This article explores the manner in which post-war American and European popular-culture influences, in combination with domestic economic and socio-cultural movements, acted to shape the fashion styles and expressions of femininity adopted by Japanese women in the Showa 20s (1945-55) and 30s (1955-65). Beginning with an exploration of the complex legacy of the occupation, with its combination of high-levels of prostitution juxtaposed with women's legal empowerment, it goes on to examine the impact of 1950s western and Japanese movies; dressmaking schools; fashion magazines and the mass media images of early-1960s female pop icons created and controlled by Watanabe Misa and the pioneering Nabepro production company. The article seeks to unc...