In Straight Trippin', OC friends and family share tidbits from their latest travels. This time, Ammerman Schlösberg designer Elizabeth Ammerman heads to Tokyo, Japan, home of the Lolita culture that serves as her brand's inspiration.
Name: Elizabeth Ammerman
Occupation: Designer
Travel Destination: Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka
Carry-on Necessities: B&O PLAY headphones—for 15 hours of an in-flight movie fest! And snacks to replace the dark and mysterious plane food.
Most over-played track on iPhone/iPod this trip: I actually didn't listen to any music. There's so much background stimulus in Japan; I was excited to hear new things. However, in each city I visited, I heard Cyndi Lauper's "Time After Time" at least once. The first time was at the Robot bar in Shinjuku, where a performer wearing a rhinestone-covered bra and hot shorts sang with an accompanying saxophone and piano in a brightly-lit, mirrored, crystal-covered room. The second time was in a dimly lit empty hotel bar in Kyoto—a girl covered it on the piano. After, she sat with the only other patron in the bar, a lone older Japanese business man, who bought them a bottle of whiskey.
Favorite outfit to travel in: My vintage Obituary T-shirt, Ammerman Schlösberg Christmas plaid mini skirt, Comme des Garçons hoodie tied around my waist, my CDG pleather box bag, a leather choker I found in Harajuku from Hell Cat Punk, and my giant rhinestone Prada sunglasses
Highlight of your trip: In Tokyo, shopping with my friend Nina in Harajuku and short-circuiting my brain from drinking with her, my friend Eri, and my boyfriend in Shinjuku at a random tiny tree house bar along the Golden Gai strip. In Kyoto, eating at Yamashita—a restaurant my friend Mei recommended. We ate a fried full body slice of fish (crunchy bones included), the best fatty tuna sashimi I've ever had, and sat in front of an aquarium of Japanese river trout, which throughout the night were caught and made into beautiful grilled skewers. In Osaka, the highlight was walking through Tobita Shinchi, the red-light district, to get to a preserved 1920s brothel turned restaurant, Taiyoshi Hyakuban, where we had seafood and vegetable hot pot in our own private dining room/former brothel bedroom.
Souvenirs you brought back: Cosplay school girl uniforms, Lolita socks, shoes, and jewelry, a hentai magazine, and a multitude of random anime supplies for all of my friends
Shop all Ammerman Schlösberg here.![]()
In Akihabara, my boyfriend and I went to a maid café, where we chanted cute spells over our food, got a polaroid with our favorite maid, and a license of our new master or princess titles... ![]()
My favorite gothic Lolita brand Metamorphose Temps de Fille’s store in Osaka. Its newest collection is called "Magical Starry Sky," which has occult sigils fashioned into the cutest and sweetest Lolita prints and accessories. ![]()
Handmade Maiko okobo in Kyoto. ![]()
Image outside of a Purikura (photo booth) in Kyoto. I did two of them, but the stickers and
Name: Elizabeth Ammerman
Occupation: Designer
Travel Destination: Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka
Carry-on Necessities: B&O PLAY headphones—for 15 hours of an in-flight movie fest! And snacks to replace the dark and mysterious plane food.
Most over-played track on iPhone/iPod this trip: I actually didn't listen to any music. There's so much background stimulus in Japan; I was excited to hear new things. However, in each city I visited, I heard Cyndi Lauper's "Time After Time" at least once. The first time was at the Robot bar in Shinjuku, where a performer wearing a rhinestone-covered bra and hot shorts sang with an accompanying saxophone and piano in a brightly-lit, mirrored, crystal-covered room. The second time was in a dimly lit empty hotel bar in Kyoto—a girl covered it on the piano. After, she sat with the only other patron in the bar, a lone older Japanese business man, who bought them a bottle of whiskey.
Favorite outfit to travel in: My vintage Obituary T-shirt, Ammerman Schlösberg Christmas plaid mini skirt, Comme des Garçons hoodie tied around my waist, my CDG pleather box bag, a leather choker I found in Harajuku from Hell Cat Punk, and my giant rhinestone Prada sunglasses
Highlight of your trip: In Tokyo, shopping with my friend Nina in Harajuku and short-circuiting my brain from drinking with her, my friend Eri, and my boyfriend in Shinjuku at a random tiny tree house bar along the Golden Gai strip. In Kyoto, eating at Yamashita—a restaurant my friend Mei recommended. We ate a fried full body slice of fish (crunchy bones included), the best fatty tuna sashimi I've ever had, and sat in front of an aquarium of Japanese river trout, which throughout the night were caught and made into beautiful grilled skewers. In Osaka, the highlight was walking through Tobita Shinchi, the red-light district, to get to a preserved 1920s brothel turned restaurant, Taiyoshi Hyakuban, where we had seafood and vegetable hot pot in our own private dining room/former brothel bedroom.
Souvenirs you brought back: Cosplay school girl uniforms, Lolita socks, shoes, and jewelry, a hentai magazine, and a multitude of random anime supplies for all of my friends
Shop all Ammerman Schlösberg here.
In Akihabara, my boyfriend and I went to a maid café, where we chanted cute spells over our food, got a polaroid with our favorite maid, and a license of our new master or princess titles... 
My favorite gothic Lolita brand Metamorphose Temps de Fille’s store in Osaka. Its newest collection is called "Magical Starry Sky," which has occult sigils fashioned into the cutest and sweetest Lolita prints and accessories. 
Handmade Maiko okobo in Kyoto. 
Image outside of a Purikura (photo booth) in Kyoto. I did two of them, but the stickers and