As festival season gets underway many girls are getting into the swing of things by donning a yukata dress, which marries traditional Japanese fabrics with a more modern shape. Sales of the yukata dress have been brisk since it was launched this year, and Tokyo Walker reports that Web store Yumetenbou have sold more than 5,000 dresses since the item was released for sale in May.
The frilly dresses are popular with both young girls and women who are drawn to the voluminous knee length skirt and cute but pretty floral fabrics. Similar in style to a Gothic Lolita outfit, the yukata dress is a cute confection dripping with lace and ribbons. This lace-trimmed outfit sold by Yumetenbou comes complete with hair ribbon accessories and a pink ribbon belt. Yumetenbou’s costumes go for around ¥5,000, but a cheaper version sans accessories is available from Nissen web store for under ¥3,000. Best of all is that the yukata dress is not a dress at all but a skirt coupled with a top that can be worn separately for a more casual effect.
If the yukata dress is a little girly for your taste head down to China House Kamome in Yokohama to buy a sexed-up version of the yukata. The store sells dresses in the Vietnamese audai style made from yukata fabric with a slender silhouette and slit down the side that is bound to get pulses racing during the summer party season. Costing around¥12,900, they’re a lot more pricy than the yukata dress but since the store started selling them six years ago they’ve grown so steadily in popularity that they’re now flying out the door.
