Are you interested in being Visual Kei? It's an intriguing, individual style which has been becoming more popular over the last few years, though it still isn't widely known about. If you're already interested in Punk, Goth or the Japanese street fashion scene and you like the music, you're perfect for the look!
Steps
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Find a store that sells Visual Kei clothing. There are plenty of online stores that sell Visual clothing - but beware of bad quality clothes, check the store reviews first! If there's one near you, you might be able to find great accessories in Hot Topic or another "alternative" shop like it.
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Dark clothing is always in fashion! Lots of Visual Kei stars dress in neons and loud colours and patterns, so don't feel that you can never wear bright colours again (quite the opposite!) but a monochrome outfit, or an outfit mostly made of black pieces with a splash of a bright colour like red, blue or orange as an accent nearly always looks stylish and pulled together.
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Plaid, stripes, lace, webbed patterns and skull motifs are very popular. But Visual Kei is a very anything-goes fashion so long as it keeps to the 'cool punk' feel of the look. Plaid skirts or plaid patches on tops are very cute for girly Visual Kei wearers! Stripy tops, either horizontal or vertical, are stylish and versatile for any look, so it's always worth having one. Lace is more often connected with the Lolita subculture, but it can add some really interesting texture to a Visual-kei outfit, so long as it isn't cheap and scratchy. Cobweb fabrics are also very cool - it's dark, spooky and reminiscent of the very sought-after brand Alice Auaa's signature cobweb material. You don't have to limit yourself to just these, either - as well as skulls, crowns and crosses, anything with a spooky, grotesque, or OTT adorable look to it, depending on your outfit, will work really well.
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Wear your clothes loose enough to move around comfortably in. Although skinny jeans never go out of style in Visual Kei, make sure you have enough freedom of movement to dance! Your top or T-shirt shouldn't be tight either, especially if your trousers are tight too; the up-and-down fitted look isn't really a part of the fashion. Don't make it so baggy that it looks like it doesn't fit you unless it's actually meant to look that way, though.
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Don't be afraid to mix and match different styles! Visual Kei borrows hugely from all kinds of other fashions like western Goth and Punk, Lolita and historical fashion, so if you have the basics of both styles down and you're confident about making it look good, go for it. How about, for instance, mixing a poofy knee-length plaid skirt with a distressed tank top, platform heels and spiky hair for a great Visual Kei Lolita look?
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Your clothes might be the outfit, but it's definitely your accessories that make it. Necklaces, bracelets, studs, chains and belts are all musts for any outfit - even if you're going for a simple look, don't skimp on at least a punky belt and a few rings to pull it all together.
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Any shoes that aren't too casual or pretty will go with your outfit! Creepers, platform boots, Doc Martens, winklepickers and engineer boots are all popular choices. For an extra bit of flair, how about wrapping a few chain bracelets around the ankles of your boots?
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Dyed hair is always great! If your hair is already a nice colour naturally, or has a great style then it doesn't really need it, but dyeing your hair is fun and makes it that much easier to make your style more polished-looking. Any crazy colour will go down a storm, but it doesn't need to be unnatural; silver, ash blond, dark brown and black are all seen just as much as bright pink or blue. But if you really can't decide on a single colour, how about a split a la Waka from Danger Gang?
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Makeup isn't necessary but it's still one of the biggest parts of the style. Especially if you're after a more modern or, for females, androgynous look then you can give it a miss or just go for simple concealer, matte powder and eyeliner - but it's always cool to at least know how to dress it up for special occasions. Look for makeup tutorials and collect lots of pictures of Visual Kei musicians to see how they do it!
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It's very rare to see a Visual Kei musician without any piercings. Nose and septum piercings, lip piercings and tongue piercings are all cool, as are any kind of ear piercings. If you don't want to get something permanent done, your work won't let you, or you're too young but you'd still like to have some metalwork, try buying some fake piercings. They're cheap and easily available on sites like eBay.
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This is the most important thing to remember. No matter what you're aiming for, Visual Kei is always very carefully coordinated and pulled together. It has to look completely polished and intentional even when it's all ripped up and distressed - that's what separates it from other styles like emo, scene, punk or western goth. If your coordination skills aren't great, just start simple with a few outfits made of items like kilts, skinny jeans, printed tops and cardigans or blazers and a few accessories. Build it up slowly until you feel more confident about complicated outfits. If you don't feel like you can spend hours every day on your hair and makeup, get a low-maintenance, good-looking hair style like a thick mohawk, short hime cut or an undercut that can be drawn up into a teased ponytail, and keep up a good skin routine.
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It doesn't matter what people think of you. If you're going into a dangerous area it probably isn't sensible to dress up and draw attention to yourself, but otherwise, try learning to ignore any stares or comments. You look damn cool, so believe it!
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Have fun! Visual Kei is often a bit self-mocking, especially when it's especially gloomy or angsty, so don't feel like you have to be extremely serious about it.
Tips
- You'll rarely catch a Visual Kei musician wearing anything plain, but especially if you live far from a big alternative scene it can be hard to get cool clothes. So if you spot a tee with a great print but a boring design, or a jacket that has a neat cut but is bland and dull, don't be scared to modify them - a band tee can be made into a great tank by cutting off the sleeves, slitting the side seams up and punching holes in the sides to lace them up instead. A boring jacket can be greatly improved by sewing some faux fur to the collar and glueing some pyramid studs to the lapels. Remember, every thing you modify or make yourself is one piece that is completely unique. Nobody else has one like it!
- Coloured contacts are an amazing addition to an outfit. They're not necessary by any means, nor are they recommended for everyday wear, but if you're going somewhere special then a matching pair of contacts or circle lenses can be an incredible final touch.
- Buy pieces that you know will be versatile. There's no point spending three week's spending money on a jacket or a pair of boots that will only go with one outfit you own. Even worse, don't get pieces that require you to buy other things to go with them unless you can afford it, or are actually building your wardrobe up!
- You can always find good things in the shops around you. Don't turn your nose up at something just because it wasn't from Japan - lots of shirts, tops, ties and other basic pieces can be found on your local high street. Don't be scared to go into the other gender's clothing range, or the children's clothes if you can fit them, and browse there either! If you're especially embarrassed and anyone asks (though it's incredibly rare anyone would), just tell them you're buying for someone else.
- Lots of the brand items that are really sought after in the fashion, like pieces by h. Naoto, Sex Pot Revenge or Alice Auaa, are quite expensive. Try buying them second-hand from sales communities like egl_comm_sales or vk_sales on Livejournal.
Warnings
- Be aware of looking too 'anime fan'-ish. Cosplayish kinds of accessories like cheap legwarmers and armwarmers, animal ears and bondage gear or black lipstick are the kind of thing you might want to leave well alone until you're sure you know how to make them look good.
- If you're going after this for an everyday look, you might want to try the more modern, toned-down styles of Visual Kei like those currently worn by Miyavi, D'espairs Ray and L'arc~en~Ciel - even though it's super fun to dress to the nines, it's best saved for the occasions where you know pleather bondage gear and six-inch platform boots will be appreciated.