Japanese Street Fashion

Despite the popular belief that Japan is a very conservative country, it is a cradle of many eccentric and often really weird things. While the corporate workers and their gray outfits might give an impression of Japan being deprived of originality in clothing, Japanese street fashion is actually one of the strangest ones, shocking with its variety of styles and easily beats any other country by far. While some might resemble Western youth subcultures, Japanese variations are much more complicated and most of them also conform to Kawaii aesthetics (lovability, cuteness), which took over the former Japanese aesthetic values "refined" and "beautiful". A distinction in the styles existing today is shocking. Here are few most popular and well-known variations.


Decora is one of the most Kawaii-driven styles. Those who follow Decora use tons of toys, colourful hairclips and beads to accessorize and create a sense of childhood and innocence. They wear fussy, fluffy and colourful clothes to make them look as young as possible. Clothes are also often worn on top of other clothes to hide the real figure. Baby doll dresses, colourful stockings and bows are a must. Their hair is usually dyed pink or blond and is often excessively curled to add to the overall impression of a child. The purpose of it is to decorate yourself as cutely and brightly as possible. The trend comes and goes and right now it is coming back in 4 variations: Original/Casual Decora, Pink Decora, Dark Decora/Koteosa and Decololi/Decora-Lolita.

Casual Decora

Original or casual Decora always mixes more colours than other kinds of Decora, also experiments with combining random clothes such as wearing capris or shorts with or without a skirt, school uniforms, sweaters, skirts in more varied colors/designs and shapes, etc. Because there are no definite rules, the variations for outfits are endless, which makes Decora even more interesting. Casual style does not require as many accessories as other variations and this is why it's easier to start with this style while collecting more things for their outfits. The only rule is you have to stay away from dark and boring colours.

Pink Decora

This style is the most popular one, mostly because it requires wearing layers of pink, which is quite easy for girls. Pink Decora outfits mostly feature pink with hints of red, white or very little touches of black. Hot pink is the most common one, although other shades of pink are also allowed. This style does have some rules and a certain look to it.

Dark Decora

Besides the newest variation, Decora-Lolita, Dark Decora is the least popular variation, mostly because it has an emphasis on Visual Kei and Goth, which is controversial to the meaning of Decora (childhood, happiness). Just like Pink Decora, there is a most common colour (black) with almost no other colour present. Jewelry, accessories and toys have a dark theme (Gloomy Bear, Kuromi, and Badtz-Maru. Band shirts and checker patterns are extremely common. It is interesting that some Dark Decora girls like to add contrast to their outfits by making it half white or half pink.

Decora-Lolita

Decora-Lolita is a newest type of Decora, and is a mix between Lolita and Decora styles. Lolita and Decora are both very popular Harajuku fashions, so they ended up mixing into one over-accessorized style. Decora Lolita clothes are more vibrant and bright in color just like Decora, while regular Lolita is usually black/white or pastel coloured. Decora Lolita, however, emphasizes on pink and red colours. The main rules are still of Lolita style but with all the accessories brought by Decora with its bright colors, hairclips, jewelry and toys. Small hats or hair bows are used more often than headdresses.

To be continued ...