#Karasu Zoku

[infinitycutter]

comme des garçons aw02

[anti-kawaii-daily]

Today's Anti-Kawaii Characters of The Day are Konoha Haruka Kokonose and Kuroha (Black Konoha) The Snake of Clearing Eyes from Kagerou Project! They wear Cyber Kei but Kuroha also goes into Karasu Zoku territory! Konoha also fits into the Nemuidere and Byoukidere archetypes! Kuroha meanwhile fits into the Kamigire and Kichidere archetypes!

[carrionwithcarrion]

Thinking thoughts about Karasu-zoku!

[valnik]

"NOSCE//TE//IPSUM"

[infiniteartmachine]

a couple of women in lingersuits standing next to each other

[monsieuroverlord]

Inktober Day 14: Castle

Matsumoto Castle is also known as Karasu-jo (the Crow Castle) due to the fact it has a black exterior.

[thekimonogallery]

Lasting from 1982 to 1990, Karasu-zoku (‘crow tribe’) was a Japanese fashion subculture that consisted of wearing all-black, androgynous designer outfits and accessories

[revelations-persona]

not my favorite but i've been thinking so hard about what their casual outfits would look like and simply had to get it out there :3 (ramblings on the fashion choices below)

from the start i wanted the cashier to have some kind of goth or goth adjacent style. initially i was thinking about gothic lolita for her but the more i thought about it i was like Hold On Now. all these intricate dresses i was looking at look very expensive. can someone working fast food actually afford that??? probably not. i was Considering vkei but then i stumbled upon karasu zoku and i feel like it fits her (not that there's Anything At All to work with lol). i thought it'd be cute to give her a leather jacket and long skirt that are two different shades of black (a struggle too real)

i knew for sure that i wanted chika to wear decora. i only have so much patience for little details so i went with shinora since it's adjacent to it, more accurate to the time period, and more toned down in comparison (less sanity loss for me!!!).

i wanted to keep chika's hairstyle similar to how she normally wears it and i feel like the middle point between the two buns tomoe shinohara would wear and the two braids chika usually has is loop braids (and also it looks super cute). i didn't give her as many accessories as i defintiely should have but alas, i would like to be sane during something that i didn't intend to spend more than like three hours on. i felt like the feathers fit with the style so i keep one of the defining parts of her usual design.

it also was my goal to make their styles contrast each other and i felt like i definitely achieved that with super colorful and maximalist vs all black and relatively simple. i just think it's cute when two people have opposite aesthetics lol

anyway here's quick doodles from when i was brainstorming outfits and went with these :)

[invisiblequeen]

For @simzslayer 's Townies Of The World Challenge

My Prompt was "Male From Seychelles With Mode Fashion (Formally Known As Karasu Zoku)"

[boycurio]

another 2023 goal is to become way more intentional with how i dress and leaning more heavily into my themes of gnc, hatred of western professionalism, and reflection of the history of labor and blackness in the US with my inspirations coming from workwear, karasu-zoku and 90s hip hop styles

[tomo-mo-momo-mo]

Inspo for Tomoe's outfit in Chapter 6 of But I Have Promises to Keep

Photo Credit: Crow Tribe/Karasu zoku, 1982 in the Across Collection

Article where it is featured

[infinitycutter]

i really like your posts about clothes and designers and fashion. i dont know much but i like learning things from you & think you have good taste. i wanted to ask you about buying from mercari japan. im in the USA and i use that version of mercari all the time but id love to shop mercari japan. however im intimidated by the language barrier and what shipping would entail. do you use a proxy shopping service? if so any recs? & do you have other tips in general for navigating / using mercari japan? i want to thank you very much if you choose to answer ^_^

hehe im happy you like my posts and aesthetic taste i just post what inspires + interests me ^_^

I’m also in the US, and I use a proxy! In fact, I literally just got my haul two days ago!! Most people go for buyee, but they’re overpriced so I go for Neokyo. I’ve used japanese shopping sites for almost a decade + I learned some japanese when I was like. an 11 year old weeaboo so I can easily navigate through these websites—BUT— what’s cool w/ neokyo and some other websites is that they p much have their own user interfaces in english, so having to go through the japanese websites isn’t really necessary(with some caveats). And worst comes to worst, you can use browser extensions /apps that directly translate the website for you, so everything is easier to navigate. im not sponsored by neokyo btw, but compared to other sites like japonica or buyee, they have the lowest rates, and often have promotions that take off the service fee in the first place. Most sites are pretty self explanatory and will have tutorials in case you get stuck.

ok so here’s some tips for shopping on japanese websites that im just gonna put just in case someone else asks me in the future so i can redirect them to this post lol

1) KNOW WHAT YOU WANT.

It will make your life INCREDIBLY helpful if you are looking for a specific brand or designer, as well as the article of clothing you want in the first place. Having this specificity in mind can help you buy less in general too, and will help you get something that you’ll really want and keep. That aside, each website will have different filters to sort through stuff and one of them will be brand name, so that can help you parse through junk posts of people posting old zara when you’re looking for old Helmut Lang.

2) DO YOUR RESEARCH.

If you are looking for a specific style in mind, such as mori kei, karasu zoku, jirai kei, etc. there will be specific brands that cater(ed) for that style alone. most of the time, the information will be available on google. for designers, doing some digging on their different sublabels and aliases will be really helpful for digging for hidden gems. for example, one of my favorite brands, Undercover, has multiple sublabels, diffusion lines, names, etc. that you can search it under, such as: JONIO, ZAMIANG, AFFA, etc. Sometimes, you’ll get people knowledgeable about the brand and will put the brand filter on the item, but sometimes, people will pick up an item and will not know anything about the garment’s source or designer. Having that precursory knowledge lets you take advantage of people selling insanely rare items for insanely cheap prices because they’re clueless about it lol.

3) IF YOU DON’T KNOW WHAT YOU’RE LOOKING FOR, BE LESS SPECIFIC.

The point that I made from earlier that certain brands will kind of spearhead a certain genre of clothing is very helpful if you’re looking for other brands/designers/clothes that go for the same aesthetic. For example, the brand Trove has become synonymous with the Mori Boy style, and many people use that for search visibility. It’s annoying for me when I was specifically looking to buy trove, but it helped me learn about some other designers like nonnative, yaeca, and margaret howell.

4) IGNORE SIZE LABELS, USE GARMENT MEASUREMENTS*.

As none of us truly have the luxury of trying things online, knowing correct fit is hard. So save yourself the hassle and disappointment by literally just taking measurement of your body + clothes that you like, to get a gauge of whether or not the thing would fit you. Most sellers are kind enough to provide measurements, but sometimes, they don’t. This is where research and experience comes into play. For example, Takahiromiyashita theSoloist’s pants always goes a size down, meaning that a size 30 trouser will most likely be a size 27/28. This knowledge will only come after getting a general sense of the brand itself, so having a bit of brand loyalty and knowledge can pay off.

5) GO FOR JAPANESE DESIGNERS.

A lot of these brands tank in value, especially as they become forgotten and the trends have moved past. It’s sad for them, but it’s great for me. My mori kei wardrobe only cost around $300 ish, with the most expensive one being a $150 Yohji Yamamoto pour Homme runway cardigan. But mostly it was cheap clothes on mercari that I was able to buy for less than $30 max.

6)KNOW THAT THIS ISN’T LIKE SHOPPING ON SHEIN/ZARA/SSENSE/ETC. AND THIS WILL TAKE TIME.

Unlike regular websites where you can literally buy what you want at any time, it takes can take weeks, months, or even years to scope out what you want to buy. However, being more fluent in browsing thru these websites can help you score insane deals for things you’d see marked high in the west. I regularly buy rare undercover for insanely low prices, just because I toil in the mercari japan mines frequently.

7)THE MORE YOU BUY, THE BETTER IT GETS.

Your rates for shipping will get better the heavier your parcel is. Meaning that it’s better for you to buy more in one time, rather than buying only one garment. Yes, this spurs even more consumerism, but whatever lol

8) Saddest one of all, this entire thing will be easier the skinnier you are.

This isn’t fatphobia; it’s the fact that most of the clothes you’ll wanna buy are in Asian sizing, meaning that most of it will be incredibly small. Even I, as a US Men’s Small, can barely fit into a lot of Japanese clothes due to my big ass shoulders. Luckily, there are some ways to circumvent it, including going to styles/brands that incorporate a lot of oversized stuff, like Doublet, Yohji, or Balmung. Recently, some brands also offer plus size options available, but it requires you to buy new.

Okay it took longer than expected, but I hope this is helpful for the anon and anyone else who reads it! :D

[swissbread]

Karasu Zoku (with all JN)

[wayward-machine]

Rei Kawakubo, creator of Comme des Garçons

[valnik]

"Bound by grief, bound by anger --yet, I'll never disappear from this reality"

[infiniteartmachine]

a picture of a person on a bike with a bunch of pumpkins