Turning Japanese

One of the fun outings I had over my Christmas break was a trip into the Gallery of Modern Art to see the "Future Beauty" exhibition, an exploration of 30 years of Japanese fashion. I loved every part of it, particularly the different approach Japanese designers take to how they present the human body. Many European designers emphasise the shape of the body and create clothes that fit closely. However the exhibition explained Japanese designers use ma, or negative space; the space between clothes and the body.

It struck me that in many of my outfits, this was exactly what I was trying to create: a structural look that did not reveal my body, but that hinted at it's underlying relationship with my clothes. This was the look I was trying to create with my trapeze tops and I realised my dissatisfaction with them was due to the lack of structure in the fabric rather than the shape itself.

                                                             Top: ScanlonTheodore
                                                             Pants: Country Road
                                                              Shoes:Wittner
This is the top I bought with the gift voucher that was my husband's Christmas present to me. I think it captures the spirit of ma perfectly and I absolutely love it. The fabric is thick and slightly stiff and the shape is constructed with darts and tucks that create volume and structure. It has a trapeze shape but, unlike my tops in softer fabrications, it sits aways from my body and obscures the shape of my torso.

It was quite exciting to me to be able to not only see such a beautiful exhibition but to also learn things that I could immediately implement in my own wardrobe.  I never really thought about fashion theory before, but one taste and I am hooked! I loved the simple elegance that the Japanese designers created with beautiful fabrics and origami-like folds and will be looking for a similar aesthetic in the tops I purchase for my winter wardrobe. Do you have any ideas that inform your choice of clothes?


Turning Japanese by the Vapours