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?
Other special Star Wars models are the All Star Retro Star Wars Hi, All Star Star Wars Hi, and One Star Star Wars Ox, pictured below.
Official Converse Japan page (translated)
FRUiTS is a monthly magazine published by photographer Shoichi Aoki in Japan. It started in 1997 after Aoki noticed a new trend in fashion among young people in Harajuku. Instead of a fashion trend that was dictated by designers, this was a trend started by the young people themselves.
Young people would mix traditional Japanese clothing such as kimonos or geta sandals, with Western or local Japanese designs, even with punk clothing. These people were not brand obsessed like most Japanese people are known to be. They developed a “Harajuku Free Style” fashion trend which Aoki wanted to document in FRUiTS.
Since the trend began in the mid-nineties, the street style has expanded to cover many sub-genres, like punk, Decorer, Gothic Lolita or just kawaii.
The trend has died down in recent years – probably due to the fact that Omotesando (the main street in Harajuku) isn’t closed to cars on Sundays anymore, so the FRUiTS kids no longer have anywhere to hang out. Aoki still manages to publish a magazine each month though, especially since the magazine has achieved cult status in both Japan and overseas.
FRUiTS is a great look into the minds and fashions of Harajuku youth and is available by subscription, or in two volumes of books from Phaidon Press.
Links:
The official website
Buy the first FRUiTS book from Amazon and support 3yen.com!
Buy the second FRUiTS book from Amazon and support 3yen.com!
Overall, it would be easy to think Birkenstock is somehow Japanese, and quite naturally, they are surfing the Japanese wave and putting aside their German-tourist image. Even the US homepage is playing the Asian/Japan card, with the little umbrellas and the soft colors. And one series is even called “Tatami“, and looks remotely Japanese…
Anyway, Birkenstock Japan’s marketing team have done their homework and opened a new shop in Shinjuku East — the original one being in Harajuku, at the bottom of the ultra-hip Takeshita Dori. I had a look at the models displayed and more than half of them had a “Japan Limited” mention on the tag, which proves that Birkenstock is now embracing Japan as one big beautiful market, with limited editions etc. So remember: if you want to be Japanese-cool this Summer, wear German import. (Scroll down for the pictures)
In case you are not convinced they are the best thing your feet are begging for, click the pic to get a bigger image and read what it says on the package. That should help you make up your mind and fork out the 420 yen ($4):
There’s a quite new world you had never seen
If only you screw up your courage to step out in
The brightest life will be yours
In which all guys praise your beauty to the skies
With RELISH any your dreams will come true
And if you still need a hint:
You look even more beautiful than usual today.
How could you resist…?
Loose socks (Japanese: ルーズソックス, Rûzu Sokksu) are a type of sock that is popular among young Japanese girls.
They are nearly always white and are very long. They are usually worn below the knee, and are held up with a special adhesive called “socks glue” or “sock touch.” They are similar in appearance to leg warmers.
Some lower secondary school (junior high school) girls and upper secondary school (senior high school) girls like wearing loose socks together with their school uniforms. Some schools don’t admit wearing loose socks, girls of these schools’ who likes loose socks often wear it at outside of the schools. In Japan, loose socks have been in fashion since the mid-1990s.
(Source: Wikipedia)
Gothic Lolita or “GothLoli” (ゴスロリ, gosurori) is a fashion particularly popular among Japanese teenagers and young women. It emphasizes Victorian-style girl’s clothing and often aims to imitate the look of Victorian porcelain dolls.
Variations of the Gothic Lolita look include “Classic Lolita” (more traditional clothing) and “Elegant Gothic Lolita” (EGL, which is heavily influenced by gothic fashion). The male analog to this fashion is “Elegant Gothic Aristocrat” (EGA) which shares EGL’s emphasis on the Victorian era, though not on children’s clothing. Gothic Lolita is also influenced by the imagery of more feminine Visual Kei (or “visual rock”) bands. Visual Kei is a Japanese form of pop music where the musical style may vary but defined by bands featuring performers in elaborate costumes.
Mana, the crossdressing former leader and guitarist of the Visual Kei band Malice Mizer, is widely credited for popularizing the Gothic Lolita movement. In 1999, he founded his own fashion label, Moi-même-Moitié, for which he coined the terms Elegant Gothic Lolita and Elegant Gothic Aristocrat. Mana, a male, regularly appears in the Gothic & Lolita Bible, modelling his own Victorian-inspired designs with heavy gothic makeup and big hair. After the breakup of Malice Mizer, Mana founded his solo project, Moi Dix Mois.
The style
Typically voluminous with ribbons, lace trims and frilly knee-length skirts. Usually a combination of black and white, often black with white lace, is worn. Skirts often have a concealed crinoline. In the past, some dresses were adorned by an “Alice in Wonderland”-style apron, but this is no longer common. Skirts are usually worn with knee-high stockings. Black fishnet stockings (often with intentional holes) and white or black tights are also common. Clunky shoes, typically boots or Mary-Janes, complete the look.
Frilly, ruffled or lace-trimmed Victorian blouses are also popular especially with “EGL” types. Typically black or white is worn but grey, red, blue and pastels are occasionally accenting colors. Designs are modest, sometimes with long lace-capped sleeves. A flat chest is preferred. Cleavage and breasts are de-emphasized to preserve a child-like look. Sometimes blouses have “Peter Pan” collars and sleeves.
Headpieces often complement the outfit. Mostly black or white, headgear might consist of a headband with ruffles, ribbons, lace or bows. Sometimes even bonnets or askew top hats (also seen in EGA) are worn. Hair may be curled to complete the porcelain doll look. The naturally dark Japanese hair color is often lightened but rarely to blonde.
Makeup is used sparingly and is seen more often with EGL styles than with other GothLoli styles. Black eyeliner is typical. A pale complexion is preferred, so white foundation might be used. Red or black lipstick is seen but lighter makeup is the rule.
Gothic Lolita outfits may be accessorized with other props like conspicuous pocketbooks, hatboxes, handbags and other bags, sometimes in the shape of bats, coffins, and crucifixes. Parasols are also common as are lace gloves.
Typically, this is not everyday clothing for adherents. Worn primarily in public for concerts and on weekends, the style is mostly for show and not a practical fashion.
“Lolita”
Although “Lolita” is apparently a reference to Vladimir Nabokov’s famous novel, and GothLoli is often worn by teens, most followers of the style do not consider it overtly sexual. Adherents present themselves as Victorian children or baby dolls and prefer to look “cute” rather than “sexy”.
Goth Loli Culture
In Japan it is mass-marketed and has wide visibility particulary in the street in Tokyo, on television, in manga and computer games. Outside of Japan it is still a fringe fashion although it has slowly begun to spread to Europe and the United States. Gothic Lolita, along with Cosplay and other Japanese cultural phenomena, can be seen at concerts and anime conventions throughout Europe and the United States. The style has not yet been mass marketed outside of Japan and probably never will be. However, there are plenty of dedicated fans filling the gap. Gothic Lolita magazines are widely available for purchase on the internet and at Japanese bookstores, which also deal in anime and manga. Adherents in Europe and the United States often sew their own homemade Gothic Lolita outfits, sometimes offering them for sale to make up for the difficulty of acquiring them from Japan.
(Source: Wikipedia)
Geta (下駄) is a pair of Japanese raised wooden clogs worn with traditional Japanese garments, such as the kimono. A clog thong is attached to the base wooden board, “dai”=stand (台), that the foot is set upon, and it divides the toes of the foot between the big toe and next largest toe. The supporting pieces below the base board, “ha”=teeth (歯), are also made of wood, and there are usually two of them per pair. They are often worn with the informal yukata.
Geta are most often seen these days on the feet of sumo wrestlers. One will most likely hear them before you see them as they make a distinctive clacking noise as the wearer walks. This is sometimes mentioned as one of the sounds that older Japanese miss most in modern life. (It can also be regarded as the sound that a sumo wrestler will miss least, as only those ranked in the lowest two divisions must wear them.)
In Japan, there is a saying, “You don’t know until you have worn a geta.” This means, you can’t tell the results until the game is over.
Because wearing geta makes one look taller, the figurative meaning of wearing geta is to show something to have more amount than it actually has.
(Source: Wikipedia)
- 
