Yi ShaoJapan is the birthplace of many of the weirdest and wackiest fashion trends. And most of these crazy Japanese fashion trends are born in Harajuku, the street fashion capital of Japan. Even till today, Japanese teenagers sport some of the most outlandish outfits in the streets of Harajuku. So if you are making a visit to Harajuku, be on a lookout for these fashions (and even try to imitate some of these fashions yourself, if you dare).
Decora
Image Credits: beatplusmelody
Decora, short for “decoration”, is a fashion trend that tries to embody child-like playfulness. You can expect adherents to this fashion trend to wear brightly coloured clothing like multi-coloured tutus, tote whimsical accessories and pin a lot of barrettes in their hair.
Gyaru
Image Credits: rc!
The name of the Gyaru fashion trend is obtained from the transliteration of the English word “girl”. Gyaru girls (as they are known) at their most outlandish often sport poofy hairstyles and false tans. However, the gyaru subculture has changed in more recent years to become more toned down, with gyaru girls eschewing the obvious tans and turning to more natural makeup. The only thing that might separate the gyaru girls from others is their hair, which is often dyed and styled in a manner that most people will consider ostentatious.
Kigurumi
Image Credits: Cory Doctorow
A term originally used for stage performers in animal costumes, Kigurumi has since gained popularity as a street fashion in Japan. Kigurumi fashionistas can typically be found wearing animal one-piece suits inspired by both real and imaginary animals. A notable example of imaginary animals inspiring kigurumi fashion would be the various types of Pokemon.
Image Credits: Kigurumifun
Lolita
Image Credits: jpellgen
No, this fashion subculture has nothing to do with Lolita by Vladimir Nabakov. Inspired by clothing from the Rococo and Victorian Eras, Lolita is a fashion style that is characterised by bell shaped skirts (often with frills), lacy headdresses, knee length socks and Mary Jane shoes. While all the dresses may look similar to the untrained eye, there are actually quite a wide variety of sub-classifications. Some of the more popular styles include sweet lolita and gothic lolita.
Image Credits: Chris Chan
Sweet Lolita outfits mainly utilise a pastel colour palette, has cute prints on the fabric used to make the outfit and often has lace and bows sewn on to the outfits. On the other hand Gothic Lolita outfits utilise darker and richer colours like black, navy and burgundy. Gothic Lolita outfits also tend to be more muted in contrast to Sweet Lolita, with less lace and bows attached to the outfits.
Morigirl
Image Credits: Nguyễn Minh Hoang
Morigirl is a fashion trend that is guided by the idea of what a girl living in the woods would wear. Wearers of Morigirl clothing often stick to an earthy colour palette (like browns and greens) and wear clothing made out of natural materials like cotton and wool. Loose dresses, long skirts and oversized sweaters commonly featured in this fashion trend as well. Unlike some of the other fashion trends, Morigirl make-up and accessories tend to be understated in keeping with the natural theme.
Visual Kei
Image Credits: Innocent Coppieters
Visual Kei was initially a fashion style adopted by musicians in the 1990s and this fashion style can still be seen today. With adherents to Visual Kei having wild hairstyles, dark eyeliner and piercings, Visual Kei is a fashion trend that is hard to miss. Notable bands that popularised this style include Dir en Grey, Malice Mizer and L’arc~en~ Ciel.
Image Credits: May S. Young
Clothing in the Visual Kei style are made to make the wearer look androgynous so it is not unusual to see a male visual kei fashionista wear a skirt over jeans. Bold prints, dark colors and chains also feature heavily in Visual Kei clothing.
Yamanba
Yamanba is a fashion trend named after a witch in Japanese folklore and it lives up to its name. People who follow this fashion trend often have bleached hair in unnatural colours like orange. They also put on makeup that makes their skin look darker before finishing up their look with heavy eye makeup in white.
Often, the wearer will also add on facial stickers and wear a large amount of accessories like bracelets.
Image Credits: alex de carvalho
This fashion trend started off as a rebellion against the traditional Japanese society. As such, the Japanese ideal of pale skin and dark hair is deliberately eschewed by adherents to this fashion trend.
So this is our selection of crazy Japanese fashion trends. Which do you think is the most crazy? Tell us in the comments section below! And if you want to take a look at some of these fashion trends in person, why not hop on a budget flight to Japan?
