asia is my fashion spirit-country

I think part of me has always known that Asia would be where I'd find my home fashion-wise.

Or maybe it's because I'm from Ohio, home of everything brand-name that can be found everywhere else in the USA. If it's a national company, a name everyone will know, we've got it. So the fashion is, while not boring, very VERY mainstream. To my knowledge we didn't see a lot of extreme fashion deviants, people wearing crazy shoes and spiky jewelry or dying their hair crazy colors. You want that fashion action, you find another city.

Asia, though, is a bit more liberal with their fashion. There are embellishments everywhere--lace, beads, sequins, rips, patterns, bleach spots--if it can be done to clothes, it's on something. Sometimes in triplicate. The accessories, hair, and make-up can be more extreme, too, without seeming over-the-top here.

I don't need to do full-on Tokyo Street Fashion, but I like the idea that a slightly embellished approach to fashion is more normal here. I like sticking a toe or a foot into the deep-end of what's okay. I like showing a bit of an "alternative" side in what I wear. I was just never comfortable doing it in Ohio. You either wore mainstream stuff or you were picking your clothes straight out of Hot Topic. You either fit in or you stuck out like two sore thumbs.

I am having a blast shopping in Taiwan. I have found a love of earrings I didn't know about or feed before, and a delight in tights and shoes I couldn't afford before. Clothes in Taiwan are fancy and also much cheaper, so I'm able to explore fashion a lot more easily.

I went shopping in Ximen today and I can't wait to wear what I bought tomorrow. :)