Harajuku girls

Gwen Stefani sings about them on her current album, and I can see why! (For those of you who haven't listened to the song, be sure to check it out.) I spent the afternoon people-watching in the Tokyo neighborhood of Harajuku and it was fascinating. (Kirk and I had visited the area on Sunday as well but I needed to go back to linger on my own.) Like many of the popular shopping areas in Tokyo, the styles are unique, and seem to be trend-setting. I don't know much about fashion, but at least I can tell what looks cool and what doesn't. Fashion in Basel, not so cool. Fashion in Tokyo, very cool-- even when it's a bit outrageous. After spending many hours people-watching over the last few days I can say that the hottest trend is short skirts (or sometimes knee-level shorts) with boots (sometimes cowboy boots),usually with knee socks that peek out from the top of the boots. If no boots, then leg warmers or at least knee socks. You can check out some photos of people on the streets of Harajuku on this website I found. There's another very distinct fashion style on the streets of Harajuku, and perhaps these are the girls Gwen Stefani is referring to. They dress up in outrageous little girl/baby outfits (almost like costumes) with a bit of 80's punk flair. You can see some pictures on this website or this one. I saw just a couple of these girls today, but there were many out and about on Sunday when we were there (perhaps they were in school today...)