Thursday, June 19, 2003 Changing Fashions I will admit to being clueless about pop culture trends generally and fashion specifically -- Japanese or American -- which is why it took a newspaper article I recently read to point out a change in fashion I should observed myself. Namely, the fading (literal as well as figurative) of the overly tanned look among teenaged Japanese girls, an almost ubiquitous look only a couple of years ago. The fashion was for teenagers to affect a ridiculously heavy tan (one rumor I heard was that some achieved this look by soaking in bathtub full of tea), a look that -- coupled with the white lipstick and mascara that was de rigeur -- made them look like members of some travelling minstrel show. I could not for the life of me figure out the point of this fashion (those perhaps showing my age or at least my fuddy-duddy status). Maybe it's concern about skin cancer or the fickleness of fashion, but normal skin tone is fashionable again. Heck, I've even seen young women -- not just housewives and elderly women -- using parasols to protect themselves from the sun. 8:04:12 PM    Comment on this post! [] PHONE HOME! Another experiment. Blog-to-mail tool, using my mobile phone. Entry of text using keypad is a pain, though. 7:26:58 PM    Comment on this post! []