Vivienne Westwood and Sexy Dynamite London are two peas in a Punk Lolita pod. The two-floor "Queen" emporium in Harajuku is a classy neighbor to the casual street/punk looks of Sexy Dynamite London. Plus, there's an educational component - rotating retrospectives of Westwood's iconic punk couture, which continue to awe Japanese Lolitas.
SEXY DYNAMITE QUEEN with VIVIENNE WESTWOOD MUSEUM
† Harajuku Address: 4-25-1 Jingumae Shibuya-ku Tokyo
† Phone: 03-3423-5737
† URL: http://www.sexydynamitelondon.com/web00/shopinfo.html
>> April 9, 2008, 11:37 pm
by
La Carmina
in
Art + Design >>
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Ninety-nine percent of the time, my fingernails are slathered with badly-chipped cheap black polish. Immaculate French manicures don’t exactly jibe with the Gothic look, and fake decorated nails shouldn’t be worn by anyone other than supermarket cashiers. Ah, but I’m reconsidering my laissez faire nail policy after spending an hour on the Vampire of Rose website.
The Japanese brand picks up the symbols and colors of Lolita fashion and molds them into wildly creative nail art. Vampire of Rose offers dozens of fake glue-on nails, and they’re nothing like the ones you find in drugstores. Some have pointed vampire tips; some are
pierced with little metal chains and charms. Colored beads make up the bodies of spiders, the glowing red eyes of a skull, the frame around a cameo. Lace and rose appliqués give a touch of Lolita; careful renderings of cobwebs, coffins, bats, and candelabras add a scream of Goth.
Vampire of Rose sells its nail designs online and at Alamode Market (a handicrafts fair associated with the Alamode club night favored by Gothic Lolitas). Here are some photos of their Alamode presentation, modeled by the club kids. I don’t think Vampire of Rose ships outside Japan, but you can make your own horrorshow nails with some stickers, beads, polish, glue, an extremely steady hand, and an overload of creative decadence!
