Japanese Fashion
The Magazine
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Articles
History of japanese fashion (kimonos and other traditional attire to modern shirts)
Japan started to develop its own clothing during the Heian era (794-1192). The most elegant outfit for women was a karaginu-mo, or junihitoe in more modern terms. It was a twelve layered robe consisting of many under layers including the karaginu, a long sleeve coat; a hakama, or a long pleated skirt; and a mo, or a long train. There was color significance in these layers. Colors were linked to different seasons, flowers and weather.
Things began to change during the Kamakura era (1192-1333). As the military came into power, japanese clothing became more practical like the military uniforms. Women began to wear kosode, formally an underlayer as everyday clothing. Hamaka was sometimes wore overtop of kosode. It soon became an everyday outfit during the Muromachi era (1336-1573). Because of its flat surface area, unique patterns and colors became more popular.
The Momoyama era (1573-1603) jumped on this trend. Japan went through a large economic growth during this time, which allowed people to put more time into designing and make clothing. A new method of dyeing and decorating kosode called Tsujigahana, in which designs were stitched into the fabric before dyeing it. Afterwards they removed the thread to reveal a white pattern, which was fleshed out more with hand painting and embroidery. This technique was even used on the uniforms of military leaders to show their tastes.
A more modern technique called Yuzen was taken on during the Edo era (1700-1800’s). It was unique technique where rice paste was used to make outlines for images.Yōzensai Miyazaki modernised this process. Many rich people wore kimonos in this style despite the sumptuary laws at the time. They restricted poorer people from wearing high-value fabrics and even some colors because of the price of the dye. A town called Edo (located in present day tokyo), began to popularize stripes and more repetitive patterns because of this. This was also around the time when Kabuki theater and Geishas had an influencing role in fashion trends by popularizing some colors and patterns. Some kosode painters were influenced by the Shijō-Maruyama school of painting and painted landscapes on kimonos.
America and other western power demanded for Japan to open the country, starting the Meiji period (1868-1912). The shogunate collapsed and a new emperor named Meiji was appointed. He renamed Edo into Tokyo. More western ways of studying were brought to Japan, as well as they way people dressed. In 1887, Meiji wrote a statement advocating more western clothing like shirts and skirts to the traditional kimono. It was at this same time that the sumptuary laws were abandoned, so many women actually began to wear kimono. Only wealthy women began to wear western clothing. On the other hand, America and other western countries began to buy kimono and other japanese merchandise. During the Taisho period (1912-1926), a large earthquake hit tokyo, and much of it was rebuilt. The city was modernised and so was it population. It was more practical to wear western clothing.
World war II hits during the Showa period (1926-1989). This caused a lot of women to go into the workforce while many men fought in battles. Kimonos weren’t suitable for working, and they weren’t practical to make due to the amount of fabric they require. Many families sold their heirloom kimonos out of the necessity for food. But after the war, Japan's economy grew again and people began to get comfortable again. This meant they had plenty of free to host traditional tea ceremonies and flower arranging, with were appropriate to wear kimono to. Women started wearing kimonos for more formal occasions like weddings, new years, and coming of age ceremonies.
Harajuku fashion district
Harajuku is a small subsection of Tokyo, located by the Harajuku station or between the Shinjuku and Shibuya stations on the Yamanote line. It’s a couple of streets filled with clothing shops all carrying the latest fashion trends, most of which are geared to the large teenage population. Nearby there’s also Yoyogi park, housing one japan's major shrines, Meiji Jingu. There are also some museums housing a large collection of asian art, including a japanese garden. One of the most popular streets is Takeshita Dori, which is filled with many fashion boutiques and fast food restaurants all aimed at the teenagers. Harajuku has been making a name for itself as world fashion center with store like Louis Vuitton, Chanel and Prada all taking root it Omotesando street.
How exactly did Harajuku Fashion district turn out like this? It can be linked back to the end of WWII when US barracks called Washington Heights were built here. Many small shops were set up to cater to the foreigners, which drew the attention of many teenagers interested in western clothing. The 1964 olympics were hosted in japan and Washington heights housed many of the athletes. More people came for a chance to meet them. Young people encouraged each other to set up their own shops here. In the 70’s a group of people called “the harajuku tribe” began to inhabit the area, and in 1978, laforte mall opened in harajuku. Together this really solidified the fashion culture that has lasted to today.
Modern Street fashions
Lolita is a type of street fashion heavily influenced by victorian and rococo fashion. It includes knee length dresses with high collars. The petticoat is the most important part of the lolita look. It gives the skirt a round formLolita doesnt have a speciffic starting time, but brands like MILK and Angelic pretty started selling clothing with lolita elements in the 70’s and 80’s. Gothic Lolita was the first style to become popular and recognizable. Visual kei bands sported gothic lolita, and their fans often followed. A magazine called KERA wrote a column called Gothic and Lolita Bible, which sold out in three days. Today it is sold as it’s own magazine. In the 2000’s lolita brands started to show up, some taking home in harajuku fashion district. Today there are some subtypes of lolita. First is Gothic, which consists mostly of black clothing with blue and silver highlights. Some gothic lolita use spooky elements like bats. Some substyles come from gothic lolita including punk lolita. Another subtype is Sweet lolita, which consist of pastel colors a printed dresses. They also wear lots of accessories including bows and hair clips. Lastly is Classic lolita, which uses much duller colors like light pink, burgundy, navy blue, and ivory green. A lot of older women like this style.
Gyaru is the japanese word for “gal” in english. It was first introduced to the japanese language as a sub brand of wrangler jeans. These girls sported trends from places like California. They would get dark tans and dye their hair brown or blond while wearing beach-like clothing. Shibuya, the town where this trend started, was where a lot of parties broke out in. They started up in the 70’s and eventually died out in the 90’s when they became out of control and the police stepped in. Gyaru girls got characterised as fun loving ladies who were socially active. In 1989, a survey written by Namba Koj categorised gyaru girls as trendy girls who were cheerful and social. They’re basically party girls. In the 80’s these gal’s became more sexuallized and devoluped a more negative conitation due to many magazines writing articles that were a lot more explicit about these girls. Later some time in the 90’s, younger high school girls called kogyaru, or little gal, tried to sneak into nightclubs. These girls started the modern movement of gyarus. Kogyaru girls often wore their school uniform rather than trendy, revealing clothing. This is due to the declining birth rate around the end of the 80’s. Private schools were fight for kids, so their school boards hired professional designers to recreate their uniforms. It worked out really well because kids were suddenly proud to wear their uniforms! Kogyaru girls often hiked up their skirts to be mini skirts, wore very loose socks, and dyed their hair a red/ brown color. They just changed their uniforms to make them more person by adding their own elements. Note: Kogyaru girls has pretty died out, peeking in 2000’s.
Japan started to develop its own clothing during the Heian era (794-1192). The most elegant outfit for women was a karaginu-mo, or junihitoe in more modern terms. It was a twelve layered robe consisting of many under layers including the karaginu, a long sleeve coat; a hakama, or a long pleated skirt; and a mo, or a long train. There was color significance in these layers. Colors were linked to different seasons, flowers and weather.
Things began to change during the Kamakura era (1192-1333). As the military came into power, japanese clothing became more practical like the military uniforms. Women began to wear kosode, formally an underlayer as everyday clothing. Hamaka was sometimes wore overtop of kosode. It soon became an everyday outfit during the Muromachi era (1336-1573). Because of its flat surface area, unique patterns and colors became more popular.
The Momoyama era (1573-1603) jumped on this trend. Japan went through a large economic growth during this time, which allowed people to put more time into designing and make clothing. A new method of dyeing and decorating kosode called Tsujigahana, in which designs were stitched into the fabric before dyeing it. Afterwards they removed the thread to reveal a white pattern, which was fleshed out more with hand painting and embroidery. This technique was even used on the uniforms of military leaders to show their tastes.
A more modern technique called Yuzen was taken on during the Edo era (1700-1800’s). It was unique technique where rice paste was used to make outlines for images.Yōzensai Miyazaki modernised this process. Many rich people wore kimonos in this style despite the sumptuary laws at the time. They restricted poorer people from wearing high-value fabrics and even some colors because of the price of the dye. A town called Edo (located in present day tokyo), began to popularize stripes and more repetitive patterns because of this. This was also around the time when Kabuki theater and Geishas had an influencing role in fashion trends by popularizing some colors and patterns. Some kosode painters were influenced by the Shijō-Maruyama school of painting and painted landscapes on kimonos.
America and other western power demanded for Japan to open the country, starting the Meiji period (1868-1912). The shogunate collapsed and a new emperor named Meiji was appointed. He renamed Edo into Tokyo. More western ways of studying were brought to Japan, as well as they way people dressed. In 1887, Meiji wrote a statement advocating more western clothing like shirts and skirts to the traditional kimono. It was at this same time that the sumptuary laws were abandoned, so many women actually began to wear kimono. Only wealthy women began to wear western clothing. On the other hand, America and other western countries began to buy kimono and other japanese merchandise. During the Taisho period (1912-1926), a large earthquake hit tokyo, and much of it was rebuilt. The city was modernised and so was it population. It was more practical to wear western clothing.
World war II hits during the Showa period (1926-1989). This caused a lot of women to go into the workforce while many men fought in battles. Kimonos weren’t suitable for working, and they weren’t practical to make due to the amount of fabric they require. Many families sold their heirloom kimonos out of the necessity for food. But after the war, Japan's economy grew again and people began to get comfortable again. This meant they had plenty of free to host traditional tea ceremonies and flower arranging, with were appropriate to wear kimono to. Women started wearing kimonos for more formal occasions like weddings, new years, and coming of age ceremonies.
Harajuku fashion district
Harajuku is a small subsection of Tokyo, located by the Harajuku station or between the Shinjuku and Shibuya stations on the Yamanote line. It’s a couple of streets filled with clothing shops all carrying the latest fashion trends, most of which are geared to the large teenage population. Nearby there’s also Yoyogi park, housing one japan's major shrines, Meiji Jingu. There are also some museums housing a large collection of asian art, including a japanese garden. One of the most popular streets is Takeshita Dori, which is filled with many fashion boutiques and fast food restaurants all aimed at the teenagers. Harajuku has been making a name for itself as world fashion center with store like Louis Vuitton, Chanel and Prada all taking root it Omotesando street.
How exactly did Harajuku Fashion district turn out like this? It can be linked back to the end of WWII when US barracks called Washington Heights were built here. Many small shops were set up to cater to the foreigners, which drew the attention of many teenagers interested in western clothing. The 1964 olympics were hosted in japan and Washington heights housed many of the athletes. More people came for a chance to meet them. Young people encouraged each other to set up their own shops here. In the 70’s a group of people called “the harajuku tribe” began to inhabit the area, and in 1978, laforte mall opened in harajuku. Together this really solidified the fashion culture that has lasted to today.
Modern Street fashions
Lolita is a type of street fashion heavily influenced by victorian and rococo fashion. It includes knee length dresses with high collars. The petticoat is the most important part of the lolita look. It gives the skirt a round formLolita doesnt have a speciffic starting time, but brands like MILK and Angelic pretty started selling clothing with lolita elements in the 70’s and 80’s. Gothic Lolita was the first style to become popular and recognizable. Visual kei bands sported gothic lolita, and their fans often followed. A magazine called KERA wrote a column called Gothic and Lolita Bible, which sold out in three days. Today it is sold as it’s own magazine. In the 2000’s lolita brands started to show up, some taking home in harajuku fashion district. Today there are some subtypes of lolita. First is Gothic, which consists mostly of black clothing with blue and silver highlights. Some gothic lolita use spooky elements like bats. Some substyles come from gothic lolita including punk lolita. Another subtype is Sweet lolita, which consist of pastel colors a printed dresses. They also wear lots of accessories including bows and hair clips. Lastly is Classic lolita, which uses much duller colors like light pink, burgundy, navy blue, and ivory green. A lot of older women like this style.
Gyaru is the japanese word for “gal” in english. It was first introduced to the japanese language as a sub brand of wrangler jeans. These girls sported trends from places like California. They would get dark tans and dye their hair brown or blond while wearing beach-like clothing. Shibuya, the town where this trend started, was where a lot of parties broke out in. They started up in the 70’s and eventually died out in the 90’s when they became out of control and the police stepped in. Gyaru girls got characterised as fun loving ladies who were socially active. In 1989, a survey written by Namba Koj categorised gyaru girls as trendy girls who were cheerful and social. They’re basically party girls. In the 80’s these gal’s became more sexuallized and devoluped a more negative conitation due to many magazines writing articles that were a lot more explicit about these girls. Later some time in the 90’s, younger high school girls called kogyaru, or little gal, tried to sneak into nightclubs. These girls started the modern movement of gyarus. Kogyaru girls often wore their school uniform rather than trendy, revealing clothing. This is due to the declining birth rate around the end of the 80’s. Private schools were fight for kids, so their school boards hired professional designers to recreate their uniforms. It worked out really well because kids were suddenly proud to wear their uniforms! Kogyaru girls often hiked up their skirts to be mini skirts, wore very loose socks, and dyed their hair a red/ brown color. They just changed their uniforms to make them more person by adding their own elements. Note: Kogyaru girls has pretty died out, peeking in 2000’s.
