Harajuku Style

Alternative fashion consists of different styles, with some rising from Japan. Let's take a look at Harajuku fashion.

Surprisingly, Harajuku style has been in existence since the early 1980's, and it became known in the West around the 00's. Harajuku style is named after Harajuku Station in Tokyo. In the beginning, the local youngsters would occupy the streets dressed in unique and colorful outfits. The first craze was mixing traditional Japanese attire with western clothing. The message these Harajuku kids were sending is that they don’t give a damn about mainstream fashion. They would and can dress as they wish.

Anybody who loves to have fun with fashion can wear it! If you are a conservative dresser or like classical designs, you might not be fond of the Harajuku look. However, if your inner kid loves to come out, go crazy and play dress-up, then it's definitely something that you will be into. In Harajuku, it's perfectly okay to dress like a 5-year-old and have as much fun dressing up.

Dressing the Harajuku Style

Harajuku style is a mix of all the well-known Japanese sub-styles, for example Sweet lolita, Gothic lolita, Visual kei, Cosplay, Decora, Gyaru, cutesy fairy kei and  punk rock clothing .Traditional Japanese garments like kimonos and wooden sandals have been infused into the style since the beginning.

Secondhand or retro and vintage clothes are also great to mix up your look. Customized or self-made items are great. Pick what you please and mix everything together. In Harajuku style, more is more, so layering up lots of clothes is fine. In Harajuku, you must be creative and dress exactly as you wish, not shying away from your imagination.

Accessorizing the Harajuku way

Forget about tasteful accessorizing and wear eighties trashy junk, kids plastic jewelry and anything you can grab. They do not have to match but the more utrageous, the better. Do you still have that colorful backpack that you wore when you were 10? Or perhaps you can borrow the corny pink handbag that your mom wore in the eighties. Those would be amazing accessories.

Crazy hairdos are great and any hair color goes. The current trend is pastel or neon. Eye contacts are also a part of the Harajuku. From brown colored to blue or red, your eyes can also be part of the fun! 

Lastly, don't take it too seriously

Harajuku style barely has any guidelines so one can wear whatever he/she wants without worrying about fitting in or whether it looks normal. That is the point of the whole Harajuku look. Even if it's often considered as a teenage thing, there are no age limits. You don't have to consider if your clothes match or not – if you like your outfit, then it is good enough. You don't have to adopt a certain style or follow any fashion, you can mix them all together. You can dress totally different every day – this style is all about self-expression.