(gentle music)
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Hello!
What's sewing on, friends?
So Tokyo is known as one of the style capitals of the world,
and like any successful trend-setter,
Tokyo always seems to be a few seasons ahead
of the rest of the world when it comes to fashion.
For example, I saw a lot of styles
during a 2017 trip to Tokyo,
that were just becoming popular and in trend
when I was leaving Australia 1 1/2 years later
at the beginning of 2019.
Now, I'm not exactly someone
that closely follows every trend and needs every in item.
I do like to have a somewhat individual fashion sense.
I am also quite critical of the mass production of clothing
and the fast turnover
of styles that you see in fast fashion,
however, I work in fashion, I do sewing for a living,
and for that reason,
I find fashion and trends really interesting.
I do notice that the items that I sew and thrift
and, ultimately, wear on my body,
will be somewhat inspired by what is currently popular.
It does seep through.
Because I am fascinated by fashion,
I was very excited to go both window-shopping
and people-watching in Tokyo,
and observe what kind of items and styles
are the most popular at the moment.
I have observed three major styles
which I shall bring to you in just a moment.
So we're gonna be talking about those.
And just by the way, because it's what I sew
and wear on my own body,
I am gonna be primarily talking about
what is considered women's fashion in this video.
Let's get started.
(lighthearted music)
My journey begins here
with this Japanese fashion magazine from April 2019.
In both April and May 2019,
many Tokyo fashion magazines
were declaring a new major trend,
and that trend is the Parisienne style.
Now, if you saw my video where I shopped my own wardrobe,
you will know that I decided
to transition to a French-inspired style myself,
around about March.
So I was feeling pretty chuffed with myself
because either by total coincidence
or perhaps subconscious osmosis
because of being within the fashion world,
I decided on my French-inspired style
about a month before leaving for Tokyo,
meaning when I arrived here to live for three months,
I was very on-trend.
In Japan, there is a lot
of romanticization of French culture.
French influences are not only seen now in fashion,
but they also inspire a lot of architecture
and design throughout Tokyo and the rest of Japan.
But let's talk about the current Parisienne look.
There's two distinct French-inspired looks
popular in Tokyo right now,
but they can either be worn separately
or mashed together in some pretty cool combinations.
The first is quite a feminine look,
like femme fatale from a 1940s noir set in France.
The other is a more androgynous or masculine style
reminiscent of an early 20th Century French dock worker.
As I've implied, both are heavily vintage-inspired looks.
So let's talk about that first one,
the feminine French style.
It involves almost always red lipstick,
head with of course a beret or a straw boater hat,
a necktie or a scarf is essential,
another feature is clothing that looks tailored,
for example, these tailored-looking shirts,
skirts, pants, and dresses.
The shoes that are paired with this style
are often ballet flats and sandals.
T-shirts with French slogans are a casual way
to wear this look.
And the colors of these outfits
will often feature soft colors like pastel pinks and blues,
a lot of beige and brown tones,
mixed with bright red, white, navy, and black
for a contrasting effect.
Patterns are minimal and when seen
are either small polka dots or small-scale floral prints
which is a trend that we will revisit in a moment.
(pleasant French music)
The more androgynous or masculine French style
that I mentioned earlier
is made up of some of the following elements.
Berets like in the previous examples
make another appearance here,
and so do what I'm calling train driver hats.
Fudge Magazine calls them workers caps
which I don't think is a great name
translated into English so whatever these hats are called,
they're very popular.
Tailored-looking, high-waisted fitted pants
are a big element in many of these outfits
and they're often wide-legged or flat at the bottom
and accessorized with a black or brown vintage-style belt.
Oversized linen shirts and coats worn as outerwear
are a big trend.
Blazers and vests, stripy T-shirts,
and the shoes are often big, chunky boots or brogues.
The dominant pattern for this look is stripes
and colors are generally plain white and black
paired with lots of beige and browns, dark greens,
or red and navy.
(pleasant French music)
You've probably noticed that both of these two looks
often incorporate straw basket handbags.
This is one of the major fashion trends
all over Tokyo at the moment, whether the outfit
is going full Parisienne or not, straw hand bags.
They can be found in basically every trendy clothing store
in Tokyo at the moment and most thrift stores
that I visit as well.
As straw basket bags can readily be found second hand,
recycled from when they were lost
in massive trending Tokyo which was only back in 2010.
In fact, they're also a popular element
of the next major trend that I'm gonna talk about
which I'm going to call the natural-botanical look.
This style involves florals, many florals.
The florals are usually microflorals,
small in print, rather than large,
and both pastel-colored florals
and bright colors are all quite popular.
I've seen a lot of floral, vintage-style dresses
while window-shopping.
Materials like linen are big players
in this natural-botanical look.
Perhaps influenced by the wave of sustainable fashion
over the past few years,
natural-looking fibers like linen, organic cottons,
hemp and new fibers like micro-Tencel and modal
are being used increasingly
and are very much incorporated into this look.
Button-up items like shirts and dresses
are a big element of this trend as well,
and the buttons used are often wooden
or have a shell-like texture.
They look inspired by nature.
Most items for this look are less fitted and more flowy
or perhaps pair one tight-fitted item
like a tight-fitting shirt with wide-leg pants
and a flowy over shirt.
And colors in this look
tend to be those inspired by nature,
so you're rarely gonna see bright pinks
or bright blues in this look.
It's more defined by earth tones,
browns and beiges, and plant-like greens.
Along with floral prints,
leaf prints are also quite popular.
And finally, accessories are often made
from jute fibers, natural materials, and straw.
Again straw is a huge part of this look.
The natural-botanical look is quite often paired
with Parisienne elements like berets and stripes,
as the two styles blend very well together
so you've probably seen a lot of elements here
that are shared between both styles.
(pleasant French music)
The last major style that I have observed in Tokyo
is what I wanna call Cool Instagram Teen/Athleisure Wear.
This style involves items such as:
fanny packs, but not worn around the waist,
worn around the body diagonally like this,
sneakers or Converse-style shoes,
or dad sandals is what I would call this type of shoe,
bucket hats, oversized T-shirts.
This look also definitely features some American
and Korean K-pop fashion influences,
and I mostly see younger people,
so more like 30 and under wearing these kinda styles.
Some other features
are the use of athletic or athleisure wear,
and incongruous and often clashing colors and patterns.
This is definitely a more gender-fluid, androgynous look.
You'll see people of all genders
sporting the items from this style.
It's not more reserved for quote unquote women's fashion
as the previous styles I talked about have been.
And finally, it's also very early 2000s-influenced as well.
You can find early '90s elements like platform shoes,
tie dye, checkerboard print, bucket hats,
mesh and rave wear,
and the look is often pulled together
with an early 2000s-inspired hair
and makeup look as well.
I don't really own many items
that could be classified into this style
because it is probably the trend
that is least like my own current style.
So I won't be showing you an example of this one worn by me
like I have for the others.
So here's other people wearing this style in magazines.
These are all from a few free magazines
and pamphlets that I picked up around stores in Tokyo
that I think encapsulate this style well.
(smooth techno music)
Now, this is Tokyo, where individual and unique styles
are very much celebrated and encouraged.
Remember that these are just my observations
of what is the popular fashion in japan
and not gospel of all the current subcultures and niches
and individual styles, the variety that you see in Tokyo,
nor is it a statement on how you should dress.
Most importantly, with all the talk of trend and style,
please don't feel like you need
to follow a particular trend or dress a certain way
to be stylish or important.
You should wear whatever makes you feel your best,
whatever it is that makes you feel most comfortable
in yourself and the most happy!
This video is all about Tokyo fashion trends
because I find fashion trends really interesting,
especially somewhere where the fashion
is such a big part of the culture as it is in Tokyo,
so I hope you found it interesting, too.
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