I have commented before about fashion and appearance standards for young females. When I was at Jouchi I felt like I had to "dress up" for school. I always had to have my nails painted, make-up done just right, hair curled, cute outfit, the whole nine yards -- and that was only for class. When I got back to Omaha I was shocked to see how girls would roll out of bed and go out into the world* because no girl in their right mind would have done that at Sophia.
I still think the standards are set high in a city like Tokyo, maybe a little bit higher for girls than guys. I have expanded my views, however, to include the fact that you can wear anything you want as long as it looks like you put some effort into it.
Normal. Really.
Seriously, you can dress however you want and no one will look at you twice. Even in Saitama, I see girls dressed to the nines in lolita gear and it's perfectly normal. If you ride the Yamanote on a regular basis you become accustomed to the goth and visual kei people. On the train ride from the airport, I was standing next to a girl that was dressed in super Kyary Pamyu Pamyu style and my parents were like, "Do people always dress like that?" Yeah, they do! I didn't even really notice her.
*When I went to college, girls tended to dress like this: 1) North Face jacket or university sweatshirt, 2) Victoria's Secret PINK line sweat pants in some disgusting neon color, 3) Ugg boots, 4) Vera Bradley purse (the first time I saw them on a bunch of sorority girls I thought someone's mom made them cuz that shit is HIDEOUS), 5) sport backpack with a thermos hanging off a clip, 6) hair in the Britney Spears top of the head messy 5-second ponytail with headband. Bonus points for orange skin from tanning booths and/or chunky blonde highlights.
Things I Won't Miss About Japan #9: Being Totally Screwed When Not Dressed Appropriately
I hate regretting what I wore for the day. I don't live really far from Tokyo, but once I'm on the train that's it. Whatever clothes I have on are all I've got to protect me from the elements. Unless I want to spend money on new clothes, which I actually don't always want to do, I'm screwed.
It happens more often when the seasons are changing and the weather can't decide what it wants to be. I'll leave the house thinking, "Oh, I don't need a scarf! Oh, I don't need another layer!" and then FREEZE later on. Last fall I spent the night at my boyfriend's house thinking it'd be cold all weekend, and come Sunday morning it was summer weather. I only had my big hot leather boots to wear. Ew.
I got lucky this past weekend when I went to a barbecue. The weather forecast said 80% chance of rain and I took a chance thinking it might get sunny and hot. I was a little cold in the morning but the weather cleared up and I even got a nice sunburn!
It was so hot, Funny D had ice cubes put in his pants!
