Ms. Yamamoto is a hime gyaru, or princess girl, a growing new tribe of Japanese women who aim to look like sugarcoated, 21st-century versions of old-style European royalty. They idolize Marie Antoinette and Paris Hilton, for her baby-doll looks and princess lifestyle. They speak in soft, chirpy voices and flock to specialized boutiques with names like Jesus Diamante, which looks like a bedroom in a European chateau. There, some hime girls spend more than $1,000 for an outfit including a satin dress, parasol and rhinestone-studded handbag.

Read article here: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122713804938242481.html?mod=rss_Lifestyle#

The real world and fairytale collides?

In today’s term, Princess in the real world and in fairytale has kind of merged into a single entity. Regardless of appearance, costumes, roles, or lifestyle, they become a subset of each other. We now live in a contemporary world where things are no longer defined clearly. What is black and what is white.

How about a fusion of real-life Princess with fairytale Princess? The emphasis will be on what is important to us - the general impression of Princess. Besides this, the history or rather stories of Princess is also what people should know.

With this fusional concept, what comes to my mind is an illustration book. How about telling stories or archiving information about Princess in the essence of fairytale books. Like all the myths and folklores, the traditional beliefs, customs, and stories of a community, passed through the generations by word of mouth.

Will the Legend of Princess live on?

There are various definations for Princess, it can be possitive or negative, traditional or modern, real-life or fairytale. It all depends on how one sees it.

The theme itself is feminine, thus targeting mainly on female audiences. By using elements that females can relate, to create interest in the topic. An approach of adapting paper dolls into the concept of how people have different (changing) perspective of Princess.

Fabric will be used in replaced of paper, since costumes are made of fabric and why not “archived” the type of textile material used for Princess costumes. Also targets on the emotional aspect, inwhich people uses their sense of touch.

In the spirit of a time capsule, textile is one of the material that can lasts. Since hundreds years ago, fabric was invented and how the exchange of luxury textiles was predominant on the Silk Road, a series of ancient trade and cultural transmission routes that were central to cultural interaction through regions of the Asian continent connecting East and West by linking traders, merchants, pilgrims, monks, soldiers, nomads and urban dwellers from China to the Mediterranean Sea during various periods of time. This shows the “sustainability” of textile material, thus probably thousands years later, people might still be interested in fabrics and the texture.

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Swatches can be texture-based: e.g. fabric

It should be a communication piece, which requires to include text and descriptions.
Probably I should focus abit more on the content.