They appear in a cloud of hairspray, dancing around like morons, screaming in broken Japanese.

It is the new wave of Visual kids, and unfortunately they are here to stay.

This article is not an explanation of what Visual Kei is; you can get the basic jist on wikipedia [link] (although if you are really interested I suggest further research, theres some good sites at the end of this article). It is not a "how to" of vk fashion. It is a desperate plea. A desperate plea for the unoriginality to end.

Type in "Visual Kei" onto the deviantart searchbar and you will get an eyefull of shit. I'm known for slightly brutal honesty, and let's face it, if you find the I've-just-eaten-tarmac-and-scrawled-on-my-face-with-sharpie look cool then you must be at least just as bad. The first rule of visual kei makeup/fashion is this:

WHAT LOOKS GOOD ON A JAPANESE MAN (bearing in mind he has been professionally styled, shot and photoshopped) MAY NOT LOOK GOOD ON YOU

Bad VK-fashion has been around a long time, believe me. I've made pretty much all the same mistakes too, but through practice I learned the error of my ways. Be gone blue lipstick! I cast you out, eyeswirls! etc etc. Most of the time, I put the bad makeup down to an age thing. Finding out that some of these kids are at least my age is depressing.




Back to my point; my point is this. With the gradual boom in popularity, Visual Kei fashion has developed three types of groups;

1) The Fail Eye-burningly bad, what the fuck are you doing, jesus christ I hope you didn't leave the house like that, YOU ARE DOING IT WRONG.

2) The Sex Pot kids. Fauxhawk (or choppy cut, or flicky out bits), check. Bandana, check. Silver jewelery (usually Viv Westwood or something Gazette have worn), check. All clothes by Sex Pot Revenge or a company similar to Sex Pot Revenge, check. They may look okay, but they also all look exactly the same. In some cases I believe they may choose this group for fear of becoming number 1).

3) The creative. Those that use Visual Kei influences along with other things that influence them. Usually are very creative and come up with beautiful, striking looks. Sometimes they may verge into 1), sometimes those that try too hard to become 3) fall into 1), but at least they goddamn try.

Visual Kei is MEANT to be 3)! Japan is not on another planet, it is not entirely cut off from the rest of the world, they get a hell of a lot of influences from Western culture just as we get a lot of influences from them. Visual Kei bands barely ever do anything original, it is all about influence, just like how Western bands are influenced by eachother and other cultures. There is more to life than Japan and the Japanese.

My plea is that we need less of 1) and 2) and we need more of 3). I sifted through all the awful... awful stuff on deviantart labeled as either "jrock" or "visual kei" and found images of those that fit into group 3) and fit into it damn well.






A few of my own shots inspired by Visual Kei (I don't claim to be good at it, I just claim to be inspired by it)





I hope this has inspired at least one person to try to mix Visual Kei fashion in with their own style and influences. If anyone needs any more pointers or tips I'd be happy to help! (For starters, stay away from [link] Lolita Kisama, for the love of God) I'd also love to see any submissions inspired by this article.



Visual_fucks@LJ; pretty much a what not to do of VK fashion.
Visual_fuckers@LJ; a community for fans of VK fashion. (Mostly the opposite of the above link)
Closet Child; Brand-name Japanese clothes at discount prices.
H. Naoto; Japanese clothing brand.
Sex Pot Revenge; Still a good brand, just mix it up a bit.
Black Peace Now; Japanese clothing brand.
Moi Meme Moitie; Japanese clothing brand.
Algonquins; Japanese clothing brand.
Suppurate System; Japanese jewelry brand.
FRUiTS@LJ; For fans of all jfashions.

(This is just a tiny amount of links and clothing brands, and please be aware you really do not have to buy brand to dress VK. Most people buy from places such as H&M, Primark, etc)