Sunday, September 28, 2008

I Miss Tokyo



I spent most of my childhood summers in Tokyo, Japan with my family. Hey, some kids went to Summer camp and I went to Tokyo! Being a typical kid I actually complained about that. I have a lot of fond memories of spending Sundays on the streets of Harajuku and seeing all the street fashion and performers. That place is so alive. It is filled with so much sub-culture. There are amazing little things you just will not see anywhere else! Like, the Rockabilly dancing gangs. They are amazing in their dedication. The Gothic Lolita fashion has always been fascinating. The way its all evolved is so awesome... its so against the social norm... it is so punk. This sub-culture has molded my fashion tastes more than a child molds playdoh.

I started having a conversation about Lolita and GothLoli fashion with my daughter because she saw me flipping through a Magazine from Japan and immediately took towards this genre. She loves ruffles, bustles and anything layering. She loves dark clothes, layers and plaids. She also loves heavy makeup and bright hair. If we lived in Tokyo she would seek out this subculture from the moment we stepped out the door.

Now, I would also like to point out that I neither mold nor influence my daughter's taste in anything. I raise her to form her own opinion and there are plenty of things we do not agree on whatsoever! I give her the options, give no biased opinion either way and she formulates her own outlook on things. For example, she does not like my skater shoes or my chucks because she feels that all shoes should have some kind of shiny stuff on them or flowers. Simply different.

She wanted to assist me in designing something new. She chose her three favorite fabric combinations (which I am quickly running out of) and she grabbed some lace and decided she wanted to make a kids gothic lolita outfit. This was the result.

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