Cult of the Living Doll in Tokyo

TOKYO — In the West, a somewhat condescending verdict on Japanese women has long been that they are too submissive and doll-like. For close to a decade, the Japanese media have exhorted women to fight against this image by toughening up and coming into their own.

In the past year, however, that kind of talk has been increasingly fallen on deaf ears among some young women who actually aspire to look like dolls.

They are divided into two distinct genres: the increasingly popular “Mori,” or forest, girls, and the “Ageha,” or swallowtail butterfly, girls. The forest girls wear layers of thin cottony dresses, thick tights and boots, unpretentious makeup and cloth tote bags, the intention being to resemble a handmade doll from some romantic, Black Forest setting.

Forest girls unobtrusively made their debut in the Tokyo pop culture scene last spring, although at first it was hard to distinguish them from the similarly clad eco girls. But as the months went by the differences became clearer. Forest girls want to be discreet and to obliterate sexuality altogether, while eco girls are natural, sporty types who back solid environmental policies and a healthy dose of sensuality.

Midori Yokokawa, an editor at the fashion magazine Forest Girl, which was launched in October to cater to this new phenomenon, said: “Forest girls are wary of all forms of aggression or self-assertiveness. They’re just too fragile, or they would like to be that way.

“They don't want to live so much as to exist, preferably on a metaphysical level.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/09/fashion/09iht-fdoll.html

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Have you heard of Mori Girls?
Here is a little description from Mori Girls blog:

The mori girls (森ガール) belong to a subculture which began in Japan. 'Mori' means forest in Japanese, and if you're looking for the simplest description of mori girls, they are girls who look like they live in the forest. Indeed, the unique appearance of the mori girls is what attracts most people to join in their adventures.

Mori girls are often seen in loose dresses or smocks, vintage blouses, puffed sleeves, A-line skirts tights and leggings and many-layered ensembles. They delight in beautiful fabrics and textures, preferring natural to synthetic materials, and are impartial to autumnal shades reminiscent of forest glades such as deep reds, greens, blues and browns. They keep warm with knits and furs in winter, and ponchos and leather boleros in the fall.

The childlike nature of mori girls sets them apart from the more aggressive and carnivorous women in the city. They shun stiletto heels for flat shoes and prefer to keep their fingernails short and skin fair. Mori girls are also drawn to animal, candy, checked, floral, vintage or polka-dotted prints. However, they avoid looking overly cute. They wear little makeup, but when they do use it some like to draw pick circles in the centre of their cheeks as a homage to the dolls they played with when they were younger. While every mori girl is a child at heart, they are endlessly fascinated by objects with a history. Vintage items such as pocket watches, small gold pendants and analogue cameras captivate mori girls.