These dolls are not really spotted by the fashion of their clothes, but more the fashion of their visage. Their faces are highly colored with tanning or whitening and powered to the max. They have bright spots of color that adorn their cheeks and their eyes are a drama all to themselves. They are dark with long fake lashes, with seductive moody glances. They have shadow up top that can vary from natural shades to those that are more vibrant. Sometimes and sometimes more often than that, you will find their eyes heavy with eye liner. And then their lips of course have some shiny colorful sparkly gloss to them.
Their hair is another sort of matter entirely. There is something that a Japanese friend of mine calls 'a Nagoya girl' in honor of their hair. What he means by this is that it is dyed and curled and placed all on top of and really all over their head. It looks like it simply either must be a wig ( which is not a stretch in this culture) or that they spent three hours to get it to look like that. This do can vary from being elegant seeming or extremely trashy and disheveled. But either way it is, curling seems to be the way to go for people of this sort. I suppose it is because the vast majority of Japanese persons' hair is straight that they curl it in order to stick out; as I try to call up a memory of any doll with straight hair I come up empty. Their hair is often dyed to a fashionable brown that is a bit hazelnut in color or sometimes even an orangey color that is clearly the product of trying to reach some sort of blonde. Browns are very 'in' right now, and I suppose it might have been this way for a long time. It is a way to stick out from everyone and not be the natural elegant black of the vast majority of Japanese people.
Their clothes. Their clothes make me think that there simply must be no other explanation other than that they work in a hostess club. They go with short shirts or skirt-like shorts (how modest!) or even dresses. Either way there seems to be a theme about their clothing. Revealing. Accompanying their leggyness, are tights. These range in color from nude colored to tights to accent their sleek legs to printed tight for added cuteness or sex appeal. Their shirts and blouses are also pretty varying. It seems to be a bit popular right now to have loose blouses that leave more for the imagination but still seem to be a touch elegant and a touch revealing if they fall a bit off the shoulders. Also popular is a knit, see through short sleeved sweater blouse. Since the Japanese census is that shirts must have sleeves to be proper, they can wear sleeveless shirts with one of these on top to still be considered proper. These sweaters do nil in the way of warmth in the winter as they are knit such that the holes give you a very clear image to the interior clothes.
But perhaps the most important aspect to their clothing is their heels. You will hear me complain time an again about how Japanese women do not know how to walk in heels. And it is very true, just look at the size of them. No wonder they have back problems when they are older! But you will hear them clunking along the side walk in stilted sloppy paces or tipping their feet while standing on the subway, when they are very clearly tired of wearing them already. There is no moderation in heel size either. The higher the better. In fact, for as many nice moderate heels I see being sold in Kobe (famous for shoes), I see rarely a soul wearing them. I feel like shoes must at least be 4 inches to be properly worn out in public be this sort of folk. And indeed it gives their figures a lovely leggy appearance. As for the shoe design, I feel like wedges are a slight be more popular than the stilettos, I suspect there is a minor comfort difference here. Additionally platform heels are entirely acceptable raising oneself an additional few inches to tower over any fancying men.
Jewelry is not an option. It is a necessity. Hair accessories are the most popular but necklaces and bracelets are not far off. And I feel like the one stipulation to their jewelry requirements is that it must be shiny, for that is by far and large the case more often than not. Rings are not as popular here as they are in the west; I feel like this is because if you are wearing a ring, any ring, and on any finger, you might possibly be married. I know I have a ring on my middle finger of my right hand and my students often like to ask me if I am married or if my boyfriend gave it to me. Apparently rings are often tokens of affection from boyfriends and such here. It could also be the significance that Koreans give rings, where rings are often seen as possible couple rings, in which any couple could be in possession of them and it does not necessarily mean they will get married...just that they are a couple. They seem to be a bit like promise rings from the west, but they are a bigger deal to Koreans. Those are normally more elegant and shiny (especially more so than the one I wear!). Earrings I also haven't noticed as much of, but they are occasional accessories. I get the feeling here that more people in the west have their ears pierced than those in Japan. Perhaps this is because of the view they have on piercings. You will also notice in any accessory shop a lack of earrings, with more significant placed on hair products.
So without further a-do I give you what I have titled in terms of Japanese fashion, a doll:
And two more here. The left one has a more appropriate look I am trying to describe. The right seems a bit more care free and less in control with her features such as a doll would be.
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