LAFORET HARAJUKU: GOTHIC LOLITA PUNK ALTERNATIVE BOUTIQUES, TOKYO CLOTHING STORES. ROCKING HORSE SHOES, BABY THE STARS SHINE BRIGHT.
At Laforet, the Harajuku department store that stocks your favorite alt brands, I was surprised to see a gaggle of Gothic Lolita and J-rock teens on the staircase.
Pirate eye patches, striped socks and Sweet Loli JSKs?
Laforet often holds special events in the two basement floors, such as Visual Kei band signings. (There’s a Heidi x h.NAOTO event on Saturday, August 21…)
If I went to high school in Tokyo, I’d skip class and be in line!
Minnie Mouse would wear this Metamorphose temp de Fille ensemble.
The Angelic Pretty shop is the sweetest, frilliest place on the planet.
Atelier Pierrot and Alice and the Pirates are more to my liking.
I couldn’t believe my eyes… this new Lolita dress, hanging in Atelier Pierrot, had a price tag of 14,175 yen. I had found almost the exact same dress — a Metamorphose version with the same fabric — for about half the price in Closet Child! (Photos here.)
Baby, the Stars Shine Bright always has cute stocking prints. Which one would you like to wear: the playing card symbols, strawberries, cherries, or Gloomy Bear in a basket?
Hello Kitty is everywhere. What do you think of this guro-version of Kitty, which puts her in bandages and surrounds her with skulls?
Hold onto your hats — I have many more Laforet Harajuku photos for you in the next few posts. You can see photos of basically every Gothic Lolita Punk store in Tokyo in my shopping guide.
PS: please tune in to my Twitter for up-to-the-second updates about Closet Child, Tokyo life and the Pepsi TV shoot!
Japanese Word of the Day: Okotaru = Goof around
Song of the Day: Patty Ryan – Love is the Name of the Game
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LA CARMINA
58 Comments
uber cutennmakes me wanna go back to japan again ahahan
uber cute
makes me wanna go back to japan again ahaha
<3 Wish you were here!
(long sigh) – I’m finally back. And my god does it feel SOOOOOOOOOOOOO WEIRD. Coming back to your home after a tour around South Asia. nnBut hey I enjoyed Singapore and India a lot – a whole lot. Singapore of course is very very very very very clean due to the pretty harsh laws they have in place. It’s a nice small island to tour and stuff. I enjoy their sort of “nature & city as one” kind of philosophy. It truly does bring about a lot of beauty. Now as far as fashion goes…well it’s pretty western but it does seem that there is a minority of people that do know about gothic lolita fashion. However I just never seen it actually worn by any Singaporeans during my stay.nnBut there’s a store there…called Black Alice. WOW! Turns out they have a website: http://www.blackalice.com/. I bet there are some more Singaporean gothic lolita fashion stores…but that’s the only one I heard of from a group of people I was talking to there. It doesn’t seem too bad – but only problem is online there really isn’t much of a choice of clothing under a certain area. nnBut again I really enjoyed Singapore. The people there are very friendly, but I kind of have a hinting suspicion that the teenagers are a bit…uhh…disrespectful occasionally. Oh well we all have had been disrespectful at least once in our lives I guess. nnNow…it’s true that the average temperature is around the 30 degrees Celsius or so. I’m used to it and actually enjoy humidity weather since here in Silicon Valley everything just feels so dry. I also enjoy the thunder and lightning hahaha!nnAs for India – uhh…gothic lolita is completely unheard of. But they do have a different fashion style, however it seems that there was more of this fashion back 10 years or so. Things are becoming a bit western there – which kind of saddened me since I enjoy seeing so much of cultural aspects. But there are still women/girls that wear Salwar Kameez, Sari, and Ghagra Cholis. nnThe clothing is very beautiful in my opinion and pretty cheap if you’re a person converting from The $, S$, u00a5, u20ac, or u00a3 to Indian Rupees. (They created a symbol for the Indian Rupee right when I was there actually haha). But you can find a great salwar kameez for like 200 rupees or so…which is close to $5. The most expensive piece of clothing I saw at India was this Sari with a very beautiful design on it…and it was like 15,000 rupees or so…it’s like $325 or so. nnBut I gotta say it was a bit awkward for me to go in as a guy all alone and look at Saris and Salwar Kameez. Jeese the tension between men and women there is pretty damn high. On the subway or metro women and men have to separately from each other. I even heard that they make a BIG BIG deal if a guy sits in a salon which is for women to get haircuts and eyebrows done and stuff like that. So even if you’re the boyfriend of a girl that wants to get her hair done…GET THE HELL OUT. nnReally really strange. As for infrastructure…Calcutta is still growing. It’s a lot better than what it was before (I’ve visited before) – but there’s still so much congestion on the streets. Gosh it’s ridiculous. But it kind of gives me an adventure to go on if I want to get some bananas or something like that haha. nnSo yea that’s pretty much it. As far as a response to this:nnAHHH GOOD OLD GOTHIC LOLITA – So frilly, so elegant, so cute…I mean seriously being off the internet for 6 weeks or so and not seeing gothic lolita makes me realize how beautiful it truly is. Keep on rocking La Carmina. nnSpeaking of rock…wow I missed a lot of JRock stuff…X JAPAN is here?!?! In the U.S. – ABC news interview? WHAT?! D’espairsRay has a new album?! SHIVER by the GazettE released? OH GOSH.
(long sigh) – I’m finally back. And my god does it feel SOOOOOOOOOOOOO WEIRD. Coming back to your home after a tour around South Asia. But hey I enjoyed Singapore and India a lot – a whole lot. Singapore of course is very very very very very clean due to the pretty harsh laws they have in place. It’s a nice small island to tour and stuff. I enjoy their sort of “nature & city as one” kind of philosophy. It truly does bring about a lot of beauty. Now as far as fashion goes…well it’s pretty western but it does seem that there is a minority of people that do know about gothic lolita fashion. However I just never seen it actually worn by any Singaporeans during my stay.But there’s a store there…called Black Alice. WOW! Turns out they have a website: http://www.blackalice.com/. I bet there are some more Singaporean gothic lolita fashion stores…but that’s the only one I heard of from a group of people I was talking to there. It doesn’t seem too bad – but only problem is online there really isn’t much of a choice of clothing under a certain area. But again I really enjoyed Singapore. The people there are very friendly, but I kind of have a hinting suspicion that the teenagers are a bit…uhh…disrespectful occasionally. Oh well we all have had been disrespectful at least once in our lives I guess. Now…it’s true that the average temperature is around the 30 degrees Celsius or so. I’m used to it and actually enjoy humidity weather since here in Silicon Valley everything just feels so dry. I also enjoy the thunder and lightning hahaha!As for India – uhh…gothic lolita is completely unheard of. But they do have a different fashion style, however it seems that there was more of this fashion back 10 years or so. Things are becoming a bit western there – which kind of saddened me since I enjoy seeing so much of cultural aspects. But there are still women/girls that wear Salwar Kameez, Sari, and Ghagra Cholis. The clothing is very beautiful in my opinion and pretty cheap if you’re a person converting from The $, S$, ¥, €, or £ to Indian Rupees. (They created a symbol for the Indian Rupee right when I was there actually haha). But you can find a great salwar kameez for like 200 rupees or so…which is close to $5. The most expensive piece of clothing I saw at India was this Sari with a very beautiful design on it…and it was like 15,000 rupees or so…it’s like $325 or so. But I gotta say it was a bit awkward for me to go in as a guy all alone and look at Saris and Salwar Kameez. Jeese the tension between men and women there is pretty damn high. On the subway or metro women and men have to separately from each other. I even heard that they make a BIG BIG deal if a guy sits in a salon which is for women to get haircuts and eyebrows done and stuff like that. So even if you’re the boyfriend of a girl that wants to get her hair done…GET THE HELL OUT. Really really strange. As for infrastructure…Calcutta is still growing. It’s a lot better than what it was before (I’ve visited before) – but there’s still so much congestion on the streets. Gosh it’s ridiculous. But it kind of gives me an adventure to go on if I want to get some bananas or something like that haha. As for other places like Bombay and Bangalore – they’re in pretty good shape but too western for me, I like me some new culture!So yea that’s pretty much it. As far as a response to this:AHHH GOOD OLD GOTHIC LOLITA – So frilly, so elegant, so cute…I mean seriously being off the internet for 6 weeks or so and not seeing gothic lolita makes me realize how beautiful it truly is. Keep on rocking La Carmina. Speaking of rock…wow I missed a lot of JRock stuff…X JAPAN is here?!?! In the U.S. – ABC news interview? WHAT?! D’espairsRay has a new album?! SHIVER by the GazettE released? OH GOSH.
AHHH!!! Oh boy…I got a bit carried away with my “comment” there. Hehe…sorry =(
Fascinating!! I loved reading about your travels. In fact, my next Lip Service column is about SINGAPORE – so there will be coverage of the Singapore Goth scene and shops.
I’d love to go to India one day…
Glad you had a great trip and are back!
I want strawberries prints!
I want strawberries prints!
Ahhh you would DIE if you saw the Baby, the stars shine bright dress on the mannequin at Closet Child… strawberry prints and red ribbons!
AHHH!!! Oh boy…I got a bit carried away with my “comment” there. Hehe…sorry =(
<3 Wish you were here!
Fascinating!! I loved reading about your travels. In fact, my next Lip Service column is about SINGAPORE – so there will be coverage of the Singapore Goth scene and shops.nI’d love to go to India one day…nGlad you had a great trip and are back!
Ahhh you would DIE if you saw the Baby, the stars shine bright dress on the mannequin at Closet Child… strawberry prints and red ribbons!
I can’t wait to get to Tokyo on Friday..OMG…must go to h.Naoto for more shopping therapy!!! i love Laforet! I wish I could get tickets for the Heidi event. oh well.. I wish I could stay for the h.Naoto goth night event on the 28th>.< See you sooooooonnnnn!
I can’t wait to get to Tokyo on Friday..OMG…must go to h.Naoto for more shopping therapy!!! i love Laforet! I wish I could get tickets for the Heidi event. oh well.. I wish I could stay for the h.Naoto goth night event on the 28th>.< See you sooooooonnnnn!
Ohh can you tell me more about the Naoto Goth night?? Got a link?
Yes! I’d like to know too! Tho I already have a gig on at Earthdom that night, but still….
Link: http://thefashionatetraveller.blogspot.com/2010/08/hnaoto-goth-night.html :3
omg everytime i see your photos i get more and more jealous! lol i want to be there!! i love the ap store shot! omg i would be broke if i walked in there… lol side note..did that girl dress her bunny bear?!?! lol AWESOME IDEA!!
omg everytime i see your photos i get more and more jealous! lol i want to be there!! i love the ap store shot! omg i would be broke if i walked in there… lol side note..did that girl dress her bunny bear?!?! lol AWESOME IDEA!!
ahah you must dress your Momo!!
ahhaha she’d hate me.. she wears nothing! lol well bows she can do
So many great photos!! lusting all the risks being taken in these photos! nnwww.lovelywanderlust.com
So many great photos!! lusting all the risks being taken in these photos!
http://www.lovelywanderlust.com
Ohh can you tell me more about the Naoto Goth night?? Got a link?
ahah you must dress your Momo!!
‘Atelier Pierrot and Alice and the Pirates are more to my liking. ‘rnrnThis! I see to much pink ! D:
‘Atelier Pierrot and Alice and the Pirates are more to my liking. ‘
This! I see to much pink ! D:
I hardly ever touch pink… :P
Good! Neither do I! XD
Yes! I’d like to know too! Tho I already have a gig on at Earthdom that night, but still….
Wow, this is getting spooky! I just did a post today on Atelier Pierrot, as I love the brand too – and next up I was gong to do one on Black Alice – and see one of your readers has commented on it! Spooky ooky :)
Wow, this is getting spooky! I just did a post today on Atelier Pierrot, as I love the brand too – and next up I was gong to do one on Black Alice – and see one of your readers has commented on it! Spooky ooky :)
Oh that’s so spooky! As it should be :P
Wow, all those teens there looked magnificent ! That’s the place where I’d love to be every second of the day ! OwO Too bad that I can’t go to Atelier Pierrot’s website though.
Wow, all those teens there looked magnificent ! That’s the place where I’d love to be every second of the day ! OwO Too bad that I can’t go to Atelier Pierrot’s website though.
Ohhh thanks for letting me know! Fixed – http://www.atelier-pierrot.jp/
ahhaha she’d hate me.. she wears nothing! lol well bows she can do
I like the red stockings on the other side o the gloomy bear ones loln& I LOVE the clothes that are in the last pic, including the kitty shirt! ^-^nnn
I love Lolita fashion! n
I love Lolita fashion!
<3!
I like the red stockings on the other side o the gloomy bear ones lol
& I LOVE the clothes that are in the last pic, including the kitty shirt! ^-^
I think the Kitty shirt design is great!
Oh that’s so spooky! As it should be :P
I hardly ever touch pink… :P
Ohhh thanks for letting me know! Fixed – http://www.atelier-pierrot.jp/
I think the Kitty shirt design is great!
<3!
wow, I wanna go to japan so bad!You have some great coverage!! I have to agree that The Angelic Pretty shop is the sweetest looking shop! I want frilly prints in my life!!nncheck out my new blog you seriously have a killer blog sweetie love it!nwww.mystreetsweets.com
wow, I wanna go to japan so bad!You have some great coverage!! I have to agree that The Angelic Pretty shop is the sweetest looking shop! I want frilly prints in my life!!
check out my new blog you seriously have a killer blog sweetie love it!
http://www.mystreetsweets.com
Thanks!
Good! Neither do I! XD
Link: http://thefashionatetraveller.blogspot.com/2010/08/hnaoto-goth-night.html :3
Thanks!
:D
<3