This is my second post about my style inspirations, the first being on the fearless RihoKate. Now I wanna talk about Re:NO, another girl who is innovative and fearless with her style choices. For those that haven't heard of her before, Re:NO is a model for Kera. You can find her blog here.
And I know what you're probably thinking, your style inspiration is a Kera model? That's not gyaru. And you'd be right Re:NO is v-kei and I wouldn't class my self in the slightest, despite me liking the music and going to lives. I do see some people throwing Re:NO and Kyary's names around with the style gyaru but, they just aren't. It's all in the execution, and of course how they class themselves. I do still however get very inspired by Re:NO's style and make-up. She's very bold with her choices in both areas. Also I love how she always changes up her hair. It reminds me of Kaoru. She once said she wanted to be able to tug on one ear to make her hair longer or shorter and tug on the other to make it curly or straight. If only!
Even though I love Ma*rs and d.i.a it's partly Re:NO's inspiration that pushes me towards brands like tutuHA and JSG that tip toe on the boundary between Shibuya and Harajuku. Her use of colour in both her outfits and hair always make her co-ords interesting. I also like how she doesn't just live in the realm of fashion, Re:NO's main passion is her music. What a cool girl hey?
Look at her chilling with Morimayo. I saw her the other day in Fernopaa, big ass hair is BIG!
Okay anyone who follows me on twitter, tumblr or facebook will know that on the 21st I went to see the YG Family Concert in Saitama Super Arena. I have been super excited about this ever since I first heard about the concert which was months and months ago. I may not be as crazy as I used to be about k-pop but I am still all about YG, especially Big Bang and 2NE1....and did I mention Big Bang? I'm crazy about Taeyang especially.
Why aren't you?
So I thought for awhile about what I was going to wear for the concert but still ended up being unprepared. I only put my hoody in the laundry that morning so I was trying to speed things up drying it with a hair dryer >.<
My OMG hat was in reference to 2NE1's "I'm the best", the hoody is part of Big Bang's uniqlo collection, the shirt and the jacket are d.i.a and to complete the outfit a Big Bang bag I got free in Shin Okubo when I bought my penlight.
I was nervous I wouldn't get there in time to get goods but it actually turned out to be the shortest queue ever. Big Bang brought out a new penlight which is totally different from the old version so I wanted to get that (I was worried it would be like a Johnny's concert where old goods are a no go) and of course I wanted a 2NE1 penlight.
Wah they're so pretty!!! Me and my friend waited inside some random building with loads of other fans while waiting for the doors because of course it would be that day of all days when it would rain for the first time in nearly a month.
On the way in we were stopped by two guys who were doing street snaps for their magazine. Apparently it's a relatively new k-pop one (I already forgot the name so I doubt I'll ever find it, there are a lot of k-pop mags here) and they took our pics and asked who we were coming to see.
I snuck a quick pic of the stage before the concert started. I had to be sneaky because photography is banned and they were watching like hawks. Ah but my memories shall live on forever. We were pretty close so I didn't need to look at the screens most of the time.
2NE1 opened the concert and they were just...amazing. They put on a great show and a lot of the crowd seemed to be there for them. I judged this by the colour of the crowd. Everyone had different coloured penlights but there was a lot of pink among them for 2NE1. After 2NE1 Big Bang came out....and I started crying. I mean it's one thing watching their MV's or watching fan cams but to physically see them moving about on stage and being their stupid awesome selves was just...too much for me at first. After the first song I composed myself and was grooving along. Japanese fans are all about TOP, I'm not sure why because he can barely speak to them in Japanese....maybe that's what they like. In fact, barring Gummy who is fluent everyone else had very cute MC's with adorable mistakes. Especially Bom, I wanted to take her home and be fail with her! There was this couple a few rows behind us and the guy kept shouting out for "YoungBae" (Taeyang) which was kinda funny. Yay for male fans!
The running order gets a bit fuzzy in my head after this. Because it was a YG Family concert they all did fun collabs together (like Big Bang performing "I'm the best" complete with dance routine and Jinu Sean, GD and Seven singing "Fly Gentlemen"). All the acts sang a few tracks before they left (except Jinu Sean and Tablo) and Big Bang ended the show....with LIES!!!!!! they also sang Haru Haru before that. I cried AGAIN. Oh and Taeyang GAVE HIS TOUR HOODY to some girl. The jealousy was extreme let me tell you.
An finally an awkward pic of the large banner of them all together. Sorry for the rubbish quality pictures in the post, they were all taken on my phone. To conclude, this was my best day in Japan to date and I want to spend every day like it.
On the 2nd of January 109 began their massive 7 day sale. I'm sure by now everyone knows the drill with New Year sales in Japan; most stores put out 福袋 or lucky bags in English. These bags could contain past season goods or clothes created just for the fukubukuro. This year most of the bags were open, as in their contents had already been relived in store blog posts, magazines or by shop staff. I kind of hate this because in my opinion it really takes out the 'luck' aspect of it, but I guess with people having less money to play with it's a safer bet to let them know how awesome the bargain is that they're getting. One brand that doesn't reveal their contents however is D.I.A and it's their bag I wanted to get. The D.I.A fukubukuro is notoriously hard to get your hands on. Last year they sold out in 3 hours so I knew I would have to get to 109 early. Early as in before 5am that day to queue in the underground station with all the other crazy people (who also all wanted the D.I.A bag as I worked out from....well eavesdropping).
People with their bags outside getting ready to trade stuff
We were finally let into 109 at 7am. The D.I.A bags being as coveted as they are had a whole special procedure to get them. I had to go to the 8th floor (people were running up the escalators) only to go down the stairs until I met the end of the queue. This was at the 6th floor when I got there...going down! I had to go down 6 flights to go back up 8 again to get my bag...and I arrived early! This year the bag sold out before 8 I heard...that's 1 hour. Mental. I can see why though, for one bag it is packed with goodies:
So much D.I.A goodness :Q____
There were 16 items in total, including jeans, several hoodies, tops and one pieces. All the stuff isn't pictured in here, some because I traded with Chriss (the jeans and a one piece) for her Real Mars fukubukuro jacket and some just because I couldn't fit it into the picture. So yeah, getting the bag was madness but it was definitely worth it and I got to strut around 109 feeling like I won at life.
Other sales gets were this JSG one piece (it's so soft and moku-moku I just love curling up in it...in fact I'm wearing it as I write this) and this Glad News under top. It was super cheap and it's so useful to wear under things. It goes super well with the JSG one piece so I'm wearing that atm too. Chriss got a top from D.I.A in the sale which meant I had to stand outside with all our bags for awhile. I wanted to go in too but there was just no way with it being so busy. We had to take it in turns, waiting outside with all the bags like all the other overworked looking boyfriends and dads. D.I.A was crazy.
My shop staff isn't actually in this pic but somewhere inside the crush of the store
I went the next day too when I was less shattered and the crowds had died down a bit and my D.I.A shop staff had totally lost her voice. She still went up on the step ladder to attempt to shout to customers though. Wah she's so adorable I love her. Also I realised how mistaken I was thinking people would be buying less considering the economy. People were buying shit loads, it made no sense to me how they could afford it. Clearly they were blowing all their お年玉 or New Year money on 109. There were so many boyfriends laden with bags while their girlfriends shopped. My friend went that evening and saw guys waiting around with D.I.A bags which is how you know they've been there since the early hours >.< One woman brought her whole family (including her two young boys) to make them carry the bags. I know this because she was bragging about it to reporters when we were queuing underground in the early hours. Now I like to shop and all, but some people have some messed up priorities.
I also bought some stuff with wasn't on sale. I got the Real Mars one-piece which I adore. Totally ageho! The D.I.A jumper is lovely and Emmie ended up getting the same one so now we can twin. The belt I wanted for a while and basically all the staff wear their's constantly. I got it in the end and I think Marie might have bought the same one too.
All in all, New Year is such an awesome time to shop in Japan and I don't think I will forget the madness that is 109 on the first day of sales for the rest of my life. It was some next level shopping!
On another note I'm super lonely now because Chriss and everyone have GONE BACK TO LONDON. I started tearing up in grammar class when I suddenly remembered Chriss wouldn't be back at home when I returned. We spent so much time together having so much fun. waaaaaaaaaaaah
Oh and I've started a new tumblr which I've been trying to update regularly. Check it out if you wanna see daily snapshots of my usually mundane life as a student in Tokyo here.
For me it's not only the start of a new year but also my birthday. I've been thinking a lot about the past and also how I want to proceed in the next year as a 21-year-old. So much has changed in this past year it gives me a lot to think about.
This time last year I looked like this:
During 2010 I have started a relationship, finished my 2nd year at university, moved country, begun studying in Japan and had quite a style makeover. Of course the biggest change is moving to Japan. It has made me grow up more than simply moving to London did, it's highlighted a lot of issues I need to work on in regards to Japanese and being here has really made me more concious of my style.
Right now I look like this:
It's been really useful being here where I can visit my favourite brands so often and pick up gal magazines whenever I want. At first I really wasn't sure where I was going style-wise but now I'm so much more focussed on how I want to look. I hope into 2012 I can keep getting more confident in this respect.
That brings me to my resolutions:
1: Be more focussed on studying
I've always worked quite hard but lately I've noticed a lot of weak points with my studying I need to work on. By putting in more effort I hope I can fix these and work towards my goal of fluency in Japanese and confidence using it with both native speakers and other learners a like.
2: Lose weight
I've gained some weight I'd rather lose over that last year and I would like to lose it. I also want to get fitter in general because I feel so unfit and that's so not sexy. I'm pretty good at eating clean when I can be bothered but I get lazy when it comes to exercise so I'm going to try and work harder in that respect.
3: Be more organised
This applies to various things, from tidying my room regularly to keeping in better contact with my family. I need to be more proactive and organised in so many aspects. This includes thinking about my future. In September I start my final year of uni and I really need to think harder about what I want to do with my life after studenthood.
4. Improve style
I already mentioned how I feel like I'm doing better with my style. I want to continue this and most of all, not go back to how I was before once I get back to London. Confidence is a big part of looking good and I want to maintain the confidence I've gain so far. My make-up still needs work and I want to be able to put together better co-ordinates with the clothes I have.
I'm getting so behind with blog posts because so much has been happening lately what with everyone coming to Tokyo for the holidays. I mentioned in my last blog post I was going to go to the Royz live. It was a really good night out and for an indies band they put on a great show. I will shamelessly fan-girl them from now on.
After the gig we went to take purikura and then went to our beloved Denny's. I've been there twice in the past two weeks. In fact I've been eating out a lot lately, but it's been worth it. I've been having a lot of fun too. And I'm never going to say no to deserts. ^^
Christmas Eve in Japan in basically a date day. Since I'm doing the long distance thing atm I wasn't exactly looking forward to it. Alice was sleeping in because she works nights at a karaoke place so me and Chriss went off to 109. We saw a few other groups of girls having a girly day too so it seems we weren't the only ones not on the romantic bandwagon.
After chatting with the shop staff and picking up some stuff at D.I.A and Mars (me) and CoLu and MarpleQ
(Chriss) we decided to get something to eat. We went to my favourite Omurice place in Shibuya (they do even better deserts than Denny's). In the end I guess it did sort of end up being like a date lol
It was so good. Then when we got back home Alice was up and she wanted to go out. We dressed up and had what she named "HO HO HO Merry Christmas". I don't think I've ever been such a tramp ever >.< I wore my new Real Mars dress so I was feeling pretty awesome and then we went to Shinjuku at around midnight. First stop was Donki to get boot covers (because my legs were freezing) and then we went off to my favourite izakaya. We had 2 hours all-you-can-drink and actually went for it this time so we came out pretty wasted. Then we went for karaoke (and tried badly to explain how Alice works there in order to get staff discount. We failed unsurprisingly). For some reason after that we still hung out, still drinking at like...7am at this point? We eventually headed home which took far longer than it should have. In the morning me and Alice had to go and get KFC for Christmas dinner, still pretty wasted >.< A very merry Christmas all around I'd say.
Me and Chriss were saying how we really wanted to see some bands while she was here. We spent a while looking for who's playing atm and actually has tickets available (most Christmas and New Year stuff is sold out) and we found out that Royz are playing tomorrow. This is awesome because they're one of the bands we both really wanted to see so we're going tomorrow.
This also means I'm going to have to take a crash course in their furi. I can usually pick it up quite quickly but I have like...no time to learn this time. It doesn't help that the guides I'm going from are crazy. Oh Royz I love you.
I posted a pic yesterday on Facebook of me and Chriss twinning. Well you can work out what that means, CHRISS IS IN TOKYO!! Yay I am re-united with one of my agehoes. She's visiting for a few weeks and staying in the same place as me so super convenient for fun times ^^
We then went off with Alice on various errands to ensure we have cake and KFC in time for Christmas. Or should I say Chriss-mas? I'm really happy we managed to order the KFC in time. It's not as good as being with your family I guess but it's still fun doing Christmas the Japanese way. After our errands in Shinjuku (and some flapping about and taking puri in Kabukicho) we went off to Harajuku.
In Harajuku we looked around a few shops and went to Tenya for some tempura-don because we were epic hungry and I realised I hadn't eaten tempura at all since I'd got to Japan which is a travesty since it's super yummy. After that we went for crepes because you can't go to Harajuku and not eat crepes. Believe me I've tried.
The sign next to the crepe shop.
Our crepes. I had double chocolate and banana and Alice and Chriss had double chocolate and strawberry. Mmm fruit.
And finally this is my eye make-up at the moment. I've been playing around with it a bit and have gone back to glitter under the eyes because it helps with the darker shadows and thicker liner I've been using lately. The top lashes are Candy Style (cute) and the bottom lashes are Diamond Lashes (charming eye).
I can't wait until everyone else gets here for the winter holidays. When Emmie gets here the Agehoes will all be assembled and armed to take over....
