Overview
Westernization began at the top and in public, male life. Uniforms for the new army, navy, police and railways were Western-cut; the 1872 decree set Western clothes as official formal dress, and men’s business and government dress followed. Students took up the stiff-collared gakuran.
Key garments and style
Elite women wore European bustle gowns at the Rokumeikan receptions of the 1880s, but for most women the kimono remained everyday wear, giving rise to a mixed Japanese-and-Western wardrobe (wayo setchu). Men often kept haori and hakama for Japanese formal occasions.
Transition
In the Taisho era Western fashion would spread beyond officialdom into a lively urban popular culture.