Japanese Fashion

In a previous post, I mentioned I had been shopping at the base thrift store for Japanese clothing items. On my birthday, I went to a Japanese version of Ross and went on a shopping spree. The store is called "Paseos" and sells clothing items from 300 yen to about 1400 yen, or about $4 to about $16. I got so many cool clothes. I decided to post all my finds (thrift store and Paseos) so everyone can see why I'm in love with Japanese dresses and shirts (not so crazy about their pants or shorts). I chose just a few of my favorites.

This is a shirt I bought from the thrift store. It's a jersey material and the hem line falls below your hips. I plan to wear it with black leggings and boots. The hood is lined with a striped fabric. Although the stomach and hip area are roomy, the sleeves and chest are meant to fit a small girl between the sizes of 0-6.

The previous two pictures are of a shirt I bought at Paseos. The English makes no sense. It says, "California, Bird Humming, Blue Moon Bay." Although this shirt is boxy and marked as a "L" it's meant for a girl size 0-4. The hem falls about mid-hip.

Another shirt I bought from Paseos. Once again, the English word makes no sense. I think it says Civiced. the pink areas are cats in various playful poses. The length falls about mid-hip. Once again, this is a fairly small shirt, although it appears rather puffy.

This is one of the biggest shirts I bought from Paseos.  The English of course, dosen't make sense. It says, "Big love as soon as maybe get it!" It's a long shirt and the hem falls below the hip. I plan to wear this one with black leggings and boots during the fall.

This shirt was on sale for 300 yen. It says, "Notable." It's a pretty tiny shirt and the hem falls to the hips.

This is a dress and I love it so much. I bought this one at Paseos. The writing says, "Measures Establishment" and "Environment Boundaries." The bottom of the dress has two lace ruffles sewn into the hem. This dress is super cute. I'm sure Japanese girls would wear it with leggings, but I think it looks great by itself.

This is a thrift store find. The pattern is a little crazy and the dress is big, but with boots it looks cute.

This is a tank top I found at the base thrift store. The outside of the tank is wool, with braided wool straps. The inside of the tank is lined with silk. It's long and the hem falls below the hips. This looks great with jeans or leggings.

Now, to answer a few questions you may have:

Why doesn't the English make sense?

The English alphabet is called "rooma-ji." It's primarily used for design fodder. This means the makers of the clothes are more concerned about the letters having the right shapes rather than making sense. It's similar to us finding a "Japanese" vase at Wal-Mart and thinking, "Ohhh...that's beautiful! Look at the decorative Japanese writing!" then showing it to a Japanese friend only to find out it's just a bunch of characters crammed together for decoration, it actually has no meaning.

Why are the shirts so long?

It's kind of the style right now in Japan. The Japanese women tend to wear clothes that are conservative on top (no cleavage, long) and less conservative on the bottom. In the US, we tend to be the opposite. Also, I'm really into the leggings and boots look, so it's my personal preference that my shirts be long. There are shorter shirts in Japan, but it's not particuarly my style.

What size are the shirts?

The Japanese have a terrible clothes measuring system and almost everything is marked "M"..although it may truly be an American small or large. Although most of the shirt I bought are long and roomy in the middle, the shoulders, sleeve openings and torso area are meant for a smaller woman. The first shirt I posted has incredibly small sleeves, almost to the point of it being uncomfortable around my arm.