Sunday, December 7, 2014

Kevin Lee - Blog #4

Be Green Challenge Week 4
            As the final week of the “Be Green” challenge comes to an end, I can only confess the truth. I was not able to complete the challenge this week because two of my clubs had White Elephant, and I had to buy a gift under $10. However, I am glad that the presents I bought brought smiles to the people who opened my gift.
            This week we read about Japanese street fashion, or Japanese fashion in general, which I am very interested in. Having never been to Japan, I do not know how much of the teen population in Japan has influenced the fashion in Japan. However, I do know that Japanese fashion has been spreading not only throughout Japan but also throughout the U.S. Most of the Japanese fashion in the U.S. come from Japanese websites that advertise and/or selling clothes from Japan that are in style. These fashion styles are made by Japanese high school girls who have been “extremely influential in controlling fashion trends” (Kawamura). These girls set the fashion trend because all they want to do is to stand out and be noticed. It is interesting to see that these wanting-to-be-fashionable girls have influenced the character designs of some anime series. I have seen some anime series that have characters who either cosplay as a Gothic Lolita or are designed to be a Gothic Lolita.
Gokou Ruri (Kuroneko) from Oreimo 
Victorique de Blois from Gosick
            As you can see, these anime characters have been influenced by the fashion of Japan, which is something that I did not expect. This goes to show that people in America are not the only ones that are influenced by Japanese fashions; Japan itself becomes influenced and entranced by its own fashion. I have learned that Japanese street fashion is a very powerful thing.

Sources:

Kawamura, Yuniya. “Japanese Teens as Producers of Street Fashion.” Class reader.
http://www.animecharactersdatabase.com/character.php?id=22766
http://www.animecharactersdatabase.com/character.php?id=23262

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