Customer Reviews

Style Deficit Disorder: Harajuku Street Fashion - Tokyo

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Rarely has a book been published with more insight and subject comprehension than "Style Deficit Disorder: Harajuku Street Fashion -- Tokyo" by Ms. Godoy. It is clear that Ms. Godoy has done a enormous amount of research and exploration in illuminating the complex and fascinating subject matter of Tokyo street fashion. Anyone who has ever lived in Japan will attest to the relentless and creative fashion changes that the youth culture has embraced and adapted to their own unique expression of individualism. Anyone wishing to understand the fashion phenomenon of Tokyo this book is the one to own- all the other manuscripts fail in comparison to Ms. Godoy's research. Ms. Godoy has written the definitive work on Harajuku Street fashion and culture.

The main difference between Western fashion movements and Japanese fashion movements, as author Tiffany Godoy tells us, is that whereas the West is caught up in political statements or a quest for identity, Japanese style is simply fashion for fashions sake, playing with materials and colors the way an artists plays with paints and canvas. Individual designers create their scenes, complete with music, magazines, models and hot places to be seen, rather than an organic outgrowth of a social movement.

"Style Deficit Disorder" is a serious history lesson and study of Harajuku fashion, from the Post-war transformation of the district and the influence of the 1964 Tokyo Olympics, and the major changes in style brought by each successive decade. All of the major players are introduced, such as Okawa Hitomi and her shop Milk and the fashion band The Plastics whose look inspired Madonna's early designs. Magazines, such as Cutie, FRUiTS and TUNE are covered in detail, showing how their fashion editors were able to exert their power and change the decorated face of Japanese fashion.

Of course, as a fashion history "Style Deficit Disorder" is an explosion of colorful images, authentic street photographs and composed professional scenes. There are more than enough visuals here to satisfy anyone's lust for the sometimes-bizarre world of Japanese design, and a designer looking for influence and ideas would find this a valuable tool. But don't be fooled into thinking this is a coffee table flip book. The accompanying text is heavy enough to be used in a college course, and any serious student of fashion should have this book in their library.

I live in Tokyo and this is pretty legitimate account of the history of trends in Harajuku. Two thumbs up!

STYLE DEFICIT DISORDER: HARAJUKU STREET FASHION-TOKYO is a mid-sized book filled with lots of color and b&w photographs of some of the most colorful and outrageous fashion outfits ever seen.

Obviously these pictures were taken in the Harajuku neighborhood of Tokyo and it includes historical information that starts in the 60s and pretty much goes to the present. It describes the shops (some of whom are still there), designers, artists, and more importantly the young people that flocked to the area and created their own identities, which helped the area evolve into the avant-garde fashion capital of the world.

The book has photos--both current and past--and explores the different trends from "Goth-Lolita" to the street fashion/pop/trend magazines that popularized the culture to the music bands that have been influenced and feed the style. There's also a very small section on hairstyles.

Each chapter is short and sweet and chock full of photos. The body text is tiny, so it may strain your eyes and the chapter heading typefaces are hard to read.

But other than that the book is great!

The design and layout of the book, while attempting to illustrate a deficit disorder, is so difficult to read that I find it anxiety producing. Also, I would've liked to have seen more street photography. It's definitely more of a primer to Japanese style.

this is one of the greatest fashion books i have ever looked through and read. I have been in love with everything japanese for well over the past 6 years and this is very good at categorizing the different underground and popular styles throughout the youth of Japan. a great read with breath taking pictures.

this book is full of explanations of the history of harajuku and contains many beautiful pictures.

Harajuku is real place: it's a one-square mile section of Tokyo. After WW II it was where much of the occupying military and their families resided and it was packed with American Stores catering to the military. Naturally, those same stores attracted the young Japanese who wished to see what was the style in America and the western world. Over the years the tables have turned and now fashion designers and fashionistas including pop musicians and television on movie stars flock to Harajuku in search of the latest fashion outbreaks.
This reviewer is not a big fan of fashion and he prefers to look at fashion from the viewpoint of a sociologist, anthropologist and photojournalist. I have the same fascination with colorful birds, brightly colored tropical fish, painted, tattooed Amazonian Indians, brightly feathered New Guinea Headhunters and African Tribes and of course, Fetish Fashions. That said Japanese fashion is like a giant buffet of pleasures for my eyes. Japanese street fashion is like a flash of colorful tulips in a dark New England winter landscape.
The only real criticism I have of this book was the font used in the type. It's difficult to read especially on something like the subway map of the Harajuku district. Sometimes it almost seems like it's written in a foreign language. I suspect that the typeface is an echo of some of the type fonts used in some of the Japanese fashions.
"In the scene's frenetic jump from style to style to style, there is a consistent lack of complacence--a style deficit disorder driving the relentless hunt for the new. Trends appear in a flash and disappear just as quickly. Kids move in and out of styles with amazing agility."
The designs that pepper Harajuku are an amalgamation of all existing styles with an occasional spark of the genuinely new. The book is filled with photographs illustrating some of the latest fashions. David Bowie is shown wearing a wonderful optical illusion patterned, full-length body suit that reminds the viewer of ancient Mayan or Aztec pottery. On page 204 is a woman dressed in a sexy Burka that covers her entire body except for a narrow eye slit. How could a Burka be sexy, you ask? Simple, make much of it out of transparent colored lace. It then looks more like a belly dancer's seven veils. Another picture a few pages further along in the book reminds the viewer of fully wrapped mummy. In fact many of he fashions appear to include various full face masks that resemble bird and/or animal heads, a medieval knight with complete head and facial armor, Tuareg head dresses (tagelmusts), and the S&M submissive's leather, hoods/masks with no eye holes. Page 101 is a full-page profile photo of a woman with her face completely covered with netting that hints at Audrey Hepburn's hats and eye lace. She has green lipstick, triangle eye make-up, green hair and a blue cap and appears elf-like. That pictures is used through the book as a kind of icon. She epitomizes Japanese Fashion. She is beautiful and so is her makeup and head covering.
This could easily be called a designer's bible to Harajuka fashions although it is already out of date as far as the newest fashion fads are concerned. "Even the kids who buy the latest trends can have their moment in the sun. Teams of photographers from street-snap magazines like FRUiTS, and TUNE are regularly stationed along Harajuku's main drag, capturing the kids and turning them, at least for an issue, into fashion celebrities and innovators. Where else can you walk down the street expecting to be scouted by camera crews?"
These street snapshots are turning up regularly as separate picture books on Tokyo fashion including "Gothic & Lolita," "Harajuku Girls," "The Tokyo Look Book" and "J-Rock Groupies" to name only a few. This book, along with "The Tokyo Look Book," includes excellent text that actually helps explain these rapidly changing fresh, fashion flashes. If you can only afford one, this should be that Fashion Bible.

I was okay to look at much the writing was a bit boring for me. I want more info. than just pictures.