Street fashion in Japan draws on both modern and traditional styles with outfits often personally customized at home. Popular youth styles include kogal, characterized by short skirts and platform boots, and ganguro, known for bleached hair, dark tans, and brightly colored clothing. Lolita fashion comes in classic, sweet, and gothic variations. Cosplay involves dressing as anime, manga, or video game characters. Traditional kimono are worn for various occasions and ceremonies, such as furisode for young women, yukata for summer, and uchikake for brides. Obi sashes and their elaborate tying styles are important accessories.

1. Japanese Fashion
By Sabrina and Emily

2. Street Fashion
Street fashion is when the wearer generally personally
customizes their outfits, they get their ideas from a
mixture of current modern styles and traditional
trends. The outfits are most often home made.

4. Kogal
The kogal look is a tanned
California valley girl type of look,
the outfits are based on a Japanese
school uniform but with a shorter
skirt, looser socks, and they often
have their hair dyed. platform style
boots, make-up, and burberry scarves
are other items often contributed to
the kogal style outfits.

6. Ganguro
The ganguro look
consists of bleaching their hair either grey, silver,
or various shades of orange, deep tans, white and
black eyeliner, fake eye lashes, platform shoes, and
brightly coloured outfits. (Also very typical is
bedazzled cell phones, tie dyed sarongs, mini-skirts,
hibiscus flower hair pins, lot’s of bracelets, rings,
and necklaces)

8. Lolita
There are different types of lolita styles, classic, sweet,
and gothic. The classic lolita is a fairly traditional
look, light coloured clothing, and more mature
looking. The sweet lolita is a childish kind of look,
involves many pastel colours and lots of lace and
ribbons. The gothic lolita style is based from the look
of victorian porcelain dolls, trying to look cute,
almost to a point of looking childish.

9. Classic Lolita
Gothic Lolita
Sweet Lolita

10. Cosplay
The cosplay look involves
dressing like a favourite
character from a manga,
anime, video game, or J-
rock/pop band or movie.
They dress in very
ornamented costumes
most often home-made

12. The Kimono( )
Furisode( ): The furisode is the kimono traditionally given to girls on
their twentieth birthday, when they are recognized as adults. They generally
have bright colours and sleeves that go all the way to the ground. Furisode are
usually worn to formal celebrations such as wedding ceremonies or tea
ceremonies until the young woman is married.
Yukata( ): Yukata are casual, light kimono, typically worn in summer.
Yukata have bright, colourful designs. A cotton sash is usually worn with the
yukata for casual and night wear, but one can wear it with an obi for more
formal occasions.
Houmongi( ): Houmongi are kimono often bought to replace the
furisode when a Japanese woman marries. The houmongi is the formal kimono
for a married woman and is often worn to weddings or tea ceremonies.

13. Furisode Houmongi
Yukata

14. The Kimono( ) con’t
Tomesode( ): The tomesode is the kimono married women wear only to the wedding
ceremony of a close relative. Tomesode are black, to contrast with the bride’s uchikake but the
obi and lower half are brightly coloured to show that it is a happy occasion.
Uchikake( ): The “wedding dress” of kimonos, uchikakes are worn by the brides of
traditional weddings. They are often white in colour. Uchikakes are very long and would touch
the ground if not held up. Unlike western wedding dresses with long trains behind the dresses,
the uchikake is long all the way around, in fact, brides need an assistant to be able to walk in
their uchikake.
Mofuku( ): The mofuku is worn only to the funeral of a close relative. Mofuku are always
all black.
Juunihitoe( ): Juunihitoe are extremely elaborate, complex kimonos worn only
by Japanese court-ladies. The colours and arrangements of the twenty layers were very
important. The juunihitoe was quite thick and heavy(the total weight could add up to 20
kilograms) and so very hot to wear.

15. Tomesode Juunihitoe
Mofuku
Uchikake

16. The Obi( )
Maru( ): The maru obi is the most formal obi with patterns along the full length and on both sides. They are usually
made of elaborately patterned brocade or tapestry decorated with gold threads. With it’s inordinate cost and uncomfortable
weight, maru obis are usually only worn for traditional weddings or other very formal occasions.
Fukuro( ): Fukuro obis are slightly less formal than the maru obi. It is made of a brocade or tapestry with a
pattern along 60% of one side. The fukuro obi is slightly less expensive and bulky than a maru obi, making it more
convenient to wear though it can look almost identical to a maru obi when tied.
Nagoya( ): The nagoya obi is much simpler and lighter than both the fukuro and maru obi. It is characterized by a
portion being pre-folded and stitched in half.
Hanhaba( ): Hanhaba obi are half the width of the other obis and is used for casual wear around the home,
under a haori (kimono coat), with children’s kimono, or with the yukata. Hanhaba are made with simpler fabric and
design to reflect the casual use.
Heko( ): A men’s obi which is used mainly for informal wear around the home, but young boys can wear the heko obi
in public.
Kaku( ): Men’s obi which, depending on it’s colour and pattern can be worn to any formal occasion.

17. Obi Musubi( )
(butterfly)
(clam’s mouth)
(standing arrow)
(drum)