Rounded toed pumps, shoes and heels are currently the favored footwear for women in their twenties in Japan. Gone are the days where exceptionally pointy shoes, shoes that can hurt when kicked in the groin, were in as they are now taking the backseat.
Check out some really cute rounded toes shoes that are currently in fashion in Japan.
Source: Trends in Japan
We all know that fashion fads and trends in Japan wilts as fast as the sakura flowers in the hanami (cherry blossom viewing) season. And then, before you know it, a new season appears - like seasons, trends in Japan is about a certain as the season really. As the new writer for this fashion column, of course i had to do the usual back logging and checking out stuff, what’s been written etc etc….and then I came upon these picture of Game Boy shoes.
Then I thought, “wow…that’s pretty rad with the gameboy although the height of the heels are a killer”.
I spoke to soon because if you think those shoes are high, take a look at these:
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Well, I’ll be darned. When I look at these, my spine’s telling me that I might as well beat it with a baseball bat because after wearing these… I’ll be as bent as an old lady after taking them off. Apparently these are the latest shoe fashion in Japan and Italy (but i really think the italians are making them for the japanese only because no one else in world would wear something as radical (i.e backbreakingly weird) as this. Maybe the europeans would but, i am not sure. You’ll probably be seeing some of these shoes in Shibuya soon if you haven’t already - the Harajuku girls would have probably stocked a few for each season.
pictures courtesy of this site.
PingMag’s Ryoko has written a great article about the traditional Japanese footwear geta, particularly about its ties to the Edo period (Edo is the old name for Tokyo). Check out the sigure-geta for rainy days in particular! Sugoi.
Ok, here is one for the foot fetishists among you. Yes, these are my feet you’re going to look at. Consider yourselves warned.
You may have heard of tabi - the shoes and socks that seperate the big toe from the rest of the toes. Some Japanese construction workers wear them as part of their outfit and many people, when dressed up in kimono, yukata or hakama will wear tabi socks with geta sandals.
I went a bit nuts in a souvenir shop in Kamakura. They were selling geta sandals (none of which fit, giant gaijin that I am) and colourfully patterned tabi socks, which were some cheap price like 5 for 2000 yen, I can’t remember. So, I bought 5 pairs of tabi socks and here they are:
These are obviously just touristy souvenir tabi, but the patterns were so cute that I couldn’t resist. My favourite is probably the green ones with ducks.
If they look a bit uncomfortable in the photos, then you’d be right. They sold them up to 25cm in size, and I guess I’m 25.5cm, so they’re a bit tight to begin with but loosen as you wear them. I don’t think that these ones were terribly well designed as they can be quite vicious at pulling apart the big toe from the others, then scrunching the little toes together. Some of the socks also have strange ideas about just how long toes usually are.
They’re made from a polyester and cotton blend too, so it feels a bit plasticky against your skin.
But still! They’re very kawaii and were cheap and I can wear them with my geta sandals and tabi shoes.
Geta? Tabi shoes? Chidade, you have geta? Show them to us!
Ahh. Well! One day. One day.
These photos went around the internet years ago but they’re still some of my favourite examples of Japanese fashion. GameBoy Shoes! The source website (syberpunk.com) writes:
In the ultimate merger of Technology and Fashion, these funky boots are highly popular with teens all over Japan. I don’t know if i’d be seen wearing them though. Surprisingly the Gameboys are still playable! Just pop it out and play, anytime anywhere.
But I’m not entirely sure that they were buyable. I’ve searched high and low for shops stocking them, both online and offline. I asked a lot of my students but none of them semed to know anything about it. So, judging from the photos and lack of apparent sales, I’ll go out on a limb here and say that they weren’t in fact street fashion seen around Japan, but rather a fashion student’s design project. And very funky they are, too.
It is actually possible to make your own GameBoy Shoes but it involves some work on the part of your local cobbler, as well as sacrificing 2 GameBoys. It’s possible to pick up second hand GameBoys or GB Advances from Akihabara’s junk shop for a few dollars. It’s one of my many projects that I’ll get around to doing one day.
I had never seen any construction worker fashion like it before I came to Japan. The bizarre MC Hammer-style puffy pants that suddenly tighten around the ankles, making it look a bit Arabian Nights. Then there’s the tabi boots which I’ve already started a collection of.
PingMag’s Kyoko has written a great article on the hows and whys and where-do-I-buy-froms of Japanese construction worker fashion. Have a read for and have a gawk at their Flickr gallery too.
I am *so* getting those gold tabi boots.
Links:
Japanese Construction Worker Fashion by PingMag
I made a trip to Harajuku on Saturday to show some tourist friends around, hoping we’d catch some of the kids in crazy fashions that you’d normally see in droves on Sundays. While they weren’t there in high numbers, they were still quite a few. Mind you, even without them, there’s still plenty to see in Harajuku.
Let me make something clear first - I am a size 7 in Australia. That is the smack-bang-in-the-middle-average size there. I do not have a huge size in feet!
I was really looking forward to shoe shopping in Japan, especially after what I saw on offer in the FRUiTS magazines that I love. I already knew that Japanese shoe sizes tended to be small, but I was still pretty sure that I’d fit in the range.
But no, it couldn’t ever be that easy in Japan.
First of all, shoe sizes are (usually) measured in centimetres. That’s not so bad, it’s logical and I could measure myself easily to find out what size I was. Note, however, how I said ‘usually’. Actually, ‘usually’ should be replaced with ‘occassionally’…
In my shoe shopping adventures in Harajuku and Shibuya, I found that shoes weren’t generally marked with 21, 22.5, 23, etc. but rather S, M or L.
Small, medium and large shoe sizes?
What??
After a bit of experimenting, I figured out that L was equivalent to 24cm. Generally, the store staff can help you if you say what your size in centimetres is. But really - Small, Medium and Large? Is there a Medium-and-a-Half size? What happens if you’re 23.5cm?
Not that that was an issue for me, giant gaijin that I am, with a whopping 25cm foot! Oh no, not even a ‘large’ could fit a freak of nature like me!
When you see the damn cool, sexy and sometimes so-weird-that-I-must-own-them shoes on offer in Tokyo, being 1cm too large is enough to break a person.
Wandering around Harajuku a bit more, I noticed that some stores sold “extra large” sizes. The range wasn’t very good though, and many were imports from Europe anyway, not the kooky Japanese fashions that I wanted.
Eventually, I stumbled upon a shop that sold a depressingly-named “Queen Size” range of shoes…
Bite me, Japan! You’re the freaks of nature, not me! What the hell kinda sizing system is S, M, L anyway? Oh, LL! How very generous of you! There’s billions of people in the world with my size in feet, how bout catering for th…..oooh, those are cute! Furry!
Nyaa! They curl up at the toes!
Ha! They fit! Muahahahahaaaaa, they are mine! Mine!
*ahem* anou…kore o kudasai.
Okay Japan, I forgive you this time. But I do not want to resort to buying men’s shoes in the future, got it?
The site has been last updated in 2003, so I am not sure if they are still in business. But since they seem to be making these sandals the old fashion way, and out of love rather than on a large scale, I am sure you can still order some ($19.99 a pair).
More about it (and more photos) on JapaneseGeta.com and the official site.
FRUiTS at its best
Complete with loose socks!
Decorer style
Stripey!
Yip! Yip yip yip! Grr grrr!
I hope they’re cosplaying O_o
Matching brides of darkness and light!
Lolita and Gothic Lolita
I love this hat!
Very cute outfit! Love the shoes!
See? Guys can be decorers too!
The key to decorer fashion: ACCESSORISE!
Frilly parasol!
Haha! Cool glasses!
Girls dressed up Ganguro style
Leg warmers are a great touch
Why go to all the effort of ripping your clothes yourself when you can buy them pre-ripped?
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