This forum is utterly devoid of Visual Kei

post#1introduction xx post#2styles xx post#3magazines xx post#4shops I've noticed there is no VK/J-punk thread. And no, the japanese fashion threads don't count, because all japanese fashion =/= visual kei/j-punk. It's a broad enough fashion to deserve its own thread. Onto what this thread is about! Visual Kei and J-punk! Now, Visual Kei IS NOT a genre of a music. It quite literally translates into "visual style", and although the term is also used to label bands, ie: "visual kei bands", VK is not a type of music. It is merely the way a person dresses. Visual Kei focuses heavily on the visual aspect (lol). Funky hair, bright hair colors, flashy clothes, and whatnot. Over the years, the visual kei style has changed in certain areas and trends are coming and going. The punk style has also been integrated into the VK scene. Though, I will refer to it as j-punk, because j-punk and western punk are different, and I'm also not going to have people come in here and be like "THAT'S NOT PUNK LOL". But anyway. :'D The entire scene is diverse, ranging from bright, happy, visual kei-- something I'd refer to as oshare kei, to a more dark-gothy VK, and then onto a more j-punk inspired VK. This thread will be here to discuss Visual Kei/J-punk-fashion trends, the brands, showing off outfits, asking and giving advice and so on.

I hope you guy's enjoy and this helps those who were curious on the styles details. I want to encourage people to try it out, I, along with a couple of my friends, all white and American are trying our hand at this style.

Pictures coming soon.

:Spam:

This forum doesnt really jive on VisKei. I dig on the music, but am too old to dress like that anymore. When I was in HighSchool, sure, I was a straight up KandyKid raver, but now I am in my 20s and working on entering a profession eg. I cant go wearing whatever the hell I want anymore. That and well, I'm much more mature now.

Too old?

I think its a lack of devotion, I'm in college, and have a job and I now how to separate work attire and style play style. I have black temporary hair dye I put in everyday before work, take out piercings, skin-colored gauges and make-up to cover it up. I want to be a director/screenplay writer, and I need to be presentable to make impressions on potential producers,and other important associates.

Not to knock you, the forum, or anyone else's style, but with work any style is attainable, and manageable for everyday life.

I've always dug the hairstyles, and I do think that j-punk is a bit better than American punk fashion, but it's just not a look I can pull off.

Also, *devoid

Of course this forum is devoid of VK.

I come to this forum to get away from VK and get advice on fits, styles that don't go out of style, classic looks, etc. A lot of people doing VK stuff can't be doing that anymore as early as when they're entering their thirties, whereas a nice, fitted polo looks nice throughout a person's lifetime.

VK is also (mostly) VERY expensive and VERY hard to maintain. It's generally more accepted in Japan (IMO) than here in North America. I know people who dress very moderate/conservative Jpunk, and those are few and far between. Anyone else who tries to dress even the slightest like that get beat up.

I'm not hating on VK or anything, but I for one didn't find it a surprise that this forum has little to none of it. I know some people who do in fact dress moderate/conservative Jpunk with the hair as well, spending copious amounts of time in front of the mirror with a straightener, blowdryer, wax, gel, gum and spray in the morning and check up on said hair throughout the day.

The person wearing stripes in the Jpunk picture with a solid colour over it shows how stripes may work. That's what I can learn from. There are just some styles that may teach more than others; VK is not one of them.

I'll bite. First off, I'm going to start off by saying that as far as I can tell this forum is not very accepting of styles that stray too far from the SF "mainstream" appearances. You're probably going to get some hostile remarks. Second, you really shouldn't use a topless picture of yourself as your avatar. That's pretty douchebaggy right there. When I was around sixteen I was really into visual kei style, taking cues from earlier Dir en grey, the GazettE ... well, I guess I don't need to explain it, you know all about it. However, I'm nineteen now and I honestly find visual kei to be ridiculously over the top. There are still some bands that pull it off without looking like they try too hard (the GazettE IMO does a great job balancing between looking extravagent and looking effortless). It's just not the sort of thing I'd like to wear out into the streets or something. As for lolita, my girlfriend is really into it but I don't really like it that much. I think she looks a lot better when she's just wearing "normal" (relative to lolita anyway, my tastes are far from "normal") feminine clothes. The problem with these styles is that they don't really look like clothes, they look like costumes, which essentially makes the wearers cosplayers. Let's be honest here; most of the people who wear these styles are complete Japanophiles who live and breathe music that is for the most part pretty derivative of itself and completely shallow. There are bands that are exempt from this (the GazettE, I wonder how many times I can write their name in this) but they're the exception, not the rule. The reason visual kei looks like costumewear is because that's exactly what it is. Visual kei is a costume for bands, it's stagewear, it's theatrics, it's not meant to be actual clothing. When you see these bands outside of all that is when they're usually wearing the best clothes. As for me right now, I'm still heavily into Japanese fashion, but it's more Gackt than Dir en grey; he manages to wear elegant and interesting pieces without looking like he's in a costume. You can wear these as real clothes. However, visual kei will forever be confined to a few weird kids you see on the street and anime conventions. And I really hope it stays that way.

This is "Style" Forum. This is not "Niche ***-Goth Disenfranchised Manic Depressed Youth Forum. Let's give my teddy bear nipple piercings and pink hair.

I'm always interested in new and interesting sub genres related to style but anything Goth related get's right up my arse.

What?.

Before I read this post, my life was utterly devoid of visual kei. Oh, how I yearn for the past.

Originally Posted by Rye GB

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This is "Style" Forum. This is not "Niche ***-Goth Disenfranchised Manic Depressed Youth Forum. Let's give my teddy bear back pack nipple piercings and pink hair, yay!.

I'm always interested in new and interesting sub genres related to style but anything Goth related get's right up my arse.

Thanks for the heads up, dude! Wasn't aware you were the authority on what qualified as "style". I'll be sure to come to you in the future when I need validation of my own styling choices as officially stylistic.