There was a talk today about socks fashion in Japan. It's hard to notice trends while you're right inside it, but having been pointed out today, there are fashion trends in socks here especially among girls.
So the trendy socks right now are black knee socks which we call high socks, that aren't thick like school socks but are kind of sheer just like a cut version of pantyhose. A lot of them are in black but also in beige with many patterns and prints. The representative designs include diagonal stripes, fishnet (completely "net" and fishnet patterns printed on black stockings) and check, some with silver or gold lame.
I am one of those who wear these socks daily and I like to collect different patterns. The ones I'm wearing today are fishnet with silver lame.
The good thing about these high socks stockings is that they're knee length and don't come all the way to your hip. I wear pants mostly so there is no need for pantyhose to be in full length and I simply hate it when I accidently scratch and make holes in them with my fingers... which I do quite often.
The best part about these is that they have patterns and prints that make them fashionable. Even though I wear pants and so naturally most of the socks would be covered and unseen, the little visible part being fashionable is pretty important. Um, I don't claim myself to be so fashionable, but the really stylish fashionistas in this city pay attention to the littlest parts from head to toe.
I first started wearing these when I started wearing boots. My legs aren't so skinny to leave room for the normal thick school knee socks and like I just said I don't like wearing full-length pantyhose so these half ones came in really really handy because they're half and thin. I don't really wear them with sneakers because they're too thin for sneakers.
Anyway, my colleague who wears one pattern or another of these socks everyday also agreed with my reasonings.
By the way trendy socks in the past were first of all, the so-called "loose socks" which came out about a decade ago when I was still a middle school student. These are believed to have derived from boot socks for hiking boots and became extremely loose over the years together with the super-short skirt boom.
Then among the high school students came the navy blue knee socks which continues today. Loose socks have gone very close to extinct, though some say that they're reviving in a way among the "gals" today.
In my memory of the past ten years, ever since the loose socks spread the normal short, half-shin length socks died out almost completely save schools that are very strict about clothing and middle-aged women. The socks that continue to dominate the sneakers fashion are the super short sneaker socks that are shorter than your ankles. I know these socks are pretty common in other places of the world today.
Then there are the five-finger-socks which didn't exactly become big enough as a fad but still widely known and popular during the winter because they're surprisingly warm.
Other socks being seen around are only-toes-socks for summer pumps (you want to wear as if wearing them barefeet), leg warmers and perhaps another couple of types.
So much for sock talk. I might put up some pictures in the future... but I don't know if I want to show my feet :p
Today's update on Japan Mode: webmanga CharmyNurseM Chapter 10
Showing posts with label Fashion / Beauty. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Fashion / Beauty. Show all posts
Friday, February 16, 2007
Thursday, February 15, 2007
Boots for Summer
I do belive that Japanese people are quite keen about catching up with the trend of the moment, and are pretty good at presenting themselves as fashionable. Boots have always been part of the fashion trend and as far as I can remember for about the past decade, the trend varied from super-thick soles and high heels, round toes, squared toes, pointy toes, baggy boots, tight boots, boots with accessories, flat/low heels and so on. But all of that was only for winter.
Beginning last year or perhaps a nother year ago, boots became a fashion item for spring and even summer. Until it became a social stream to wear boots in those seasons, boots were kind of tacitly understood to put away by the end of March. I think that there are chiefly two reasons for this: one is simply because of the climatical reasons because April is warm enough to walk outside without wearing layers of sweaters and coats, and the other is the change of school/fiscal year because March is the end and April is the beginning. Even if you're not directly involved in the change of the year it is highly likely that your surroundings are, and dragging a fashion item from the "past" is not exactly a cool thing to do if you want to make yourself a social person.
Anyway, going back to the boots talk: last winter boots that resemble Western (cowboy/cowgirl) boots became extremely popular especially among women, often coordinated with tiered skirts, short skirts or pants, and blue jeans tucking them inside the boots. Unlike the skinny leg-hugging elegant boots that come up to your knees with pointy toes and pin heels, these Western boots are more casual and easier to wear together with a wider varietion of clothes. They also come in a variety of designs and materials, don't look as season-picky as the other shapes, and go along well with girly clothing so the trend extended into spring (also with the fashion industry's intentions and promotion, needless to say)... and even summer... though I don't exactly remember that many people actually wearing summer boots. For your background knowledge, summer in Japan can be pretty hot and humid and boots can make it worse.
It seems like, however, the fashion industry is trying to establish a firm summer boots fashion this summer be it temporarily or continuous to the following summers. By the way they claim the mainstream for this year are strong colors, and huge (futuristic) prints. Seeing that an increasing number of young people are wearing boots in the season of high temperature and humidity, the brands are coming up with designs that show your toes and heels bare, as well as transparent (plastic) heels. And of course, the parts that wrap your legs are kept short and fresh.
Let's see how much of a real trend this'll become...
Today's update on Japan Mode: budo - "naginata"... the "budo" (Japanese martial arts) section hasn't had an update for a looong time now, and because I introduced a naginata event for this weekend's event I thought I'd give an explanation for what it actually is.
Beginning last year or perhaps a nother year ago, boots became a fashion item for spring and even summer. Until it became a social stream to wear boots in those seasons, boots were kind of tacitly understood to put away by the end of March. I think that there are chiefly two reasons for this: one is simply because of the climatical reasons because April is warm enough to walk outside without wearing layers of sweaters and coats, and the other is the change of school/fiscal year because March is the end and April is the beginning. Even if you're not directly involved in the change of the year it is highly likely that your surroundings are, and dragging a fashion item from the "past" is not exactly a cool thing to do if you want to make yourself a social person.
Anyway, going back to the boots talk: last winter boots that resemble Western (cowboy/cowgirl) boots became extremely popular especially among women, often coordinated with tiered skirts, short skirts or pants, and blue jeans tucking them inside the boots. Unlike the skinny leg-hugging elegant boots that come up to your knees with pointy toes and pin heels, these Western boots are more casual and easier to wear together with a wider varietion of clothes. They also come in a variety of designs and materials, don't look as season-picky as the other shapes, and go along well with girly clothing so the trend extended into spring (also with the fashion industry's intentions and promotion, needless to say)... and even summer... though I don't exactly remember that many people actually wearing summer boots. For your background knowledge, summer in Japan can be pretty hot and humid and boots can make it worse.
It seems like, however, the fashion industry is trying to establish a firm summer boots fashion this summer be it temporarily or continuous to the following summers. By the way they claim the mainstream for this year are strong colors, and huge (futuristic) prints. Seeing that an increasing number of young people are wearing boots in the season of high temperature and humidity, the brands are coming up with designs that show your toes and heels bare, as well as transparent (plastic) heels. And of course, the parts that wrap your legs are kept short and fresh.
Let's see how much of a real trend this'll become...
Today's update on Japan Mode: budo - "naginata"... the "budo" (Japanese martial arts) section hasn't had an update for a looong time now, and because I introduced a naginata event for this weekend's event I thought I'd give an explanation for what it actually is.
Wednesday, February 7, 2007
Children's Fashion
I didn't really intend to write about fashion two days straight, but since I found a news article on the web that caught my attention I think I'll write about it.
I've seen Japanese fashion coming up as topics in blogs and websites quite often, but come to think of it, I've never encountered a place that discusses Japanese children's fashion. This article I found today was about Japanese boy's fashion, about the disappearance of short pants.
Here, by "short" I mean super short. I remember when I was a grade school kid the majority of the boys in school were wearing these super short pants that only covered their bottoms and made hardly any difference from boxer pants, and these pants which I bet those who read my explanation would think... unbelievable (I think I'll keep my words modest since this blog isn't exactly personal)... were the mainstream back in those days which in today's common fashion sense seems impossible.
I can't remember though, of how much boys of my age cared about their fashion when we were single-digit-year-olds. I guess they were more interested in running and playing around. My generation is already described by older people as weak because half the kids were playing video games or had to go to cram school, but still I would like to claim that when I was a kid more boys and girls were playing outside until sunset than today. There are good social reasons responsible for the decrease of kids playing outside... but let's not talk about that right now.
I am not sure how much the children (I'm talking about 6-12 year olds) today care about their daily clothing especially the younger ones. Girls may be a bit more conscious about what they wear, their hairstyle and hair accessoried and the color of their school bags and how many colored pens they have so on so forth, but I don't know about boys. It is clear, however, that their mothers are super conscious about their kids' fashion.
The mothers of the grade school kids right now belong to the generation that are accustomed to reading fashion magazines since they were young. Though their generation itself experienced the mainstream of super short pants, it seems like they don't want their kids to wear them at all because they're sort of tacky and embarrassing. They want their boys to dress cool, and pants with longer lengths tend to be easier to show fashionability than short ones.
A person in the kids apparel business also explain that the spread of hip hop music, and sport manga among young boys play a part in spreading longer length pants. Another person says that the shift of boys underwear has a lot to do with the disappearance of super short pants. I think all of these reasons are true.
Today, almost all of the boys I see around in my neighborhood wear knee-length pants if not blue jeans down to their feet. It is sad in a way (not to say I'm a perv!) because short pants were like a symbol of tomboy kind of energy and seeing less of them around feels like the society is weakening. At the same time though, I also have a feeling that if there was a kid wearing those super short pants he's be bullied in school for not being the same with others or for being unfashionable - of course I don't mean it for every kid, but these days you can be bullied for the smallest reason (see my ex-bosses blog http://jmode.blogspot.com/ Oct.20 entry for "bullies and suicide").
When super-short pants were the mainstream, those with long pants looked like a weak and sick kid...
Today's update on Japan Mode: Japanese Green Tea Vol.4 - the last article on Japanese green tea introducing how it's drank outside of Japan. I discovered that the general tendency of drinking it is adding a lot of sugar and fruit flavor. Where is the taste and fragrance of "green tea" left??? There were a few that I want to try especially this green tea martini called Zentini, it was pretty interesting.
I've seen Japanese fashion coming up as topics in blogs and websites quite often, but come to think of it, I've never encountered a place that discusses Japanese children's fashion. This article I found today was about Japanese boy's fashion, about the disappearance of short pants.
Here, by "short" I mean super short. I remember when I was a grade school kid the majority of the boys in school were wearing these super short pants that only covered their bottoms and made hardly any difference from boxer pants, and these pants which I bet those who read my explanation would think... unbelievable (I think I'll keep my words modest since this blog isn't exactly personal)... were the mainstream back in those days which in today's common fashion sense seems impossible.
I can't remember though, of how much boys of my age cared about their fashion when we were single-digit-year-olds. I guess they were more interested in running and playing around. My generation is already described by older people as weak because half the kids were playing video games or had to go to cram school, but still I would like to claim that when I was a kid more boys and girls were playing outside until sunset than today. There are good social reasons responsible for the decrease of kids playing outside... but let's not talk about that right now.
I am not sure how much the children (I'm talking about 6-12 year olds) today care about their daily clothing especially the younger ones. Girls may be a bit more conscious about what they wear, their hairstyle and hair accessoried and the color of their school bags and how many colored pens they have so on so forth, but I don't know about boys. It is clear, however, that their mothers are super conscious about their kids' fashion.
The mothers of the grade school kids right now belong to the generation that are accustomed to reading fashion magazines since they were young. Though their generation itself experienced the mainstream of super short pants, it seems like they don't want their kids to wear them at all because they're sort of tacky and embarrassing. They want their boys to dress cool, and pants with longer lengths tend to be easier to show fashionability than short ones.
A person in the kids apparel business also explain that the spread of hip hop music, and sport manga among young boys play a part in spreading longer length pants. Another person says that the shift of boys underwear has a lot to do with the disappearance of super short pants. I think all of these reasons are true.
Today, almost all of the boys I see around in my neighborhood wear knee-length pants if not blue jeans down to their feet. It is sad in a way (not to say I'm a perv!) because short pants were like a symbol of tomboy kind of energy and seeing less of them around feels like the society is weakening. At the same time though, I also have a feeling that if there was a kid wearing those super short pants he's be bullied in school for not being the same with others or for being unfashionable - of course I don't mean it for every kid, but these days you can be bullied for the smallest reason (see my ex-bosses blog http://jmode.blogspot.com/ Oct.20 entry for "bullies and suicide").
When super-short pants were the mainstream, those with long pants looked like a weak and sick kid...
Today's update on Japan Mode: Japanese Green Tea Vol.4 - the last article on Japanese green tea introducing how it's drank outside of Japan. I discovered that the general tendency of drinking it is adding a lot of sugar and fruit flavor. Where is the taste and fragrance of "green tea" left??? There were a few that I want to try especially this green tea martini called Zentini, it was pretty interesting.
Tuesday, February 6, 2007
2007 Spring Fashion
From my netsurfing yesterday to gather some information about Japanese fashion trend for spring 2007, I found out that the ladies fashion trend for this season is going to be pretty seriously girly.
Oh, but before I go on, let me ask you one simple question that's been bothering me for a while.
When you describe fashion in English, which one of the following is correct or rather, most commonly used?
A) Men's / Ladies'
B) Men's / Lady's
C) Mens / Ladies
D) Men's / Women's
This has been confusing me: the gramatically correct ones would probably be (B) and (D) but I have a feeling that (C) is used most commonly in Japan. Like many of the imported words and English coined in Japan, people don't really care too much about grammar. But I need to know just to get rid of this blurry smoky thing out of my mind.
So, the women's fashion trend. I'm going to put up the details some time during February on Japan Mode so I won't go in too much (not to mention I don't have enough information to come up with a complete article).
The general trend is somewhat a continuation of winter 2006, which is the revival of 60s-sort-of style. I don't know about fashion trends outside of Japan so I'm not sure if the fashion trend here is something unique to Japan or is kind of a part of the larger int'l/global trend but anyway, the winter 2006 trend in a word can be described "classic, feminine and gorgeous" (at least, that's what people were aiming) as represented in the use of frill, laces, large ribbons, (faux) fur, skinny and rather high-positioned waist line, A-line silhouette so on so forth.
Those elements remain, or rather, they become even more conspicuous especially frills, lace and bowtie ribbons. New designs coming out already have those accessories attached (most time detachable) but the trend seems to be so mainstream and popular that people add ribbons and bowties to the jackets they already have.
Over the winter (right now too) I've seen quite a number of people wearing mini skirts and short pants together with all kinds of leggings, but the trend for spring looks like more fluffy (fluffy?) and relaxed shapes. Balloon skirts and single-piece dresses (onepiece) continue to receive high popularity, and on top of the boom of springlike pretty colors, girly prints like flower and fruit seem to gain attention even for grown adults. If not skirts, baggy pants.
Shoes: there are spring boots coming out, but the mainstream seems to be flat and flexible shoes. Ballet-type shoes were pretty big last spring, so I guess those kinds, or similar types would be the trend this year (b/c the Japanese fashion industry doesn't like to have same trends in a decade, they have to change it somehow).
I also heard a small rumor that long hairstyle rather than short will be popular but am not sure.
I have a feeling that I am giving away too much here that I won't have anything left to write on the website, so I will stop here.
Today's update on Japan Mode: Sakidori Events
Oh, but before I go on, let me ask you one simple question that's been bothering me for a while.
When you describe fashion in English, which one of the following is correct or rather, most commonly used?
A) Men's / Ladies'
B) Men's / Lady's
C) Mens / Ladies
D) Men's / Women's
This has been confusing me: the gramatically correct ones would probably be (B) and (D) but I have a feeling that (C) is used most commonly in Japan. Like many of the imported words and English coined in Japan, people don't really care too much about grammar. But I need to know just to get rid of this blurry smoky thing out of my mind.
So, the women's fashion trend. I'm going to put up the details some time during February on Japan Mode so I won't go in too much (not to mention I don't have enough information to come up with a complete article).
The general trend is somewhat a continuation of winter 2006, which is the revival of 60s-sort-of style. I don't know about fashion trends outside of Japan so I'm not sure if the fashion trend here is something unique to Japan or is kind of a part of the larger int'l/global trend but anyway, the winter 2006 trend in a word can be described "classic, feminine and gorgeous" (at least, that's what people were aiming) as represented in the use of frill, laces, large ribbons, (faux) fur, skinny and rather high-positioned waist line, A-line silhouette so on so forth.
Those elements remain, or rather, they become even more conspicuous especially frills, lace and bowtie ribbons. New designs coming out already have those accessories attached (most time detachable) but the trend seems to be so mainstream and popular that people add ribbons and bowties to the jackets they already have.
Over the winter (right now too) I've seen quite a number of people wearing mini skirts and short pants together with all kinds of leggings, but the trend for spring looks like more fluffy (fluffy?) and relaxed shapes. Balloon skirts and single-piece dresses (onepiece) continue to receive high popularity, and on top of the boom of springlike pretty colors, girly prints like flower and fruit seem to gain attention even for grown adults. If not skirts, baggy pants.
Shoes: there are spring boots coming out, but the mainstream seems to be flat and flexible shoes. Ballet-type shoes were pretty big last spring, so I guess those kinds, or similar types would be the trend this year (b/c the Japanese fashion industry doesn't like to have same trends in a decade, they have to change it somehow).
I also heard a small rumor that long hairstyle rather than short will be popular but am not sure.
I have a feeling that I am giving away too much here that I won't have anything left to write on the website, so I will stop here.
Today's update on Japan Mode: Sakidori Events
Wednesday, January 31, 2007
Japanese Clothing
I've been wondering how Japanese fashion and clothing are viewed from outside of Japan. Sometimes I hear people say Japanese people are one of the most fashionable people in the world - I don't know if the fashion level is "high" in the world standard, but I do think that people here pay a lot of attention to what they wear and what other people wear. So many of the people in this country especially the generation from teens through 30s are so conscious about fashion, always keen on checking up witht the latest trends.
I don't mean to make any jusgements today on Japanese fashion sense cuz I'm rather pretty proud of our artistic sense (even though it wasn't until recently that I finally realized how fashionable Japanese people are), but am curious to know how non-Japanese people think about our fashion - of the designs that are out there and the way we wear them. Do they appear fashionable to you, or silly?
The biggest question in my mind at the moment is, do the thoughts/ideas of coordination come up in daily fashion in your countries? Coordinating dozens of items considering the balance of colors and volume is almost like common sense here even for daily clothing. We have layers and "today's one-point fashion" and all those sort coordinated together not only with clothes but also with shoes and hairstyle and nail fashion.
I also wonder how many people are actually interested in dressing themselves up with clothes from Japanese brands. Most of the clothes we have in fact have a lot of Western origin and influences, but are modified with little details and are added lots of little values which I suppose, build up to stylishness. Many people are good at finding the balance of their total coordinate but what's been in my mind lately is that does our fashion style have any chances of spreading overseas?
I noticed that a lot of the punky gothy clothes are pretty popular in the name of Harajuku fashion, but I feel a lot of British punk rock elements in them and also that style, although pretty famous and popular in Harajuku (which is a 10-min-bike ride from where I live) it is by no means a representative of the whole customer population there.
Shibuya is also famous for young generation's fashion as many times represented in the term "109 fashion" or in Japanese (marukyu-fashion). How many of you would actually be interested in buying loads of clothes in Shibuya and wearing them daily back in your home country? And how available are Japan-originated clothes outside of Japan?
Once a pretty big figure in the Italian fashion industry said that the men's fashion culture in Japan is well-established and is something the whole world can learn lots from. Come to think of it, I guess that's kind of true. Men here are pretty keen on fashion even just wearing T-shirts with blue jeans. Graphic printed T-shirts are extremely popular among them. Have a look at this brand, graniph, they're one of the prominent brands in the T-shirts industry in Japan (kind of like a Japanese version of Stussy). See here also for more popular fashion brands in Japan. Too sorry a lot of them only have Japanese website.
Okay I think I must stop here as I am not exactly ready to update today's feature on my website. Today I have an article on manga that I've talked a little about on this blog a couple of weeks ago. It's about how common and popular it is to make live action films and TV dramas in the past few years. Come see Japan Mode for more :-)
I don't mean to make any jusgements today on Japanese fashion sense cuz I'm rather pretty proud of our artistic sense (even though it wasn't until recently that I finally realized how fashionable Japanese people are), but am curious to know how non-Japanese people think about our fashion - of the designs that are out there and the way we wear them. Do they appear fashionable to you, or silly?
The biggest question in my mind at the moment is, do the thoughts/ideas of coordination come up in daily fashion in your countries? Coordinating dozens of items considering the balance of colors and volume is almost like common sense here even for daily clothing. We have layers and "today's one-point fashion" and all those sort coordinated together not only with clothes but also with shoes and hairstyle and nail fashion.
I also wonder how many people are actually interested in dressing themselves up with clothes from Japanese brands. Most of the clothes we have in fact have a lot of Western origin and influences, but are modified with little details and are added lots of little values which I suppose, build up to stylishness. Many people are good at finding the balance of their total coordinate but what's been in my mind lately is that does our fashion style have any chances of spreading overseas?
I noticed that a lot of the punky gothy clothes are pretty popular in the name of Harajuku fashion, but I feel a lot of British punk rock elements in them and also that style, although pretty famous and popular in Harajuku (which is a 10-min-bike ride from where I live) it is by no means a representative of the whole customer population there.
Shibuya is also famous for young generation's fashion as many times represented in the term "109 fashion" or in Japanese (marukyu-fashion). How many of you would actually be interested in buying loads of clothes in Shibuya and wearing them daily back in your home country? And how available are Japan-originated clothes outside of Japan?
Once a pretty big figure in the Italian fashion industry said that the men's fashion culture in Japan is well-established and is something the whole world can learn lots from. Come to think of it, I guess that's kind of true. Men here are pretty keen on fashion even just wearing T-shirts with blue jeans. Graphic printed T-shirts are extremely popular among them. Have a look at this brand, graniph, they're one of the prominent brands in the T-shirts industry in Japan (kind of like a Japanese version of Stussy). See here also for more popular fashion brands in Japan. Too sorry a lot of them only have Japanese website.
Okay I think I must stop here as I am not exactly ready to update today's feature on my website. Today I have an article on manga that I've talked a little about on this blog a couple of weeks ago. It's about how common and popular it is to make live action films and TV dramas in the past few years. Come see Japan Mode for more :-)
Friday, January 19, 2007
The Make-up Culture
As I travel every now and then to various destinations, I realize that not so many women wear make-up the same way we do here in Japan. The same way, means most if not all of the following:
- foundation (liquid and powder)
- concealer
- face powder
- eye shadow (usually using several colors)
- eyeline
- mascara
- eyebrow
- cheek
- lipstick or lip gloss
and when it comes to ladies with more perfect make-up, layers of them. Whether you think this is less, normal or too much depends on, I guess, the society you live in and the culture you grew up in. For many Japanese females belonging to the age range of 18-27,28 or so, I think I can say this is normal.
I notice that here in Japan we have a unique culture of wearing make-up, and like in clothing and hairstyle there is a trend in make-up as well that shifts every season and gradually changes year after another.
For example, a couple of decades ago the trend was the so-called "surfer-make" which was generally represented in sky blue eye shadow and rather bright pink lipstick. Eyebrow trimming which is a common sense today was not so common back then, so thick brows were the mainstream.
A decade ago was about the time when "natural-make" started to spread (save the whole gal phenomenon). This is a kind of make-up in which you put on some make-up, but only within the extent of making your face look as if you don't have so much make-up on. Colors were close to the natural color of your skin and lips.
Right now since about a year ago, the idea of "chocolate make-up" came up using colors close to gold, bronze and brown. These colors mostly deal with eye make-up and lipstick (in the case of lipstick, a bit more redder than brown) but also are used for cheeks.
The reason for wearing full make-up, not point make-up like just mascara and lipstick, mostly comes from wanting to make your face look more distinctive, I think. I wouldn't go into the topic of inferiority complex that a lot of Japanese people have with their features and figures, but for women especially, there is definitely a tendency of wanting to make the eyes look bigger and rounder and lips sexier.
In addition to the above reason, there is also this kind of tacit understanding that wearing make-up is part of the social etiquette. If you're going out for grocery shopping it doesn't really matter so much, but if you are meeting someone like at work or are going to be present in a group of people (whether you know them or not) you might want to put some on. Of course, this isn't a rule and there are many people who don't wear make-up at all times so it's completely up to the individual and no one has the right to criticize anyone for not wearing it. I'm not sure if this has something to do with it or not, but there's been an understanding in Japanese tradition and culture since hundreds of years ago to completely separate private and public faces, to draw a clear line between the this-world and the other-world in many senses.
Thus, wearing make-up is part of the every-morning preparations for many college students and working women in Japan. But mornings are super busy unless you get up hours before you set out, and wearing this much make-up takes a surprising long time if you do it neatly. When I was in univ some of my friends were telling me they get up two hours before they leave home - an hour and a half for shower, make-up and hair styling, and half an hour for the rest of the preparations.
So I was thinking that this is the case for many females who look so perfect on trains and schools and office, but I was surprised to read an article based on a quick poll of how much time working females afford for everyday make-up. Nearly 80% of the twenties through fourties only required less than 20 minutes, covering most or all of the items mentioned earlier. I was like, wow, and this morning I observed how much time I needed to wear make-up, and wow, it only took me 15 minutes - which was less than I thought I needed every morning.
To many people who don't have the habit of wearing make-up, 15-20 minutes may seem like a long time just to wear make-up (like men who always wonder and complain why women take too much time to get ready), but if you want to look good and as perfect as you can, it's pretty short. I guess it's not like it only takes that little time, but women train themselves and obtain the ability to make preparations more efficient and shorter.
So that was my thought for the day. Not much point really.
Today's update on Japan Mode (will be up around 17:00 JST): webmanga CharmyNurseM chapter 8
- foundation (liquid and powder)
- concealer
- face powder
- eye shadow (usually using several colors)
- eyeline
- mascara
- eyebrow
- cheek
- lipstick or lip gloss
and when it comes to ladies with more perfect make-up, layers of them. Whether you think this is less, normal or too much depends on, I guess, the society you live in and the culture you grew up in. For many Japanese females belonging to the age range of 18-27,28 or so, I think I can say this is normal.
I notice that here in Japan we have a unique culture of wearing make-up, and like in clothing and hairstyle there is a trend in make-up as well that shifts every season and gradually changes year after another.
For example, a couple of decades ago the trend was the so-called "surfer-make" which was generally represented in sky blue eye shadow and rather bright pink lipstick. Eyebrow trimming which is a common sense today was not so common back then, so thick brows were the mainstream.
A decade ago was about the time when "natural-make" started to spread (save the whole gal phenomenon). This is a kind of make-up in which you put on some make-up, but only within the extent of making your face look as if you don't have so much make-up on. Colors were close to the natural color of your skin and lips.
Right now since about a year ago, the idea of "chocolate make-up" came up using colors close to gold, bronze and brown. These colors mostly deal with eye make-up and lipstick (in the case of lipstick, a bit more redder than brown) but also are used for cheeks.
The reason for wearing full make-up, not point make-up like just mascara and lipstick, mostly comes from wanting to make your face look more distinctive, I think. I wouldn't go into the topic of inferiority complex that a lot of Japanese people have with their features and figures, but for women especially, there is definitely a tendency of wanting to make the eyes look bigger and rounder and lips sexier.
In addition to the above reason, there is also this kind of tacit understanding that wearing make-up is part of the social etiquette. If you're going out for grocery shopping it doesn't really matter so much, but if you are meeting someone like at work or are going to be present in a group of people (whether you know them or not) you might want to put some on. Of course, this isn't a rule and there are many people who don't wear make-up at all times so it's completely up to the individual and no one has the right to criticize anyone for not wearing it. I'm not sure if this has something to do with it or not, but there's been an understanding in Japanese tradition and culture since hundreds of years ago to completely separate private and public faces, to draw a clear line between the this-world and the other-world in many senses.
Thus, wearing make-up is part of the every-morning preparations for many college students and working women in Japan. But mornings are super busy unless you get up hours before you set out, and wearing this much make-up takes a surprising long time if you do it neatly. When I was in univ some of my friends were telling me they get up two hours before they leave home - an hour and a half for shower, make-up and hair styling, and half an hour for the rest of the preparations.
So I was thinking that this is the case for many females who look so perfect on trains and schools and office, but I was surprised to read an article based on a quick poll of how much time working females afford for everyday make-up. Nearly 80% of the twenties through fourties only required less than 20 minutes, covering most or all of the items mentioned earlier. I was like, wow, and this morning I observed how much time I needed to wear make-up, and wow, it only took me 15 minutes - which was less than I thought I needed every morning.
To many people who don't have the habit of wearing make-up, 15-20 minutes may seem like a long time just to wear make-up (like men who always wonder and complain why women take too much time to get ready), but if you want to look good and as perfect as you can, it's pretty short. I guess it's not like it only takes that little time, but women train themselves and obtain the ability to make preparations more efficient and shorter.
So that was my thought for the day. Not much point really.
Today's update on Japan Mode (will be up around 17:00 JST): webmanga CharmyNurseM chapter 8
Thursday, December 28, 2006
Fashion and Tradition
Take off your apron and wear a "maekake" - maekake (pronounced: ma - eh - ka - keh), a Japanese style traditional apron which has been around in Japan for quite a few centuries now is becoming a silent boomlet these days.
Even with the long history though, maekake is not too common for it is a king of a working outfit or perhaps part of the uniform for those workers (mostly men) who work at liquor shops, Japanese sake factories, soy sauce factories, miso factories, those kinds of places. It is a large apron worn around the waist and down to the middle of your shins, made of thick strong cotton or cotton linen, usually dyed with indigo and has prints in white in the middle of the cloth. It's sort of like a sommelier's apron only in terms of shape. The prints are of the names of the factory/shop/cellar and its emblem mark. Maekake developed as an apron for these occupations for the fabric is strong enough to endure heavy load work and protect the workers' legs from being hurt.
The main reason for maekake to become popular especially among the younger generation is the design. As I just wrote, a common maekake is in two Japanese traditional colors - deep indigo and white - and also with the writings the entire design gives this sense of "iki" (Edo stylishness) and is pretty hot among the young workers (who wear aprons for work) who are keen on dressing themselves modern-fashionable and traditional at the same time. Since maekake is originally made to be customized with respective names and marks, non-originally-Japanese places such as Western style cafes and Chinese restaurants are also ordering maekake to wear for work.
As seen in this example, traditional Japanese-ness in fashion is slowly gaining attention lately. Sometimes I wonder if it's one of those subconcious warnings your mind gives yourself, to not completely lose your identity of being a citizen of the culture you're born in. Or maybe it's just individual preference in fashion.
The maekake designs are taken into casual fashion like T-shirts and blue jeans too. They're actually pretty cool.
Well so, when you get a chance to come to Japan and don't know what to buy for souvenirs for family and friends try heading to one of those shops (not only clothing shops but sake cellers sell maekake now) and get one.
Today's update on Japan Mode: kanji name conversion - I haven't had conversion examples updated for a while but here it comes again. We're still not ready for new orders though, sorry.
Even with the long history though, maekake is not too common for it is a king of a working outfit or perhaps part of the uniform for those workers (mostly men) who work at liquor shops, Japanese sake factories, soy sauce factories, miso factories, those kinds of places. It is a large apron worn around the waist and down to the middle of your shins, made of thick strong cotton or cotton linen, usually dyed with indigo and has prints in white in the middle of the cloth. It's sort of like a sommelier's apron only in terms of shape. The prints are of the names of the factory/shop/cellar and its emblem mark. Maekake developed as an apron for these occupations for the fabric is strong enough to endure heavy load work and protect the workers' legs from being hurt.
The main reason for maekake to become popular especially among the younger generation is the design. As I just wrote, a common maekake is in two Japanese traditional colors - deep indigo and white - and also with the writings the entire design gives this sense of "iki" (Edo stylishness) and is pretty hot among the young workers (who wear aprons for work) who are keen on dressing themselves modern-fashionable and traditional at the same time. Since maekake is originally made to be customized with respective names and marks, non-originally-Japanese places such as Western style cafes and Chinese restaurants are also ordering maekake to wear for work.
As seen in this example, traditional Japanese-ness in fashion is slowly gaining attention lately. Sometimes I wonder if it's one of those subconcious warnings your mind gives yourself, to not completely lose your identity of being a citizen of the culture you're born in. Or maybe it's just individual preference in fashion.
The maekake designs are taken into casual fashion like T-shirts and blue jeans too. They're actually pretty cool.
Well so, when you get a chance to come to Japan and don't know what to buy for souvenirs for family and friends try heading to one of those shops (not only clothing shops but sake cellers sell maekake now) and get one.
Today's update on Japan Mode: kanji name conversion - I haven't had conversion examples updated for a while but here it comes again. We're still not ready for new orders though, sorry.
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