Japanese+Modern+fashion

Modern Fashion of Japan You've probably seen Gwen Stefani's alien Japanese backing dancers, and heard her singing about 'Harajuku girls' all over her album 'Love Music Angel Baby'. Japan is a place where everyone is individual - but in groups. If you go to the park on a certain hour every Saturday, you'll see hundreds of boys dressed as rock stars, dancing to rock music... very seriously. So it's no surprise that when girls want to display groundbreaking fashions that no-one has ever seen before, they want to do it in the same place, at the same time. And that place is the Harajuku district in Tokyo.

When people discuss Japanese Fashion, they are usually talking about what is known as Japanese street fashion. It is impossible to pinpoint one particular look in Japanese street fashion, but all of the different japanese fashion styles are greatly influenced by Western fashion. However, the great thing about Japanese Fashion is that it adds a unique cultural twist that seem to make these traditional Western clothing a thousand times cooler. To examine why Japanese fashion is so popular and innovative, you have to understand the attitudes that Japanese people have towards clothing. Street fashion is so endearing because it allows the person wearing its clothes to personally customize their outfit. Mixing different styles and traditional styles is a big part of Japanese Fashion and you can see it in these different japanese fashion styles. This trend often involve wearing big, outlandish clothes. There are many different divisions, so to speak, of the fashion area. The differences in each section are so big, its extremely easy to categorize once you know what they are. Lolita Fashion: Lolita fashion is a very broad term and consists of many many sub-types of dress, including Sweet Lolita,, Gothic Lolita, Punk Lolita, Aristocrat, and other various forms. Though mainly worn by teen girls and women in the 20's, some young men do take on the lolita fashion sense, joining the Kodona and Dandy sub-types. Lolita fashion is a style of dress that originated in Japan. Lolita is inspired by the clothing of Victorian women and children. It often aims to imitate the look of Victorian porcelain dolls. Other influences include goth style, horror movies, the punk subculture and anime characters. Lolita itself is again divided into subcultures.

Gothic Lolita: Just a sidenote: None of the Lolita fashion is in any way related to “Goth Fashion” The style often is meant to make the wearer look doll-like, sweet and/or elegant, not punk or emo. They don’t necessarily listen to “Goth” music or think like how we would assume someone “Goth” would think. As with other Lolita styles a Gothic Lolita outfit can usually be recognised by the bell-shaped skirt, and puff-sleeves. A Gothic Lolita outfit is usually comprised of black or rich dark colors such as burgundy, purple and navy. It is common for this style to involve details in complementary or contrasting colors, such as the infamous black and white coordination choice.

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Sweet Lolita: Sweet Lolita is the most over-the-top style and includes aesthetics nearly exclusive to lolita. It is also the most child-like of the lolita styles, using many bows, ruffles and light colors to make up an outfit. The most common colors used in a Sweet Lolita outfit are pink, white, and powder blue, but an outfit can be made with nearly any pastel or plaid (or nearly any color at all as long as it is not neon) Common motifs in Sweet Lolita are toys, strawberries, cherries, cakes and candies, hearts, polka dots and flowers. Prints inspired by fairy tales are also quite common. Light, natural make-up complements this style. Teased out pigtails and bouncy curls are commonly worn by Sweet Lolitas.

Street Fashion: As I've mentioned before, this style of dress is the most common among Japan's youth, but it is the most difficult to describe because it is a mix of Western style, traditional Japanese, and personal taste. Fashion, for the people of Japan, is a way of expressing themselves.



Ginza District: As you can obviously see, these pictures are extremely similar to what we see here at our stores. These are toned down compared to how outrageously others dress. There are other hints of traditional and personal elements in the dress style, though.

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