Got a call from my friend Lei Ann on Saturday: “I’ve got an extra ticket to the Bunka Gakuen Japanese fashion show!”
“The what fashion show?”
So each year, Seattle Central College hosts design students from Bunka Gakuen University’s fashion college, who put together an amazing show of clothing and multimedia at the Broadway Performance Hall. Somehow this has got past me every year, but since Lei Ann knows more about Cool Fashion Stuff than I do, this time around I lucked out. Also in attendance was Lei Ann’s adorable 12-year-old niece, who was getting extra credit in her Japanese language class for attending and taking pictures. (Why is there no extra credit in the Adult World? I cry foul.) |
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We were in the third row, which was handy, as all I’ve got is a cell phone camera; any farther away, and the models and clothes would have been even more bleached out and smeary in the pictures.
What I enjoyed about the show was the humor in the designs. My favorites were those that could be considered over the top, but which I would actually be more likely to wear. Is it red and fuzzy? Is it decorated with brocade cranes? Is there perfect symmetry? Is there
no symmetry? Then take my order for 3 of each!
Basically, I'll wear anything that makes me look like I'm a 1700s Balkan Mountains peasant who lucked out and "married up" due to an extended dowry of four extra goats, three dozen rye sheaves, and a set of nearly new cooking pots. As with any shrewd woman, whatever gets some embroidered velveteen into my wardrobe.
The show was split into themed modules: “Invisible,” “Nighty-Night,” “Brilliant,” and other motifs that I’ve forgotten since leaving the performance hall. But here are some of my favorite outfits, glamorama poses, and graceful gestures.
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| The designers |
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| Models after the show |
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