How to Be Visual Kei

Visual Kei is not just a fashion or music genre, but a form of art, and a complete lifestyle! If you're one of the die-hard JRock fans that wants to really get into that type of scene, then this detailed, over-done, and very lengthy guide can help you!

Steps

1. Music is what visual kei is all about! Before diving into it, you should first be familiar with what it actually is. You should be a fan to multiple Jrock and/or Visual Kei bands, understand the particular sound and why they dress the way they do. Again, to many people this can become an awesome lifestyle, not just a pretty fashion statement!
   • • There is plenty of information available on the Internet, you can download music (But please don't forget to buy it, too! Support the artists you love!), join online forums on the subject, and much more! There are also other sources you can learn from, such as JRock magazines. (Shoxx, Cure, Purple Sky, etc.) Many of these magazines have excellent information on every aspect of Visual Kei, and feature countless bands that may end up sparking your interest.
     • Also realize that many fans of Visual Kei can be much different than ordinary fans of the more western music. Their love for the bands are deep and loyal; Don't be afraid to really learn about band members and be dorky talking to other VK fans about them! You may even be inspired to pick up an instrument! <3
       • To get even more into it, it's always fun to not just listen to the music, but watch videos as well. Not only Music videos, but backstage clips, special commercials, videos for the fanclubs, etc. Something very different, and usually only Visual Kei bands do, possibly for more exposure. But all the same, this can be entertaining in itself and can help you understand how and where other Visual Kei fans pick up some mannerisms that may seem a bit odd to outsiders.
2. Now for the Visuals! After becoming part of the Visual Kei fanbase, you'll probably be interested in looking like your favorite artists. You should start out by doing just that; reflecting the looks of bands! Once you get used to the way it looks and feels on you, then you should start to create your own, unique look.
3. '
   

   Simple example of VK makeup.
   MAKEUP: Here are a few steps to applying your Visual Kei makeup. There is no particular look you have to conform to; with VK makeup you can experiment all you want. Believe me, there are some pretty wild-looking bands out there. Makeup is not forbidden anywhere in Visual Kei. You can put it anywhere on your face, and anywhere on your body for that matter. Also, never put yourself down or get discouraged! Just remember that practice makes perfect, and keep working at it!
   • • Step 1: Hygiene comes first! Before starting anything, you should be clean! Be sure your hair looks soft and groomed, not oily or fried. Have a fresh face - Use a gentle scrub to clear away any dead skin and oil, and pat dry. You may want to use just a little bit of moisturizer to keep your skin from looking too dry and this can also make applying makeup a bit easier. After you're all ready, clip back your hair to keep it out of your face.
     • Step 2: Foundation! Usually, VK makeup looks pale. However, not many bands now days go for the full white face-paint look, but there's not anything wrong with doing that, either. For a complete white face, don't over-apply! This can cause it to look cakey. Use a makeup sponge to spread it evenly over your face for a clean finish. If you want even more of a ghostly glow, you can apply a small amount of powder. If you can't find any powder foundations light enough, baby powder can work wonders. For the more common look, you should choose a liquid foundation one or two shades lighter than your actual skin-tone, but not any lighter than that - It'll end up looking unnatural and awkward. You might want to choose a foundation with little or no oil, because it can be uncomfortable and tends to look heavy. Water-based ones are much better, lighter, and sometimes cheaper. You may be able to spread your foundation with your fingers, but to avoid any streaking you'd probably be better off with a makeup sponge. After evenly applying your liquid foundation, make sure there are no obvious streaks or lines, and apply a small amount of powder foundation or shimmer. If you wish to manipulate lighting, or the shape of your face you should have even lighter and darker foundations handy. To accentuate features, use darker foundation on those places such as cheekbones, on your jawline and around your nose. To give a bit more light, elegant look you can use lighter foundation on the bridge of your nose, your brow area, and cheeks.
     • Step 3: EYE makeup! This is probably the most important part of the process, so be sure to make it interesting, but still tasteful. Let's seperate this up, even more to make it understandable to even the most clueless of people. =D
       • Eyeshadow. The makeup can be applied in whatever order you want, but personally, it's less hassle. Putting down the color first can create less of a mess, later. Digressing! Depending on how eccentric you want to look, it's always best to have a wide range of colors at hand. If you only plan on using one color, you might want to have different shades of that single color. First apply the base color onto the eyelid, usually going to the outside, or nearly to the brow for a bold look. Next, take a darker shade and apply it to only the top of your lid, blending with the lighter shadow. To enhance your eyes further, you could use a small amount of shadow on the bottom lid, near the outer corner and blend. Eyeshadow isn't really a big task, so you should just experiment with what looks best on you.
       • Eyeliner. This is KEY to making your eyes amazing! There are many different looks to choose from. You could look natural and elegant, bold, eerie, or anything you could come up with. First, apply black or colored eyeliner (pencil or liquid) to the inner-most part of your eye and close to the lashline of your top eyelid, to avoid any odd spaces of color, then apply thicker, to your liking. People with single eyelids, or 'asian' eyes should probably cover most of their eyelid to get the same desired 'thick' look. A popular look is the 'panda' look, where the eyeliner is raised thicker and farther beyond the eye. It is very common in VK for eyeliner to go passed the corner of your eye for a certain look. This look could make your eyes seem thinner, more seductive, menacing, or cuter depending on how you apply it. For a darker look, eyeliner can be applied to the bottom lid but there is such a thing as 'too much' there, so be careful not to over-do it. Again, to make your eyes stand out more, you can apply eyeliner to the outer corner of your eye, growing thinner as you go along the bottom lid. Sometimes, using white, or lighter colored eyeliner on your bottom lid can give a nice touch and/or contrast. Don't forget to be creative! Feel free to create designs, or use different colors against the others for a more drastic look.
       • Jewels & Other Items. Jewels are always a nice and fun touch to finish off your eyes. You can place them along the bottom of your eye, in a row down the side, across your nose to the other eye, anything you can think of! You can get jewels at any craft store, or anywhere where cosmetics are sold. They may come with glue or you may need to use your own. A dandy ol' gluestick could probably do fine, and eyelash glue works perfectly! Remember, in visual kei the sky's the limit. Look as weird as you please. Other items can be used, such as buttons, glitter, bits of fabric, fishnet/mesh - even tinfoil! If you like how it looks, go for it. Another wonderful touch for your eyes is false eyelashes. Be as tame or as wild as you want. Usually, the crazier-looking lashes are easiest to find during halloween.
     • Step 4: Lips. Usually, a nice gloss will finish off your look, but if you want to go further, that's just spiffy! Some darker bands will smear makeup, usually black, from their lips to the side of their face. Easy, and always looks great. Others will make their lips pale [usually with foundation] and only color the inner portion of the mouth for a creepy, rigid look. For a full effect, you could always use lipliner, though it can be tricky so keep at it. Again, you can just be creative with your lips: Line them with black and color it in white, only color half your mouth, color beyond your actual lips, anything you want.

Tips

• Visual Kei is a genderless style! It is suited for both males and females, so just have fun with it no matter what others may think.
• The JRock magazine 'CURE' has great step-by-step makeup tutorials.
• Using white eyeshadow right under your eyebrow can make it look smoother, and bring out more color in your eye. It really is helpful!
• Not all J-rock bands are dark ! There is also Oshare Kei.*

Warnings

• You may be ridiculed, or mistaken for 'emo', 'goth', 'scene', or flat out gay. But don't be discouraged by this! Simply correct them if you are offended. Remember, they're just ignorant of your style.
• You can't only look the part, you have to BE the part. If you just dress in Visual Kei, but know next to nothing about the music, people will know you're faking it. It's just annoying.
• Be prepared for other fans to strike up conversations about the fashion or music. If you are a visual kei noob, this can be intimidating but don't be ashamed. Just try to keep educating yourself, and you'll soon fit right in.

Diet 'juniors' and Japan's politics of descent

One of the busiest people on TV right now is Daigo Naito, a 30-year-old who dresses and gesticulates like a rock star while speaking in the tones of a narcotized 16-year-old. Daigo isn't a comedian, though his droning delivery elicits laughs, and he's not really a rock star, though he did start his show biz career with the intention of becoming one. His ubiquity is based on one thing: pedigree.

Daigo is the grandson of late Prime Minister Noboru Takeshita, and his career as a TV star took off when Takeshita's widow gave him permission to use grandpa's name when selling himself as . . . whatever. For a decade before that, Daigo struggled to make it in the world of visual-kei, a rock subgenre whose musicians dress like manga characters and play sweetened heavy metal. He fronted a group called Jzeil (pronounced "jail") and recorded an album written and produced by superstar Kyosuke Himuro, but nothing came of it. As soon as he revealed that he was the grandson of one of the most notorious "dons" of the Liberal Democratic Party, however, offers for television work poured in.

Progeny of famous people are as common in show business as divorce lawyers, but most "juniors" put in the appearance of having some sort of skill, be it acting, singing or weather reporting. Daigo has only the Takeshita name, which isn't his since his mother, Noboru's daughter, gave it up when she married. His blase-rocker act is meant to be an ironic comment on his respectable lineage, but there's no disrespect involved. Daigo owes his dead grandfather his livelihood.

Daigo could have become a politician, and he may run for office someday after his entertainment career dries up. As with show biz, the sons and daughters of politicians don't need talent or experience to join the "family business," and it's pretty easy. According to a recent editorial in the Asahi Shimbun, "the starting line for seshu (descendant) candidates is much closer to the finish line than it is for other candidates."

Since seshu candidates have ready-made local support and an existing political machine, their opponents have their work cut out for them. Over decades, the number of seshu politicians has snowballed, which means the government has turned into a club whose members possess the same narrow interests and values, which aren't necessarily shared by average voters. The Asahi says that the Lower House of the Diet is now about 30 percent seshu, while the Sankei Shimbun reports that the ruling Liberal Democratic Party is almost 50 percent seshu. Eighty percent of Lower House candidates in 2005 who happened to be the children or grandchildren of national politicians were victorious.

The media has never ignored this tendency, but since the process that makes it possible is democratic in principle, criticism is muted. Besides, seshu politicians are by definition celebrities, which makes it more fun to cover them. The new Aso Cabinet, however, has provoked more than the usual concern since 11 of the 18 ministers, including Aso himself, are seshu politicians. Not only that, the last four prime ministers have been seshu politicians, with the most recent three either sons or grandsons of past prime ministers.

None of Junichiro Koizumi's forebears made it to the top, but he may be the consummate seshu politician. He is the third generation of his family to represent his district in Kanagawa Prefecture, and now his second son, Shinjiro, is being groomed for his seat, since his oldest boy has already gone the Daigo route and become an actor. Koizumi Sr.'s arrogant sense of entitlement even shocks some members of the LDP. Former Nagano governor and professional gadfly Yasuo Tanaka has announced he will run against Shinjiro, since the only person who can beat a junior is a celebrity.

In an interview in the Sankei, political analyst Taichi Sakaiya explained that the LDP's preference for less risky candidates favors seshu politicians, who attain Cabinet posts sooner than nonseshu politicians — and not because they start their careers earlier. The LDP contains competing factions, and it's difficult to satisfy all of them through strategic ministry appointments. No one in the LDP, however, objects when seshu colleagues are appointed before nonseshu colleagues who have been in the Diet longer. There is no "jealousy," says Sakaiya, who believes that Aso appointed so many seshu ministers in order to avoid intraparty strife prior to the next general election.

Juniors are also said to be insulated from everyday reality, which is why that reporter last month asked former Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda if he had ever looked at himself objectively. Fukuda, the son of former Prime Minister Takeo Fukuda, had no idea what the reporter was getting at and uncharacteristically lost his composure. This goes along with Sakaiya's comment that seshu politicians tend to be incautious with comments because they are always surrounded by like-minded people, but the practice of shooting from the hip seems general in the LDP regardless of whether or not dad was a politician.

Nariaki Nakayama, who quit his transport ministry post after only five days due to outrageous remarks he made about Japan's largest teachers union and other things, is not a seshu politician, but his ascendancy in the LDP had much to do with his older wife, Kyoko, an Upper House member who achieved political stardom when she became the government's expert on the North Korean abduction issue. Supposedly, Nakayama believed his wife's favorable reputation gave him license to rail against things he felt strongly about.

Last week the pundits on TBS's "wide show" "Ping Pong" speculated that Kyoko was busy making the rounds of people her husband had offended and apologizing for his remarks, like a mother visiting the neighbors after her little boy misbehaves in public. You don't have to be a junior to be a spoiled brat.

Coco Chanel once said that fashion has to die to live.

She was talking figuratively about the idea of seasonal renewal, killing off old styles so that new ones can emerge and grow. However, a new exhibit called "Gothic: Dark Glamour" at the Museum at the Fashion Institute of Technology takes a more literal look at how the theme of death has been carried through clothes over many years.

Other than the obvious black _ fashion's favorite color _ designers have repeatedly turned to symbols of the dark side, ranging from the distortion of the body, to dark veils and the skull-and-crossbone motif.

"There is a dark romanticism to the look of goth, which gives it a broader appeal than those who would identify themselves as goths," says Valerie Steele, chief curator at the museum. "And why does it appeal to so many different people? Because this is different from the banality of everyday life."

Steele has assembled scores of outfits, many by Jean-Paul Gaultier, John Galliano, Ricardo Tischi and Rick Owens _ who was himself a goth at one point _ among others into a dramatic display that emphasizes haunted labyrinths, ruined castles and cemeteries. She has put accessories, such as bat-themed brooches and death masks, in a cabinet of curiosities. Provocative goth-fashion photos by Sean Ellis line the walls.

One is easily reminded that decadence, epitomized by Theirry Mugler's high-neck opera ensemble made of faux monkey fur, is rooted in social decay.

Goth fashion can probably be traced to the 18th century, when Fuseli painted "The Nightmare," says Steele. It depicted a look of "gothic" that would eventually move the bar of what gothic was perceived to be: Instead of the medieval association with superstition, this was on the edge of psychotic.

In fashion, it evolved into the styles of the Victorian cult of mourning and of Dracula, which flourished alongside a complementary explosion in literature that concentrated on grotesque, mysterious and deadly themes.

"Vampires," notes Steele, "is the perfect example of sexy and scary that fashion loves. It all happens in the dark: a sexy encounter with a deadly stranger."

Some styles, though, can be perverse. The goth mourning clothes of the 19th century further exaggerated to the point of absurdity the bustle women of the day were wearing, and, fast-forward to 2007, metal hardware were added to couture gowns by young London-based designer Kei Kagama to show what could happen in a high-tech laboratory gone awry.

Remember, though, this is fashion, which largely exists to draw a response from passers-by. Steele compares the gothic look to the car accident you can't ignore as you whiz by or scary movie you can't look away from.

"Goth style is so theatrical and over the top," says Steele. "Designers are playing with fear. How scared are you really when you're watching a horror film? You know the girl should never go into the basement but she always does and you're always watching her."

Laura Mulleavy, co-designer of Rodarte with her sister Kate, says their long, draped gown worthy of Morticia Addams that is included in "Gothic: Dark Glamour" was inspired by Japanese horror films. The specific shade of red that is splattered onto a black-and-white ground is supposed to evoke blood in water.

"We didn't purposely do as goth ... but I know how it would definitely fit into that genre," says Mulleavy.

"I read gothic literature, Southern goth, English goth, so this is right up my alley," she adds. "I'm not a goth myself, I'm more of a gray T-shirt kind of girl, but I love the spirit of it, maybe in spirit I'm goth."

Still, dark, brooding or bloody movies might seem an odd inspiration at first blush for a high-end fashion label that has been making inroads on Hollywood red carpets, but, says Mulleavy, the films are so visual, especially Japanese ones that blur the lines of good and evil.

"With the Japanese films, it's more of a tradition of kabuki theater and the relationship with the ghost and spirit _ and it's mostly a female spirit with something to say," she says.

Another couture gown in the exhibit, a 2007 Alexander McQueen with a jeweled Christian cross set askew on a black strapless bodice, was inspired by witchcraft and religious persecution. McQueen is said to be a distant descendant of Elizabeth Howe, a woman executed as a result of the Salem, Mass., witch trials in 1692.

Other looks that straddle glamour and goth include a Chanel gown by Karl Lagerfeld with a spider-web pattern made of feathers and beads, a high-neck Victorian corset gown by Olivier Theyskens and a "blob-top" cape by Hussein Chalayan made of carpet fibers that Steele describes as the embodiment of claustrophobia and vertigo.

Steele says casual observers might think high fashion has taken cues from the post-punk goth club scene _ and, in fact, the exhibit does pay homage to the 1980s London hot spot Bat Cave _ but true gothic style is far more elegant.

"Looking at Victorian mourning dresses, images of sorcery and vampires and crumbling castles, major high fashion designers like McQueen don't have to go to the club kids for inspiration," she says.