the impression that decora style stuff among fans was still commonplace or at least acceptable but that doesn't seem to be the case! I suspect it's because in Japan fashion kind of developed A LOT as a thing of its own - Harajuku fashion scene and whatnot ... Nowadays girls worldwide know "kawaii" fashion at least - and a bit away from what it was in the 90s and 2000s, closely tied to music styles like americanized punk / yankkii stuff or visual kei itself which is more or less what I said in the beginning of the thread. But that's simply a wildddd guess.

[AwesomeNyappy 98]

Huh, this sounds very interesting. I can imagine that being the case. And yes, I also thought most fans were into decora 😂 Oh boy, was I wrong....

I still remember people buying sex pot revenge in online shops 🤣 Seems like such a long time ago. 

The style of sub cultures in general is in such a decline....15 years ago there were a lot of punks and goths around, nowadays people still enjoy the music, but the stores are all closing up because people don't tend to dress to such an extreme. Ahhh, the good old 90s/early 2000s...I feel like such a grandma now.

[Rahzel 110]

23 hours ago, AwesomeNyappy said:

Huh, this sounds very interesting. I can imagine that being the case. And yes, I also thought most fans were into decora 😂 Oh boy, was I wrong....

I still remember people buying sex pot revenge in online shops 🤣 Seems like such a long time ago. 

The style of sub cultures in general is in such a decline....15 years ago there were a lot of punks and goths around, nowadays people still enjoy the music, but the stores are all closing up because people don't tend to dress to such an extreme. Ahhh, the good old 90s/early 2000s...I feel like such a grandma now.

That's literally me every day lol. Except I recently went to a k-pop concert and am feeling like a teenager this week, but generally I am just like "let the old grandma reminisce the 2000s" . Everything is so different now but in a way I am feeling that the youth being too exposed to imagery sees aesthetic for what it is, somehow, not as groundbreaking or revolutionary as maybe past generations would. And visual styles are kind of just that, maybe. The trend in fashion industry really seems to be more about people worldwide dressing similarly ordinarily. Even five years ago it was easier for me to do my extra gyaru antics with fast fashion clothing than nowadays where everyone is rolled-up jeans and cropped sweatshirts lol.

I miss the extreme visual styles too, or uh when dressing to express something wasn't really seen as uncool smh? But I guess it's healthier to realize clothing is just that lol.

[AwesomeNyappy 98]

18 hours ago, Chell said:

That's literally me every day lol. Except I recently went to a k-pop concert and am feeling like a teenager this week, but generally I am just like "let the old grandma reminisce the 2000s" . Everything is so different now but in a way I am feeling that the youth being too exposed to imagery sees aesthetic for what it is, somehow, not as groundbreaking or revolutionary as maybe past generations would. And visual styles are kind of just that, maybe. The trend in fashion industry really seems to be more about people worldwide dressing similarly ordinarily. Even five years ago it was easier for me to do my extra gyaru antics with fast fashion clothing than nowadays where everyone is rolled-up jeans and cropped sweatshirts lol.

I miss the extreme visual styles too, or uh when dressing to express something wasn't really seen as uncool smh? But I guess it's healthier to realize clothing is just that lol.

I feel you! Oh, I once went to a BTS live film in cinemas, and let me just say that my friend and I were like the grandmas there 🤣 I felt super triggered when all of the youngsters there cheered only for V and Jungkook because Yoongi  and Jin are my age and they also deserves some love, okay??! Anyways....😂

Yeah, it has really changed. I also feel that fashion is not so much inspired by musical styles anymore, but more by what people but out on instagram etc. I feel bad for all of the punk and gothic stores closing down....I miss shopping there. It's great that people like you re not letting the early 2000s spirit die

Edited September 24, 2019 by AwesomeNyappy

[Rahzel 110]

On 9/24/2019 at 4:08 PM, AwesomeNyappy said:

I feel you! Oh, I once went to a BTS live film in cinemas, and let me just say that my friend and I were like the grandmas there 🤣 I felt super triggered when all of the youngsters there cheered only for V and Jungkook because Yoongi  and Jin are my age and they also deserves some love, okay??! Anyways....😂

Yeah, it has really changed. I also feel that fashion is not so much inspired by musical styles anymore, but more by what people but out on instagram etc. I feel bad for all of the punk and gothic stores closing down....I miss shopping there. It's great that people like you re not letting the early 2000s spirit die

Man, that's literally me and my bff in queue for said live ... talking about the kids who knew k-pop through BTS and not BoA or DB5K. And to think it was a group with older dudes and my friend was older than the oldest. Lol. Feels sad.

Yes, exactly that. And I do feel quite sad about all of it too. I mean, who am I to dictate anything but against all odds or anything my teenage self would do I do feel like creating an Instagram or something like that just to share my crazy outfits for those of us who still care, because I know we are few but not THAT few lol. But then again, Instagram is all about letting your real life friends know what the hinjinks you're wearing lately and I sure as hell don't want my boss to see it, so idk.