A Flapper's Summer Essentials

Here in ol' Nippon, summer can get frightfully hot and the humidity is even beastlier, as if one has been glazed in honey and set next to the melting eclairs on the top shelf at Renee's Butler Cafe. It is essential that every fashionable young thing has equally fashionable summer defences with which to wage war upon the heat, namely:

1. A parasol. In the Antipodes, which boasts a fiercer summer, I tried this tactic, only to be stared at so viciously by passers-by that I felt like a pretentious gooseberry. But here in Japan, every woman wields a parasol to fend off the rays. I recommend several: a frilly, decadent one for dressier wear; a plain black one that matches every outfit, and a colourful one to complement a fave suit. Parasols with a subtle flower-print underneath look stunning when the sunlight illuminates the flowers from behind.

The parasol pictured was purchased at Gothic Lolita shoppe Baby, the Stars Shine Bright! and depicts the story of Little Red Riding Hood, or "Ridding Hood", which makes me think of young gal with a hood complex, who gallavants about the countryside ridding the place of wretched red hoods! Master Samuel was somewhat perplexed by the ending. He remarked: "Does the wolfy fellow fall down the well, or do he and Red have a baby and live happily ever after down the gurgler?!"





2. A fan. The sensu or folded fan is more convenient than the uchiwa or paddle variety, as it can be easily stowed in one's handbag. The uchiwa fan is fab if wearing a yukata, as it can be slipped under the back of one's obi and look very fetching from behind, but they are generally cumbersome when shopping, dancing etc, however most useful for swatting insects. The sensu fan adds a certain delicacy to the hand and wrist, and can be used as an effective device of flirtation for the doe-eyed flapper behind which one can peep and bat one's eyelids in gamine fashion. I bought a Kiki's Delivery Service fan with black-flower-and-Jiji-the-Cat detail. A tiny Jiji dangling ornament hangs from the fan.



3. A sweat-towel. A flannel that often masquerades as a dainty handkerchief with which to dab away the perspiration from one's nosie, forehead and neck. Many sweat-towels are decorated with popular characters. Hello Kitty ones are usually quite fun, often a deep purple with black trim. My own include a Euro-kitsch hankie (featuring hedgehogs, deer and squirrels dancing about toadstools) and a few brand name ones picked up as freebies from gothique boutiques.