This weekend I went to a large comic and zine fair in Osaka. There were around 900 artists selling their work, in categories covering everything from action, romance, historical, erotica, animals, food, sports, and office life. My table was in the art zine/ miscellaneous section. In the quiet periods, it was fun to check out nearby tables and sketch people. Perhaps because the art zine section had lots of unique, individual styles that were offbeat in the best of ways.
This artist was wearing a blue oxford shirt with a brown wool tie, tan trousers, and brown shoes. I like how he added a beret – it’s a look that could have easily backfired, but the muted colors matched his outfit. It was also an old looking hat, possibly vintage, which made it seem like he’s had it a long time. Whatever the reason, it suited him so well that it’s kind of hard to imagine him without it.
This man was sporting one of the more popular hairstyles in Japan – floppy in the front, but cut tight and short at the back. His cream-colored, striped shorts were a bit formal looking, almost like they could have been trousers if extended. He wore them with blue slip on sneakers and a baggy t-shirt layered over a blue dress shirt. With the sleeves of the dress shirt rolled up, this made the t-shirt almost look like a light sweater.
I spotted this older man looking at a list of artists. He was wearing a light cardigan with revers (like the lapels you’d find on a sport coat), layered over a bright, pink t-shirt that complemented the blue in his sweater perfectly. Interestingly, his sneakers had pink toe caps, possibly a detail that he added himself. There were a lot of people at this fair who looked like they may have customized their clothes, adding patches, colors, or home-painted designs.
This man was wearing green chinos (I think from Uniqlo) and a bright, orange shirt with a kind of paisley pattern on it. Had I seen it on the rack, I would have though it’s too bold, but he wore it like it was his everyday clothing. Again, sometimes it just takes a bit of experimenting to find that one item or combination that works well for you. The people I saw and sketched above all looked so natural and unpretentious in their clothing choices, yet also individual and offbeat in some small way. It inspires me to experiment a bit more and find my own thing.
