Category: japan

complaints choir, japan

Complaints Choir!

christinahopgood

So today I remembered a cool thing that I saw in Japan!

We went to an exhibition in the Mori Building in Roppongi (am i right charles? i forget), and there was a cool video of choirs from all over the world complaining about stuff. My favourite was the Birmingham Complaints choir. So good! Go to the website and click the video link next to each choir. Here’s the direct link to the video for the Birmingham Choir.
I want my money back
My job’s like a cul-de-sac
And the bus is too infrequent at 6:30
Why don’t they pay me more?
Life was good before
And I’m thirsty!
I recall that the Sweden one was cool too. I forget the others! Probably rad.
The situation was this: we’d just come through a grisly exhibition about I dunno, death or something, and there was this theatrette with music coming out. After being weirded out, grossed out, and in the middle of having some kind of existential crisis about the previous subject matter, I cracked up and couldn’t stop watching for like an hour. It was amazing. Then it was sunset and we looked at Tokyo from a million feet in the air.
In other news, I recently had a themed birthday party. The theme – Labyrinth! I dressed as Sarah in the ballroom scene (obviously). It’s only 5 minutes of the film, but it has the coolest costumes! I’m going to share pictures of that costume in my next blag. It was all handmade.
gothic and lolita, japan, lolita, shopping

Lolita shops in Osaka

christinahopgood

There are so many Lolita shops in Osaka! Victorian Maiden I’ve already written about, but I also visited Baby, The Stars Shine Bright, Bodyline, Innocent World, Atelier Pierrot, Marble, and a Kera Arena shop. I’m sure there are more, but these are the ones that are around the Namba area which is the cool part of Osaka.

Please Note: I did not buy ANY DRESSES at ANY of these shops. This is not because I hated all the stuff, but because I’m a poor student. Pity me.

Baby, The Stars Shine Bright was quite a large store with lots of stock. My problem here was that I don’t really like Baby’s style much. I bypassed all the dresses save an Alice And The Pirates one, and ended up buying some earrings which were on sale. I do love looking around Baby, and probably would have tried on a dress if I wasn’t so nervous. Seriously, there were four shop assistants! I don’t really like how they bow and scrape and don’t let you look for yourself. I guess I’m just not used to it, and it makes me worried I’ll say the wrong thing when they tell me stuff. I sometimes wished I could say…
“WILL YOU LEAVE ME ALONE? I’M SICK AND TIRED OF BEING HOUNDED BY SALESPEOPLE IN SHOPS TRYING TO GET ME TO BUY SOMETHING. I’M BROWSING, ALL RIGHT? BROWSING. AT THE END OF IT, I MIGHT BUY SOMETHING, I MIGHT NOT, BUT YOU WILL NOT INFLUENCE ME ONE IOTA, NOT ONE JOT! NOW I HAVE FINISHED WITH YOU, YOU MAY GO!“
I really like the Alice And The Pirates pointy boots. They look like something a real pirate would wear.
Next, Bodyline! As far as I can tell, there are two Bodyline shops in Osaka – but I can’t be sure. One I visited in 2008, and the other in 2010, so they might just have moved. Anyhow, the one I went to this year was HUGE! Giant! Two floors! I was so thoroughly impressed with their range of stock. I think they had everything off their webshop, unlike Bodyline in Harajuku! I didn’t buy anything, probably because I was carrying my Victorian Maiden bag and felt smug and posh. But still, it was really good fun looking at that shop. The thing with Bodyline is that you aren’t allowed to try the clothes on before you buy, so there’s no knowing if it will fit or not. Luckily they have more than one size though.
Innocent World… does anyone else read their logo as Innocent Blorgh? The W looks like a Bl in that frilly font. Anyhow, this shop is nice. It’s right next to a Village Vanguard (the exciting bookstore) so if you get sick of Mozart you can pop next door for an action-packed shopping experience! Innocent World has nice socks and shoes, but I find some of their prints a bit twee. I’m not that fond of rabbits-in-waistcoats-having-a-picnic (not an actual IW print… I think?). They’re very pretty and cute, but I’d choose florals any day. The dress styles are very nice though.
Innocent Blorgh was right across the road from…
Atelier Pierrot. I LOVE this shop. It stocks several brands, such as Victorian Maiden, Mary Magdalene, Moi-Meme-Moitie, and Juliette et Justine, as well as their own brand. This shop focusses on Classic lolita and Gothic lolita, which is really my thing. Deep reds and blues and nice laces, and no stupid prints. Plus the shop girl didn’t hound me. The weird thing about this shop was that it had Victorian Maiden pieces that even the VM press room didn’t have! That was impressive, but I was a bit cut that I hadn’t had the full selection at VM.
Marble. Does anyone buy stuff from this brand? It seems kind of nice. This shop was upstairs in some weird building (like most shops in Japan, I find). These clothes seemed to be tending towards Gothicy – Victorian period rather than particularly Lolita. Certainly not sweet. Here’s the thing. There were mannequins that had really cool outfits on. But when I looked in the shelves, I couldn’t find any of the items! The shelves were packed SO TIGHTLY with stuff that you could hardly separate the clothes. It’s like they don’t sell anything but keep getting more stock. They also sold some beautiful accessories, jewelery and gloves and the like.
Kera Arena shop was located in a mall, which was really close to the America Mura Triangle park. This store wasn’t as cool as I was hoping, because they mostly stocked punk-loli and Maxicimam. I don’t love Maxicimam. Too much race! They did have some nice Mary Magdalene dresses which I almost bought. They were adorable! But even if it was made of pure gold threads of awesome, I doubt I could afford a Y60,000 coat. Mary Magdalene! Why do you taunt me so!?
The end! Yaaaaay! Sorry it wasn’t more comprehensive, but I’ll answer any questions as best I can. Remember, I had a boyfriend in tow so it wasn’t easy to visit all these girly shops! I had to trade off with a day or two in Akihabara electric town, and many Bic Camera shops.
clothing, emily temple cute, japan, metamorphose, milk

Kyoto Lolita Shops

christinahopgood

While we were staying in Kyoto recently, I was able to visit Metamorphose, Milk, and Emily Temple Cute. I’m not sure if there are any other ones in Kyoto, but there certainly weren’t any more in the downtown area.

First, Metamorphose. This shop can be terribly difficult to find. It’s in the Teramachi arcades, which is the main shopping area in Kyoto. It’s actually in one of the covered arcades, in Teramachi street. When walking from Shijo-Dori (as normal) it’s not far down the road and it’s on the left. It’s hard to spot because it’s on the 5th floor of the building, and there’s only a small sign outside on the ground floor. When you walk into the building, you can see their display in a glass case. When the shop is open, there’s a dress in the window.
Like so.
Remember, this shop is closed on Tuesdays!
The shop itself is quite small, but is packed full of clothes and shop girls. How do they afford to hire so many shop girls? Isn’t there a recession? Anyhow, I found Metamorphose had much nicer stock than last time I was there. Last time there was a thing for vinyl and animal prints, which I didn’t like, but this time it was more towards a classic look. The best thing I found there was short socks with lacy tops. I think that the short socks look is adorable. I used to wear those sorts of socks when I was a really little girl. I should have bought them! I didn’t! Fail!
Milk and Emily Temple Cute are next to each other. They’re not in the covered arcades, but are on a street off the other side of Shijo-dori. They’re near a shop called Naniwa Camera which Charles got a kick out of.

First, Milk. There was so little stock in this shop. I wouldn’t really call the style “Lolita” either. But some of their pieces were really beautiful – I tried on a pair of shorts with hearts on them (too big). It’s expensive, but there were some things in here that are very cute.
Emily Temple Cute was extremely pleasing. It’s really expensive, but good quality stuff. The shop girl could speak some English and had a conversation with me. She was so sweet! Since there was a sale on, some of their stuff was quite cheap. I love their sweet little embroidered cardigans and knit tops (or “cutsews” as they are called – where the heck did that word come from?) more than their dresses, but that’s just my taste. The dresses are a bit foody – strawberries and cherries galore. I’m not so keen on wearing food. Their catalogue had some really nice Spring stock coming in, so look out for that! It’s really cute. I liked this Kyoto shop a lot more than their other shop in Shinjuku – mainly because the shop girl was so delightful.
I get nervous in these kind of shops and don’t get to look properly. I probably could have found something to buy in ETC but I hate handling the stuff they’ve just neatly folded and hidden the price tag. And it’s hard to try stuff on when I’m wearing a thousand coats.
So there you go! Now go visit!
japan, lolita, victorian maiden

Visit to Victorian Maiden Press Room

christinahopgood

The “Victorian Maiden” head shop is in an apartment building in the middle of urban Osaka which seems totally weird. They seem to have another apartment in the building which I guess is their office where they run the business, so the shop is their special show room.

I had sent them an email (in Japanese) saying when I would like to visit their shop but they didn’t reply which was a bit upsetting. I didn’t know whether they expected me or not. We decided to go the shop anyway but the directions on their website was in Japanese and really confusing even after translating. So we went out to the place on the map which was tricky in itself and followed the directionts to the highlighted building, but it didn’t seem right. In fact we went up the correct apartment and it just seemed like a normal apartment. Then we went to about 3 other local apartment buildings looking for the right one. Eventually we decided to have a break and get a coffee. In the shop, I was looking at the map and asked the waitress if she knew where to go, she got her manager who knew about it and led Charles outside to point to where to go.

Here are some directions on how to get there for anyone else who would like to go.
Take the JR Tozai line from Osaka station to Osaka-jo Kitazume station. Take exit 2.
Cross the road using the big pedestrian crossing in front of you, go right and walk down the street.

A few blocks later you’ll see a coffee shop (called Coffee Kan or something) and a hairdresser next to each other. Turn left at the road after the hairdresser, and then right, so that you’re behind the block of flats. Walk a little bit, and you’ll see Osaka castle on your left through a vacant lot. There’s an apartment block on your right, where there should be a little VM sign on the letterbox. Use the intercom to call room 601, which is where they hang out, and then go up to room 201 which is the shop. There are signs in Japanese telling you this.

When I used the intercom, the girl asked if it was Christina so she did know I was coming. We went up to floor 2 and she came down from floor 6 and opened up.

At the VM shop, there was a small ante-chamber where there was a mannequin and some bits and brochures. The main room had several racks of clothes, two small tables and a display cabinet with beautiful hair things and jewellery and ornaments, a fitting room, and the soundtrack was Easy Piano Duets (a book I know well). Frilly parasols adorned every other place. Everything was old-fashioned and pretty. The shop girl was extremely cute and helpful, although she couldn’t speak a word of English. I tried on lots of clothes, many were too big for me. Every time I was interested in a dress she went and got a different colour for me in case I was interested. She was most helpful!

Here is a list of all the clothes I tried on:

Noble Stripe Pintuck Blouse in both brown and blue. It fit like a glove. I didn’t like the brown so much, but it was hard to find something nice that went with the blue one. It’s made of light semi-silky fabric which is slightly striped.
Tulip Garden Scallops Skirt in the dusky colour. This skirt fit well because it had lacing at the back. It is lined and the fabric feels delightful. I liked this skirt.
Charlotte Mermaid Skirt in black (they didn’t seem to have the cream). I really loved this on the website, but in real life it didn’t fit me at all. I don’t get it, it just looked completely wrong. Too big for me, and so it sat too low on my waist, and so it ruined the hipline.
Christina Dress in black. Everyone knows how much I love this one. The girl got it out for me especially because she realised that it is NAMED AFTER ME. I had high hopes, but it was too big. It should be called the Slightly Bigger Than Christina Dress. The collar was cool though, I would have liked another like that.
Ribbon Mielche Dress in red flowery. It was pretty but a bit overwhelming and too big for me.
Lady Check Mermaid Dress in black and white tartan. It was a totally weird fit. Looked cool on the website!
Reginental Stripe Frill Dress in light grey. This was really beautiful. It fits well and has a nice shape. The fabric is beautiful. I can imagine myself wearing this one to work!
Dorothy Dress in pink. What a lovely dress! It fit well and suited me, and had the look of a collar at the top – all pintucks and lace edgings. Super lovely. I might buy this another time.
Adele Bustier Dress in black patterned. This was really nice, I tried it on twice actually, once with my blouse and once with the VM blouse. It was really pretty and fit perfectly.

In the end I bought the pintuck blouse in blue, and the tulip garden skirt in dusky. They go well together and I’m so happy with them!

I spent a good hour and a half in the shop, because I wanted to be sure about my purchases. When I bought them, the girl also put two postcards and a lovely VM phone strap in the bag too. She told me they were presents and we had a small conversation. Charles told me later that she’d been writing me a postcard every time I was in the changeroom (often) using a little translator which beeped (I had been wondering about the beeping) and she’d asked him which colour phone strap I’d prefer. Then Charles took a photo of her and I together in the part of the shop where photography was allowed. She told me I was cute! The cutest girl in Japan told me I’m cute! I didn’t stop smiling all day.

She looks a little bit shocked, but that was nice.


Bag!


The presents I was given.Me playing tower defence on the iphone in our tiny hotel room. I’m a bit messy because I’d just had a shower and it was midnite.

In the hall with my new shoes on. These are just teasers, I’m sure there will be many photos to come.

japan, shopping, victorian maiden

Trip to Japan!

christinahopgood

Next Thursday, Charles and I are going to be flying out to Japan for our second ever trip! We’ll be visiting Tokyo, Nagasaki, Nagoya, Kyoto, Osaka, Hiroshima, and some mystery places north of Tokyo. We’ve got some great activities lined up too.

I have two things planned that I’m really super excited about. Firstly, I’m getting a hair cut. Let me explain.
Last year, I had my hair cut in Japan at my friend’s favourite hairdresser. This hairdresser was a super-stylish handsome man who also worked part time at a Host Club. He cut my hair really well. You know how in most hairdressers, they wash your hair and then give your head a “massage”? And the massage is more like they’re trying to break your skull? He was really gentle. I felt like a pretty princess. And then, when I came back to Australia, I got a haircut at a local place. The woman was telling me all about how she’s trained in New York and Paris and everything… and she cut my fringe too short. I nearly died. Since then I’ve cut my own hair, and it’s worked out really well. It’s not so hard. So now I can say… “I only get my hair cut my by my stylist in Japan”.
The second thing I’m super excited about… is visiting Victorian Maiden in Osaka. Victorian Maiden is my favourite brand in the whole world ever. Baby Schmaby (not that I’ve ever tried on either a VM or a Baby dress). What makes this visit so special is that they only have one actual shop. It’s called the “Victorian Maiden Press Room”. You have to send them an email to book a time to come, and boys are not allowed in the shop alone. I think I should be ok bringing Charles, though, because he’ll be with me, and because I’m a gaijin. Victorian Maiden is notoriously expensive (more than the other brands, even), and I’ve been saving up all year. I even know what I’ll buy – that is, if the stuff I want is in stock. I’ll make another post about that another day. Anyone interested?
I’ve also been looking at some other shops to visit in Tokyo, like the Marui One Shinjuku department store, and of course Laforet Harajuku. I went there last time but had no idea about anything at the time. This time I’ll appreciate it more. I’d like to go to more Lolita shops, such as Innocent World and Baby, The Stars Shine Bright. I never got to one last time! In Osaka I’m going to go to the Aranzi Aronzo shop again – I went last time and it was one of my favourite places. We both bought a lot of cute stuff there!
Here are some photos from our last trip, in December 2008:

Five vending machines in a row!

Me at the famous bridge in Akihabara

Harajuku girls at the famous Meiji-dori.

Pretty street at Ginza. I took this while on the pedestrian crossing – and got a telling off from Charles for my foolishness. Worth it.