Osaka Street Style: Fashion's Night Out

Of course no coverage of fashion in Osaka in complete without some style guidance from Osaka's own Emma.

 


 Emma is wearing all vintage, as usual.

Street Snap Taiwan

I've been meaning to post this for a while, but Nylon did another Street Snap featuring Taiwan. Oh my favorite place! One day I will live amongst your fashionable streets.

Source: Nylon Japan, July 2012

Streetwear in Taipei

I saw so much amazing streetwear in Taipei, but people were moving way too fast for me to photograph, and unlike Scandinavia, Taiwan is so crowded that it's hard to photograph someone is isolation, or without another person looking over your shoulder.

Pink tote and knee length black socks

Louise Vuitton bag with sheer top

Poncho dress on the MRT

Tokyo Streetwear of the last decade

These photographs were taken on my first trip to Japan in 2002. I had only learned about Gothic Lolita fashion recently and was soooooo excited to hit the streets and check out what people were really wearing. Let me say, I was not disappointed. People really dressed like this. It was surreal. In fact, it was solely because of Gothic Lolita fashion that I learned my first Japanese phrase:

すみません、写真を撮ってもいいですか？

It means, "Excuse me, may I take a picture?" In English, we would probably say "may I take your picture" or "may I take of you," but in Japanese I think that's kind of implied. I mean, I'm not gonna walk up to a group of grown women dressed like Victorian dolls and ask their permission to photograph the sidewalk. Of course I'm asking to take a picture of them.

The irony of it all is that at the time, that was the only Japanese phrase I knew, and now that I can actually speak Japanese, I would NEVER approach a stranger and ask to photograph them. It's just too embarrassing and I'm too culturally sensitive. Basically, now that I actually know what I'm saying and can understand their responses, I would feel foolish approaching them. 

Therefore, these photographs are not only a relic of a time in fashion history (though people still dress like this 10 years later), but they are also a relic of my personal history, of a time when I could roam the streets of Tokyo without a care in the world.

Harajuku Girls

Taken back in 2005. These kids are probably all grown up now....

All photographs taken by me (with some ghetto-ass camera no doubt).


At the Laforet in Harajuku:

At Narita Airport:

On the famous Jinju bridge in Harajuku:

Street Sneaker: Teenagers on the Strøget

Street Sneaker: MoreScandinavian Streetwear

In a follow up to my first post on covert streetwear photography, I am posting additional photographs.

Beautiful skirt in Oslo.

Students outside The Royal Academy of Art in Oslo.

A lafy right out of an 80s music video.

Marimekko in Helsinki.

Alright, I'm cheating. This shot isn't streetwear. These are models doing a photoshoot in Iceland. 

It was freezing that day!

Street Sneaker: Tourist in Stockholm

This amazing sweater was worn by a tourist at Stockholm City Hall. She is seen here photographing the concert hall across the water.

Street Sneaker: Scandinavian Streetwear

Ok, I admit it's a bit creepy to photograph strangers without their knowledge, but...well...fuck it. This is my way of covertly documenting  the awesome fashion I saw on the streets in Scandinavia.

Red tights. Reykjavik.

Orange tights. Oslo.

Color coordination. Oslo.

Leopard.  Oslo.

Fur in the rain. Oslo.

Totes.  Helsinki.

Awesome pants. Stockholm.

Asymmetry. Stockholm.

Person who looks like mannequin. Copenhagen.

Japanese tourist. Denmark

 Leopard tights. Helsinki.