Japanese street fashion
Japanese fashion consists of a mixture of both traditional and modern styles. Most of the traditional Japanese fashion has evolved to what is known as street fashion today although occasionally, traces of traditional Japanese fashion can be encountered in large cities of Japan.
Background
Japan began to emulate Western fashion during the middle of the 19th century. Later into the 21st century, it altered into what is known as 'Street Fashion' today.
The term 'Street Fashion' is used to describe fashion where the wearer personally customizes the outfits by adopting a mixture of current and traditional trends. Such clothes are generally home-made with the use of material bought from the stores.
At present, there are many styles of dresses in Japan, from a mix of both local and foreign labels. Some of these styles are extreme and avant-garde similar to the haute couture seen on European catwalks. The rise and fall of many of these trends has been chronicled by Shoichi Aoki since 1997 in the fashion magazine FRUiTS, which is a notable magazine for the promotion of street fashion in Japan.
Modern Japanese fashion
Supposedly street fashion has become the most popular trend in Japan today. Great deals of young Japanese wear the outlandish clothes in large urban fashion districts such as Harajuku, Ginza, Odaiba, Shinjuku and Shibuya.
Lolita
Lolita Fashion is the subculture Gothic & Lolita, which is greatly inspired by Victorian children's clothing and the sophisticated costumes of the Rococo period. Other influences of Lolita include the western goth , punk , cosplay subculture and french maid outfits.
Cosplay
Another Japanese subculture is Cosplay, which is based on dressing as characters from manga, anime, tokusatsu,
Kogal
The Kogal subculture is characterized by young women, who evidently display their disposable incomes through tastes in fashion, music and other forms of blatant social activity.
Ganguro
The Ganguro subculture peaked popularity in the year 2000. The looks of Ganguro fashion consists of bleached hair, a deep tan or an extremely pale tan, fake eyelashes, platform shoes and brightly coloured make-up and outfits. They wear mini-skirts, platform boots and ample amounts of bracelets, rings and necklaces. The Ganguro girls are usually accompanied by a small group and it is typical of a "Ganguro Gal" to show-off their cell phones covered with purikura. [1].
Bōsōzoku
The stereotypical bōsōzoku look is often portrayed, and even caricatured, in many forms of Japanese media such as anime, manga and films. The typical bōsōzoku member is often depicted in a uniform consisting of a jumpsuit like those worn by manual laborers or a tokko-fuku (特攻服), a type of military issued over-coat with kanji slogans usually worn open with no shirt underneath showing off their bandaged torsos and baggy matching pants tucked inside tall boots. Leather jackets, often embroidered with club/gang logos, and even full leather suits are also seen as common elements of the bōsōzoku look. Among other items in the bōsōzoku attire are usually round or wrap-around sunglasses, long hachimaki headbands also with battle slogans and a pompadour hairstyle most likely akin to the greaser/rocker look, or perhaps because of the hairstyle's association with yakuza thugs. The punch perm is considered a common bōsōzoku hairstyle as well. Surgical masks are also stereotypically worn by bōsōzokus.
Elegant Gothic Aristocrat
The style of Elegant Gothic Aristocrat is based on the concept of androgyny and often has identical outfits for both men and women. The clothing is limited to black, white and dark colors, and the main image is founded on elegance and simplicity where the clothing lines are usually simple and tight, with pants or long skirts that stand in contrast to the Lolita style. Dark, heavy makeup may be worn by both sexes.