Straight or gay fashion?

More street fashion for you, dear readers.

After almost two years living in Tokyo, I am still confused by fashion markers. Here we have shocking pink running shoes, contrasting neon colors, and a single-sex group of young guys. I thought I had finally learned that all those markers were signs of heterosexuality in Japan. However, the young Japanese-American couple I was with (and later the husband) are convinced that these guys are gay. For them, the tip-off is the Mexican wrestler backpack. Go figure!

Boots in

A new male youth fashion is called “boots in.” It involves super skinny pants, often jeans but not always, tucked inside mid-calf boots. This guy’s shoes are not as impressive as his overall pose. But it gives you the idea.

Shouldn’t it be called “pants in” instead of “boots in”? Oh well, Japanese English is always unpredictable.

Japan Times article about Ni-chome

The Japan Times, the largest English language newspaper, ran a story last week about the declining economy in Tokyo’s gay district, Shinjuku Ni-chome. Oddly much of the story focuses not on distressed businesses but on carnal activity at an infamous bath house called 24 Kaikan.

Filthy iPhone app takes over Japan

Is Grindr popular where you live? It seems like every gay Tokyo-ite has rushed to get an iPhone so they can use Grindr! It allows you to chat and cruise guys who are near you, wherever you are. OMG! It’s filthy. My excuse is that I can practice reading and writing Japanese.

NYC Club Kids are Dressing Up Again

Fantastic to see that NYC club kids are dressing up to rival the late 80s club kids. Ah, the nostalgia! Fashion really can transform reality. Seems clearly related, in one or both directions, to Lady Gaga.

French equate smoking with sexual slavery

French anti-smoking ad compares smoking with sexual slavery: “Fumer, c’est être l’esclave du tabac” (To smoke is to be a slave to tobacco). Supposedly controversial, with many feminists and child rights outraged.  But I think the kinky daddy-youth oral is hot! So enjoy the poster, but please don’t smoke!

Liz Taylor, eat your heart out

Ah the interwebs. I just re-discovered my favorite performance artist, Nao Bustamante, and this delicious performance at Sundance last month.

New “soshoku” male fashion

Not to be confused with the soshokukei (herbivore) male trend— an anti-salary man, new generation of non-aggressive and vain young men— the Mainichi newspaper introduces a new type of soshoku (same sound, different kanji).

The new soshoku are “decorative” males. My favorite kind. They enjoy unisex and ladies’ clothes (but are not cross-dressing), and are partial to a super slim silhouette that is impossible for their oji-san admirers to imitate. I love the photos that represent the new look, and have posted them above.

BTW, I am lurking and shooting my own fashion observations, and as fanservice to my readers I’ll post them soon.

Kirsten Dunst “Turning Japanese”

Super fun video of Kirsten Dunst vamping through Akihabara singing “Turning Japanese.” She’s in full cosplay outfit, dancing, greeting and flirting with maids, salarymen, and cute youth. Thanks Christophe for sharing this!

http://www.veoh.com/browse/videos/category/music/watch/v19838048wrs3Dgdy

And something for the ladies

The San Francisco Chronicle quotes film critic Jan Wahl saying “she can’t wait to see the TV movie of the Tiger Woods story: ‘Finally, a movie with lots of parts for women.'”