Apparently Gwen Stephani is always seen with them now. They are her “accessory”. And they are in her video “If I Was a Rich Girl”. Harajuku(sp?) girls. They are obviously Japanese. But what else are they? Are they a monastic order of girls? Are they a religion? Are they a political group? (BTW, I could have simply put “harajuku” in a google search. But if I used a term like “harajuku”, Geisha, etc. who knows what would have ultimately popped up 
.)
I got this link when I googled. Nothing non-work safe came up on the first page, so I think you’re fine.
It seems Harajuku/Harjuku girls are really fashionable young women who frequent Tokyo’s Harjuku district, which is the center for underground culture. Their fashions combine a lot of different influences and are pretty eccentric and individualistic. Here’s a link to some real-life ones.
Harajuku is a shopping and entertainment district in Tokyo and a sort of center for Tokyo youth culture. The kids that hang out there are known for their somewhat freakish street style fashions. Here are some pics of the kinds of styles you’d find there. (The link is work-safe, BTW.)
Harajuku is a train station in the Shibuya Ward of Tokyo. To the west and south of the station you have Yoyogi Park (quite large), to the east and also to the south you have the six chou or divisions of Jingumae, which means “Before the Shrine.” That’s Meiji Shrine, which is also in Yoyogi Park.
There is no actual plot of land named “Harajuku,” despite the fact it sounds like a place name and most stations get their names thus (there are many exceptions, though). Perhaps there was in the past.
At any rate, Harajuku is full of stores that sell a certain style of clothing, and young people (I mean really young) go there to do whatever young people do.
The style of clothing is ludicrous. Any person who would imitate it is a moron, and any non-Japanese over the age of 14 who would even think of imitating it is too stupid to be so labeled.
BTW, I would not label the Harajuku style “fashionable.” That word to most Japanese women would mean high-end brand names and the sleek style of Tokyo (which genuinely looks good).
The Harajuku look is part of a (mostly outcast) youth subculture, of which there are many in the bored, lowbrow youth population of Japan.
The odd thing, in my opinion, is that Harajuku is but a few short steps from Omote-Sando, which is one of the ‘elite’ shopping districts in Tokyo. Channel, Vuitton, Gucci, etc. all have multi-story boutiques there. This results in some interestingly mixed crowds.
Harajuku is in fact a combination of two Japanese words; hara, meaning “fad,” and juku, meaning “driven into the ground by a vapid pop star.”
And after checking the links, while I’ve seen quite a few that look like the kids in Jet Jaguar’s link, the majority look more like the “real life ones” in Miss Purl McKnittington’s link: unique, but nothing that would make you think the circus was in town.
You’re serious? There’s a word meaning what you state for juku?
:eek:
Whoosh!
Say what you will about Gwen Stefani, but her eclectic fashion sense always manages to make her look better (to me) than all the other female pop stars’ ridiculous get-ups. It doesn’t hurt that the music is better, too.
What’s with the white makeup? (for example) Anyone else reminded of this chick?
Remind me more of these fellows. (I know there’s at least one female artist in the genre, but I can’t remember her name.)
OMG, I’m in love with that cardigan the girl at the lower-left is wearing.
[grim determination]It will be mine. [/grim determination]
Here are links to some other pictures. As for the white makeup, you can also see that on the stage in Japan, not to mention on Geishas. They are idolized like pop stars in Japan.
Huh? Not that I’ve ever noticed. In fact, I’d be pretty sure that your average Shibuya girl (to use a group from approximately the same age demographic) would be fairly contemptuous of the “Harajuku” style (assuming you could distract them long enough from their ketai to get an opinion out of them).
Geishas are idolized (by some at least) like pop stars in Japan. At least, if the biography on the Gaijin Geisha I watched is even remotely correct in it’s assertations, they are. I believe it was also stated in a similar fashion on the National Geographic article I read long ago. Things could have changed, it’s likely been a decade since the article was written. The biography film was made more recently though. This page shows the “cosplay” aspect of the Harjuku girls and guys.
For those who might not quite believe my previous assertation regarding a gaijin having become a geisha, I found the website of:
I like the bloody bandages in broad daylight. Something between Skinny Puppy-chic and sly commentary on the state of high fashion. A+ for effort.
They aren’t mainstream fashionable, although they do have a wicked style. Harajuku: think - Japanese goth.
Stefani in all likelihood decided to jump on this bandwagon - a couple of years late - after seeing the (very cool) photo/fashion book Fruits by Shoichi Aoki. Link to story about book/author. You can likely find a copy in the photo section of your local bookstore… or at this point in a used bookstore. It’s worth an hour flipping through for certain; exteremely amusing. Aoki pretty much only photographed the most extreme styles, and a lot of the more conventionally tasteful linked samples on this thread thus far wouldn’t have made the cut.
