Japan traces its fascination with foreign fashion
(Agencies)
Updated: 2008-05-29 15:20
Updated: 2008-05-29 15:20
A woman models clothing typical in years past during a historical fashion show in Tokyo May 28, 2008.[Agencies]
Swapping kimonos for bustle skirts and wooden sandals for leather boots, a fashion show in Tokyo on Wednesday celebrated the revolution in womenswear ignited by Japan's opening up to the West 150 years ago.
In 1858, then U.S. envoy Townsend Harris pushed the Japanese government into signing its first trade agreement, effectively ending centuries of self-imposed exile.
The pact was followed within weeks by treaties with other Western nations and a year later, Yokohama opened as an international port, starting its transformation from a sleepy village to Japan's second largest city and becoming the first place to offer foreign delicacies such as beer and ice-cream.
Featuring fads from 1920s flapper-style short skirts to the neat leather boots twinned with "hakama" loose pants once favored by female students, the fashion show was an advance taste of five months of anniversary celebrations to be held in Yokohama next year.
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