Gothic subgenres (part 1)

Well as I promised I will write (at least try) about the gothic subgenres this time.

Romantic  

Romantic goths  like  clothes that give an "aristocratic" feeling to people. There are influences from the Victorian era and you can see fabrics such as silk,lace and velvet in this subgenre. Basically people who are into this try to create a dark and romantic image of themselves wearing corsets,cravats,lace gloves etc. If you like things like graveyards,the moon,dead flowers and you are passionate and also "into classical-themed things" instead of leather and chains this is the right subgenre for you then.

Victorian 

Here the Victorian influences are the basic thing as the name suggests. Lets say that this is the victorian type of  romantic (see above). Some people not only dress like they belong in the Victorian era but also act "old-fashioned". For example ladies wear lots of times corsets under their clothes and gentlemen kiss the hands of the ladies. Also they (may) listen to classical music,opera and throw formal parties like the aristocrats of the era.  Women wear things such as corsets,lace gloves,big dresses and men suits,hats and cravats. But probably those are not the only things they wear! Everything which could be considered victorian and dark fits.

Neo-Victorian 

Neo Victorian is basically Victorian with a "morden techonology twist" 

couldn't find another pic sorry.

Vintage 

Goths of this subgenre have influences from most recent eras than Victorian for example from the 20's , 40's , 50's , 60's . If you want some inspiration check Marilyn Manson's ex wife Dita Von Teese.

Dita Von Teese

Vampire 

Lots of people who like the gothic subculture love vampires so it's pretty natural that this exists , don't you think? And NO nothing about the Twillight vampires. NO. Inspiration here comes from Lestat (Interview with a Vampire) not this Edward guy (no offence if you like Twillight....). No glitter ok? Sunglasses,parasols even fangs can be used. Colors are mostly black and red (maybe a bit of white if you want). Be carefull cause your outfit may look like a costume and yes you should avoid that...

DONT do something like this (too costume like)

Lestat de Lioncourt (Interview with a Vampire)

I am sorry this wasn't uploaded till now....It's not very good in my opinion but I said I ll write it so...I hope you like it (even a bit) 

-King Vampire 

Visual Kei Hair Guide

So you want vk hair....

1) Decide the style you want...

By that I mean that  basically you have to decide your subgenre. If you would like to be Tanbi Kei a Nagoya Kei hairstyle probably won't work.... If you are not 100% sure about what exactly you want or you like to change every now and then consider getting a hairstyle which can be flexible.(Personally I have half my hair short and  half of them long.) 

2) Prepare your hair....

Make the changes you need. Cut and or dye your hair. If you are going to cut your hair be sure you want to do so cause it will take time to get long again. A good option is to cut your hair in layers (short-medium-long depends on what you want) . Or you can leave it the way it is if you like it. If you dye it be careful not to damage it.

3) If you think you can't make  it the way you want go to a hair salon.....

They probably won't know what a "visual kei hairstyle" is so you better show them a picture of what you want.

4) Learn to backcomb your hair....

If you are aiming for the usual visual kei style we see on the streets then a good idea is to backcomb your hair. Don't be afraid to rise it. Spiky hair is everything! There are plenty of tutorials on youtube showing hot to style visual kei hair.

5) Get everything you need....

Some things you could use to make your hair v-k are the following: 

• Hair dye (if you want to dye your hair)
• Scissors (if you cut your hair)
• Extensions (if you want them)
• Flat iron ( 99.9% of the times vk hair is straight) 
•  Hairspray (lots of it) 
• Hair wax
• Hairbrush 
• Hair accesories 
• Comb 

 6) You can always look your favorite musicians hairstyle to get some inspiration.....

I hope I helped you in your trying to make you hair from normal to visual kei...

- King Vampire 

Visual Kei Fashion Guide

So do you want to be visual kei? Good.... But what's visual kei anyways? I am not going to write the whole history. If you are really into this you will find it yourself. Here I will focus on how to dress the part.

1) CHOOSE YOUR SUBGENRE! I have written them on my blog as well so you can check them easily.There are so many of them....Kote kote kei , Nagoya kei chooce what you like. Personally if you like more than one subgenre you can always be for example Nagoya kei one day and Kurofuku the next. At least I do so.....

2) DON'T CHANGE OVERNIGHT! Yeah I know that you really want to do it but do it slowly.... If you try it by the time you saw it you are going to do it wrong. I am 100% sure about that. This applies to every fashion out there. People may say that you are a poser. You don't want this , do you? Try to find clothes in your wardrobe which can be considered "visual kei".  


3)WHAT  COULD YOU USE TO  BE VISUAL KEI?

• Chains 
• Bracelets 
• Some punk trousers
• Leather jackets (and leather in general why not? Don't overdo it tho...)
• Studs
• Spikes
• Victorian inspired dresses (could be used for the subgenre Tanbi Kei for example)
• Kimono(for the subgenre Angrua Kei ) 
• Platform boots 
• Other items as well.Use your imagination

 4)LOOK AT YOUR FAVORITE V-K ARTISTS! I don't say copy them. Copying someone else it's good only when you are cosplaying. You can also google "visual kei clothing" , "visual kei hair" etc etc. You can find plenty of stuff online. Also you can buy magazines like Cure, Kera and Shoxx. 

Next post will be about hair....

- King Vampire 

Visual Kei Subgenres (part 2)

VISUAL KEI SUBGENRES PART 2

ANGURA KEI 

The word Angura comes from the English word "underground". This style exist thanks to a cultural movement  of indepented theater  back from the 60's (in Japan probably) and the fervent political unrest which made this decade globally known.This theater  is about Japanese mythos ,beliefs etc etc.... This style is kinda like Eroguro but Angura is  more dark and formal.In this style you will see  Japanese uniforms,kimonos or other traditional garb.They say it's the darkest visual kei style with dark and heavy makeup (wow...heavy makeup in visual kei...)   

EROGURO KEI 

This word comes from the English words "Erotic" and  "Grotesque". Like I have already said it's kinda  similar to Angura. Well Eroguro is older than Angura. Goes  back to 20's-30's...The bands of this type use schocking images in their lyrics,shows and their videos.

NAGOYA KEI 

Well as the title says this style comes from Nagoya (Japan.Probably). They say it's darker than "visual kei" with influences from western ( British especially) punk rock bands. Nagoya kei bands focus more to the music and not that much to the costumes and their make up. (Well nowadays I have to say that some bands don't care enough about their music....)

IYROU KEI

Iyrou means "medical". In this subgenre you are going to see lab coats, eye patches, blood , in general "medical" things. (From what I know Japanese people have a fetish with wounds and stuff like those. I can see why.Sorry I know I am "awful"... Huhuhu...)

KOTEOSA KEI 

Last we have the "black version of Oshare Kei. Yeap. Just that. Easy to remember at least huh?

I hope you enjoyed this post of mine (I hope you liked the first part of v-k subgenres as well) . Sorry if this took too long to be posted. But a King has to deal with plenty of things you know...  

-King Vampire

Visual Kei Subgenres

Your King is back.....

Well I decided to make this guide to visual kei subgenres.At first I had no idea about it's subgenres to be honest. But I do now and I want to share my knowledge with you. I hope you enjoy this post of mine.Let's start....

KUROFUKU KEI 

Just black clothing.Black suits are popular in this subgenre.

KOTE KEI 

The oldest and most popular form of visual kei. The point here is the dramatic hairstyle and clothing. There are two types of Kote kei. The "Black" type ( bands of this type have a darker image than the others) and the "White" type ( lighter and more melodic than the "Black" type). Sometimes you can see Kote kei written as kotekote (or kotekote kei ,kote ,kotekote visual kei) .Common themes in this subgenre seems to be blood .roses,crosses,decadence and aesthetics.

  

 TANBI KEI 

It seems that this is a sub-sub genre since it comes from Kote kei. Bands which belong to Tanbi kei will remind you of Renaissance Europe.You can see for example Victorian houses in their PV's and influences by classical music. Symphonic and melodic metal sounds along with elegance.

Soft visual kei

It's a"calmer" type of visual kei. As the name suggest it's basically a soft type of visual kei.Natural make up , not so over the top outfits with catchy songs. It used to be very popular during the Visual kei boom. 

Oshare kei 

You can translate this (  roughly to be honest)  as "fashionably" or " stylish" . The first Oshare kei band was Baroque . After a while the term "osare" came up as a parody term. Those people think they are fashionable ( they think. In reality they  are exactly the opposite. Sorry...) It's what I call "the bright and fun side of visual kei. Colorful with pop and techno influences. Oshare used to be popular but now we don't see many bands under the term oshare kei. 

I think it would be the best to make this post in parts since I dont want to make you feel tired. I hope you liked the first part.

- King Vampire