What is Oshare Kei? ;)

1)Oshare Kei is a bright, colorful Japanese fashion style. Unlike Visual Kei, Oshare Kei japanese rock bands usually have lyrics that are about friends, relationships, and mostly happiness. Oshare Kei is very positive. Bands like SuG, An Cafe, Ayabie, Lolita23q, and LM.C are usually labeled as an Oshare Kei band. Oshare Kei style came up around 2001 in Japan as a sub-set of it's opposite fashion style, Visual Kei.
Those who live outside Japan or who aren't Japanophiles (people obsessed with Japanese culture) have no idea of what Oshare kei is. They might have a faint idea of what Visual kei is but are totally clueless when it comes to all things Oshare. Well this article is here to educate you.

Oshare means "stylish" or "fashionable". It also means to dress stylishly. It follows Japanese street fashion and is
usually modeled by male rock band members but usually is
worn by female consumers.

Who started Oshare Kei? A band from the music scene obviously. Some credit Baroque as the band that started to whole thing.

Oshare kei is the more colorfully eye blinding side of Visual kei. Visual Kei has more of a gothic and depressing type of look while Oshare kei is more colorful, child-ish looking and happier musical tunes. Visual kei has more feminine qualities such as cross-dressing and men behaving like that of a woman but Oshare bands do that regularly too, for example one of my favorite Oshare fashion models is BoU from the band Antic Cafe, I didn't even know that he was a guy when I first saw him.

Thus said, bands under this style live up to the meaning by dressing up in colorful costumes, or in Decora and/or Friuts style. Fruits is a Japanese magazine which features regular people dressed in offbeat street fashions. If there are identifiable themes, they can broadly be described as fun, original, authentic, and the recording of emerging social trends and technology. "You are the best stylist to express yourself".It's so popular that even photo books sell well in the US.


So, many of them are seen sporting massive amounts of jewelry and bags of cartoon characters and animals slung on, tons of hairclips that make you go dizzy because you'd lose count, and lighter make-up compared to Visual kei. The music is more happy sounding, the lyrics lighter and happier.

Harajuku + Visual Kei + J-rocker + Lolita = Oshare Kei~!

2)A Japanese music and fashion style, translating to "fashion conscience." The bands of the oshare kei genre, unlike those of visual kei, are bouncy and bright, their songs focusing on happy and positive messages like friends and relationships. Their style is colorful and vibrant, sometimes similar to decora, but usually much more toned down. Other than occasional eyeliner and colored contacts, they rarely wear alot of makeup, also unlike the visual kei genre. Oshare kei started to appear around 2001, and was said to have been started by Ryo of Baroque in their PV "Anakuro Film".
Kra, Ancafe, Irokui, Panic*CH, HeaRt, Ichigo69, Vinett, Lolita23q, Shelly Trip Realize, Charlotte, Clavier and bis are examples of oshare kei bands.

Click this link for Oshare Kei Sweters->
https://www.lolita-kisama.com/shop/index.php?cPath=373_351

*_*