First off Japanese Fashion, especially through the years is a very large topic, so only focusing on a few areas was key.
Currently this year at the 2008 Japanese Fashion week one of the themes was ethical fashion. This is a type of fashion that looks enviornmentally friendly or is at least enviornmentally inspired. Also within Japanese Fashion week it has been said that the 80s trend is going to make another appearance.
The term street fashion basically a person is taking their clothing and making it their own personal style by using a mixture of current and traditional trends. Most everything worn is either home-made or has some aspect of being altered to make it someone’s own personal style. Google street fashion in images and it’s easy to see what street fashion is. It’s almost like a hippie area of fashion.
Kimono is a somewhat ancient if not historical aspect to Japanese fashion. It is a t-shaped straight-lined robe that falls to the ankles. There is also a certain fashion to putting on a kimono, always left side over right side when it is wrapped around the body. An obi which is like a giant belt is what holds the kimono in place and on the body. Also there are specialy types of kimonos that are worn to weddings or other special occasions.
Final area I looked into was Ganguro, which was popular in the 1990s. It’s actually a very scary type of fashion given that most girls who participate look like modern day drag queen or rainbow brite. It was inspired by the 70s surfer girl look. Ganguro requires a very deek dark tan, bright colored hair (usually yellow or orange), a ton of makeup especially eye shadow in bright colors, facial gems and white lipstick.
