Folklore (fashion style)

Folklore (フォークロア) is a Japanese fashion style or trend that became extremely popular with Japanese girls in the late summer and fall of 2008. The most easily recognizable aspect of the Japanese folklore style is the incorporation of fur and shearling items into an outfit. The fur (both faux fur and real lamb and other fur) and shearling appear in various clothing items from vests to bags to shoes. The folklore style (sometimes called "ethnic" style) became the most popular trend in Japanese fashion magazines in the late spring and summer of 2008. By late summer, the windows of some clothing stores in Tokyo's trendy shopping areas including Harajuku, Shibuya, and Shinjuku had nothing but folklore outfits on display.

The folklore style Japanese boots include fringe and ugg style (shearling), as well as knit and fur covered boots or boots with furry or knitted balls hanging off of them. The fur vests are perhaps the most popular of all folklore clothing items, and are widely available in Tokyo clothing shops in prices ranging from the high end designer brands right down to Takeshita Dori shops with 1,000 yen vests probably imported from China. Shearling, knit, and fur purses and handbags as well as fur hats that look like they might be worn in arctic weather are part of the folklore trend. Cuffed denim shorts trimmed with fur and even some knitted micro shorts can be seen in shop windows and on shelves around Tokyo.

Shibuya 109 and Harajuku's LaForet department store are both packed with shops selling the folklore style of clothing as of early November 2008. In Tokyo, the folklore boots replaced last winter's trend of gladiator sandals, and the shoe shops are now filled with uggs, fur boots, and other similar styles.