WHITE IS THE NEW BLACK
White Dominates Spring and Summer Fashion (March 31, 2006)
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| A white coat (Color & Design Research Room of Kyoritsu Women's Junior College) |
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White garments currently abound at boutiques and women's apparel departments. The color caught on after it featured prominently in the 2006 spring and fall collections of famous designers. White blouses and dresses with frills and lace, full skirts, and other clothes with a feminine touch are particularly popular. Women of all ages are taking to white, since it comes in a range of materials and can be mixed with other colors to achieve a variety of effects. A lineup of white accessories and shoes, bags, and other goods is also available.
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| A white skirt (Color & Design Research Room of Kyoritsu Women's Junior College) |
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A Feminine Touch
White has replaced black, last fall and winter's hot hue, to become the "in" color this spring and summer. The trend was ignited after it appeared prominently in the 2006 spring/summer collections of Prada, Valentino, Yves Saint Laurent, Chloe, and other famous designers, which were shown in Milan and Paris in the fall of 2005. Since then, feminine designs have quickly supplanted the military, masculine look that was popular for a number of years.
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| A white coat (Color & Design Research Room of Kyoritsu Women's Junior College) |
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An indispensable part of today's ensemble is the white "romantic blouse," with its feminine touch. Many romantic blouses have frills around the neck or front, eliminating the need for accessories, and come in pretty designs with lace or ribbons at the neckline, puffed sleeves, and intricate hems. The average retail price is about ¥15,000 ($130 at ¥118 to the dollar).
Teenage girls are drawn to dresses with a supple drape made out of cotton, linen, and other natural materials, as well as full knee-length skirts made out of sheer, silky cotton. Working women, meanwhile, go for blouses made from silk, satin, chiffon, and other elegant fabrics paired with sturdy knee-length shorts, a combination favored for its refined appearance. On colder days, which can continue as late as mid-May, they need only don a cropped white jacket or crocheted white bolero, a choice that has replaced the black velour jackets that were popular last autumn and winter.
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| An all-white outfit (Color & Design Research Room of Kyoritsu Women's Junior College) |
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Hot Accessories
For all its popularity, white is not an easy color to wear, because dirt shows up so easily. When the occasion warrants it, white accessories or other items can be used instead of white clothes. This spring and summer, hot items include overlapping strings of white pearl necklaces with different sized beads and white rose charms. Patterned items featuring interspersed lace or ribbon are also selling well, as are shoes with ribbons, ballet-style slippers, and other soft designs. At Printemps Ginza, a department store popular among working women, about 80% of the handbags on sale are white. Most are highly embellished, some with lace on the front for a romantic look and others with pleats or studs. Larger bags, which are big enough to hold a magazine, are selling well, with the average price around ¥10,000 ($87).
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Copyright (c) 2006 Web Japan. Edited by Japan Echo Inc. based on domestic Japanese news sources. Articles presented here are offered for reference purposes and do not necessarily represent the policy or views of the Japanese Government.
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CHIC YET CASUAL
(March 6, 2006)
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