[...] I have chosen my activity easily because I have been very interested in Japanese fashion ever since I stumbled across it when I was around 8 years old. EGL (elegant gothic lolita, abbreviation for lolita fashion) has been my favorite due to the complicated history reflecting on a dark reality. It has stirred up controversy and was created to be hated; it originated as a way for women to protect themselves against 'chikan', which is sexual harassment on trains and in public. When I started my activity, I wanted to build a stronger wardrobe, because I felt my current one was quite empty. I overcame financial trouble due to the expensive nature of my collecting activity, however I have counteracted it by making money through commissions and financial support from my parents. I felt it would not have been enough to simply collect pieces so I decided to look into the history of japanese fashion in general. I collected and auctioned for iconic pieces, such as 'the orb', and have reflected in the shape of the fashion through my drawings. I have sharpened my skill in painting and drawing fabric. I discovered a great parallel between eastern and western fashions and general philosophy, with eastern fashion seeing subcultures pop up stronger than most western subcultures, and have reflected over ancient daoist and shintoism, which reflect balance and community, and have seen a great parallel through subculture and fashion. Growing in a christian country, I have seen religion being used differently from eastern religions mentioned above, so this project brought me a ton of joy and interest.
I met my goal by making a pop-up museum for japanese culture and have participated in the 'whole closet co-ord' challenge, where I took all of my pieces and made coordinated (outfits) completed with shoes and accessories. Each reflected a different EGL substyle or subculture, and I did this for my friends that could not make it to the 'museum', allowing them to see my creations online. My pop-up museum was simply my room reorganized to display important pieces in japanese fashion such as rocking horse shoes, my orb, and details about different fashions and their history, including; 'cult party kei': a mostly monochromatic fashion oriented around cult images like crosses and ying-yangs, mostly used for aesthetic purposes, but also worn by religious believers. 'shironuri', white face, the ancient tradition of painting your face white and repainting it in different shapes and colors is very popular in CPK; 'Jirai kei', a new-wave fashion that originated 2020-21 which has been inspired by the now-obscure yami kawaii, built by a influx in stylish, girly clothes in fast fashion stores, most notably the historical Shibuya 109’s stores. where most fashions originated; Ma*rs, Ank Rouge, NOEMI, Liz lisa, all whom I had the pleasure of visiting. The fashion originated from runaways trying to cope through their fashion, using it as a creative outlet to mask their unhappiness (jirai kei means landmine girl and is used to describe unstable girls, similarly to how people in the west describe others as emotional wrecks or borderlines). I also completed details about gyaru, yami kawaii, yume kawaii, decora, fairy kei, Visual Kei, and completed an extensive speech about the different types of lolita, what sets them apart and the special culture each grew. While this was not for my future career, I decided that philosophy can be analyzed through different mediums than we previously thought. So, to me, who wants to study philosophy and be a genetic engineer, this was a priceless experience. [...]