Uchuu-kei revival thread

[Anonymous No.10483382]

I looked through the archives and the last thread of this particular style I could find was over 4 years ago and judging by the replies it's gotten during that gap it's clear that it's not appreciated the same way anymore. Call me naive but I at least wanted to take a shot at 'reviving' it to some degree. If not for the future, then at least for as long as the thread stays up.

There was a great document attached to the last thread and it holds up decently well even to today.

Uchuu starter guide: https://docs.google.com/document/d/14yoC-oya4tyluRPG1aI3yt776jOUnWknnIJd2p4TBKo/edit?pref=2&pli=1

And some good links to particular brands that have some pieces in this style.

Good links:
Chloma - http://www.chloma.com/
Hatra - http://hatroid.com/
D/3 - http://webshop.d-3.club/
PredatorRat (for tigh highs) - http://predatorrat.shop-pro.jp/
Galaxxxy - http://galaxxxyrocks.com/
Tsurutatsu - http://tsurutatsu.theshop.jp/
Takuya Angel - http://takuya-angel.com/
Cyberdog - http://www.cyberdog.net/
Artifice Clothing - www.artificeclothing.com/
Coquetry Clothing - https://coquetryclothing.com/
Kiss Me Kill Me - http://kissmekillme.fr/
Balmung - http://www.balmung.jp

Personally, I can only really speak for Chloma, Hatra and Balmung since I'm mostly into what I guess you could describe as the minimalist version of the Uchuu-kei style. However, I think you can draw really good inspiration from the more extravagant outfits and appreciate the work that is put into them.

Defining Uchuu-kei can be hard and I would recommend you look at the document to get a general idea or scroll down and look at the images I've posted to get the thread going.

[Anonymous No.10483383]

[Anonymous No.10483384]

>>10483383

[Anonymous No.10483385]

>>10483384

[Anonymous No.10483388]

>>10483385

[Anonymous No.10483389]

>>10483388

[Anonymous No.10483392]

>>10483389

[Anonymous No.10483393]

Thanks for the links/dump OP

>>10483388
Where could I find something like this? Or is it an idol costume?

[Anonymous No.10483395]

>>10483392

[Anonymous No.10483403]

>>10483393
If I recall correctly this is or was an idol costume designed by Chloma or more specificly Junya Suzuki. I wish I could tell you where you could find similar stuff but sadly I don't know enough about this part of the style.

[Anonymous No.10483460]

>>10483389
cheese

[Anonymous No.10483466]

>>10483382
Just wanting to mention that Tsurutatsu closed two years ago, so did Kiss Me Kill Me. Aika Electronics probably fits the bill too.
https://aikafuture.wixsite.com/electronics

Also gotta dump some 90s scans along those lines.

[Anonymous No.10483469]

>>10483466

[Anonymous No.10483476]

[Anonymous No.10483492]

>>10483469
>https://aikafuture.wixsite.com/electronics

[Anonymous No.10483494]

>>10483469

[Anonymous No.10483545]

>>10483382
Wow, amazing thread OP. One of the things I always wondered was whether or not cyberpunk should count as uchuu? Because cyberpunk doesn't seem dead (yet)

[Anonymous No.10483568]

>>10483403
You're correct, so only one exists

>>10483395
>>10483392
>>10483383
as well as OP are chloma as well

>>10483545
no

[Anonymous No.10483638]

>>10483395
I'm loving this, does anyone know what the japanese says?

[Anonymous No.10483659]

>>10483638
Top: chloma
Bag: yujiyuji
Shoes: myself
Patsuko, 22 years old, Xeno avatar (shop staff probably)

[Anonymous No.10483690]

>>10483638
>>10483659
OP here,
Xeno Avatar is actually a brand of it's own!
It was started by an assistant working at Balmung who left to start their own brand. It's very small still so finding items can be hard. They only sell a couple of items on their store currently. I'd recommend checking out their instagram if you're curious. It is a bit hard to search for but I bet you can find some stuff if you really look!

Link: https://www.instagram.com/xenoavatar/

Some of their stuff seems to go really well with this style so I should have included it in the beginning but here it is anyway!

[Anonymous No.10483695]

>>10483545
Maybe not necessarily Cyberpunk but the Cyber part of it. I think it's hard to fuse a Cyberpunk aesthetic with this general sort of style since as mentioned in the document, Uchuu-kei is more focused on clean outlines and a positive aura while Cyberpunk is more apocalyptic, dark and generally has a more negative aura around. Since it's so loosely defined however and fashion in general tends to be quite open for interpretation it's hard to give a definitive answer.

[Anonymous No.10483697]

>>10483638
If you like that you would love to see the images from that years Chloma collection. It's one of my favorites since it was produced together with the japanese artist Kazuki Umezawa who has worked together with Junya Suzuki (Chloma's designer) before that doing various things. It beautifully captures this sort of cool internet style that I have never seen anyone do well before that.
https://collection.chloma.com/2014aw/

[Anonymous No.10483794]

[Anonymous No.10483795]

>>10483794

[Anonymous No.10483796]

>>10483795

[Anonymous No.10483812]

>>10483690
Yes I know, that's why I said she was probably shop staff...

[Anonymous No.10483847]

>>10483812
Yeah, I just thought I would elaborate some more rather than just having it be mentioned.

[Anonymous No.10483868]

>>10483659
>>10483690
>>10483697
Oh, thank you guys! I'll check out all the resources, I really appreciate it

[Anonymous No.10483914]

Uchuu-kei has always been super interesting to me but im never sure on where to start with building a wardrobe for it. What pieces do you think are must haves/staples?

[Anonymous No.10483961]

>>10483914
I don't think there are any must haves necessarily. I think a lot about the silhouette and shape more so than anything else. And more so than just from the front. Think clean lines and not too overcrowded. When you think of futuristic anything you tend to think of polygonal shapes and sharp lines. As for general pieces I tend to think of clean-cut skirts, pants or shorts, whichever you like. Also usually a slightly oversized top with a pretty distinct shape like a coat or an oversized tee. As for as accessories go you can probably find lots of things that could work, glasses, headphones or any sort of futuristic looking gadgets. Now with that in mind what I just said could basically be describing any style without mentioning any sort of style elements but I think that part is a bit more experimental and you just have to judge if something fits the bill or not.

[Anonymous No.10483968]

Swear London would make nice shoes.

[Anonymous No.10483972]

>>10483476

[Anonymous No.10483990]

my biggest gripe about uchuu-kei is that no one can decide on a specific style or unifying aesthetic so there's threads in the archives filled with chloma and hatra and in the same breath of air we have shit like cyberdog and patelgoth tumblr tier stuff like >>10483385, they're all just so different and unrelated and I think that's why threads just kind of tapered out into irrelevance. the chloma style fits more with the y2k revival that's been happening, cyberdog has always been more rave-based, and that galaxy-themed tumblrcore style died in like 2014. The brands in the OP are a huge mishmash, almost every image in this thread is a repost. There's no new blood in the "uchuu" style, no new ideas or innovations, so this thread is just a repeat of one from 2016

[Anonymous No.10484068]

>>10483990
>my biggest gripe about uchuu-kei is that no one can decide on a specific style or unifying aesthetic
While valid, isn't this the same thing for lolita, gyaru and larme? Rarely do I see a jfash that has a well-defined aesthetic/style

[Anonymous No.10484070]

>>10484068
>>10484068
....definitely not? All of those styles have a huge unifying aesthetic within themselves that carry over to each substyle. You can see a goth lolita and a sweet lolita and despite their differences, you still know they are both wearing lolita because of the silhouette, styling, and almost 50 years of lifestyle history unifying them. You can see a hime gyaru and a rokku gyaru but know they are still gyaru from the hair, makeup, and attitudes of living excessively.

What the hell does chloma have in common with a galaxy printed oversize t-shirt?

[Anonymous No.10484071]

>>10483990
>no one can decide on a specific style or unifying aesthetic
there is tho, everything is futuristic space-themed

[Anonymous No.10484072]

>>10484070
See >>10484071
By your logic, OTT and casual fairy kei aren't the same style either.

[Anonymous No.10484075]

>>10484070
>You can see a hime gyaru and a rokku gyaru but know they are still gyaru from the hair, makeup, and attitudes of living excessively.
Seems like you haven't seen actual japanese gyaru in a while because they don't.

[Anonymous No.10484077]

>>10484072
...I shudder to think of what you mean by "OTT fairy kei" (it's just going to be decora, isn't it), but they would most likely still be unified by the color palette, the silhouette, and 80s/90s kids motifs

>>10484075
I don't follow gyaru or larme really, so you'd be right. And since "uchuu-kei" hasn't evolved or changed in any way in the past 5+ years I don't mind using older examples as a point of reference for gyaru

[Anonymous No.10484078]

>>10484077
>"OTT fairy kei" (it's just going to be decora, isn't it)
No, I'm refering to the outfits that look like magical girl outfits, like how pinkly ever after used to make it and nile perch does.

[Anonymous No.10484079]

>>10484077
>but they would most likely still be unified by the color palette, the silhouette, and 80s/90s kids motifs
And this is unified by the space themes, hence the name.

[Anonymous No.10484081]

[Anonymous No.10484083]

[Anonymous No.10484084]

[Anonymous No.10484085]

>>10484078
so you mean "mahou kei"? it's almost exactly the same as just vanilla fairy kei except you hold a sailor moon wand and wear a creamy mami shirt. And nile perch would be "fancy"

[Anonymous No.10484086]

[Anonymous No.10484090]

>>10484085
>it's almost exactly the same as just vanilla fairy kei except you hold a sailor moon wand and wear a creamy mami shirt
How does that look like a magical girl outfit to you? You sound new af, Fancy isn't even a style, lurk more please.

[Anonymous No.10484092]

>>10484085
i really hope you're a troll

[Anonymous No.10484093]

>>10484085
I'm talking pic related, they call this fairy kei in jp.

[Anonymous No.10484094]

[Anonymous No.10484095]

[Anonymous No.10484097]

[Anonymous No.10484098]

[Anonymous No.10484099]

[Anonymous No.10484104]

[Anonymous No.10484106]

[Anonymous No.10484108]

[Anonymous No.10484110]

[Anonymous No.10484113]

[Anonymous No.10484115]

[Anonymous No.10484117]

[Anonymous No.10484126]

>>10483990
Possibly an unpopular opinion here but I think this is because it was never really a solid thing in Japan either. People are posting Chloma here but they don't define themselves as Uchuu Kei, as you say they regularly use the Y2K tag. Balmung is probably Neo Tokyo inspired. A few indie brands that started back in 2015 referred to themselves as Uchuu but I think it was bigger on Tumblr/Western thing, similar to Mahou Kei.

[Anonymous No.10484166]

>>10484126
I tend to agree with what you said but I think it doesn't really come down to what the brand labels themselves as. Chloma has said that it's inspired by cyber fashion like Y2K and modern practical tech fashion. At the same time I think that can still fit in line with this style. You're probably actually right though that a big reason for it's sudden fall and rise is because it never started in Japan. My intentions starting the thread was because it's a style I personally like but I wasn't around when it was popular. So I thought I would just post it and see how people react and if people had something to offer. So no, I don't think your opinion is unpopular even in this thread. It's something I went over before posting it but ultimately decided it was better to give it a shot anyway.

[Anonymous No.10484172]

>>10483990
I think you are right in many regards and I think the problem arises in these very niche styles we're talking about. I'm sorry if the thread comes across as just a low-effort repost of what's come before. I definitely could have spent some more time finding new images and brands. The thing is that it's just remained virtually unchanged since that thread was started and I think we run into the same problem again which is why I said I might be a bit naive to give it a try. I also think that a lot of the brands are going a different direction than they did back then. Chloma's recent collections have been more focused on Y2K cyber style as you say and Balmung and Hatra have also gone down very different paths. It's a weird thing right because uchuu was never really a style on the designer level. It was basically started by the west which is likely the reason why it faded in popularity over time. Now what I said could be completely false since I wasn't around back then which is the reason why I posted this thread to begin with because I like the idea of this style.

[Anonymous No.10484178]

>>10484126
The majority of jfashion terms were made up by the west, such as Dolly Kei, Cult Party Kei, Larme Kei, etc, but that doesn't mean there isn't a style like that in Japan. And then there is the issue of brands that share the same style, yet call it different things, or use terms in a totally different context than the west (anything sci-fi or neon being tagged as cybergoth for example).

[Anonymous No.10484181]

[Anonymous No.10484182]

[Anonymous No.10484184]

[Anonymous No.10484185]

[Anonymous No.10484186]

[Anonymous No.10484189]

>>10484184
Why is there an anthropomorphic giraffe having a stroke next to the girls?

[Anonymous No.10484233]

Uchuu kei is just weeaboo retrofuturism

[Anonymous No.10484234]

I think with this discussion around uchuu and other jfashion styles is that uchuu seems to be stuck within just the style area. Other jfashions have links to other media, like music, manga/anime ect. I think if uchuu got to branch out like that then it could make a solid root for itself. While right now its just very simple "future space aesthetic" which is a good starting point but its been 5 something years and nothing else has really grown from it. Id love to see uchuu grow into something more well established

[Anonymous No.10484298]

>>10484234
>Other jfashions have links to other media, like music, manga/anime ect.
Not really, and we had aesthetic manga, games, and idol groups posted in the old threads.

[Anonymous No.10484300]

uchuu kei isn't a singular style, it's a theme, like mahou kei.

[Anonymous No.10484340]

I'd love to watch a fashion show with this sort of stuff. anyone found any footage?

[Anonymous No.10484341]

>>10484178
The majority weren't though? Cult Party Kei literally means Cult Party Type/Style, because it was the look based on the shop Cult Party. Larme is a real style based on the magazine, but nobody in Japan calls it Larme Kei and it isn't just pink x black.
People in the West just like to use any related name so that they can get more likes.

[Anonymous No.10484344]

>>10484341
Try searching Cult Party Kei in japenese and you won't find shit, same with Larme Kei. The only few styles that actually exist are the *really* old ones that are mostly dead anyways.

[Anonymous No.10484345]

>>10484341
>Larme is a real style based on the magazine
it's not, there is no consistency in the magazine, it just features whatever is popular at the time

[Anonymous No.10484346]

>>10484341
>The majority weren't though?
You sound new, besides most of the really old styles, pretty much all that are considered *dead* only are so because the names the west gave them don't exist in Japan, prime example being Cult Party and Dolly, which are just called fairytale vintage and antique .

[Anonymous No.10484348]

>>10484090
>>10484093
It's literally one of the first results when you search "mahou kei", here's the actual first result from google from the same person.

How is this any different than regular fairy kei? mahou kei is to fairy, as bittersweet is to sweet lolita - it's a theme based on an already existing style

and "fancy" is definitely a style - where have you been? fancy surprise? fancy sweaters? you're the one who should be lurking

[Anonymous No.10484357]

>>10484348
Where did I ever talk about mahou kei? And no, fancy is not a style, it just refers to retro girly stuff in general, search it in japanese and good luck finding "a style".

[Anonymous No.10484358]

>>10484348
Please lurk more
http://yumeh0lic.blogspot.com/2019/05/what-exactly-is-fancy-mini-japanese.html

[Anonymous No.10484360]

>>10484346
this. an obvious marker of western misinterpreted styles (usually based on a single magazine spread that someone sees once) is the term kei being tacked onto them.

[Anonymous No.10484380]

>>10484345
I didn't say it was a consistent style. The black x pink stuff used in the west is inaccurate to the magazine, but if your style is based on the magazine then it's a Larme style coord. (Larme KEI as a stand-alone fashion doesn't exist in Japan though.)
>>10484346
Cult Part Kei was a thing years ago but the shop closed and now people outside of Japan will tack the name onto anything vintage.
People in the west didn't create these names but they add the word Kei and usually turn it into something completely different, then refuse to let it die or evolve. Uchuu Kei was generally named by Tumblr, just like Mahou Kei.

[Anonymous No.10484389]

>>10484380
>People in the west didn't create these names
Actually they did, best example being "Dolly Kei", Grimoire never called themself that and even stated in an interview the term was made up by the western magazine Tokyo Fashion as part of a interview mistranslation (most people don't seem aware that Tokyo Fashion is run by americans to begin with).

[Anonymous No.10484392]

>>10484389
Or Pop Kei, Hama Kei, Hiki Kei, Mori Gyaru, Natural Kei, Imouto Kei... Can't even think of a jfashion of the past 10 years where the west used the correct japanese name.

[Anonymous No.10484401]

>>10484392
mori gyaru was actually a trend for a while, but gyaru is slightly different than "x kei" since gyaru is/was more a make up style than an outright fashion and involved tons of trendhopping, so there are a lot of x gyaru that get mistaken for substyles, when most "substyles were just based around trendy clothes or following popstars. but i digress. gyaru is just extremely misinterpreted by the west more than anything else.

[Anonymous No.10484412]

>>10484401
>mori gyaru was actually a trend for a while
in the west, maybe, but in Japan it was only a single spreadshit of literal forest-themed outfits, nothing related to mori girl

[Anonymous No.10484420]

>>10484348
Anon I hate to tell you this but fancy surprise is not a style, and they've never said their works fall under a specific style unless that style is cute

[Anonymous No.10484446]

>>10484412
if you're not going to listen, fine but this was already talked about in the mori thread.

[Anonymous No.10484459]

>>10484357
you literally said
>I'm refering to the outfits that look like magical girl outfits

>search it in japanese and good luck finding "a style"
the fancy hashtag on IG is filled with this style, nile perch themselves tag their stuff as "fancy"

>>10484420
where do you think they got the word "fancy" from

[Anonymous No.10484463]

>>10484459
Learn to read, how does a tee with a magical girl print on it look like a magical girl outfit? You won't see any magical girl in manga/anime wear that as their transformed outfit.

[Anonymous No.10484464]

>>10484459
>the fancy hashtag on IG is filled with this style, nile perch themselves tag their stuff as "fancy"
Where? I seevarious types of retro stationairy, not a style.

[Anonymous No.10484466]

>>10484459
>where do you think they got the word "fancy" from
>what's an adjective

[Anonymous No.10484467]

>>10484459
>where do you think they got the word "fancy" from
it's not a style either way
"一般に「ファンシー」という場合、少女趣味と結び付けられることが多い。
ファンシーグッズは単なる装飾品というよりも、主に15歳以下の子ども向けの、可愛い装飾がこらされたりキャラクターが印刷された商品をさすことがある。こうした製品を販売する店舗を「ファンシーショップ」という。"

[Anonymous No.10484471]

>>10484459
>the fancy hashtag on IG is filled with this style, nile perch themselves tag their stuff as "fancy"
Next you willclaim their style is called Harajuku because they tag themself as that.

[Anonymous No.10484477]

>>10484459
>the fancy hashtag on IG is filled with this style, nile perch themselves tag their stuff as "fancy"
and they tag their stuff as harajuku, teddybear, retro, etc, doesn't mean those are styles.

[Anonymous No.10484496]

>>10484166
>>10484172
I think you'd have a more productive thread if you just had a thread for chloma/hatra/balmung etc aesthetic than trying to bring back a name for a style that was never really a thing in the first place

[Anonymous No.10484500]

>>10484189
Apparently it's one of the idols of a space themed band (I wish I was joking):
https://twitter.com/guri_ppppphm

[Anonymous No.10484575]

>>10484467
>implying that tard can read moonrunes

[Anonymous No.10484588]

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=8u6ETZQ8XmI

More into cyberpunk territory but hide is a huge inspiration for me.

[Anonymous No.10484591]

[Anonymous No.10484592]

[Anonymous No.10484593]

[Anonymous No.10484594]

[Anonymous No.10484701]

>>10484496
You’re probably right but I think brand specific threads tend to not foster as much of discussion and generally have less content to go around. I’ll probably try making a thread like that in the future and see what happens. I’m curious if people know or care about those brands.

[Anonymous No.10485001]

can we stop with the arguing and irrelevant vkei shit and post outfits

[Anonymous No.10491524]

>>10485001
Are retrofuturistic outfits ok? C

[Anonymous No.10491699]

To Alice just dropped this.

[Anonymous No.10491700]

>>10491699
you might be in the wrong thread

[Anonymous No.10491702]

>>10491699
That bear is dangerously smug

[Anonymous No.10493412]

>>10484126
>>10484070
Some stuff that Chloma's designer did before starting the brand can definitely be described as Uchuu-kei however. For example this piece which he designed during his time at ESMOD Tokyo for Pamyu Pamyu become one his most famous designs at the time being featured in Dazed #Fantasia. This doesn't change the fact that the brand now is leaning more towards Y2K but I think him and his design in general are in some way rooted in the style still.

[Anonymous No.10493415]

>>10484108
too many piercings, 1 is already too much

[Anonymous No.10493483]

>>10491700
How so? It's space themed and holographic, did you forget the part where uchuu was originally a fairy kei subcategory?

[Anonymous No.10493495]

>>10493483
nta but ignore them. uchuu is still a subset of fairy kei, most of this thread is other fashions that vaguely have a space theme.

[Anonymous No.10493514]

>>10493483
>>10493495
then why not just have this entire thread discussion in the fairy kei thread, its not like it's super busy over there anyway

[Anonymous No.10493515]

>>10493514
neither of us are the OP, we were just trying to contribute.

[Anonymous No.10493547]

>>10493514
>>10493515
I can answer that. To preface things, I am new here so maybe it wasn't the best of ideas to post without having looked through other threads. Aside from that though I felt the style is sort of different from most others on the board (again, could be wrong about this) by not being as focused on it being cutesy or whatever. And lastly I didn't expect it to get this much 'backlash' since I don't frequent this community and didn't know that it was necessarily seen this way. To be fair, I did see some comments made on the last threads that the style can't really be considered it's own which is fair. I think if anything this thread shows that it can't really stand on it's own and that's why a lot of the contributions may seem out of place or unrelated. I will however take the blame since I feel I could have done a bit more ahead of time but I wasn't even sure if people were gonna like it or find it interesting to begin with. I think the fact that it turned into mostly a discussion about what the term means and what can be considered uchuu speaks to all of this.

[Anonymous No.10493586]

>>10493547
uchuu kei was originally a term for a trend of space themed street coords, mostly fairy kei or yumekawa, it's not a style on it's on but a substyle/theme for the two other styles. stuff that happens to be space themed (or i guess reads space themed to idiots) ITT isn't really uchuu kei. most of this stuff is either costumes or other fashions from the 90s/00s that isn't even related to the original trend.

[Anonymous No.10493599]

>>10493586
To add to this anon, in Japan they just call that retro-futuristic stuff サイバー (not to confuse with cybergoth or cyberpunk).