Fashion
Style on Trial 2
Kansai’s male fashion police take females to the courtroom
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| Masako Komada, 24, Dotombori |
Yurika Yasuoka, 22, Opa |
Last month, a jury of girls put Kansai men’s style on trial. They approved the good, but sought justice for several fashion crimes that have been enjoying a spree on our streets. This month, the tables have turned, with warrants placed on females, just in time for White Day. Our male jury was more than ready to lay down the law, and with a heavier hand than last month’s ladies…
Put your best foot forward
“Something that both annoys me and attracts me are shoes,” said Osaka resident Chris Lulic, 39. “Perhaps it’s an extension of my leg fetish, but I always notice women’s shoes.” A lot of men agreed that shoes can really make or break a woman’s outfit, which goes to show that Kansai women don’t perform gravity defying stunts with their stilettos for nothing. Besides the additional height, heels force the back to arch, pushing the bosom forward and the buttocks back, thus accentuating the female form. But not all men put heels at the top of their list. “I like sneakers over heels any day,” said Alberta native Michael Vanderlee, 27. “Somebody who wears sneakers all the time may be a more relaxed, athletic, spontaneous person than somebody who wears heels. Plus, a lot of girls can’t walk in them properly. The amount of time I hear girls complain about sore feet because of heels... why? You chose to wear them!”
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| Mami Kumagae, 26, Dotombori |
Yuka Sato, 16, Dotombori |
Say bye bye to kebai
It’s hard to talk women’s fashion with men and not get physical, which shouldn’t come as a surprise: men are drawn to the traits in a woman that suggest fertility. The guys we asked on street were no different–they love the skin you’re in. When men are looking at a girls face, they take note of complexion and makeup. In Japanese a woman who is overly made up is described as kebai, and, although how much is too much is debatable, every man agreed that overdoing it looks a bit fake. Makeup should highlight your features, not cover them. Ladies, if people keep asking why you’re so upset when you draw on your eyebrows, or that cute guy you met at the salsa club last night says “Hiroko, where are you?” in the morning but your name is actually Helen, put down the concealer and back away from the mascara wand.
Less isn’t always more
Not a single male surveyed spoke ill of skirts–a real symbol of femininity–that are getting an extended life this winter, worn with tights and high boots. There were no complaints from the guys, as long as “you have the body to wear them.” But as Birmingham native Andrew Morgan, 26, said: “If you are going to go slutty below, keep it classy up top.” Yes, guys want you to leave a something to the imagination. “Many women wear clothes that produce an automatic reaction in males, but it’s not so unique these days. Seeing it leaves me distinctly uninterested,” said twenty-six-year-old Damon Ellis from Melbourne. He’s not alone, with many men saying that if a girl can look amazing in jeans and a T-shirt or yoga pants and a tank top, she can look good in anything. So, I’ll leave you with this advice from Simon Clough, 29, from Brisbane. “If a girl looks comfortable with herself rocking a style, and really owning that look, doing something fresh and displaying an aspect of her personality to the world, that is sexy.”
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| Misaki Hourai, 18, Shinsaibashi |
Shiori Watanabe, 20, Dotombori |
Denim decorum
“Any kind of pants that make a woman’s butt look fantastic will never go out of style, as long as men exist,” Matt Tulloch, 29, from Toronto, Canada. The men we surveyed couldn’t deny it, they like big butts–especially in figure-hugging denim. The only division seemed to be on the subject of how low women should go with the waistline. Surprisingly, several men said that seeing anything more than a thong peeking out from a pair of jeans was actually a turn-off. But Keizo Murakami, 36, doesn’t mind girls with a “crack” problem: “Low-rise jeans are very sexy when girls bend down.”
The long and the short of it
I tip my hat to girls confident enough to embrace short hairstyles, but even the men who said they don’t mind short hair did so with a one caveat: you have to compensate the hair with some other physical gain, whether it be height, a pretty face, or a stunning figure. Why? “In general, girls just look better with long hair,” says thirty-six-year-old Damian Nicastro, from Argentina. “It’s just more feminine.”
Flower power
The cherry blossoms won’t be in bloom for a few weeks yet, but that doesn’t mean women need to weed out flowers from their wardrobe. Summer-inspired light fabrics and bright colors are popular among males, like twenty-six-year-old Larry Mackey from Ontario, Canada. “Flower dresses are simple yet striking.”
Text: Antoinette Sarpong
Photos: Rob Walbers (www.robwalbers.com)
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