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Fashion in Japan

1 Dec 2005
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I realize that Japan has it's own fashions that somewhat originated from Japan, but a lot of people on the Internet say that the Japanese copy Western trends, I don't really see how.

I mean, I've never seen any pictures of Japanese kids following western trends, like wearing "skater" stuff, etc, the cloest I've seen Japs get to western trends is the "goth" scene.

So, my question is, do Japanese kids wear a lot of western trends, such as skateboarding stuff, etc?
 
I have seen Japanese kids take western trends to a whole new level. Not just the goth stuff...which isn't really all that common. Harajuku just seems to attract curious foreigners who are more than willing to share their adventures taking pictures of 14 year old gothic maids...etc. Anyway, imagine any western style and take it over the top - that is Japanese fashion.
 
There are plenty of skaters in Japan. They just might not like having their pictures taken, but they're out there. You can find them in skate parks, little nooks between buildings, or just in the middle of the street in the wee hours, dressed similarly to their western counterparts.

"Hip hop" clothing has also hit it big in Japan. Throwback hats, east coast designers, and the shoe industry especially have hit it big there. I swear, it looks like a bunch of Japanese Nellys walking around sometimes.
 
I skate, though I left my skateboard home. I was walking through Ueno with my girlfriend, I was wearing a somewhat obscure skate brand shirt, and a white Zoo York hat, w/ zoo york arm bands... (You don't really find a lot of 'poseur' skaters wearing zoo york, they wear lots of etnies or DC, and I feel lame for saying that but it seems true)... She grabbed me and asked me if she noticed the 'once over' look he gave me, (he obviously noticed the brand), and he was carying a deck himself...

The thing is, and this is prevalent throughout Japanese popular culture, not just fashion, is that the intent is never to 'borow', but to re-interpret as a newer version of a Japanese cultural history---

What's big right now for men is kind of looking like a member of Lords of the New Church... what Knuckle calls, "Outlaw Fashion"... On girls you have sort of either this, Can Cam "perfect woman" look, Pinky "high class gal on the town look", or "Egg", over tanned possible enjo kosai afficianado thing---

And all the looks and moreso... I reject the notion that Japan borrows anything at all from the west... It's like someone starting a rock band and deriding them for not giving credit to Delta Blues...

One thing, I think most prevalent about Japanese popular culture, is that the Japanese care about things, that NOBODY, should ever care about--- I complain every time my girlfriend puts on some obscurist Italian prog rock band from the 70s, people collected Bill Wyman records in the 1990s, but guess what--- you know why those records weren't that popular? They weren't that good--- this sort of thing seems to supercede Japanese popular culture, prevalence of need or perceptive 'cool' over-rides quality at times.

Hiroyuki Nagashima said:
The mainstream of a fashion of Japanese children
"Jersey"
http://www.anything.ne.jp/mtblog/archives/04jer/
I own about 4-5 jerseys, and can't get enough of them. They're a staple of my wardrobe, though less functional these winter months! And I'm 35! Children you say! Meh ;)

(Nakama Yukie looks amazing in a jersey though--- that seems to be a popular cosplay thing now....)
 
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