Japanese Fashion

This is not a good day. I have so much to deal with, and I hate Fresno immensely. It is definately not that great of a city. Too much drama, too much racism, too much crime. Not enough fun, night life, or college activities to do. Still, it was the place of my childhood, and I'll give it that.

I hate it here, but at the mall with my mom, I saw a lot of Harajuku stuff. I know I've talked about it here and there, and that Gwen Stefani was trying to popularize something; but I really wasn't aware of how popular it was. None the less, most of the stuff there was last season. There were tons more from this season, though it didn't seem like it was as much. I wonder if the fad already died off, or is it still going to be practiced for a few more years. I don't see a whole lot of people wearing it, but college is a good place to see all kinds of fashion. While no longer speaking of Harajuku specifically, it's interesting to note the diversity of fashion styles that come out of places and are represented even further away. Alot of early and current Japanese fashions are depicted in our reader in pictures following the Kawamura article on Japanese teens and street fashion.

While the Japanese are known for originality, they took many ideas from Western clothing. Before 1860, Japanese was totally indiginous in dress style, but afterwards they began to incorporate Western ideals for clothing (Kondo 466). While not incorporating all ideals, generalized Western dress permeated the world around. Throughout the 1900's, Japanese fashion utilized Western fashion and hybridized the ideas to make them original.

In the 1980's, Japanese style became popular around the world. Following that period and even currently, Japanese style is becoming increasingly popular and fashionable in all terms from Paris, New York, Tokyo, and even Seoul. Although many designers borrowed some ideas from Western culture, the pieces that Japanese artisans form are distincly Japanese. Because of their style, Japanese designers are sought after and soon, as Dorinne Kondo's article the "Aesthetics and Politics of Japanese Identity in the Fashion Industry," Tokyo will be recognized as a center of fashion, rather than a place of production.