Of Interesting Trends

Well, it's another week, and I feel obligated to crank out this blog post before people accuse me of not keeping my promise. So I'm cranking out some club music to get me in the mood. And I'm not gonna' lie, this is one of those weeks where it's actually difficult to think up a topic. I've gone through three or four now, and none of them have seemed to work, so I've decided to go with this.

First, I'd like to wish everyone happy holidays! Merry Christmas, Happy New Year's, and whatever other holiday you may celebrate! Everything is lit up here in Japan; trees and lights are everywhere, and it's beautiful. Christmas is more of a friend or couples holiday here. New Year's is for families though. It's interesting to see it reversed from the States.

Second, I've noticed something really curious about dogs here in Japan. People really like their dogs, and when I say really, I mean obsess over. You know how there's this whole joke about "bag dogs"? Meaning, you don't let your dog walk and instead you carry it in your purse, or other bag. Here, that seems to be pretty common. I've seen more dogs in bags in the past couple days than I've seen in any Legally Blonde movie. They're in purses, briefcases, satchels, gift bags, you name it. There's a dog in it.

Also, while we're on the subject of dogs, there are some serious dogs in sweaters here. Every dog has a sweater. In the States, if you put a sweater on your dog, people laugh at it, and then they laugh at you. Because it's just strange. People don't do it. But here, dogs love sweaters, or rather, they have sweaters. At first, it was the bag dogs, and I thought, "Poor dog. Not only is it in a bag, but now it's forced to wear a sweater too." But then the trend grew. I saw a Golden Retriever the other day with a sweater on. I honestly don't think it did anything. It's a dog with really thick fur, but who knows. Dogs can wear sweaters too.

Finally, the most perplexing of all trends is the current fashion to wear what we'd term in the States as "hooker boots." For those of you who are not familiar with this term, think the boots that are very tall which basically go up to your thighs. These are not in any way acceptable back home, but people wear them everywhere here. I see girls come to school with their short little skirts (yes, in the middle of winter) and hooker boots. I see little girls who are barely old enough to walk wearing hooker boots. I see moms and grandmas wearing hooker boots. Of all trends I've seen so far, this is the one that confuses me the most. How on earth did these things get marketed to the masses?

I welcome any input.

In the meantime, happy holidays to all!

Michelle