Updates
9/22/2008: I've made a few finished pages public: styles, where to buy, and hair & makeup!


Introduction
What is Decora? Decora is a Japanese-based street fashion style founded in Harajuku during the late 1990's through the magazine FRUiTS, and thought to have been originated by Tomoe Shinohara. Short for "decoration" it usually consists of what it's called: self-decoration. The style is made up of layers of clothing, accessories, toys and anything else one might be able to incorporate into an outfit. The basic theme of Decora is to look as child-like as possible with its vibrant colors, characters and makeup; like an extreme version of 'dress-up' made into a fashion style with general rules and guidelines that should be followed like any other type of fashion!

The purpose of Decora Handbook. Based off the infamous Lolita Handbook, the purpose of this handbook is to give basic guidelines to a style that generally has none. Unlike Lolita where there are strict rules and things are readily available and bought, Decora is a fashion that has no definite rules existing within the western Decora community and is portrayed only through means of imitation. My objective is to give guidelines to a style that has none and to throw away all western misinterpretations of Decora in order to help other western Decora-chan dress in a style that is hard to perfect outside of Japan. I also wish to bring together the western Decora community (which is often ambiguous and spread out all over the place) to help one another define the style of Decora!

For more personal input, advice, critique and fun please visit Decora World's forum!


Questions and Feedback
Please feel free to leave a comment with any questions, feedback, constructive criticism, corrections, tips, suggestions and anything else you might think of on this post! Because I can't speak Japanese and I'm writing this alone based on my own observations and research ANY sort of help is appreciated, even the slightest bit!

Other than that, please enjoy my handbook and I look forward to hearing from you!

Decora has evolved and changed over the years, coming in many different variations just like any other good ol' street-based fashion; I'm going to go over the basic types of Decora that are known and seen today!


( Styles )


( Cyber, Angelers )