Those 'Steal Her Style!' articles in fashion magazines always puzzle me. Sure, the fashion-forward starlets (usually) look pretty nice, but most mainstream style advice seems to centre around playing it safe. There's not enough creative ammo for those of us who like to be unpredictable. With this in mind, I thought I'd start a ongoing series of posts detailing my own style inspirations (and I have plenty). I think part of the joy of 'alternative' fashion is that you can literally find inspiration anywhere, and it doesn't have to be from a season lookbook or glossy publication. I know most of my sartorial heroes come from fiction, which means it's sometimes difficult to translate their look into real life - but therein lies the fun sense of challenge. It's not about cosplaying as a character - it's about adapting elements of their aesthetic to suit YOU. Everything is wearable, somehow.
Misa Amane (Death Note)
I used to dress like Misa Amane long before I ever knew what Death Note was; but occasionally I'd see pictures of her on custom LJ layouts, and she began to filter her way into my style. I was dressing like a Catholic schoolgirl - kilt, sweater, cross necklace, knee socks and platforms - all in shades of black, white and grey. Misa is modelled in the Gothic Lolita fashion, but she was never meant to be a picture perfect example. It's clear that her look barely conforms to the rigid rules that are evident in EGL today, and she flaunts a fairly trashy interpretation. I had no idea of 'the rules' when I first got into lolita, and in fact I doubt there really were any, so this kind of look easily influenced me.
Misa plays a large role in the Death Note manga (and anime) series, madly in love with Light Yagami, whose feelings for her are merely a twisted facade. She's a fairly tragic character, but her bouncy personality and flirty tendencies tend to counteract this. I think her style perfectly balances the light and dark aspects of her story.
It's pretty strange looking at Misa and noticing how many key pieces of her style still exist in my own wardrobe. As I mentioned in my previous post, it's difficult to get away with overly cutesy concoctions without long or at least longish hair, so doing a 'Misa' from head to toe doesn't always gel with my current self. Still, the leather jacket, the chokers, the religious jewellery, the short skirts, the knee socks and the fishnets - I'm usually wearing them, just not in quite the same way.
In the live-action movie version of Death Note, Misa Amane is played by Erika Toda (above), and her look was adapted slightly - most notably her hair was changed to a more feasible colour for a Japanese actress. This makes Misa look more subtle and palatable stylistically; this outfit seems little too juvenile for me to copy straight, but I think the pigtails are a major part of that. Misa, at her introduction into the series, is 19, around the same age as I started dressing this way, but I could rarely pull off pigtails even then.
One of the awesome things about loli, and its myriad offshoots, is the wonderful dress-up opportunities for those of us who are languishing towards thirty and STILL get mistaken for an eighteen-year-old. This happens to me no matter what I wear. So occasionally I'll get the urge to suck up to the system and present myself as the age I'm accused of being if I ever try (and fail) to buy alcohol. Looking like you're just out of high school and then showing your ID is nothing short of hilarious.
I've recently been watching far too much Death Note, and revelling in the playful charm of Misa's dress sense - in a moment of madness (spurred on by a friend!), I bought a pair of black patent platform Maryjanes from the high street. I wore them to joyfully clomp around my living room for a hour, before hiding them in my wardrobe. But I have a tiny Misa-voice in my head, telling me to wear them out with knee socks and a kilt. Damnit, Misa! (Whether or not I'll listen to her... we'll just have to wait and see).
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