Bright-colored feminine fashions are softening up the fashion landscape this spring and summer.

This spring, women's clothing embellished with frills and lace are gracing the streets of Japan. This is a big change from the monotone color schemes and plain designs that have dominated the fashion landscape in recent years. Frills and lace are finding favor among female consumers in a wide age range, from teenagers and twenty-somethings to matrons in their fifties. Not only clothes but also accessories, such as bags and belts, have taken on a soft, feminine note, and floral designs are particularly popular. Fashion industry analysts expect the trend to continue in this summer's tops and dresses.

An Eternal Yearning for Romance
Since this past spring, apparel makers and retailers have been reporting brisk sales of women's clothes that emphasize softness and femininity: tops with frilly sleeves and fronts, lacy collars, and gathering at the bodice; skirts with volume added by lace or gathering; pants with flower embroidery around the hems. The most popular colors are white, pale yellow, pink, and other light colors, along with floral patterns. This feminine look is a refreshing change from the sharp silhouettes and monotone color schemes that have defined women's fashion in recent years, which projected an image of strong-mindedness with unadorned, tailored blouses and monotone coordinates. These dramatic changes in fashion trends are only a recent phenomenon, according to industry analysts.

Another defining feature of this trend is that it is sweeping a wide age segment of women from their teens through their fifties. Observers have offered several explanations for the trend. Most female consumers in their teens through early twenties did not experience the previous frilly-fashion craze of the 1980s and therefore find the current styles novel. Frilly blouses have readily found favor among office workers and matrons, moreover, because pairing a frilly top with plain pants or an A-line skirt makes for a neat appearance. Yet another attractive aspect of the new fashions is the affordable price: around ¥5,000 for a blouse ($40 at ¥125 to the dollar) and around ¥15,000 for a jacket or skirt.

Belts and Other Accessories Add a Distinctive Touch
The "soft and feminine" fashion trend has spilled over into accessories as well. One new item is belts decorated with flowers at the front, creating a corsage-like appearance. Though priced on the high side at around ¥5,000, they offer an easy means to change the entire effect of an outfit: Putting a corsage belt over a simple shirt-and-skirt outfit, for instance, can change a "working woman" look into a more elegant evening look. This convenience is getting a warm welcome from female consumers.

Other popular accessories include bags decorated with cloth corsages or embroidered with beads in floral motifs. Many women like to create a distinctive look by pairing these items with the turquoise accessories that also came into vogue this spring.

Industry watchers expect this trend to continue through summer. As hot weather approaches, wide-necked puffy blouses, short-sleeved tops with frills around the cuffs and collars, and dresses embellished with floral cutouts around the hem are already lined up in shops.