Call me unpatriotic,but I adopted Asia as my true home before I had ever set my foot in the various countries that make it up.Everything about it appeals to me-the cultures,the languages,the way of life,the fashion-whether it be colourful India,with the most beautiful sarees and fabrics known to man,to the super dynamic shopping extravaganzas of Malaysia and Singapore,to the mind-blowing architecture and scenery in Taiwan and Thailand,to Japan,where tradition is fused with hyped-up technology.I love all of it.
Japanese men and women do not care what you think about their clothes-some of them as avant-garde as you can possibly imagine.They dress up-and they express who they are,and what they are feeling through clothes in ways which the West hasn't dared try.The centre of teenage Japanese fashion is undoubtedly Harajuku.On Sundays,they crowd the train station dressed up in cosplay-that is,they dress up as their favourite anime/manga characters,or even people from their favourite TV shows.
For someone who loves costumes,theatre,haute-couture,drama and avant-garde (like me) this is heaven.
Just opposite Harajuku is Takeshita-Dori which is also bustling with cosplay and super fashionable young japanese.
Here are examples of uber- fashionable Japanese men and women-and you will notice that they dress in a very avant-garde,haute couture manner present in runways around the globe but imitated by few.Apart from the Japanese.My photos are taken from Japanese streets,an amazing website which shows the newest trends from Japan and how the people wear them.
Visit http://www.japanesestreets.com/ for more.
You probably have heard of themes that street-fashion Japanese go for-of course,they can wear anything,but some prefer a certain style and stick to that.Of course when I say "stick to that" I mean that their love for a certain look could last for a few days.Japanese fashion changes extremely quickly.
So you have as recurring themes(although there are many more but here are the main ones)
1.Dolly Kei:Picture fairy-tale style dressing-not Disney's heroines,but more of the older fairy tales told by the brothers Grimm,and the sort of old,traditional dolls you can picture in your mind.
2.Ganguro.In the West this sort of style could be labelled,cheap,tacky,slutty but trust me in Japan women wear it like its nobody's business.Its super tanned,bleached hair,lots of makeup,and short and colourful outfits.
3.Kogal:Probably the one you guys have a notion of.Its the schoolgirl look.
4.Mori girls-the earthy,natural woman.This is probably the style with a lot in common with Western culture.
Even if there are themes,not everyone follows them as if its a guidebook.They dress as they want,mostly,adopting certain styles that match their personality.
Remember my article on the New Crowd,where I talked about Meadham Kirchhoff?For some styles,its like that.The complete and utter contradiction of "good taste".Its just expression.Of course,if you wore something like Ganguro in Paris,you will get weird looks from people,if they cared enough to look.Its what makes Japan another world in a world.Its a class by itself.
Of course,some of the styles epitomise good taste.
Its what I love about Japan,
Apart from the hyped-up fashion in Tokyo and its suburbs,there is great tradition.
Look at Kyoto,for example,south from Tokyo but still on the island of Honshu.
It is a pillar of tradition.It's the old imperial capital.
Here it is not uncommon for women dress up in Kimonos or Yukatas(which are a less heavy and better for summer version of a kimono) .
To understand Japan,its culture and its fashion,you have to go out and experience it.
Its a world of its own-the politeness used for formal occasions was how English formality was in the Victorian era.Apparently as some of you must have heard on the BBC,when they were talking on how the people were panicked when the earthquake hit but were still calm and orderly,a trauma expert said how even when the Hiroshima bomb hit,some people were still using the formal way of asking for help "Please kind sir".
If I have managed to convey even the slightest notion of how Japan is amazing,then I'm happy about that.
