Why I don't sew japanese

In France, for a few years, the trend has been to "sew japanese", understand, to sew using patterns from the books published in Japan and written by japanese people.

I've always been fascinated by those, browsing through them for hours at the bookshop ; but I only own 3.

I perfectly understand their appeal, having succumbed to it thrice.
They're exotic ; yes, they have this kind of feeling : they come from far away, you can't really understand what's written, it's nearly underground ; in short, they're hype.
The photos make you think you're not making a garment to wear, but that you're sewing fashion ; it's not the usual Big4 corny/clinical photos. The fabrics are trendy, the girls are cute, the photos look like good blog photos, often with an aery, relaxing feeling.  (a sort of  "slightly better than you girl next door")

As for the patterns themselves, they're quite simple to make, allowing anybody (beginning with the beginner) to sew them. The absolute strong point being the instructions. Forget Burda and their too-long-or-too-short-cryptic-translated-from-german-via-hungarian explanations ! Real "step by step" !



So, why did I choose not to "sew japanese" ?
It's not so much a choice than lazyness.

Firstly, these patterns are often provided in three sizes, S, M and L. Their L being far from the L I wear normally. And then there's morphology ; I'm taller than their norm, and I'm an hourglass, while japanese girls are mostly small rectangles. Conclusion to this : I have too many modifications to make before I can put on anything I've made using these patterns, without looking pregnant or like I'm wearing my teenage cousin clothes.

The last reason is just a snobbish one. These patterns are just too simplistic. It feels like sewing rectangles together in every possible way. The finishes parts are often chosen for their easiness, and are not always the most appropriate (you often have to adapt to the fabric).

My arguments seem antithetical : they're not challenging enough, but adapt them would be a real challenge.
But would you pay for patterns you have to modify so much (and loose so much time on) that it would be easier to create them from a block ?


** this is just the way it works for me ; I don't criticize people sewing from these patterns, some wonderful things have been sewn from them**