FRUiTS

I never read an American fashion magazine until I was a senior in high school. I didn't live in a hole so I'm not entirely sure how it happened except perhaps I was just so enamored with books that magazines didn't hold much appeal in general. Anyway, when my family first moved to Hawaii we spent some time in a resort and without access to a library I stumbled across Elle Girl and was hooked (even if I cut up most of the magazine to make a collage). Before my obsession with fashion (with the capital F) and reading US magazines on the subject I did however have FRUiTS. The book based on the magazine, of course. It wasn't a novel, but a compilation of some of the better photographs/outfits from the cult classic magazine. FRUiTS documents street fashion from Tokyo. I often find people misuse the term "Harajuku style" to describe one sub-set of Japanese street style (like Lolita looks), instead of realizing that the term describes a specific reason where a wide variety of street fashion cliques collect.
Anyway, all of that is a tangent from the point: before I started following runways and other more traditional modes of fashion, FRUiTS was my obsession. I went through the book so many times I had the order of individuals and their names and interests memorized. I re-created small details of certain looks; stitching a furry purse like one girl's or attempting to mimic the hairstyle of another. It's still the highly theatrical styled looks or editorials that appeal to me because I'd rather be the watered down version of an incredibly creative look than the watered down version of something mundane. I think it's incredibly inspiring when people dress far outside the norm, even if I know that I myself would never be comfortable in such a look.