Larme Kei

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Larme Kei (ラルム系) is a style described by the overseas community centered around the early issues of the Japanese fashion magazine LARME that features a dainty feminine aesthetic catered towards women in their 20s. The term on its own is not used in Japan, and the core style of the magazine is known as "Girly fashion" (ガーリーファッション) or "Girly Kei" (ガーリー系). ^[1]

Much of the magazine also focused on hair and makeup, which always followed a hyper-feminine and kawaii style, with liberal use of pinks, browns, and glitter. The hairstyles are incredibly elaborate, with bangs being a must.

History[]

LARME magazine is a Japanese magazine founded in 2012 and described as a "sweet and cute girl's fashion picture book." by Haruna Nakagoori. The target audience was cultured young women from the ages of 18-25, who would read and go to museums, but started to focus on popular trends after its relaunch in 2020. A unique feature of the magazine's early issues were its editing style, with multiple props and illustrations being used to decorate the pages.^[2] The fashion magazine had a distinctly feminine style in both outfits and props that balances kawaii and sexy elements, with multiple vintage-inspired pieces and interesting textures.

In addition to the magazine, there were many other photos from the boutiques where Larme clothing originates from. These smaller clothing stores often have "shop girl snaps," where employees style the brand's clothing in their own outfits to be posted on the website.

During the years Larme Kei was active, Japan had many microtrends with these boutiques sharing the same motifs. Larme magazine both was inspired by and inspired these boutiques, making the trend known among this circle but lacked a name.

The fashion style was codified as "Larme Kei" by Westerners during the mid-2010s who used the same applications of rules and guides that Japanese fashion subcultures (such as Lolita and Fairy Kei) used. This was through various blogs, specifically on Blogspot. Western readers would codify some styles based on the photo shoot themes based off of models, as well as some common motifs from the 2014 issues. In addition to Blogspot, many fans also created Polyvore moodboards.

However, there is some discrepency between "Larme Kei" and what is actually shown in the magazine. Larme Kei refers to what was common within the magazine and specific stores from 2014-2017, with an incredibly specific blend of cute with sexy, the colors pink and black, the use of fur and leather accessories, etc. As trends passed, Larme naturally evolved away from these mid-2010s elements, proving that Larme magazine's style is not just "Larme Kei".^[3]

The magazine itself also changed its look constantly, so there is not really a definitive style beyond its core being the Japanese style known as "Girly" (not to be confused with the English adjective).^[4] For example, some shoots featured looks that could be classified as strictly preppy, French Girl, fairy tale, etc. The Larme Kei in western blogs was often limited to a few shoots and trends found throughout multiple themes combined into one style.

The aesthetic later faded in popularity in the overseas community, and many of the Blogspots ceased to post or had their domains taken down. The tag is still in use, and like many J-fashion communities, has new content on TikTok.

Larme29 — Larme 029. Contrasting this spread with the typical outfits in the western community shows some discrepancy.

This aesthetic has also led to Jirai Kei. Many of the brands that produced clothing featured in Larme magazine had made their designs resemble Jirai styles in the 2020s. Because of this, many western people also misattribute Jirai Kei as Larme.

Visuals[]

pale filters
decorative lace
florals
pearls
garters
lingerie

Fashion[]

"Sweet_Girly"_as_known_from_LARME — "Sweet Girly" as known from LARME

The second half of the video shows Risa Nakamura's styling process, which inspired Larme Kei

Note: The fashion included in Larme Kei for this page describes the western interpretation of the fashion, as opposed to the real magazine, which includes outfits that may not be in line with the traditional image of "Larme Kei." This fashion aesthetic is present in multiple issues of Larme, but Larme itself contains multiple styles and does not identify the typical outfit formulas as attributed to them inherently.

Larme Kei styles largely focus on hyper-femininity, with different outfits balancing or leaning towards elegant, sexy, or girlish elements. Many bloggers have mentioned this in styling, with making a garment contrast the other to make the look more "Larme" as opposed to purely girlish or purely sexy. For example, a puffed sleeve pink blouse (girlish) pairs with a black pencil skirt (mature), while a black cold-shoulder top (sexy) pairs with a fluffy tulle skirt (girlish). In the magazine, these elements are also often kept separate, as different sections of the issue have different themes.

Much of the style, both in western Larme Kei and the magazine, relies on mixing textures. Lace, leather, sheer fabrics, feathers, fur, etc. are common features within outfit photos. However, colors are less bold, with the most common colors being pastels, red, black, and white. The magazine, however, often does deviate from this color palette while the western community largely focuses on red, pink, black, and white. There are also some common patterns, most especially gingham and plaid.

Something common between both interpretations is the utilization of different girly personas in creating outfits. Schoolgirls, French maids, and dolls are some common ones. Larme's themed photoshoots and outfit tips often encourage incorporating outfit details reminiscent of these characters, such as a "maid" outfit having a black blouse with a white collar paired with a black pencil skirt.

Tops[]

The tops in Larme Kei contain various feminine details. These include:

Puffed or bishop sleeves
Ruffles, lace trim, and English embroidery on plackets, sleeves, etc.
Cold shoulder or off-the-shoulder tops, which lean more 1950s inspired or sexy, depending on the design.
Contrasting Peter Pan collars
Sheer elements, both within a garment (like a lace cut-out) and in layering (like a sheer blouse over a tank top)
Attached "collars," where a strip of fabric wraps around the neck with a more low-cut top

Bottoms[]

Most often, pencil skirts (or other form-fitting skirts) are worn in the fashion. This allows for either a vintage and sophisticated, or a sexy element to exist to contrast the more feminine and girly top. An incredibly viral item that became mimicked by multiple brands is a pencil skirt with an attached "garter belt" in the form of a peplum and dangling garters attached to the skirt.

Another type of skirt is one where a mini skirt is under a sheer maxi skirt. This would often be attached together and in black.

Pants also may appear in this style, albeit they are much rarer than skirts. Because of this rarity, they often do not appear in coordinates in western fans. In the magazine, they are most often gaucho pants.

Suspenders are an incredibly common detail found in bottoms, with ruffles at the shoulders sometimes. Additionally, a high waistband that looks like a corset is popular.

Dresses[]

Most dresses include the same elements as the tops and bottoms above, but attached together.

Strap and slip dresses are often worn over tops and are often in a contrasting texture, such as satin, sheer, pleated, etc..

Shoes[]

For a while, there was a microtrend of putting fur and feathers on shoes to mimic the incredibly popular and sexualized marabou mules^[5]. Larme magazine (and thus Larme Kei) emphasized the femininity of the style by exclusively wearing heels or platforn shoes in classic styles, which tend to be Mary Janes, pumps, T-straps, etc.

These shoes would almost always be paired with lace or sheer socks or tights. This would be in a more classic design.

Subgenres[]

As described above, this section describes the "rules" of the fashion perceived by the Western community. These bloggers translated the taglines of the models (which only went on for a handful of editions), and interpreted it as "substyles" in the Larme Kei look. Below, the galleries show spreads from Larme 020, where bloggers cite the substyle idea. This concept was later left behind, but because of the lag due to translation, misinterpretation, etc., it was seen as a constant in the magazine.

Pheromone Fetish[]

This style was worn by Risa Nakamura, and was characterized by being more overtly sexy in comparison to the other girls. Fur coats, especially in leopard print, are a common motif in her outfits and fits the sensual, texture-heavy motifs of the styling. Likewise, fetish and lingerie motifs, such as slip dresses, latex, and garter belts appear in outfits.

The silhouette is also tighter. Pencil skirts, baby tees, and turtlenecks are more popular in her outfits.

American & French Lolita[]

The earliest issues of Larme magazine had a high focus on "Lolita fashion", much to the annoyance of Japanese Lolita fashion enthusiasts.^[6] In the case of Larme, the term Lolita is used as name for nymphet fashion with "American Lolita" being inspired by the 1997 movie and "French Lolita" by the works of Serge Gainsbourg.^[7] Thus, the fashion spreads the editors made were in the style of the different film adaptations. Red, especially gingham, was a common motif. Cherries, sailor collars, and other fashion motifs found in the film adaptations were the common traits of this substyle.

Grunge[]

Often, the magazine draws upon inspiration from grunge fashion, with individual spreads focusing on the re-interpretation of the aesthetic. Here, the editors and fans combine garments typically associated with grunge with the magazine's style. The outfits here are also in darker colors, avoid girlish styles, and use stiffer fabrics and metal embellishments.

Common garments here include: bomber/military jackets, platform boots, and tee shirts.

Media[]

Magazines[]

LARME（ラルム）[]

The concept is "sweet girly artbook". It is a magazine with a very cute atmosphere, often covered by girls in girly fashion on the cover. It often features freebies like eyeshadow make-up sets and paper with cute visuals.

sweet（スウィート）[]

A magazine full of mature girly outfits that are not too sweet and a casual mix. The accessories such as pouches and bags are collabs with extremely cute fashion brands.

bis（ビス）[]

With the theme of girly beauty, it features a style with feminine elements that is a little mature. It will be helpful if you like girly fashion but want a calm outfit.