Stripey in Akihabara (3) – WTB goth-loli yukata
One of my greatest regrets for this Tokyo trip was not getting this avante-garde goth-loli yukata for my beautiful wife. Having seen the actual outfit at the basement floor of Laforet (Harajuku), Wife-chan and I were immediately floored by seamless fusion of Japanese tradition with goth-lolita elements. I hate myself soo much for not insisting Wife-chan to try it on. In fact, I didn't even ask about the price. So much for wanting to acquire goth-lolita fashion for my better half.
Even 2 weeks after our return, my thoughts continue to linger on those gorgeous threads and a brief online search unwittingly unveiled the pedigree of the designer : H. Naoto of some international acclaim; renowned for his fusion of Goth, Punk and Lolita elements in his works. A deeper search yielded his online store which revealed the goth-loli yukata to be a Naoto-Summer-Special that has long since been sold out. I cried buckets that evening when the realisation of never seeing my wife in that lolicious outfit crashed upon me. She would have been so PERFECT for it. It would have been S$550 VERY WELL SPENT. *SOB*
Naoto sensei's work gives me hope that one day, we'd seen Tinkle's line of apparel. I have no doubt that he was inspired by 2D art. Who would have thought the outlandish/overdesigned 2D gothloli fashion with its excessive frills and lace to translate so well into 3D. Already my day in Harajuku has supplied ample evidence (mainly from occasional Ama-lolitas gracing the sideway) of how the Lolita fashion is not only for 2D bishoujos.
Keeping fingers crossed for a restock... Sigh. Oh BTW, I can absolutely picture Shiki ~Kara no Kyoukai in this.
*Pardon the misleading title. "Akihabara" was kept for consistency's sake.*
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July 30th, 2009 - 01:27
That… is gorgeous — I’d love to see all 95lbs of my wife in it….
July 30th, 2009 - 01:32
Oh my, your wife is just as petite! Are you then also getting the weird looks when out? Wife-chan is starting to look like my niece… XD
July 30th, 2009 - 02:52
Kind of looks like what Sora is wearing in this picture.
July 30th, 2009 - 03:22
Actually, yeah… I’ve looked twice her age ever since I started dating her. Okay… she’s finally got a couple of grey antenna hair (we both turn 52 this year) but she still gets carded at bars and I get a few glares if she’s wearing the ‘teenwear’ she often has to because American stores only carry clothing for beached whales apparently anymore. Actually, when she dons teen clothes and twintails, it brings out the lynch mob after me.
Course we’re in the US… so the only time she really ‘loli-goths up’ is for Halloween or anime cons and its more of a ‘fun perky goth’ style (think Pangya Kooh).
July 30th, 2009 - 03:26
Ah, so you do use your wife to try out your 2d fashion interests. An ingenious idea. I’m surprised she is willing to put up with it or is she a closet 2d fan as well?
Since I’ve discovered many treasures on YJA in the past, I thought it was worth a search there but did not find it. I hope you are able to track one down somewhere.
July 30th, 2009 - 07:45
Mmmm, H.naoto. There are other brands I tend to prefer because they use better quality cloth for such expensive clothing (they’re also a little punky for my tastes, but I’m also still big on cute+dark, so..), however I’ve always been a fan of their designs. With my wallet I’ve only purchased bags and other accessories from H.naoto… but that is one of the more lovely gothloli yukata I’ve seen.
July 30th, 2009 - 17:07
Justice: That’s a very nice yukata
Shiki (Hiroyuki): Ren… *drool*
July 30th, 2009 - 20:22
That is a pretty awesome yukata, I feel your pain on rare missed purchase opportunities while visiting Japan! Just impossible to tell at the time what is being missed out on.
July 30th, 2009 - 23:03
Stripey, I’ll keep my fingers crossed for you. Surely there is a way!
Of course, there will be much jealousy over the fact that you have a wife that would wear it. Nothing personal, just standard envy.
Good luck with the growing gap in age appearance, too. My dad remarried young, and she looks even younger. Wasn’t so bad until they had a kid and she started calling him “Daddy”.
August 1st, 2009 - 01:45
Sixten- Oohhh nice! The goth-loli yukata will definitely be the national costume of my future Tanuki Republic!
vexx: LOL! Sadly my wife hasn’t ‘goth-ed up’ before and Halloween isn’t all that big over here. In fact, she isn’t that keen on me acquiring the outfit citing “no occasion to wear” as the primary reason. She thought the yukata was gorgeous though. :’(
anonymous_object : Wife-chan is not exactly a 2D fan though she enjoy Tinkle’s artwork a lot. I suppose fashion be it 2D or with real fabric intrigues all women
That said wife-chan has reservations donning the lovely yukata in Singapore since she’d REALLY stand out… A LOT. Still trying to convince her to wear the S$550 outfit at home XD. Oh btw, I found the yukata on YJA!! Agonising over whether or not to order…
Tess : Wow! You have H.Naoto apparel! Could you recommend the other designers? Finding Naoto a little pricey now that my head has cooled XD
Vin-nii: Sorry but I’m kinda lost XD Haven’t been watching much anime nowadays
Ashram: EXACTLY! Think I didn’t do enough research prior to the trip.. orz
Kyuusai : Thanks to you and anonymous_object I found it on YJA! Now wondering about ACTUALLY getting it
Am currently on a compulsory exercise regime now. Maybe I’m shed some flab to narrow down the age/look gap 
August 4th, 2009 - 11:35
Exercise isn’t enough, in my experience, and given the stuff I see in many of the open-air eateries here in Singapore, I’d say a fruit/vegetable only diet also has to be included.
October 20th, 2009 - 08:14
This is a rather LATE late late reply, but the cheapest brand would be Putumayo though I don’t know if it suits your tastes. And even then it’s still not cheap. This is my favorite brand, expensive, but has the best quality, Mary Magdalene.
July 30th, 2009 - 14:38
“2d” has little to do with it (more like, Harajuku, street fashion, and perky goth fascinate her).
But she is an anime fan as well (though more selective than me… she lets me browse through the chaff and find the gems) and sometimes comments on whether a bow would actually work or not. She’s on the hunt for the little skull ties that Pangya Kooh fastens her twintails with (the hair flows out of their mouths). She has found a pair to use that are little skulls backed by elastic.
Last year she wore a pair of pretty good quality cat ear head garb we found at a con and said everyone in her office had to touch her ear fluff all day.