HELP: what do I wear??

[kdynamic]

I am going to study abroad in Kyoto for 9 months starting this August. I've never been to Japan before. What with all the things to worry about, it may seem trivial, but I am concerned about my wardrobe.

I dress, how shall i say... ecclecticly. Nothing too far out there, nothing overly sexy or goth or anything, but I like bright colors, tshirts, and getting my clothes from thrift stores. I take care with my dress, but I'm an art student and I've always seen clothing as another canvas to be expressive with. I used to dye my hair and stuff, but i've toned it down since that time.

I have heard/seen/read that in Japan, however, for the most part, people dress conservatively. Do I need to go out and get new clothes? I don't think I could stomach actually shopping at the gap, and I would feel kind of like a sellout wearing gray, blue, black, and white all the time. But on the other hand, I don't want to stick out too much there or have people take it the wrong way.

So what do you guys think :?: How much do I have to tone it down? And also, what do young people wear when they go out to clubs and stuff at night? Can I wear my fun clothes when I go out, if not during the day? And what are they going to think of my tongue piercing?

Thanks!!

[cstaylor]

Do you look Japanese? If not, they won't care... "look, another FG..."

[kdynamic]

Nope, I'm definitely a gaijin. I'm tall-ish and Jewish and don't look Asian at all, much less Japanese.

[GomiGirl]

They have clothes police at the airport - if they don't like the way you look they will check your luggage and if not satsified they will put you on the first plane home via a SARS country.

Of course I am kidding. This ain't a communist country - you can wear what you like when you like. You will have to dress for your job in whatever is suitable for the type of work you are doing but if you are a student - anything goes!!

Don't stress and just wear what suits you.

*today I am wearing a straight jacket as I am about to lose it!!* (jokes)

[GomiGirl]

There is more piercings within a square mile of my office then there is in the whole of Chicago... But then my office is near Harajuku which is the centre of street fashion and anything, and I mean anything goes.

Nobody will blink an eye unless you are naked.

[Taro Toporific]

There is more piercings within a square mile of my office then there is in the whole of Chicago...

Ahhhhh, Harajuku fashion victims---I love 'em.


"select a body modification to learn more about its risks..."
http://www.molokosynthemesc.com/risks.exe?cmd=main
WARNING: NOT FOR THE FAINT OF HEART
Ear sculpting
Nipple stretching
Anal stretching

[Andocrates]

That was some sick shit. I think maybe those people have demons, you know like that guy who cut himself - ano . . . legion!

Really though, no matter how you dress you are gaijin - so, like an actor in a play, the wilder you dress the more the Japanese will like it. It helps them quikly categorize your presence and focus on maintaining the wa.

[jingai]

I found that my first time studying in Japan I was very underdressed. The American college uniform of T-shirts and jeans looks sloppy compared to the preppy or suit-wearing Japanese guys and the high-heeled evening-dress wearing girls. If you have your own unique style, go for it, but looking like a dirty gaijin isn't going to win you any bonus points.

[kdynamic]

Thanks guys! I feel better. I think I'm going to take my favorite clothes, and also make sure I have enough nice clothing to look good for job interviews or if I start feeling sloppy next to the way many Japanese dress.

[American Oyaji]

"select a body modification to learn more about its risks..."
http://www.molokosynthemesc.com/risks.exe?cmd=main
WARNING: NOT FOR THE FAINT OF HEART

Taro,
I'm a military vet. I used to work in the photo lab. I've seen my share of death and destruction. I coudl watch heart surgery on TV while eating a sandwich with no problem.

Lord have mercy.

There is just no reason for that. I've never EVER felt faint from looking at death and destruction and mutilation. But for some reason, that stuff REALLY REALLY disturbed me. It's evil in a way I can't understand. There were perversions in there, I just had never thought about. My God.

I do indeed believe some of those people are possesed by evil spirits.

My God. I've never EVER broken out in a cold sweat from lookin at pictures.

[kdynamic]

There were perversions in there, I just had never thought about. My God.

I do indeed believe some of those people are possesed by evil spirits.

My God. I've never EVER broken out in a cold sweat from lookin at pictures.

I think it's that they do it of thier own free will, which is different from being the victim of a disease or accident. That's the part that gets me, at least.

[Big Booger]

that made me sick.. the anal thing, the scrotum issues..
nasty... I am forever damaged by seeing that...

[Taro Toporific]

"select a body modification to learn more about its risks..."
http://www.molokosynthemesc.com/risks.exe?cmd=main
WARNING: NOT FOR THE FAINT OF HEART

Taro,
I'm a military vet. ...

Lord have mercy...
There is just no reason for that...
I do indeed believe some of those people are possesed by evil spirits.

Hate to tell you, but it gets much worse than those NSFW 'body mod' folks.

At 10 I was was my grandather's coroner assistent and as a teen, an ER orderly on Chicago South Side. Later, I was a volunteer medic during the Guatemalan civil war. It gets worse.

[vvx]

You know, in that still frame Pongi, it looks like you're rapping. I think it's the hand thing.

[Andocrates]

Oh lord, please don't get Rob started with rappin!!! For the love of God.

[cstaylor]

Run-DMC it ain't.

My apologies to the Eminem or Rob Pongi fans out there...

May I have your attention please?
May I have your attention please?
Would the real Rob Pongi please stand up?
I repeat: will the real Rob Pongi please stand up?
We're gonna have a problem here

Y'all act like ya never seen a strange gaijin before
Jaws all on the floor like Kim's missiles were flying over the shore
And irradiating Rappongi worse than in '94
Ganguro gyaru were slummin' for some of my bowtie action
A piece of ugly satisfaction
And that girl wants... "Ah, wait, no way, you're kidding,
She just didn't say what I think she did, did she?"
And Koisuke said...
My name is YEAAAAHHHHHHH! Boy was he wasted!
(ha-ha!)
Uptight expats love Rob Pongi
Evil Pongi, I'm sick of him
Look at him, walking around grabbing you know what
Chasing you-know-who, but his frown face's so cute though
Yeah, I probably got a couple of screws up in my head loose
But no worse than what's going on in those Love Hotel bedrooms
Sometimes, I wanna put my mug on TV and let loose, but can't
But it's cool for Spector to flog his foreign face and head of styled mousse
My QuickTime is on your screen, my QuickTime is on your screen
And if I'm lucky you might give it a little click
And that's the message that I've been posting on MoMuse chat
And expect them not to rag on my ugly helmet hat
Of course they gonna know that I didn't score with Jen
By the 10th J-girl looking for foreign friends it was obvious, wasn't it?
I ain't nothing but a clown in a yellow suit
No, not a fruit,
Who mistook Roppongi for Shinjuku,
But if I can make strange videos
And cop a feel on drunk chicks I interview
Then there's no reason why I shouldn't have my own show
But if you feel like I feel, I got the antedote
J-Ladies wave your LV bags, sing the chorus and it goes

I'm Rob Pongi, yes, I'm the real Pongi
All you other Rob Pongis are just imitating
So won't the real Rob Pongi please stand up?
Please stand up, please stand up
Cuz I'm the real Pongi, yes, I'm the real Pongi
All you other Pongis are just imitating
So won't the real Rob Pongi please stand up?
Please stand up, please stand up

[Andocrates]

Oh yea props up playa, you got my tag dog. Yo, best to keep them rhymes on the D/L ya heard? some hater gonna bag yo fame for real.

Oh yea and keep it real!

That really was good stuff.

[cstaylor]

I'm not all about stuffy history lessons and tax planning you know.

[Taro Toporific]

Oh yea props up playa, you got my tag dog. Yo, best to keep them rhymes on the D/L ya heard? some hater gonna bag yo fame for real.

But watch out! The Eminem got no sense of humor...

Eminem denies 'Weird' Al Yankovic permission to record parody
NME.com - 12 May 2003
EMINEM has denied 'WEIRD' AL YANKOVIC permission to film a parody of his Oscar-winning hit 'LOSE YOURSELF'' from the film '8 MILE'. ...

[American Oyaji]

You should have heard the St. Patricks day parody of it on Saturday Night Live.

It was pretty good.

[Andocrates]

Oh yea props up playa, you got my tag dog. Yo, best to keep them rhymes on the D/L ya heard? some hater gonna bag yo fame for real.

Oh yea and keep it real!

That really was good stuff.

Oh god what was I thinking when I wrote that?

[SovietSupreme]

This ain't a communist country - you can wear what you like when you like.

It will be in future..

There will be no need to worry about what you wear when I am in charge. Everyone is the same in the eyes of Soviet Supreme

You can trust me to make world better place.