°˖✧✝ YOSHIKI Overload pt. 1 ✝✧˖°

YOSHIKI doing the iconic "X" gesture, which was created
to symbolize his band, X Japan.

Source: wearexfilm.com

Whenever a visual kei artist or band comes overseas to my country, I try to support them, especially if whatever they're doing, a concert, a meet-and-greet, or so forth, is close to where I live. Unbelievably, YOSHIKI, the founder and leader of one of the biggest and most successful bands in Japan, X Japan, planned two major events for New York City: multiple movie showings for his music documentary about his band, X Japan, and two personal, classical concerts, featuring the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra, at the illustrious Carnegie Hall.

I don't have too many friends who are visual kei fans like myself, but I do have one who is: my friend Ashley. And, while I'm not the biggest fan of YOSHIKI or X Japan, we both agreed that these events were going to play a pivotal role in YOSHIKI's overseas success, and create possibilities for other big named visual kei artists in the United States. So, we told each other we would get tickets to both events no matter what! And, in the end, did just that. 

Movie poster for X Japan's documentary, We Are X.

Source: YOSHIKI's Facebook

Months before the actual theater releases, YOSHIKI made tremendous efforts to support his band's documentary through all of his social media brackets and partnerships between well known Japanese and Western musical artists and multiple enterprises dealing with Western pop culture and music. If you were a fan of Japanese based music during this time of the film's promotion, it would've been hard not to see some sort of blurb or publication about its release. One of the most shared piece of YOSHIKI's promotional material was the finalized version of the We Are X official trailer.

From the trailer, you can see a few of the Western music artists who participated in giving their opinions and comments on X Japan and the differences between the musical environment in the United States (U.S.) versus Japan, which severed as a tremendous barrier for X Japan to translate their success over to the U.S.

Screenshot of Gene Simmons taken from the official We Are X documentary trailer

Screenshot of Marilyn Manson taken from the official We Are X documentary trailer

Because of the the large amount of promotional materials being release, there were a lot of different teasers and clips of the documentary being pasted around. One of them focused on comments from Japanese based bands, which included footage from the band Dir en grey (a visual kei band that received a prestigious opportunity to have YOSHIKI produce the majority of their first singles from their major debut, which lead to the success of their first major full length album back in 1999). And, in case you couldn't tell, I'm a major Dir en grey fan, hehehe~

I couldn't find this certain trailer on YouTube or from the original distributor, but it was re-uploaded by a visual kei enthusiast page on Facebook called Visual Loner. If you have a Facebook account, you can watch the clip here.

Screenshot of Karou, Dir en grey's lead guitarist, from a We Are X documentary teaser clip

  

Screenshot of Dir en grey from 1999 from a We Are X documentary teaser clip

Originally, there were only a couple of showings over the span of two days, Friday and Saturday, when the documentary first debuted at the Brooklyn Alamo Drafthouse Cinema in New York City (NYC) back at the beginning of November, last year. But, because the special Q&A Friday screening, with YOSHIKI and Stephen Kijak, the director of the documentary, sold out so quick, a second special Q&A screening was added for Friday. Unfortunately, my friend and I already had purchased tickets to an earlier screening when we found out the original special screening was sold out. If we would've waited another day or so to buy our tickets, we would've been able to go to the second special screening they added (we were so close!). 

There was also a collaboration with Tokyo Rebel, a NYC based clothing store that sells authorized items from Japanese street fashion  brands, with the documentary's NYC debut. If you purchased a ticket to the original Friday and Saturday special screenings and wore a visual kei inspired outfit, you would would be entered in contest to win a copy of an art poster drawn by the fabulous comic artist Becky Cloonan and signed by YOSHIKI.

Screenshot of post on Tokyo Rebel's Facebook page

Source: Tokyo Rebel's Facebook

Poster for Tokyo Rebel's collaboration with We Are X documentary

Source: Tokyo Rebel's Facebook

Print of Becky Cloonan's illustration for We Are X documentary

Source: Tokyo Rebel's Facebook

I'd never been to the Brooklyn Alamo Drafthouse Cinema before, but it turned out to be a charming theater. However, it's located in a huge retail center with single floors dedicated to a certain department store, like Century 21 and Target, so, at first, I didn't know what to expect. But, when I finally got to the theater on the fourth floor, it was such a contrast to the building and other modern, big name retail stores on the other levels. The overall appearance of the theater gave off vibes of an Edwardian styled interior mixed with a 1930s vintage feel.

"Ryan Matthew Cohn in the House of Wax bar, located in the lobby of the
Alamo Drafthouse Cinema in Downtown Brooklyn." -Cory Kilgannon for The New York Times
Photo by Joshua Bright for the The York Times

Source: The New York Times

"Wax heads are among the items on display. 'We literally
built this bar around the collection,' Mr. Cohn said." -Cory Kilgannon for The New York Times
Photo by Joshua Bright for the The York Times

Source: The New York Times

I didn't anticipate there being a bar located in the movie theater, so we didn't put going in and checking it out in our plans. From what I saw, it was pretty packed, so we decided to go somewhere else to eat and talk about how we felt about the documentary. But, before that, we wanted to get some nice pictures together in the theater. 

  

My selfie with Ashley

Ashley and I doing X Japan's "X" gesture

We look so silly crouching in front of the movie poster, but,
for some reason, it was really small. We couldn't really get
the full poster in the picture if we stood up.  

Afterwards, we went to the merchandise table that was stationed outside in the lobby for fans to purchase "We Are X" products. I forget everything that was being sold, though I know it wasn't much. I ended up purchasing a bandana with a customized "We Are X" graphic design on the front.

"We Are X" bandana I brought.

Detail shots of the bandana.

I bought the bandana because I wanted to buy at least something at the table to support X Japan, but I don't really know what to do with it. If I fold and tie it, like you're supposed to do with a regular bandana, no one will see the design on the front, which is the entire point of the item. I've thought about framing it, but I kinda would like to wear it, too. I might pin it to the back of a jacket, so it could be admired, like it was intended to. 

As we were leaving, I tired getting a cool picture of my outfit, or even a selfie, with the wax heads from the theater's bar as a background, but there wasn't enough light to capture my face or details in my outfit. The only decent lighting we could get was outside the theater on the floor's landing.

Blouse and Tie: Algonquins
Skirt Putumayo
Purse: Customized Case (I added a handle and
chain  as a strap to a hard case I found)

In honor of the documentary, Ashley and I wanted to wear visual kei inspired outfits, which proved to be harder than I expected. One of the major problems I had was styling an outfit that would fit the type of hairstyle I had at the time, which were Senegalese twist. I wanted to go for more of an early 1990s, drape-y, Goth rock look that visual kei bands were doing at the time, but thought my hairstyle wouldn't really fit. So, I went with a more cutesy, Punk-y look that was fashionable in the mid 2000s when oshare kei, a sub-genre of visual kei, became more prominent in the visual kei scene.

An Cafe, an oshare kei band, in 2004

For this promotional photo, An Cafe is wearing clothing from SEX POT ReVeNGe,
a popular Japanese clothing brand that sells original Punk clothing.

And while I'm at it, here's the music video where An Cafe wears the same Punk outfits they were wearing in the above promotional photo. 

*** For the sake of more clarification, I will like to say that my outfit IS NOT necessarily an oshare kei look, but more of an inspired one, based on different oshare kei elements. The promotional photo of An Cafe wearing clothing from SEX POT ReVeNGe is also necessarily NOT an oshare kei look; it's Punk. A more comprehensible example for what oshare kei is would be the black and white stage costumes in the above music video that An Cafe wears in the scenes where they are playing their instruments. 

These are not the same outfits from the above music video, but they are very 

similar to the ones I described.

While Punk and oshare kei are two different things, oshare kei artists incorporated many styles their fan base (young girls) were interested in into their stage costumes, which created (to me at least) this mishmash of a dark, DIY, Decora, Punk look.***

BONUS:

At the end of the night, Ashley, who's vegan, gave me a carrot. I don't know why, but I thought it was the funniest thing. It was like a vegan joke that happened in real life- my vegan friend just had raw carrots to pass out.

Well, that's all of for the first part of my YOSHIKI post (I didn't expect it to be so long)! I'll make sure to start the second part as soon as I scan the Carnegie Hall program with details about YOSHIKI and the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra.

 °˖✧ 'Till next time

°˖✧✝ Lolita Blog Carnival: Favorite Lolita Hairstyles ✝✧˖°

To those who have read my posts in the past, you may already know that my favorite Lolita hairstyle is twin tails! I've referred to them as ponytails or pigtails in previous posts, because that's what people call them where I'm from, but I think the Japanese term, twin tail, is more fitting and cuter. Even though I've already talked about why I like this hairstyle before, I still have more love to give!  

I don't want this post to seem monotonous, so I'm going to go deeper and explain where my fondness for this style comes from. Though, I'm a bit embarrassed to say that it's not because of a very sophisticated reason (it's more finicky than anything). In some instances, I obsess over symmetry or a sense of balance. So the effect of having mirroring hair pieces on both sides of my face gives me a soothing satisfaction. They also frame the face in a shapely manner that's quite appealing. 

Likewise, because the the root of my admiration comes from my symmetrical obsession, I've realized that any hairstyle that's comparable to twin tails' proportions is a style I've also harbored love for. So yeah, buns are included too! I feel so silly explaining it, but I've come to terms with it and even named it. I call it the "Noah Effect," everything has be in twos.     

So lets appreciate some of my favorite "Noah Effects" in Lolita hairstyles!

◊ Puffy/Curly Twin Tails       

I know I've already said I liked twin tails, but when I talk about them, I'm usually referring to those with tight ringlets. It's an Old School trend, but I still think that it reflects the strongest "dolly" look out of all of the other common Lolita hairstyles. But, out of all of the standard twin tail looks, with the most common one being the straight twin tail with a curl at the end, I think puffy twin tails aren't given their due anymore. I'll admit, at first glace, they don't give off an air of sophistication that Lolitas are trying to achieve nowadays, mostly because they read as being childlike. But I believe that they stand a chance of being used for an elegant princess look. Especially when you grow tired of that hime hair (or can't get it layered just right). 

Alice and the Pirates x Hizaki collaboration (suck it you Visual Kei haters)
Hizaki is the ultimate princess, so if curly twin tails
are good enough  for him, they're good enough for me.
And adding a little more puff wouldn't hurt either.

◊ Curly Buns

The reason why I chose curly buns and not regular buns is because curls adds emphasis to a hairstyle. It creates the right about of volume and depth to the normal bun shape. Instead of having knots on the side of your head, curly buns makes these otherwise sculpted bumps of hair into smooth, soft gathers. The effect ends up being like one of those Christmas present bows! This style is cute, but it's still able to be done with a level of maturity, as seen from the picture with Misako. Ditch the matching bows and style with looser curls that's more relaxing and natural. It'll be toned down, but it'll still serve as a fun style. (And not the mention, moving your hair up emphasizes your neck, sometimes making it longer and refined.)  

Go ahead and touch my curly buns.
They're nice and springy!

◊ Horns 

Okay, so I'm not even going to try to sugarcoat this one. It's out there (very avant garde). I dare any Classic Lolita to do a workable, elegant horn hairstyle! I'll be waiting and preparing my dialogue to name them as the greatest Classic Lolita of all time. Seriously though, I do think this style is possible with an OTT coord. While the horn style seems to be more Punk in spirit, like in the left Putumayo photograph, I love how the right photograph interpreted the style with a more light and whimsical approach. It's not harsh, heavy or rebellious. Even though it is abnormal, it doesn't come off as being over barring or forced. Heck, if horns can be styled in a Sweet Lolita coord, then why not any other sub-style of Lolita?       

Even I wear horns once in a while.
But this outfit comes off a a little Puckish,
so I guess I took the easy way out! 

Make sure to check out Lolita Blog Carnival!

Lolita Blog Carnival is an online Loita community of Lolita bloggers who come together to blog about certain topics each week to stimulate further ideas for great blog posts!

Here are other Lolitas writing about their favorite Lolita hairstyles:

Raven Snow

Divinecross

A Heart's Sound

Poppy Noir

°˖✧ 'Till next time

°˖✧✝ Dollite Wigs: How to Recognize Discrimination When You See It ✝✧˖°

Source: Cropped from Dollite Wigs' website

I've never really been a fan of Behind the Bows. I understand its premise and value its position on giving a mutual platform to differing opinions, but I find many of its participants to be shallow, misinformed and, at times, extremely hateful. And because of that, I don't visit the page as frequently like other Lolitas. I haven't been to the page in awhile, but the urge to do so took the best of me this past weekend, and a kinda wish it hadn't. 

In this bunch of weekly secrets, there was a post about the concerning business practices regarding the company Gothic Lolita Wigs, along with their affiliates like Rock Star Wigs and Dollite Wigs, and its representation of minority customers. There have been many problems with Gothic Lolita Wigs that have been surfacing as of late, all of which includes stereotyping, whitewashing and discriminating among genders and race. For a master post of their offences, please read fukami-in-a-pastel-sweater's post on the subject at her Tumblr. But the current offence that the poster on Behind the Bows was referencing to was the specialized website Gothic Lolita Wigs has created for their African American models and costumers, Dollite. At the bottom if the Dollite Wig page, you can see them tag the website as "African American Wigs" and "Black Women Wigs."

Source: Behind the Bows' secert post #160

As you can see, this Behind the Bows post calls the Dollite Wigs website a "ghetto." Which is exactly what it is, a sectioned off area for the purpose of detaining a certain ethnic or minority group of people from another. In a way to respond to this post, an anonymous commentator left an absurd comment underneath stating, "Honestly, it's cool that they make wigs for African American woman at all. None of the other wig companies make any. It's especially nice for people who don't use their wigs for fashion that have hair loss or going through chemo, they can have a wig that looks natural."

Source: Behind the Bows' secret post #160 comments

And this is were my issue begins. How can someone not recognize such blatant discriminatory actions of another person? This comment is beyond ignorant, and, what's worse, defends prejudices against other people.This person on anonymous is completely oblivious to the problem Dollite Wigs creates, and that's because of the lack of knowledge they have about other groups of people and, obviously, their unfamiliarity with discrimination.  

◊ Why this Comment is Utterly Foolish (and, quite honestly, hurtful)    

"Honestly, it's cool that they make wigs for African American woman at all."

This comment suggest that wigs are not universal, and that for some reason, as an African American/Black person, I would have to have an entirely different wig from people of other races. What does my Blackness have to do with the type of wig I wear? Why does my Blackness stand out as reason to police the type of wig I wear? What's even more tragic about this comment is how insensible it is. With this logic, that means that every race of people would have to have specialized wigs. But lets be honest, that's not going to happen. There isn't going to be a separate Latino website or an Asian one, because this is an issue about the color of a person's skin. The darker your skin is, the more policies and requirements other people want to place on you. Point blank, Gothic Lolita Wigs created a segregated website based on the darkness of their costumers' skin. And the problem with segregation is that it's fundamentally discriminatory. 

"None of the other wig companies make any." 

For those who need any edification on African Americans and wigs- we can wear whatever wig we like! Yes, that includes pastels and mixes of different colors! That means that any wig supplier that sells wigs has wigs for us, just like how they have wigs for all of you. We don't need a specialized tag created by someone, especially someone who isn't even African American, to tell us what we should be wearing. Dollite Wigs is a website that dictates what I'm allowed to wear as an African American/ Black person. And it's absolutely terrifying that they're people who can't understand how demeaning it is. Also, as it has been pointed out, the Dollite wigs are the SAME wigs that are sold on the main Gothic Lolita Wigs website. Why would they create a completely different website to sell wigs that they're already selling on the main website? Why do I have to shop at a different website from others because I am African American? 

"It's especially nice for people who don't use their wigs for fashion that have hair loss or going through chemo, they can have a wig that looks natural."  

The fact that this person feels like a website targeted at African Americans would be great for chemo patients, because they're "natural," is very telling about how Gothic Lolita Wigs, and those how agree with their website, view African Americans. They're inadvertently telling us that, as African Americans, we ought to wear wigs that are deemed "natural," because that's what looks best on us. On the website, there are only shades of black and brown wigs, with a deaden blonde sprinkled here and there. Most of the wigs are short to medium length, stopping around the neck area. That's all. Meanwhile, on Gothic Lolita Wigs, they have models of different races, albeit, with a naturally or edited light skin tone, wearing a myriad amount of wigs with different lengths, colors and cuts. This reeks of the "bright colors don't look good on Black skin" ideology.    

Source: Dollite's "Medium Wigs"
Welcome to the brown rainbow.

African Americans shouldn't have to be pigeonholed to fit the ideals of others. African Americans deserve the right of versatility, and no company should be relinquishing that right for us.    

◊ How is Dollite Wigs Discriminating 

Let's look at what discrimination is. According to the Providence of Manitoba: 

"Discrimination refers to differential treatment of individuals or groups on the basis of prohibited grounds such as race, colour, sex, religion, and other factors. It is the action resulting from stereotypes and prejudice and is usually considered unfair and humiliating. Discrimination may be direct, as in being shunned by schoolmates because of colour; indirect, such as an employment application not being considered because of a personal trait that is not acceptable to a company; or systemic, which is the general result of policies and practices of employers and organizations leading to disproportionate employee representation in relation to the makeup of society as a whole."**

**I do not live in the Providence of Manitoba or in Canada. However, I agree with their definition, and believe it to be comprehensible with concrete examples.    

Is Dollite Wigs treating a group of people differently based on their race?
YES
They have created a separate website for African Americans based entirely around the color of our skin. None of the designs specifically caters to African Americans in any way. Besides from a few added shades, there is nothing different about the wigs they are selling from the ones on their main website, which is directed to all other races.

Is this treatment prohibiting in any way?
YES
This website they have designed for African Americans is disproportionate to their main website in regards to its lack of variety. They have limited the amount of styles, cuts and color combinations we can choose from, which limits our options. Dictating which styles works best for a race of people creates a rigged system where manipulation becomes its framework. Dollite Wigs, don't manipulate me into buying a brown wig instead of a pink one. It's my choice to make, not yours.  

Is this treatment resulting from stereotypes and prejudices that are unfair?
YES

Before I continue, I would like to explain that a person can stereotype a race even if that person had not intended on perpetuating racial stereotypes. Therefore, even if stereotyping was not intended with the creation of Dollite Wigs, their ignorance doesn't negate their prejudice actions.

There is a stereotype about how African Americans ought to look like and what their interests should be, all of which don't include their participation in alternative styles. So you'll hear people say that African Americans can't be Goths, can't wear bright colors and can't be "kawaii," all because of our natural features. In regards to Lolita fashion, you'll hear people say that our features are too harsh, that our skin is too dark and that we can never look like dolls. This is because they claim that our natural appearance go against their ideal of pretty, which is whiteness. This hatred is something that Africans Americans go through a daily bases. So, this "natural" appearance for African Americans that this website dictates is a slap to our faces.

So, let's have a recap. Gothic Lolita Wigs has created a separate website for their African American customers away from their main website, which has a variety of colors of styles. At this new website, there are fewer styles to choose from and a set amount of color choices. Also the wigs aren't different or exclusively designed to heighten particular African American features. They are the same wigs just being sold on a different platform for African Americans to purchase from.

And how is this not an example of discrimination?

°˖✧ 'Till next time

°˖✧✝Be My Valentine, Fringeless Lolita✝✧˖°

In my last post, I put up a picture of me with a new hairstyle. The picture showed a generic Lolita hairstyle that is very reminiscent to the hair seen in the fashion, hair pulled up into two high, curly ponytails. But there was one unique factor- no fringe. That’s right, I’m going fringeless. Someone call the Lolita police.

Okay, so the Lolita police don’t exist and the phrase is clearly a smart-alecky joke for Lolitas to express their disdain for the invisible, and yet omnipresent, Lolita ruler that makes soft guidelines into ridge, golden rules. But with the amount of Lolitas that are inclined to don the cut, whether they be professional models, regular people shown in a Japanese fashion magazine’s street snaps, Tumblr Lolitas, or the ones in your local community, the amount of fringed beauties can be both unbelievably daunting and phenomenally influential. It’s hard to not to be expected to be seen with the same cut when so many others have it. The fringe is the one thing that always seems to remain in style. Regardless of the changes in season or era, you’ll see that the fringe is one of the main elements that connect all Lolitas together. And now, decades into the fashion, the hair is still as much present as it was before. And no one really needs to tell you, you just know.

The Lolita Saints! Lolita memes in English on Facebook

But what about the fringeless Lolita? Do they even exist? Of course they do! They vary in between the abundances of fringed ones, but they are around, and have been around for longer that one would think.  When I was lurking around the Tumblr page of Old School Lolita admiring the older styles, I was taken aback when I saw an old advertisement showcasing a lovely Lolita. She had two darling ponytails that dangled effortlessly from the back of her head in soft curled spirals. Her forehead remained bare, which allowed for the shorter hair of her hairline to be swept backwards into light waves. The hair gave off a youthfulness that captured her natural beauty. I was in love! (In layman’s terms, she is undeniably cute.)  

Such a cutie! Doesn't she just give of an innocent aura? 

I don’t know her name and wish that I knew more of her modeling career. All I know is that she’s gorgeous and that her hairstyle heightens her beauty.  I’m smitten. It’s official; she’s my Valentine for today. Fringeless Lolita-chan, PLEASE BE MINE!

Okay, so on a serious note, the thought of not having a fringe or any type of bang was terrifying to me at first. I've been sporting a side bang for years and not having one now is still very new. I felt comfort being able to hide behind my bangs. But, without one, it’s as if I'm being completely trusted forward in a crowd (you see EVERYTHING). Even though I love my hairstyle, I still feel slightly insecure before I walk outside. I question the completeness of my makeup, judge my looks, and frown at the size of my forehead (as a child I was always made fun of for it). Nevertheless, I've come to believe that not having a fringe has given me the right kind of boost in self-esteem. When I wear my hairstyle, I’m forced to look at myself and reconcile with the insecurities that I have been fostering for years. I’m able to see all of me and smile when I do so. It’s not a big one, but I’m glad that it now shows up more than once and an awhile.       

°˖✧'Till next time