Cheska’s Pride

I managed to get some free time to surf the web even with my busy schedule. During that time, I noticed that another contest has started in a website that I frequently visit so I entered and, hopefully, I win this time around. I was also trying to look for something to write about and thankfully, I found some weird Japanese fashion trends I’d like to share with you.

I don’t really want to call them weird since I believe that different groups of people have their own sense of fashion. However, personally I found their style really strange for some reason. Well, its simply based on my own preference so I won’t force you to agree with me. Also, the theme they have going with their fashion isn’t really one of my personal preferences so that could be another reason. Anyway, here they are.

Lolita - There are various subcultures associated with the “Lolita” look but one thing’s pretty common among them - the baby girl look. The subcultures range from the darker themed style Gothic Lolita (or GothLoli as they usually call it), Punk Lolita (PunkLoli) that seems to follow the singer/songwriter Nana Kitade’s style, to the baby-doll looking, Sweet Lolita (SweetLoli).

Elegant Gothic Aristrocat or Elegant Gothic Lolita - The term Elegant Gothic Aristocrat was originally coined by a fashion designer and former band leader of Malice Mizer, Mana. You can easily spot them by the mostly black outfits and makeup. Unlike the Classic Gothic Lolita look, they wear long skirts, tailored jackets and tight fitting shirts with long sleeves. Corsets, gloves, stockings and books are also used to mimic the old Victorian look that this style seems to follow are also common. They also have an androgynous theme going making the male and female outfits similar in style. Although I think it’s a weird fashion trend for today’s modern style, I still like the look (although I admit it doesn’t fit my personality). I do have a friend who’s crazy about it though I won’t post her pics or she’ll kill me.

Ganguro - The ganguro subculture in Japan gained a lot of popularity around the year 2000. The fashion trend of the subculture involves bleached hair, tanned skin, fake eyelashes, platform shoes, blacelets and other accessories, mini-skirts, and bright makeup. They’re very easy to spot, really, just going with the description above. They also have a penchant for showing off their cellphones and taking pictures from picture booths (or purikura).

Anyway, being someone from the west, I mostly can’t relate to why they chose to go with the trends mentioned above. I mostly think of them as strange or weird for the modern day setting, and although some do look tasteful (like the gothloli ones), I don’t think it would fit in today’s society.

It has been said through generations that accidents can happen anywhere and at any time. That’s why they are called accidents in the first place - they happen unexpectedly. Even if a person has been trained to be very careful, it’s still impossible to avoid them from happening. Models have been trained to be perfect in what they do, but sometimes, a bad stroke of luck could get them off the runway in seconds. Here are some fashion show or contest accidents and a video of how they happened.

Miss USA slips on the runway - Wearing a black gown, Miss USA 2007 Rachel Smith, for the Miss Universe competition suddenly slips on the runway. She immediately pulls herself up and continues as if nothing happened. A good performance! Like they say, “the show must go on.”

Vivienne Westwood Spring, Summer ‘07 - Model Kamilia Wawrzynia falls on the runway at Vivienne Westwood Spring while carrying a watering can full of water. She stumbles at first and continues like nothing happened, then she falls over twice while on her way back. I believe it has something to do with her heels being unstable.

Shadang Fashion Show - A Shaolin monk performs a stunt and breaks a hole on the runway at Shadang fashion show by designer Rafi Anteby. Fashion model Sarah Welch walks right into it and ends up getting wet as she falls into the hole which was above the swimming pool at Mondrian hotel during LA Fashion week. She immediately left afterwards. That must have been very embarrassing on her part.

Jessica Stam Falling on the Runway - Jessica Stam falls over and seemingly hits her forehead on the runway during a fashion show. She continues on but it’s easy to see how she was so embarrassed about it. But like any trained fashion model, she continues with her walk like nothing happened. Good performance and she’s so cute!

Naomi Campbell Falls on the Runway - According to the description on youtube itself - “The video was shown during her appearance on David Letterman, somewhere around ‘95 (as she mentioned being 25 yrs. old during the interview).” The fall must have been pretty embarrassing for her but she simply laughed it off. Of couse, it can happen to anyone as well so it’s understandable.

Lastly, here’s a compilation of video of some more accidents that have happened on the runway. Entitled dangerous runways, you’ll know why it is so. Enjoy! On, another note, I recently entered another contest. I hope I win this time!

Footwear, especially for women, have been an object of fascination since early times. Unknown to most, women actually spend a lot on footwear than they know. A good example would be Sex and the City’s Carrie Bradshaw who suddenly realized that she spent roughly $40,000 on footwear yet she couldn’t afford an apartment. Men are different, though. They don’t think much about shoes and only wear what they think would best fit a certain occassion. As long as their shoes are usable, they tend not to replace it until its final moment. Men’s shoe style doesn’t change so they rarely buy a new pair every year. Here are three of the most expensive footwear for women.

Cinderella Slippers - This 4 1/2 inch pair of stilletos are adorned with 565 Kwiat diamonds and was designed by Stuart Weitzman. The pair costs around $2M. Stuart Weitzman is the designer of the so-called fantasy sandals and has already assumed legendary status. He creates more than 300 styles of shoes and handbags annualy. Each pair of shoes he creates takes about six to seven weeks to produce, with 80-odd craftsmen involved in the making of the final product.

Tanzanite Heels - Designed by Stuart Weitzman, these pair of sandals are adorned with 185 carats of tanzanite and 28 carats of diamonds. It was shown at the Le Vien party in Las Vegas. It is said that the stones on the sandals seem to be mounted unswervingly onto the leather and hardly seem to be detachable.

Ruby Slippers - Another design by Stuart Weitzman and also one of the most expensive footwear. This one was designed to be like Dorothy’s ruby slippers from the Wizard of Oz. The slippers are adorned with 690 rubies and costs around $1.8M. It was supposed to be worn by an actress during the Oscars but it never happened. The glass slippers above though had been worn by the singer Alison Krauss .

So I posted something about weird hairstyles for women previously. So just to be fair with the guys, let me post some hairstyles for them as well. *smile* While looking for pictures, I was pleasantly amazed to see a lot of variety when it comes to men’s hairstyles. I wouldn’t call them “weird hairstyles” yet, though some can be considered as such. Here are three alternative hairstyles you guys may want to check out.

Punk - Punk hairstyles usually define the punk subculture. I mean, when you see a punk, you’ll know by their hair! Spikes are common with their style as well as the asymmetrical cut but the most noticeable would be the colors. Probably the most common punk hairstyle would be the mohawk (which I consider to be a weird hairstyle and could have variations of other weird punk hairstyles, like the bi-hawk or tri-hawk).

Emo - According to a blog about emo hairstyles (follow the link), an emo hairstyle is “is a style created by your own, a style that is completely different from the others.” Emo is still considered punk so you will notice a lot of similarities. Some tips would include just messing around with your hair until you manage to get one that you like. Do take note that like punk hairstyles, emo hairstyles require a lot of maintenance like coloring and blow drying among others. One more tip from the site was to make sure to not take it to a point where people can’t tell your gender. Which brings us to…

Metro - Just look at the picture. Can you even tell if it’s a man or a woman? Well, I guess metro hairstyles are just that, they can fit both men and women. Or should I say, they can make men look like women and vice-versa? A really weird hairstyle if you ask me.

Shoes, slippers, sandals - they are all footwear that we regularly use to keep our feet clean and unharmed. However, there are also footwear that are designed to be more than that or to be only used in a particular situation. Well, if you saw my previous post about the weird gadgets and accessories, you may have already seen the footwear designed for skating inside the office…I would consider that one of them, I think. Anyway, here are three special purpose shoes and their function.

Training Slipper - This pair of foot trainers were designed for training the foot to wear heels. They are meant to be worn when in bed to maintain the arch of the foot while sleeping. Although it’s meant for women wearing high heels, the foot trainers itself are heelless and has metal stiffeners to hold it to the leg. Don’t expect to use these for walking around, it’s impossible. Source says it is also used for bondage purposes…

Lotus Shoes - These are designed to be used by women with bound feet. Although it is no longer practiced today (it was banned, as a matter of fact), foot binding was used to limit the mobility of women in China. Bound feet were a symbol of chastity, the woman with bound feet would have irreversible dependency on her family or husband mostly because she would not be able to go far from home without an escort. Bound feet were also considered erotic. The small steps and the swaying of the hips are the possible reasons why it is so.

Japanese Geta - Not really terrible like the previous two but these can be quite heavy. These sandals are popular among Japanese and are worn to elevate the feet above the ground. They are used during rain or snow to keep the feet dry because of the added height and the material of the footwear. They are usually worn with traditional Japanese outfits like the kimono and yukata. There are two supporting wood pieces underneath that are called “teeth” and they make a distinctive clacking sound while walking.

Well, those are only 3 of those footwear with special purposes. Others would include kicking shoes, stilts, and skates. But I’m sure you already know those.

Hairstyling is part of fashion. You may have the most beautiful dress known to man, but without looking good yourself it wouldn’t help as much as you want to. Different hairstyles that would fit you depend on the shape of your face and features. Of course, like clothes everyone has their own taste and style. Some prefer their hair cut short, others like it to be as long as possible, while some don’t care at all. We can’t really avoid seeing someone with a hairstyle that…just doesn’t look quite right. Here are 5 weird hairstyles that I’ve seen so far.

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Is that a hood or a helmet? - Honestly, I’ve seen this kind of hairstyle a number of times. The hair is of medium length, just below the ears with the fringe covering both eyes. Perfect if you want to look mysterious but your vision would be slightly impaired with it.

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Is that a cloud on your head? - I’m still wondering what it’s supposed to be, honestly. It looks like an afro of some sort but…it’s a bit too wide. I wonder if birds would make its home on somebody with this hairstyle? I wouldn’t dare try it out of curiosity, seriously. Hmm, had it been made taller instead of wider, it would look like Marge Simpson’s hair.

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It’s a…torch? The Chinese, especially in television or movies, can have some of the weirdest hairstyles around. I mean, look at this one. It’s like her hair was shaped into the flames of a torch. I’m not sure how they made it stand like so, but it may be some strong hairgel, wax, hairspray, or…

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Wear your hair like a mask… Well, this is certainly a crazy but strangely amusing hairstyle. According to the website I found it from, it was the Icelandic singer, Bjork’s hairstyle in her album Medulla. You can check out the website yourself and see a lot more weird hairstyles. Those were not edited in any way.

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Queen Amidala - Natalie Portman’s hairstyles from the Star Wars movie were really weird. The one on the picture reminds me of a jester with a cap. For this one, though, the jester’s cap is the hair itself. I’m sure I’ve seen a lot of those “exotic” looking hairstyles from Chinese movies (with pics I didn’t include). Usually, hairstyles like these are formed to fit a particular ornament (or a number of ornaments).

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Bags are a part of us, women, as our clothes and shoes. When we go shopping or traveling, it’s always part of our list. Now, of course some bags are better than others in different aspects. Here are three tips when choosing a bag.

Make sure it’s durable - Of course, no matter how wonderful the bag looks, it’s nothing if it falls apart too quickly. Before purchasing, make sure to check everything down to the straps.

Style - Like I said before, bags are a part of our fashion. So of course, what bag we bring depends on how it fits with our clothing. When choosing a bag, make sure you have an attire that goes with it. If not, go get some clothes that would.

Security - Another important factor but something you can do without IF you are feeling confident. Anyway, hello? You do know that we put in important stuff in there like our cellphones and other gadgets. We can’t really afford having a bag that would allow something like rain to seep through and wreck havoc in there would you? Some more compartments would do as well to prevent thieves from easily grabbing our stuff.

So are you thinking of dressing up your pet real nicely? Or is there an occasion where you want your pet to fit? Well, here are some fashion stuff for your pet (mostly dogs and cats) you might want to consider.

Tuxedo - Have your pet wear formal clothing for occasions where it would fit nicely. Top Hat completes the look. Hopefully, your pet tries to keep it on the whole time (usually, they’ll try to remove it if they’re not used to it). Costs around $20.

Source: http://www.mypethaven.com/dog_formal_wear.htm

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Harness Dresses - Oh, so your pet is female and would also like something to wear? Well, you could try out some dresses like the one on the picture. Give your pet the attention it needs with a lovely dress. The dress costs around $34.

Source: http://www.mypethaven.com/small_dog_dresses.htm

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T-Shirts - For that casual look on your pet, give him or her a shirt. Like the above, these can be worn by cats too, although cats take a lot of time to get used to clothing like these (in my experience).

I’ve always wanted to go to Europe, especially in France. Fashion. Models. Haute couture. All simply wonderful!

I just recently read this article regarding the submission of a bill that makes promotions of extreme thinness, illegal. What’s more, judges could have the power to fine offenders up to $47,000! I honestly think it was a good move on the part of the lower house, especially with the high number of people with anorexia in France.

Speaking of which, if you’re like me who keeps a conscious watch over her weight, here are some questions on how to check if you’re experiencing anorexia nervosa.

- Are your menstrual periods irregular?
- Do you feel fat even when people tell you otherwise?
- Do you feel extremely depressed after gaining just a single pound?
- Do you get irritated when people urge you to eat more?
- Do you feel guilty when eating?
- Do you secretly throw away your food just so others won’t bug you about it?
- Do you take medication just to control your weight?
- Do you feel that you want to be thinner than all of your friends?

If you’ve answered yes to almost all (if not all) of these questions, you might want to consider getting help. Believe me, anorexia is very difficult to notice by yourself and you’ll most likely be denying that you have it. I’ve met a lot of people who went through it and all of them had the same reaction. The important thing is to LISTEN. If all of your friends have been bugging you about it, then something MUST be wrong.