Style in Your City: Tokyo Fashion

By Sheila Cliffe

Fun Fashion!

Fun is everything in Tokyo!

Above everything else, fashion in Tokyo is about having fun. Life in Japan, especially in such a big city, can be very busy and stressful, and Japanese tend to work long hours, with short holidays if they are on the corporate ladder. It is thought that Japanese students don’t study hard, but many of them are busy not only with study, but working part-time jobs too, to help pay for their school fees. Where as young people in the Western Europe might associate growing up with increased freedom, and therefore something to be desired, in Japan growing up is associated with more work and responsibility, and therefore young people desire to stay kids as long as possible, and they want to maintain their youthful looks. For this reason, rather than trying to be glamorous, Japanese girls would rather look cute. They also have feelings of affection for their school uniforms, which represent the fun of their school days.

Accessorize everything!

Cute Accessories

Most Japanese girls dye their hair and many boys do too. Long flowing hair is popular this year, and hair extensions are common. Relatively long and spiky hair is popular with young men, and they style their hair after the most popular musicians. Men’s accessories are very important, too. High heels are popular, especially with shorter girls, and they seem happy to wear them all day. Students accessorize everything from their bags, to phones to pencil cases. A fan is a useful accessory in the hot weather, and you can brighten up your room or garden with a wind charm, from the wind charm stall.

Summer trends!

It's all about stripes and florals...

This year there seem to be two popular trends in summer fashion. One trend comes from images of the sea, and this is evidenced in navy blue and white, or black and white horizontally striped T-shirts and tops. “Border prints”. This is the simpler and more casual style. It is often paired up with Converse shoes.

Mini-Me Floral Fashion

The other style that is really popular at the moment is rather a romantic one. There are floral prints on dresses, skirts, play suits and even on frilly shorts. Skirts are of all lengths, maxi to mini, and tiers, lace and frills on the edges are common. Pastel colours appear to be the most popular, but all colours are seen, and there does not seem to be one colour which is representative of the trend. Frills on shorts are in lace as well as in floral patterns.

Cool as cucumbers! Wa-fashions

Pastel Parasols & Kool Kimonos

Japanese styles for the summer change slower than Western fashions, but the craze for black parasols appears to be over. Pastel colours are always popular, as are lace and gauzy and loosely woven fabrics. Images of the sea, and water, and small summer flowers are the summer staples, and kimono wearers perfect the art of looking cool, with several layers of clothing on. Linen and indigo are seen as especially cool for the summer. Polka dots are seen in both Japanese and Western styles this year.

Flashing photographs!

More Kimono Koolness!

The photographs here represent people walking in the street in Ginza, Omote- Sando, Harajuku, and also students at a women’s college on the northern edge of Tokyo. I have avoided some of the more radical and strange street styles of the extremists and concentrated on the everyday! Enjoy the fun fashion looks of Tokyo this summer!

Cool College Cuties!

The guys is Tokyo look pretty cool too!

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