Fresh Fruits

This book along with Fruits both published by Phaidon Press Limited, are probably my favourite and most source of inspiration. All photos and content are by Shoichi Aoki.

In the book at the bottom of each page is the person's name and age and a list of what the clothes are and where they are from, along with the wearer's Current Obsession and Point of Fashion.

For example one girl dressed in pink and white holding a blue boomerang is called Yu-Yu and is 15. Her dress and Jacket are handmade, the Point of her Fashion is to be like Snow White, and her Current Obsession is dancing.

I just think it's such a good idea & a really good way to document young trends, and it's fascinating to flick through and look at all the patterns, textures, and personalities on show.

I can't afford to go to Japan to see Harajuku for myself so this is the best alternative.
The people are so creative and "Their do-it-yourself fashion sensibility reveals the way in which the clothes we wear have the power to change not only our personal conception of ourselves but also the way we interact with the world around us."

Shoichi Aoki writes this foreward in 'Fruits'
"My interest in fashion stems from the way people express themselves through the clothes they wear. It doesn't matter what kind of clothes individual designers make. What is important are one's thoughts and the ability to express them, one's life and its relationship to the environment. When such elements are combined they create a sculpture. This sculpture I call street fashion."

I agree very much with these words and would recommend anyone who is interested in fashion to get either of these books as you will be amused, surprised and maybe even enamoured by the images they contain.

As a child I loved nothing more than dressing up on a sunday, I would spend a whole day trying on different things, and combinations, and often I would end up looking a lot like the girls in Fruits, covered in layers of skirts, dresses, jewellery, and hats! This is why I love this style so much, it reminds me of my childhood and when you wear these kind of outfits you do feel quite giddy and childish.

So I've started Sheffield Street Style, in the hope that people will go and look at the photos I've taken of them, and have a browse at the other people up there too and maybe click on the links i've posted underneath the pictures to a site called www.TokyoFashion.com - i've tried to link pictures that have similar clothes in or something I think the people in my photo will find interesting or would like to wear themselves.

I am trying to turn the tables back, as Japan has borrowed our dress, now I think it is time England started dressing in a more individual, funky way, instead of being dictated what to wear by the media and the high street.