'Round the World: Aomoji-Kei

I've written a short blog post on Kyary before. She's the representative for this recent Harajuku trend called "Aomoji-Kei" (青文字系）which literally means blue ink type. One definition circling around the internet is: “Basically, ‘aomoji-kei’ is about wearing whatever you want to wear without caring whether or not you look attractive, cute, or sexy. Many times, people who wear aomoji-kei fashion tend to switch between different styles a lot just depending on whatever they like and what they think is fun, so that’s why it may seem like there’s no definitive look for it :)”

There's a shorter definition that could be made: "freestyle fashion". Even though this trend is supposed to be something you do without caring, it's mainly youthful and cute. When I first read about this, all that was going through my head was "I've been doing it for years then... ". I honestly think Japan is a bit strange (well, it always was) for making this a trend because you can't sell "Aomoji-kei" in a store. If you're dressing up without caring, it's hardly fashionable. If you are somehow nicely coordinated in "Aomoji-kei", you're defeating the purpose.


Basically if you're striving for "Aomoji-kei":

1. Find mismatching clothes. Clashing prints or strange colour combinations will work (for example, gingham and floral or navy and neon pink)
2. Get mismatching accessories (mixing up your metals, anything peculiar like a fly necklace, patterned head bow, etc)
3. Go out and wear your outfit without caring about whether it matches or not. If you do check yourself once and decide to change, you're defeating the purpose!