One of the things I love about traveling is the chance to people watch and observe street style in another city or country and what better place to do that than Japan! After years of dreaming about going there, my fiancé (now husband) and I decided to go there for our honeymoon last month. Certainly not a typical honeymoon destination and I received mixed reactions when I told people, some very excited with others saying “Oh that’s unusual!” In my book a honeymoon is an excuse to splash out and go somewhere you’ve both always dreamed about. Japan was that for us.
My fascination with this beautiful and fascinating country actually began with style. I would always admire how Japanese women could pull off the most wacky and bizarre outfits yet make them look like the most desirable thing you could imagine! I still don’t know how they do it, yet so many things that look right on them would just look odd on us Westerners. Other reasons were of course the culture, the people, the beauty, the food, the technology… I could go on but this is a style blog!
So during my two weeks I happily drank it all in. What struck me first of all us that even though they are very fashion conscious and certainly love their designer shops, they very much do their own thing. The general style there is quite different to Western or European style and it was quite refreshing to be see that (not a hipster in sight!) Surprisingly I didn’t do a lot of shopping, we had many other things on our agenda and we traveled around a bit, although I did pick up a second-hand kimono for a bargain price (had to be done!) The shops I did come across on our travels were either the high-end (Fendi, Prada, Louis Vuitton etc) or high street (Zara, Uniqlo, H&M) and I didn’t really see much in between, of course I didn’t know where to look either and we spent most of our time hunting down hidden restaurants!
So after a couple of weeks of style spotting I became familiar with some of the typical trends and key looks on the street. One the things I loved is that they have a playful approach and are not afraid to express their own style and what they like, even if it looks slightly odd! They also have a unique way of dressing to accentuating their petite size (I actually felt tall there at 5’4″). Popular styles are oversized clothing, interesting layering, midi-skirts and loose T’s, all kinds of platforms, fedoras and other styles of hats, cutesy and girly blouses and skirts, kitten heels, quirky socks, over-the-knee socks… name a few!
Will I be adopting any of these into my own wardrobe? Perhaps not but it was certainly a good reminder that fashion should be fun and you are only limited by your imagination! Some examples below. Enjoy x
