Japanese Shoes on the Street
posted by: jitterbugbaby in General, Shoe Trends on April 23rd, 2008
Dear readers, I have officially come to the end of my shoe pictures from Japan. And it’s only appropriate that that end be the most common trends of Shoes on the Street. I have to say that while I envy the Japanese women (and men) some individual shoe styles, I don’t envy them their constant wearing of pointy-toed high heels.
Case in point, these two pairs. Please note that both were observed on women who were clearly walking around Kyoto sightseeing. Yes, that’s gravel in one and uneven stone steps in both.
Ouch! My feet hurt just thinking about walking around in those shoes all day.
Same thing goes for these sandals, which I’d expect to see on someone’s feet for a night out on the town (a mainly seated night out on the town, if they were on my feet), but were also being worn around a park full of temples and shrines.
Apart from the heels thing, the other major trend (which I’ve already mentioned) on the feet and legs of Japanese women everywhere is decorative socks and stockings. I bought myself a bunch of them, because they come in all kinds of shapes and sizes and styles. Here are a few in their natural habitats.
I was head over heels for this pair (and the shoes are nice, too), which reminded me in a major way of those John Galliano lacey socklets that I loved last year.
This pair is pretty basic black, but check out the embellishments on the shoes themselves. A frilly sock on top of that would just be overkill.
And this last photo was a woman who was wearing black knee socks with a double frill of lace around the top edge (think garters), but what I loved about the shoes is that they’ve got a little click-clacking charm hanging down from the underside of the sole right at the heel. If you look at the larger version, you can see it more clearly.
And there it is, Shoeblog readers out there. Shoe photos of Japan brought to you by Jitterbugbaby. I now return to my regularly scheduled Stateside shoe-scoping, and will keep my eyes open for fun international shoes only via the miracles of teh intarwebs.
7 Comments
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January 28, 2010 at 8:36 pm, sweety said:
good stylish for show off or parties but its very uncomfortable you know here in UAE they wear them in malls i just always think how can they walk in such big malls in stilettos for 3 or 4 hours
January 01, 2010 at 2:34 pm, So On said:
Stylish, I love it. You wear what makes you feel good that's all that matters.
November 03, 2008 at 6:44 am, Hana said:
I'm am not a big fan of heels because I can't walk in them; therefore, I do not get why the Japanese women decide to wear heels, but what ever floats your boat is fine with me.
October 07, 2008 at 9:27 am, Bekka said:
I don't think it's a fashion faux pas. That's why the Japanese are so fashion forward, they're not afraid to try new things, whereas many people around the world care too much about what others think. To hell with them- wear what you want. And if they're hurting, that's their choice. Not ours to judge.
May 13, 2008 at 9:51 am, Laura in NJ said:
Notice how the girl with the purple shoes (and denim shorts) can't even keep her slingback strap on the shoes; it is all smushed under her heels on both shoes. This is because she is wearing stockings UNDER the slingbacks. If you ask me? Major fashion faux pas.
April 26, 2008 at 4:51 pm, Susan said:
Asian women are crazy about heels! I've seen women climbing the Great Wall of China in stilettos.
April 23, 2008 at 7:06 pm, Fatosh said:
Every morning I'm checking out your blog; congratulations .. I like the way you have taken the pictures in Japan. I loved almost all of them and must admit that Japanese woman (they visit us in Switzerland quite often) most of the time are dressed in a way of being individually, crazy, I don't mind what you think if I'm wearing "outstanding, powerful, crazy" shoes.. I like that! On the other side, they seem to be overfocused on fashion, etc so I'm asking myself "are they happy?".
greets from Switzerland
Fatosh