Saturday, July 19, 2008

Naturalia



As I trawled through seemingly endless shops in Japan, in amongst the cheapo hyper-fast fashion, uber-niche subculture garb, prim office-lady clothes and fascinating but pricey desinger fare, I noticed a quieter trend in a number of similar-looking (and sweetly decorated) shops carrying natural-fibre clothes in relaxed silhouettes. The salespeople in these shops were all fully decked out in the look, consisting of loose, baggy shapes, muted tones, quiet plaids and florals, and linen aplenty.



Like everything in Japan, this "natural look" is not only a fashion trend, but an entire lifestyle concept. There's a line of books dedicated to it, with pretty photos illustrating how to live a serene, natural-themed life. I was pretty taken by the look, and bought a number of items at a few different shops. Not that I want to wear the look head-to-toe, or aspire to adopt the lifestyle, but I thought the pieces would incorporate nicely with my existing wardrobe. Plus, the loose shapes worked well for me since most fitted clothes in Japan were far too small for me. One shop I really liked was bulle de savon, where I bought this khaki-coloured linen cardi/cape. For anyone looking for the shop, there's a location in the fashion wonderland of LaForet in Harajuku. They have a cute blog too (in Japanese).



It's not the trendiest, most cutting-edge thing I encountered in Japan, but it was nice to find a look that appealed so well to my tastes.

3 comments:

Rebecca, A Clothes Horse said...

I love how all the shop people in Japan would fully represent their store/look! Ah, so many wonderful different kinds of shops. In the US you seem to see the same stuff at different price ranges in stores...

Jen (MahaloFashion) said...

I love your grey skirt and yellow scarf so much!

Couture Carrie said...

Great scarf!!