Hara-huh?!

Trust the Ang Mo to come to Asia, see the edginess that we don't, steal it and create "Harajukku Lovers" and "L.A.M.B." with it. Yes, I'm talking about Gwen Stefani! For shedding international light on harajukku fashion, which to me seems to have partly inspired some of  the crazy looks Gaga goes by. 

TRENDSETTED

 Gwen has kind of always taken inspiration from good old Asia hasn't she? Remember her "No Doubt" days? She was rocking the pottu and everything. Shout-out to all bloody brown skins! Eh, don't scold me macha's, I'm a bloody brown skin. 

This lady has funky, funky style man all the while never wavering from her Marilyn Monroe platinum hair and red, red lips. It's like Monroe went to India found a sitar and started rocking the stage. She was already a trend-setter back in "No Doubt". I remember how everyone wanted to bare their bellies -although a lot of them shouldn't have because Gwen's abs are something special-, rogue their lips and get belly-button rings.

She really hit it big of course when she went solo, took some of the rock edge off her music, and fell in love with Japan.

So what's Harajuku?

Well, firstly it's a place. Harajuku Station where youths in Japan dress up and socialize. Partay-by-the-railway yo. Now it's a fashion capital of the world and countless designers take inspirations from these crazy goth-cosplayed-dolled up harajuku's.

The most important thing for a Harajuku to be is Unique.

Lovesit. Harajuku's infuse all kinds of style and dress to create one-and-only styles that fit them. Heard of Kawaii by the way? 

"Kawaii became a popular phrase that meant something was cute or pretty. Kawaii was a form of resistance in that the style and culture associated with it were not seen as attractive by an older generation. ^[8] This idea of Kawaii was a distinct youth culture separate from the traditional one in existence."

*excerpt from Wikipedia

These are the fashion rebels of our time, and if you rebel enough do you know what happens? Everyone starts thinking you're cool. Ironic isn't it?

Let's look at some of the "Harajuku Looks" that some girls might do.

Lolita - is a play on princesses from the Victorian Era, but since like Kawaii, Lolita revolves around being cute and innocent you see the dark goth being infused into 'girlie type' clothes, and adorable gauze rips. Like a doll gone wrong. 

Ganguro - symbolizes your average American teenager, the term translating to ‘black-faced’. Ey, bloody rude! Not really, what's wrong with being black faced? The basic look is what Westerners would call a ‘California girl’, with bleached hair, dark skin, fake eyelashes and nails. Like an actual Barbie doll. But gone crazy.

Cosplay - We should all know what this is la right. Actually, maybe not. We at peepintofashion would know this because we went to art school, and in every art school there is that Cosplay Gang, with their unmistakable style and slightly disturbing dolls that cost more than your phone. They dress up as fictional characters from movies, music, games, anime. And such.

Ok la, I have to be honest, when I was in college my friends and I might have laughed a little bit at the cosplay flers and their dolls. We thought they were a bit weird, and they are, and I don't think I'm going to go out and get my own anime outfit anytime soon. However, when it comes to teaching us how to be proud of who we are, what we like, what we want to look like and how we want to express our lives despite the world telling us we're wrong, Harajuku is champion.

By the way, check out Gwens wedding dress!

XOXO POP