♡ Hyper Japan ♡

みなさん、こんにちは!

It's rare for Sapphire and I to see each other so close together after a visit from whichever person but as we both wanted to go to Hyper Japan this year, how could we both pass up such an opportunity? We only went on the Saturday with a dual pass ticket (as the day was split into two sessions) but honestly, it was the best decision to go then!

The difference between Hyper Japan and MCM Expo (personal experience here) is that I find HJ less crowded than Expo... even on a Saturday and the fact it's now the beginning of summer holidays here. Even though there are many similarities and differences between the two events... Hyper Japan is just more my thing. Yes; it's nice at Expo to get the variety of movies, games and more cosplayers where as at HJ you just get a small handful of cosplayers, no real movie promotions and a small selection of recent games to check out... it's the cultural side of things that draws me towards HJ. You get to find out about studying in Japan, learning the language, the food, travelling, what is popular and what is traditional etc etc. All in all, the experience at HJ as just made me want to go again and indeed I shall. Luckily they have a Christmas version in November so I have officially decided to skip October Expo this year and just go to Hyper Japan for the weekend in November. Sorted.

The only problem I had with Hyper Japan was the heat... recently in the UK the weather has been absolutely dreadful with high humidty and scorching sunny days with no signs of rain anywhere. Saturday was no different, and it was just so horrible travelling through London on the tube because of the crappy air-con. Plus there seemed to be no air-con at Earls Court either, except for a couple of cool spots, but other than that... I was using a programme to fan myself most of the day!

Despite the heat, I loved looking around all the different stalls at HJ. There were different section dedicated to special genres of what HJ is trying to promote - so there was a section for food, for languages/studies and a section for "kawaii" stuff such as fashion, make-up, deco etc. The 'Fringe Market' was also extremely interesting to look around, as it's an area dedicated to small, independent shops/stalls selling whatever they do in their trade - so there were manga artists, wig sellers and jewellery sellers in that area.

Gosh there were so many highlights of the whole day. One being seeing friends whom I haven't seen (for what feels like) years! Finding an actually Diamond Lash stall in the 'Hyper Kawaii' section and talking to the stall owner for like 20 odd minutes about eyelashes and make-up (yes I get happy over that) The fashion show towards the end of the day that showcased Ayumi Seto's new fashion line;

Don't all the clothes look so freakin' adorable?! I honestly cannot decide which is my favourite piece... oh and all of the models are so cute and friendly just GAH! I'm so glad that I stayed to watch this show! Also seeing NEEKO was an amazing highlight as well!

Another major highlight of the day for me was seeing ONE NOT'E! After being told about them from my penpal and that they would be at HJ... how could I resist going? Also, the last official gig I went to was wwwaaayyy back in 2012!! Listening to them perform, it made me realise how much I do miss going to gigs and if there are any happening between now and before I leave for China, well I'm definitely going to make the effort! Also about ONE NOT'E, someone commented to me about the guitarist, Takato, looking extremely familiar and he really did but at that point I couldn't quite put my finger on it to where I had seen him before until I got home and googled the band... he's ex.VIRGIL! Don't you just hate it when you recognise someone but you just never remember until the moment has passed?! That was me...

Honestly, they were sooooo good performing live that I wished I had snapped out of my daydreaming and recorded some footage of them performing ahhh! I really hope in the future they'll do some more overseas gigs... if not I'm sure a quick trip to Japan won't hurt! Oh, what is a day out without food involved? My life would be incomplete without food, even though it felt like that all I had done was consume liquid most of the day because of the heat wwwaaahhh.

Oh and must not forgot about what I purchased throughout the day. You'll be able to see how truly happy I was about the Diamond Lash stall in the end! I think I picked up some amazing bargains though as well as finding out about some new shops that are worth checking out again in the future!

All in all, the day was fabulous and I'm glad that I went. I will definitely stick to my plan of going for the full weekend at Christmas time for a bit of fun (and as it's on my birthday weekend... a birthday treat!) All the above picture kind of sum everything up on how it all went on as I have nothing else really interesting left to say except for that the company was amazing, the atmosphere was brilliant and already I wish it wasn't over even though I still ache. As that is really it now, I'll just finish this post off with a couple of face pictures;

Thanks for reading!

xoxo

♡ LUNATIC LEMONY LOLLIPOP Produced By AMO ♡

みなさん、こんにちは! 

I think it's safe to say that AMO is quite possibly everyone's favourite rising star at the moment... especially mine as her fashion sense is perfection and I am extremely jealous of her hair colour /sobs forever in the corner/ I also do love her eyelash line she has done with Ayamo and Eyemazing to create cute and fashionable lashes... but I'm not here to talk about that... I'm here to talk about AMO's new clothing / wig line... well I think it's new?

I love love love the entire layout of the webpage with its mystical... night... some form of pastel type thing going on and what the site has to offer is also love worthy. I think it's sweet that there was a little 'story' page about AMO and the clothing line... my Japanese is awful and reading is actually my weakest point so I honestly cannot translate what it exactly is said;

The next link after the story is actually a page dedicated to outfits of this particular line... what could go with what etc etc and I really agree that this is a great idea to use as sometimes people don't know what goes with what and what looks good together etc so with this small guideline you'll know what you'd like and what it goes with;

I personally like no. 4 and no. 5!

Next we have the whole catalogue of products in sections... so there are full outfits, furry outercoats, wigs, skirts and head accessories which makes shopping and seeing each item a whole lot easier for a customer within the countries as well as overseas (like myself)

I definitely already have a few items that I'd quite happily acquire... is there anything here that catches your eye at all? I already adore the LUNATIC LEMONY LOLLIPOP line as it's already in my top ten favourite Japanese fashion brand line!

Please check out the website and full products; here

Also note that NONE of the pictures are of my own work and are from LUNATIC LEMONY LOLLIPOP'S homepage

Thanks for reading!
xoxo

♡ Fashion Brand: GYDA ♡

みなさん、こんにちは!

Disclaimer: please note that all the pictures used in this blog post belong to the GYDA website and their staff members blogs. Thank you!

As of recent, I have been exploring more clothing/fashion brands outside the usual circle I tend to look within - Super Lovers, Glad News, Ghost of Harlem etc - and I have been looking at other well known brands that some of my pen-pal friends recommended to me. The first website I encountered was GYDA and upon looking at their latest Autumn / Winter Collection 2012, I fell in love with what they had to offer.

"Girls with Red Rouge" comes across as a concept based loosely around American fashion - something that producer Yuria Kushido would know as she studied over in LA and after graduating high school, she made her way back to Japan to study music. Kushido is a well known face in the gal world and with her modelling for SCawaii magazine, she produces these simple yet inspiring pieces for GYDA as well as being an extremely positive role model for present and future gals to look up to.

As you can see in the pictures above and below, you can see the LA influences in the A/W 2012 collection (just like in all previous collections of GYDA) as well as sophistication with the mix of a unique kind of sexy that these casual pieces give. But I can't give all the credit to Kushido as I want to praise designer Akane Sudo so very much for creating these pieces alongside Kushido.

I adore this collection completely and even though I am a new fan of the GYDA brand / name; I would definitely throw all my money in this direction. Despite enjoying the free-sized, baggy t-shirts that you see in collections like Super Lovers, there is just something about GYDA fashion that draws my attention away from hiding myself under mounds of cloths and embracing some form of flesh showing, despite another fact where I actually despise baring my skin! GYDA certainly brings out the confidence inside my mind and that confidence it starting to show on the outside as well as the inside.

Yuria Kushido's blog: http://ameblo.jp/yuriavodka/

GYDA's website: http://gyda.jp/

Peace Out
xoxo

♡ Fashion Inspiration: Colour Pop ♡

みなさん、こんにちは!

This is my last blog post about fashion inspiration and it has been a big gap since the last one but I have finally finished editing pictures together on the sort of co-ordination looks I am /hopefully/ aiming for one day. The most popular brand for this inspiration is definitely Super Lovers but there is also Peace Now, Putumayo, Hyper Core, Toxic Star and even some Ghost of Harlem pieces.

Now, when I say 'colour pop' I don't instantly mean that one primary / bright colour that stands out against the rest of your clothing and accessories, I do mean this but at the same time I don't - if that makes sense at all, I hope I can make this make sense! Basically, from the co-ordination pictures above and below, you can tell that there isn't just one colourful item, that there can be two and possibly three items that make you stand out and that is what I want to achieve. Yes there will be the obvious monochrome 'background' pieces but I am aiming for that pop of colour that will make people turn their heads even just slightly.

Oh and on one final note, all images from this post and the past fashion inspiration posts (here and here) are from KERA magazines, January - June issue.

Thanks for reading!
xoxo

♡ Fashion Inspiration: Punk Rock Style ♡

みなさん、こんにちは!

Just like a previous post, I have been skimming through KERA magazines from January 2012 through to May 2012 and picking out co-ordinates that appeal to my sense of taste (despite not actually putting this sense of taste to my wardrobe yet as I'm still losing weight...) This time though, I sorted out all the co-ords into the "Punk Rock" catergory because of the classic tartan prints laced with blacks, leather and chains - stereotypical I know but that is what is associated with the particular style.
"Punk fashion has been extremely commercialized at various times, and many well-established fashion designers — such as Vivienne Westwood and Jean Paul Gaultier — have used punk elements in their production. Punk clothing, which was initially handmade, became mass produced and sold in record stores and some smaller specialty clothing stores by the 1980s. Many fashion magazines and other glamor-oriented media have featured classic punk hairstyles and punk-influenced clothing" read more on the subject here.

What I like about the style of punk fashion is that it's not one sub-culture, but more divided in many and with other different style influences infused into the mix, it seems to bring out a whole new style itself. I like the contrast of the vivacious reds popping against the sleek blacks that seem to be the base colour of practically any style and personally... I like red (a lot) I enjoy looking at designers lines like Vivienne Westwood's and I like clothing brands like GLAD NEWS that seem to incorporate this style into their lines and if it keeps my legs covered then it certainly gets a vote from me!

Me being me, I won't be comfortable in any form of style until I have at least lost a few more dress sizes and toned up all the flabby parts of my body that seem to be forming from the weight loss. But I hope one day I'll be able to do two, maybe even three of these co-ords you see in this post here. I think it would be a style that would suit me greatly and now I'm just praying that I'll become happier with myself so I can try out this style as it's something that appeals to me the most out of all three styles I've choosen.

おやすみなさい！

Peace Out
xoxo

♡ Fashion Inspiration: Tomboy Style ♡

みなさん、こんにちは! 

Now I do know that (for now) I am not the most fashionable person on the planet but I do have certain likes and dislikes about things. One of my biggest interest is street fashion - whether it is Japanese, Korean, American, British, European etc etc - I enjoy it the most. I've started to compile lists and pictures of outfits I would love to co-ordinate in the future once I have lost all the weight I need to lose and once I feel happy with who I really am. So looking through one of my favourite magazines - Kera - which is all about Japanese street and alternative fashion with the use of certain brands like Sex Pot Revenge, Hellcat Punks and Super Lovers etc.

Now the pictures I have collected I have put into certain... categories and today I am showing the style "Tomboy" which is where you dress boyish but you still pull of femininity - I think that is correct? It is basically blurring the line between femininity and masculinity. 

Looking through the above pictures, you can see what I am aiming for with the "Tomboy Style" and me being not confident enough to show that much skin - I feel that is a look I could easily pull off and so one day I shall be seen in public dressed to impress.

探していただき！

Thanks for reading!

xoxo