Baby Doll is best known for its line of children’s clothing. Their signature look combines colorful designs with bold logos and slogans.
The word ‘Starvations’ appears on a lot of their gear. It’s rather inappropriate for children’s clothing. In a hilarious way.
Baby Doll also sells adult-sized clothing and a full line of accessories, like bags, watches and jewelry. But if that doesn’t get you in the store, the hot chics who shop there probably will!
Almost everyone in Japan carries a bag.
Each and every time I cut through town or ride a train, I end up seeing a lot of interesting gear. It always gets me wondering: what does a bag say about its owner?
This guy is dressed neatly, but rather subdued. His bag, on the other hand, is a sure magnet for attention. I wonder if he chose the plain color of his clothes just to create this contrast. Even the way he holds his bag is as if to show it off.
The guy on the left has a large kit bag, probably filled with lenses, filters and other expensive goodies that only a camera geek could appreciate. Comparatively, his friend with the popped collar is probably packing some shrimp flavored crackers and a Nintendo DSi XL for when his friend’s hobby starts to wear on his nerves.
This guy is wearing a cheaper looking shoulder bag. Shoulder bags of the larger ‘messenger’ style have fallen a bit out of fashion here in Osaka. But this one looks pretty comfortable, and the horizontal stabilizer across his lower torso is probably a great idea. However, it’s just not something that most people would wear as a fashion accessory. But this guy has probably got waaay too much date-simulator gaming to do on his weekends than to worry about looking hip!
This guy, from head to toe, has put a lot of thought into what he’s wearing. His mini bag perfectly matches his outfit, but I think that makes the ensemble a bit obvious and overdone. Which means it’s totally fine and not overdone. Because he’s in Osaka.
This is a cool backpack made by Porter, a well known bag and accessories company based in Tokyo. I love the big metal zipper. Also, the dark fabric looks sporty and lightweight.
You don’t see many backpacks these days in any city, but they still make the most sense for transporting heavy loads. This guy is a salary man, so I’m guessing he has at least a laptop tucked in there with probably some fresh porn manga for the train ride home.
Finally we have the no-bag guy. This man is clearly dressed for comfort, sporting loose fitting clothing that is actually quite ideal for battling summertime humidity. It looks like he just brought his cellphone with him. I’m guessing he’s talking on it right now, asking his wife where the hell his bag is at!?
Okay, one last photo.
Here we have a typical school girl’s bag that’s decorated with at least a half dozen Disney characters. Sadly, this could just as easily belong to a man twice her age. I’ve seen it.
I love the design of the Pocari Sweat can — it’s definitely from another era!
Although I didn’t grow up in Japan, somehow just looking at this beverage makes me feel slightly nostalgic. The straight forward typography and the lazy shade of blue makes it seem like an artifact from a past decade.
Pocari Sweat is surely one of the most ubiquitous and well known brands in Japan, but concerning this particular 500ml can, I rarely come across it.
At 100 yen a pop (about $1USD), a Pocari Sweat from the vending machine is a good value thirst quencher that tastes pretty refreshing as well. According to Wiki, it’s the slight flavoring of grapefruit that gives it its distinct taste. Time for some ion supply!
It’s finally OK to wear sandals again!
Kansai area fashion may be a little crazy, senseless and often tasteless, but the folks of the region obey one dress code to the letter: they don’t wear clothing that is out of season — no matter what the weather is like! And thus, on my late-Spring trip to Tokyo, I was shocked to see many of its populace already garbed in flip-flops, shorts and <gasp> short-sleeved t-shirts! In Kansai, despite the high temperatures, people still waited until the official start of summer to don such skin revealing apparel.
Now that we’re swamped in mid-summer heat and suffocating Kansai humidity, let’s check out and see what some folks are wearing:
Gone are the jackets, vests, and 3 layers of shirts guys seem to love stacking in the typical ‘over dressed’ Kansai style. Here, a couple of Hep5 loiterers sport t-shirts to beat the heat, but notice how they’re still wearing boots and rather heavy looking denim. It was about 32-34c when I passed by them.
Speaking of denim, I noticed the distinct wear pattern on this guy’s back pocket — a sure sign of a selvedge slave carefully placing his cellphone in the exact same position every time he slips it in. It seems a little nuts to be wearing thick selvedge during a mid-day commute, and sure enough, I noticed that he had sweat thru his shirt and was clearly suffering for his choice of style. Respect!
Men in Kansai typically don’t wear shorts unless they are participating in some kind of athletic endeavor. More commonly, guys will wear long shorts that reach below the knee, capris, or pants (including jeans) that are rolled to the mid-ankle or lower-calf.
Hopefully, not too many of them will put on a pair of these army green monstrosities that I spotted somewhere in downtown Osaka. I don’t know what the hell is hanging off of his ass, but it looks like it has the cargo capacity to store a couple of 6-packs and not make him look any less ridiculous!
Japanese people rarely wear sunglasses. This is because, as one native told me, Asian eyes are more resistant to harsh sunlight. Obviously this hasn’t stopped some Japanese people from owning a pair. But as you can see in the photo above, this guy probably has his arm around his girlfriend to stop him from wandering blindly into pylons and other street hazards.
Sunglasses make you look like a foreigner — this, I also heard from a Japanese person. Perhaps Japanese people just don’t like sunglasses. I’ve often wondered if it’s because it hides the eyes, and thus an important cue for nonverbal communication. But this theory would seemingly conflict with my experience that many Japanese try to avoid direct eye contact when conversing. Perhaps it’s just OK when foreigners wear sunglasses.
Unless you’re a girl, you probably won’t be able to use a parasol to escape the brutal sunlight of summer. Yes, it makes amazing sense to use one, and yes I believe that parasols should be viewed as a practical unisex accessory, but as of now, the only way you’ll likely experience such relief from the Sun (and not draw a lot of strange looks) is by sharing one between your girlfriend or wife.
In a land where men’s and women’s fashion seem to be on a path of convergence, I can only hope that the sun umbrella will hitch a ride on this trend real soon. Because there’s nothing fashionable about sweating thru your clothes every time you get 20 feet from your house! Thank god there’s Under Armor…
Priced at around $40, it’s hard to find raw selvedge going for much cheaper, and aside from the obvious use of lightweight denim, Chinese manufacturing (not necessarily a bad thing) and a rather conservative feature set, there’s nothing blatantly off-putting about these Uniqlo selvedge jeans. However, one thing I wish they had is a button up fly. These jeans are model S002, which are a straight leg cut, but I’m not sure how the fit will change after their first shrink.
From what I’ve heard, Uniqlo selvedge tends to bleed quite easily, which means producing distress patterns should take a lot less effort than my documented battle with a much more expensive brand. We’ll see how they stand up to daily abuse over the next couple of months; I’ll have to post a follow-up documenting my progress. Until then, I’d better avoid wearing susceptible clothing and sitting on light colored furniture, but hey, that’s all part of the ritual and sacrifice in producing a highly customized look! The way I see it, for the bargain that they are, it’s more of a risk of my time than money.
Page optimized by WP Minify WordPress Plugin
