Skip to: site menu | section menu | main content
 "Click to view larger image: Myaku Toshiya")
Toshiya (Myaku), Dir en grey, 2002
The costume that started it all, if by "it all" one means "the fit of high dudgeon over stolen photos that made me yank the site down in the first place so I could watermark the hell out of it."
There are two versions of this costume worn by the bassist of the J-band Dir en grey and designed for the video for their earsplitting song "Myaku"-- one with a leather obi covered with straps and buckles, and one with cloth straps worn for a photoshoot; possibly the buckle version wasn't finished yet when the photos were taken. I decided to go with the cloth strap version, frankly because it was easier. I heard somewhere that Toshiya designs his own costumes, or did at the time. Yikes.
After a number of wears, this costume met its end on ebay. I kind of miss it sometimes; it was a ton of fun to wear, not difficult to make, and it always got attention, even if some of it was of a deeply creepy kind, and I never got really good photos of it. I might make a new one someday, if I can ever find blue fabric as gorgeous as the sateen I used here, which I stumbled upon by chance at a lovely fabric store in Boston that has long since vanished like the Phantom Tollbooth. It was, however, tough to iron.
 "Click to view larger image: Source Material") |
 "Click to view larger image: Toshiya Front") |
 "Click to view larger image: Toshiya") |
 "Click to view larger image: Toshiya") |
 "Click to view larger image: Toshiya") |