Online japanese clothes sellers?

July 14, 2005 1:08 AM

Where on the net can I get decent quality, authentic japanese/tokyo street/stylish clothes for an average-sized Caucasian male?

I know from previous travels in the Far East that for guys of my height (5'10") and weight about 175lbs it is not always possible to get sizes to fit.

I have looked at a few sites and have mostly seen cheesy crap with as much authenticity as the Hai Karate ads from yore. Ideas for somewhere to shop (in English!) would be welcome.

I live in UK so any in the UK would be preferable but obviously anywhere is good.

posted by ClanvidHorse to Clothing, Beauty, & Fashion (7 answers total)

I would reccommend you go to a 'japantown' if there is one near your area.
My thinking is it would be necessary to try on the clothes, since the clothes are assumedly cut quite differently from western casual. If clothing is only slightly non-fitting, you may be able to take it to be altered. Or perhaps the shop would do it for you.
Seriously, I think that's a better idea than risk wasting $ over the internet.
Do you live in a city or a small town?
posted by Radio7 at 7:18 AM on July 14, 2005

London has branches of Muji and Uniqlo. Muji have stores elsewhere too, I'm not sure if they have menswear. They're both mainstream as far as J fashion goes; but better than nothing.

For the wackier stuff maybe magazines such as FRUiTS would have importer ads in the back (I don't know as I haven't seen a copy for a while).

If all else fails some western designers, e.g. Donna Karan for Men, have some styles/cuts that approximate Japanese styles for larger men (i.e. L/XL = taller/thinner/longer, rather than wider). I have J friends who can be impressed with this.
posted by carter at 7:56 AM on July 14, 2005

You'll prolly pay through the nose for any kind of wacky J designer wear tho.
posted by carter at 8:07 AM on July 14, 2005

Response by poster: I live in Glasgow. We used to have a Muji here but it only sold household stuff. It closed (It was in entirely the wrong location).

There is no shortage of shops here (prob better than anywhere else in the UK except London) it was trying to get authentic Japanese clothes from somewhere if poss.

I know that any J gear will not be cheap. I dont mind if I can get something good though. (mix it wi cheapo stuff from TK Maxx or H&M)
posted by ClanvidHorse at 8:25 AM on July 14, 2005

Muji has an excellent menswear selection. However, it is almost certainly NOT what you're looking for, being well-cut basic stuff (t-shirts, jumpers, cardigans) in basic colours (black, brown, navy, white etc).

I'd also say give FRUiTS a try. These websites might be of some help in working out what you're looking for anyway:

http://www.shift.jp.org/
http://ikjeld.com/street/lastmth.html
posted by Hartster at 8:56 AM on July 14, 2005

Yup maybe start with getting copies of FRUiTS or similar, just to figure out some designers and labels, and then move to Google and/or yellow pages, to see if you can find any stockists.

Re. sizing, you could take some basic measurements off your bod and have them on hand if you order anything by phone. Some of the more useful ones with this sort of stuff are shoulder seam -> shoulder seam (J shirts/jackets can be narrow here) and inside leg (J trousers can be short). Also watch out for tiny armholes (not sure of the technical term).

I also just found this. Maybe some inspiration. You could get western equivalents; depends whether you want the look, or the look plus the label.
posted by carter at 9:06 AM on July 14, 2005

You'll have difficulty purchasing Japanese fashion online because very few export globally due to limited production, high export costs, and small perceived demand. The ones who do have heavy shipping surcharges on top of their markup. Your best bet is to find out which Japanese brands you like and seek out underground/urban fashion stores in London as they will be eating the import costs.

a Bathing APE (BAPE), J Money, Supreme, Head Porter, Graniph are hot right now and your traditional, expensive brands are always in style (Lacoste, LV, Armani). Some local labels are also big in Japan (Silas and Maria/UK and Stussy/USA). TOKION magazine is a good reference as are Japanese language magazines in bookstores (Smart, Men's No-No, Huge).

Eye candy:
http://www.style-arena.jp/english/index.htm

Stores:
http://www.rakuten.ne.jp/gold/ace-web/
http://www.conceptshop.com.hk/
http://busyten.com/
Rinkya (a bidding proxy for Yahoo! Japan auctions)

Websites/Blogs (sometimes talk about Japanese fashions):
http://superfuture.com/city/supertalk/index.cfm?page=forum&forumID=2
http://www.highsnobiety.blogspot.com/
http://www.hypebeast.com/index.php
http://blog.asilentflute.com/
http://www.beinghunted.com/
http://www.slamxhype.com/
posted by junesix at 10:58 AM on July 14, 2005