Never Aging Out of J-Fashion

Today is my 27th birthday and as I'm getting closer to leaving my twenties, I'm noticing the stigma of wearing J-Fashion weighing down on me more. I am very thankful to have youthful-looking skin and a petite frame, which makes me look younger than I am, but it doesn't stop those from judging me for wearing J-Fashion pieces not targeted for my age demographics anymore.

I am an avid fan of Liz Lisa as you all know and historically, the brand is targeted towards young women, generally between 18-25. With its creative prints and gorgeous cuts, you will see their shop staff looking beautiful and exuberating what it feels like to be a young woman. Nonetheless, as the brand is creating more mature pieces, I have seen many comments from younger fans that fear this change. Liz Lisa isn't the only brand going through this though. It seems many of the gyaru/himekaji brands have slowly changed their style to incorporate mature looks.

However, I don't see this as a bad thing. J-Fashion is changing radically and the years of FRUiTS magazine are over unfortunately. Harajuku and Shibuya, our fashion meccas, are changing, but that is okay. While we may start losing some of the cute prints we all know and love, the expansion of these brands to include women outside their age demographic is fantastic. I love the fact that I can wear a youthful print like Sleeping Bunny one day, but also have pieces like the Big Flower dress as seen in the photo above.

I'm a working adult and I know what it is like to go from one wardrobe to another with J-Fashion. I unfortunately can't go all out, but I have ocassions where I can bring more of the mature Liz Lisa pieces I have into work and feel comfortable without those judging me for looking "too young." This is something everyone will have to deal with as they grow older and join the work force. Looking "too young" leads to people not taking you seriously unfortunately and I can certainly attest to how awful it feels not to be respected at the place you spend eight hours a day at.

Nonetheless, I will continue to wear this fashion until I feel like I'm not enjoying it anymore and I'm happy to see brands embracing those who choose to do the same. While I don't want to lose out on the unique and cute prints that these brands create, I'm happy that I can feel comfortable wearing a style that keeps my age in mind.