RATE: Summer Street Fashion in Daikanyama, JAPAN

[waitwhat]

Are those grey microfiber pants in the picture?

 

[berlin report]

Its the sunglassses that bother me the most. He could get away with the tie although I still think the idea is silly. There's just too much effort overall although the pieces are all good individually. Too much of a good thing, in other words. I'd probably ask him: Was there a point, when you were getting dressed, when you said to yourself: "thats enough"? Not to be a bore but I think part of the fine art of dressing to be noticed is knowing when to stop. Just my 20 euro cents.

 

[rach2jlc]

As others have said, it's a very Japanese look that I don't think has filtered outside its shores yet (and maybe it never will). Walking around any major Japanese city, you'd see any fifty guys wearing something similar, with varying degrees of success.

Though I also agree that I could never wear this in a million years, what I like about Japanese youth culture and especially their take on fashion is that they are completely unconcerned with the "rules" that we around these parts take so seriously. They might match a pair of military cargoes with a navy Borrelli jacket, a pair of Vivienne Westwood shoes with toes so pointy they could cut glass, a pink tank top, and a Kiton seven fold tie... and somehow look okay in it.

Nevertheless, one shouldn't say that being "Unconcerned" with the rules equates being ignorant of them, as some of the major trad companies are either owned (J PRess, for example) by Japanese companies or wildly popular there (Alden, BB). Not to mention that Japanese men's fashion magazines leave ours in the dust (Men's Ex or Uomo or Leon vs. GQ or Details? NO thanks...) A lot of these kids know the rules... they just don't care or, more aptly, they modify them to do what they want (lots of discussions with my college students have confirmed this... they know a lot more about fashion than their typical American counterparts).

Nevertheless, there is a freedom of dress and a freedom for men to accessorize with bags that we just don't have. I have a lot of man-purses from my time in Japan... wonderful things made from lots of exotic animals (j/k)... and now that I'm back in the USA, they just sit in my closet and wait until I go back to Tokyo each summer.

 

[Ivan Kipling]

I think this individual enjoys fashion, likes to dress up or down, and understands the importance of color, rhythm and proportion. The red rims on his glasses are striking.