Fashion in the US and in Japan.
The book Yarn talks about the relations between fashion and consumerism.
Regarding fashion, I am always aware of difference in the US and Japan and so feel that the saying “you are what you wear (if not eat)” is true and affects culture and consumer’s purchase activities.
I read an article before that to some American people, Japanese girls look like they are dressed as prostitutes. I was really interested in this opinion since now I do experience differences in fashion being in the states, and I think culture has a lot to do with this.
It is true that more Japanese girls wear shorter length skirts and high heels on daily basis. For example, just like many girls, I myself almost never wear flat shoes in Japan. Some of my Japanese friends never wear jeans and insist wearing skirts or shorts. Even on campus, unlike here at UNC, you can hardly spot people wearing school hoodies or school-related T-shirts. And if a female student and wearing just a T-shirt and a pair of jeans with flats, then she would be considered different and behind in fashion. Considering these facts, it can be said that Japanese people do care a lot about what others think of themselves rather than think about whether they are comfortably and suitably dressed or not.
On the other hand I feel that people in the US are dressed in a lot more casual way; I do not feel old-fashioned or anything wearing jeans, t-shirt and flip-flops on campus. Also I still remember getting weird looks from people at the airport when I just arrived in this country and was wearing a pair of high heels….later to notice that it is not common to do so in this country. For Japanese people, I often hear people saying that people in America are dressed too simply.
Personally, I like both ways. I rather find this difference interesting because I think it reflects Japanese collectivism culture as well as American individualism culture. I feel that living in Japan is pretty much all about collectivism: basically you want to blend into the crowd and not to cause any trouble by being polite to people and embracing harmonious atmosphere. Accordingly, Japanese care more about how other people think of them and not to stand out among groups of people, even if what they are wearing, high heels or short skirts for example, is not necessarily comfortable. I guess the fact that most university students do not live in dorms but instead stay at home with their families and go to school by public transportations makes them not choose such casual clothing since they are seen by more people outside campus.
(Below is a picture of how many girls are dressed in Japan…..Hope you can see the difference)
However, it is clearly different in the United States when it comes to how people are dressed. It seems like they just wear what they think comfortable wearing and what they want to wear. I like it this way too because people get dressed up for suitable occasions, nights out, parties, formal dinners etc.
Another point that interested me on how some American see Japanese fashion as prostitutes was the fact that we do not have such things as “prostitute-looking” way of dressing in Japan.
Given these facts, I now understand why I can hardly find what I want to wear at clothes shops in Japan (because I sometimes prefer to wear casual and comfortable clothes) or vice versa in the states. I sometimes feel how cultures affect our everyday life so much even on what we wear or choose to wear.
