Gyaru Brand: GLAD NEWS

GLAD NEWS Around since 2004-2005 Rock trend

GLAD NEWS caught my attention earlier this year as I learned more and more about the different kinds of gal styles and trends. This is a bit more my style as I tend to really like wearing skinny jeans and long black or white tops. GLAD NEWS often uses skull logos into their designs and that seem to be the only thing that keeps coming back through their collections. That and the leopard coat. More on that one at the end of this post.


GLAD NEWS is in Shibuya 109, but I don't know where else in Japan it can be found, I'm sure it is not the only place it is distributed. It seems to be very popular on Rakuten because a lot of their pieces sell out quite fast. Maybe someone that frequents GLAD NEWS in Japan could enlighten me on the where about of this rockin' brand? Sadly though, Rakuten is the only thing I could find online. They don't seem to have their own website like JSG (previous gyaru brand post) does. Here are a few of the coordinates I really liked of Rakuten.


And the "famous" leopard coat...


A different variation of this coat (or even a simpler version) seems to be up for sell every year around November-December. I found out about it last year and have wanted one ever since. I die a little inside every time I see it so much I'm in love with it (yes, it's that bad). And it's all Rii's fault! She got the a different version last year when she was in Tokyo, it sounded like she had been wanting it quite a bit as well.

Of course now it's already sold out on Rakuten, and the single similar coat that I found on eBay doesn't have any buttons or zip... I can't wear that out here in Canada, I'll die frozen. So if anyone comes across this coat while shopping in Japan, please contact me, I'll definitely want it, well the gray/silver one anyway. Until then, I'll just keep dreaming and hoping it's available again next year when I travel to Japan in December.


What do you think of GLAD NEWS? Too rock for you?

ViVi December 2011

Hamasaki Ayumi on the cover of japanese magazine ViVi December 2o11.

Huummm... can we say gorgeous much?? I haven't liked many of her magazine covers in the past year or two, so this is a great surprise. The look in her eyes with those contacts... it's hypnotizing! No?

There isn't much about her in the magazine itself other than her usual DeijiDeiji diary. So I probably won't be getting this mag. But I still really like this cover!


What do you think of this cover?

App: Fashion games

A post on iPhone/iPoud touch/iPad game apps that are fashion related! You like fashion, I like fashion, we like fashion, let's go!

(Note: All these are simulation games, unless you have magical powers or are very rich, it is very unlikely that your life is like these in the game. Please spend responsibility *aka. Don't become a shopaholic and blame it on me! ~ Also I'm not paid for this article. I just like these silly games very much!)

1st App: Top Girl


In top girl you're a young aspiring model! You have to work jobs for an agency, while working jobs you earn coins.


With coins you can buy "day" clothes and "night clothes". Day clothes you wear while working, you must have a certain amount of "day appropriate points". Night clothes you were for clubbing, you must have a certain amount of "hotness points" in order to enter the different steps of each career, modeling and clubbing levels.


And what do you go to the club for other than picking up guys?!!


There are 3 types of guys, all 3 give a different bonus when you are dating them. 1 gives more coins while working, 1 gives more clothes points and the last gives you more energy (fills up you coffee/energy bar faster - you need the energy to work! Once you have spent all your energy on working, you must wait for it to come back up to work again).

When dating your boyfriend, you can flirt and kiss him. After 10 kisses he gives you a gift, but there is a time lock of 90 minutes between each kiss. As you unlock levels through out the game, you can get more items (more day/night points clothes, better paying jobs, manlier boyfriends with better bonuses) and travel to other cities.

Needless to say, this sounds really silly but Top Girl is not a top rated and played game on iTunes. I like it a lot!

Next...

2nd App: Fashion World


Fashion World is pretty much like Top Girl, but a simpler version, oriented more towards younger girls. I don't know for you, but I don't think I would want my 5 year old daughter to be playing Top Girl.


Just like in Top Girl, you have to work jobs to earn coins. With coins you can buy clothes, again, day and night clothes. You unlock new job levels by buying clothes, so your closet size will determine when you can move on to another job. You can buy tickets to enter modeling contests as well. So the night clothes are for modeling contests not to pick up guys (in Top Girl you use your nights clothes for BOTH runaway contest and getting a boyfriend).



The only difference with Top Girl is that there are no boyfriends and you've got to admit, the graphics are WAY more attractive. Vibrant colors, cute characters and WAY better looking clothes.


I like Fashion World better than Top Girl only because it LOOKS better to me. I know everyone says "Don't judge a book by it's cover" but I do anyway, for books, games, everything. Eep, sorry!

Last but not least...

3rd App: World of Fashion

If you've heard of, or have been playing the very popular "Fashion Story" well World of Fashion won't be anything new to you, except I personally think it's a BETTER version of Fashion Story.



In World of Fashion you get to manage your own boutique! Decide of the decor and order clothes to be displayed and sold in your very own store. So yeah, pretty much exactly the same as Fashion Story, but I prefer World of Fashion because I like the design options and the clothes better. Also, unlike Fashion Story, there isn't a damn advertisement popping in your face every 2 minutes!!

Tribute to Lady Gaga, anyone?

How do you feel about such game apps?

Had you heard of these game apps before? Do you play any of these? If you hadn't heard of them, think you will give them a look now?

LANDS OF Eden

JUNO x Ayumi Hamasaki modeling for the new japanese fashion brand.

Click for big version here

Click for bigger version here

Click for bigger version here

Click for bigger version here

4th shot is my favorite, but I'm really liking the first one also. The 1st shot was released as a spoiler for the fashion brand, and there were many questions as to whom the young woman was. Of course there were many speculations, but with a few hints, some dedicated fans found out it was Ayu. In that shot you can see the woman is wearing a red ribbon bracelet on her right arm, this is something Ayu has been doing for quite sometime now. She wears a red bracelet as a sign that she's always connected with her fan club "Team Ayu" and her fans. I don't like her lips in the 2nd shot, but this seems to be a very popular "trend" in Japan right now, I've seen several models with the same "duck lips" expression that is enhanced with make-up.

LANDS of Eden website: http://www.l-o-e.jp/

This seems to be a unisex brand. You can view part of their collection on the website. I could easily see myself shopping there, it seems to be a brand aimed at women their 20s. Not too many bright colors as I've liked recently, but you'll rarely see bright colors for Fall/Winter Collections. LANDS of Eden advertisements.



There was a grand opening event recently, JUNO and Ayu were both there for the press!


They look like they have good chemistry!


What do you think of this new brand? Think "LANDS OF Eden" is a bit too cheesy or you like it? What about the modeling shots of Ayu and JUNO together?

Love And Trench: Ayu x Aquascutum

Ayu is back collaborating with Aquascutum! Last February I posted about Ayu modeling for Aquascutum London (here).


"Love And Trench" campaign offers three (3!!) new coats modeled by our lovely Hamasaki Ayumi! Weither there was an actual collaboration in design or not I'm not sure, but it fits with Ayu's personal style perfectly and she wears them really well as usual.

"Aquascutum X Ayu"

"New Aqua Tech"

"Short Military Trench"

I like these trench coats a lot! I can't pick a favorite between the beige and the green one though, I like them both equally I think!

You can read more about it on Aquascutum's website (in japanese) Here!

What about you?
What do you think of this collection?
Which one is your favorite?

Gyaru Brand: JSG

JSG

stands for Japanese Super Girl
ジェイエスジー
Around since 2006

JSG is the first gyaru brand I learned of and got to know. It is the ONLY store I bought a piece of clothing from while I visited Japan in October 2009. I didn't know much about this brand when I was in Shibuya 109, I was brand new to japanese fashion and didn't know much of gyaru fashion.

JSG caught my attention because of the way the shop in 109 was displayed, the music, the bright colors and the adorable shop staff that instantly came over to help despite the language barrier.

Collection photos from their website...

This is my favorite of the bunch! LOVE the fun prints and stripped socks!!

Items from their webshop that I would reeeally like to add to my wardrobe! All the colors would make it so much LESS boring~


Every piece of clothing usually comes in a minimum of 3 different shades/colors so there is for everyone! How much fun is that? I'd love to randomly walk into someone with the same t-shirt as I but in a different color!

JSG often has collaborations with Hello Kitty, which makes me love the brand even more! This is the one they current have in stock...


The one piece of clothing I got from JSG, as I mentioned above, was an Hello Kitty x JSG collab. A hoodie! SO soft and comfy! I totally love it and still wear it.

Here it is:

It has ears and a bow on the hood!

What do YOU think of JSG?
To cute? To colorful? To bright?
Love it? Hate it?

My first attempt at doing a blog serie. "Gyaru Brand" posts will talk of the different gyaru (or gal) japanese clothing brands that I like. In hopes that you guys will enjoy and discover new ones! Your feedback would be greatly appreciated~