Dee Dee bellbottom jeans. According to a friend who lived in Tokyo recently, Dee Dee is rumored to be one of the hottest independent brands this winter, among the ultra-hip Shibuya youth. Dee Dee's shop is just a few blocks from the notorious Shibuya 109 building, the homebase of all kogals. (prev) [more inside]
posted by metasonix on Jan 6, 2008 - 40 comments

After I posted this article, many people asked me who listens to that berserk music. Well, it's most popular with Japanese girls lumped under the general term "gyaru". It is not really a fashion movement per se, as it has fractured into scores of rapidly-evolving subgroups--usually hostile to each other, even though many appear the same to the uninitiated. In fact, the book Japanese Schoolgirl Inferno, published in 2007, is already said to be out of date. This website is a bit more current. What do "gyaru" look like? There are now quite a few slideshows of gyaru on the streets of Tokyo on YouTube. Examples: here, here, and here. And for those who need to buy these "fashions", the primary bibles are FRUiTS and Egg. There is something wrong with that country.......
posted by metasonix on Dec 23, 2007 - 78 comments

Who needs boots when you can have steel-toed tabi? An overview of Japanese worker clothing.
posted by oneirodynia on Aug 15, 2006 - 29 comments

Salon (with letters) on Gwen Stefani's clueless appropriation of Japan-ness.
posted by Tlogmer on Apr 13, 2005 - 71 comments

Harajuku Street Style. Oh those crazy cool Japanese kids! The streets of Harajuku are as much a fashion playground as they are an exhibit of Why You Should Never Pair White Boots with Gold Chains. This is, of course, in line with the existing weirdness of the brilliant Katamari Damacy, mayonnaise-and-squid pizza, and the "no caption required" homoerotic dating sim "le, Tatemasu!",
posted by riffraff on Jan 7, 2005 - 34 comments

Every Sunday, it's Halloween in Harajuku. Hanging out by the train station at Tokyo's most fashionable district are young women dressed as nurses, but with white faces and a trickle of painted blood dripping from a lip. Men in their late teens or early twenties fidget under huge manes of spiky green hair and layers of black leather.
Some really amazing costumes can be seen here. And by amazing I mean interesting, and by interesting I mean freaky.
posted by Jase_B on Jul 19, 2004 - 30 comments

Shiseido Women. 'In Japan, womens fashion, like makeup, continues to evolve, reflecting the moods and mores of the times. The following photographs of women provide tantalizing glimpses into some of the radical changes that have marked the past century. '
Related interest :- An American Visit to Japan, 1923.
posted by plep on Apr 18, 2003 - 7 comments

Funky Radical World was created by Japanese illustrator Radical Suzuki - don't miss the delightful fashion show. One of my favorite works is Real Tokyo Girls, a flash animation about the rather fascinating Ganguro girl fad. This gallery includes a few more samples of his work. warning - some cartoon nudity may be involved!
posted by madamjujujive on Jan 18, 2003 - 15 comments

Damn La Difference! Europe (and apparently Japan) seem to be going through a Dickies craze. You say work wear; we say American blue-collar chic. You pay $20 for an industrial shirt; we pay $100. Should we call the whole thing off? [More inside.]
posted by MiguelCardoso on Oct 21, 2002 - 38 comments