Category Archive for Tokyo + Japan
OSAKA LOLITA SHOPPING: GOTHIC SWEET LOLITA DRESSES & JAPAN MENS PUNK ROCK CLOTHING. JAPANESE STREETWEAR STORES.
Flowing, blasting news! Thanks to our very impressive hosting performance at Bar Sinister, Sebastiano Serafini and La Carmina have been invited to host yet another event in Los Angeles. Can you believe it?
What: Anime Babes burlesque and cabaret event. Sailor Moon, Evangelion, Tokyo Mew Mew, Fullmetal Alchemist, Speed Racer and more characters will be taking off their clothes!
When: January 8th, starts 10pm
Where: Bordello Bar (21+), 901 E 1st St, Los Angeles, CA
Cost: $13
Bring your friends and enemies. Can’t wait to see you there!
Believe it or not, I’m still sorting through my Osaka Gothloli Punk shop photos from last March. As Veronica Lodge’s millionaire father would say, “Egads!” (La Carmina blog never suffers from lack of content. I still have to post reports from the French and Norway TV shoots, and LA…)
Here are snaps from inside the Shinsaibashi Big Step building (which also holds a J-rock and Visual Kei record store; photos are in this post).
Kera Shop Osaka carries the same Japanese rock punk Goth brands as in Tokyo, but the selection is smaller. There’s a rack for Heart E (remember my Heart E panda purse?)
Victorian Maiden had some lovely velvets and frills.
I hadn’t seen Maple wigs before. The bright colors are excellent for cosplay.
Bunnies and playing cards are recurring motifs.
Cute prints and Victorian pinafores.
The opposite side is for punk/casual Japanese street clothing.
Neon prints on tees and pullovers.
A casual coordinate.
Black, white and red. My friend Ako’s brand, Blablahospital, has a station here.
Bondage never goes out of style.
Miho Matsuda has an elegant boutique. I like her low-key dresses; the designs are simpler than brands such as Metamorphose or Baby the Stars Shine Bright.
Who wants to be a rock princess? Which alt boutique or style would you run to first?
Japanese Word of the Day: Kourin = Advent
Song of the Day: Sisters of Mercy – Alice (Yukiro’s pick.)
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FILMING A JAPANESE TV SHOW IN UENO PARK, TOKYO. CASTING CALLS, ACTORS & EXTRAS ON JAPAN TELEVISION PROGRAMS.
Cyber-glammed up with Yukiro, and laughing maniacally as our slave-boy pulls us in a rickshaw… All in a day’s work!
Every time Antoine de Caunes makes a documentary about a city, he begins with an epic opening sequence. The Berlin show incorporated a tanker. Toque de Tokyo one-upped it by having Yukiro Dravarious.
We were quite the splash of neon in tranquil Ueno Park…
Dress: Alice and the Pirates, from Closet Child
Hair flowers: from a dollar store
Kittycat hair clips: gifted from Komodokat
Lace cardigan: Moi-meme-Moitie
Black lacy knee highs: Spider
Silver chain Goth shoes: Yosuke, from EST Osaka
Makeup: Here’s a tip… for a strong, painted-on effect, try applying eyeshadow wet. Dip the brush into a bit of water, then add eyeshadow and paint it along the eye. A lip brush allows perfect lip-lines and blending (magenta and purple, in this case).
I added sparkling gems and strips under the eyes.
Yukiro’s hair decoration spikes are pure genius. Can you guess what they’re made of? Hint: the Japanese term is “shokubutsu.”
Bow down to the Evil Queen Fame Monster.
We run into this little monster everywhere we go!
He’s a regular at Department H, the wild fetish anything-goes party in Tokyo. (I’ve taken TV crews there too.)
The TV show’s opening sequence was straight out of Edo. It involved samurai, basket-head guards and geishas. The crew hung a backdrop behind the Ueno Park shrine, to make it look like olden times.
Yukiro’s nail polish always impresses. Here is a big post about his Japanese nail art.
It was tough to wear a samurai head-cap in the heat and humidity. But Antoine de Caunes soldiered on.
Has anyone here worked on TV shows before, as actors or crew? Have you ever ridden in a rickshaw? It was our first time, and now we’re addicted!
Japanese Word of the Day: Saibansho = Courthouse
Song of the Day: Asphyxia – My Hatred (Cheers to the cybergoths.)
LA CARMINA
