I’m tired of the paper thin ultra trendy clothes made of polyester from Gu and the not very inspiring basics from Uniqlo and Muji. Where can I go for medium quality clothes that last more seasons? I’m from the US and I’m looking more for the Nordstrom, Madewell, or generally better level of quality. For reference I am a woman and I see people wearing nice clothes in the street I just can’t figure out where they are going.
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Not at all a fashion expert or anything, and I’m perfectly fine with Uniqlo/MUJI, but Global Work looks like a step above such stores. Window-shopped there a lot but never got anything because it’s just outside my price range. On Twitter you can also find fashion-focused accounts and they will list where each item is from. Fashion magazines will do this as well. I see Lowry’s Farm mentioned a lot.
Try getting designer clothes at second hand clothing stores. Designer quality at a fraction of the price and often practically new condition.
Definitely recycle shops. There’s a store called avail that has some good quality clothes as well.
Not sure what your price range is, and assuming you’re in Tokyo/any bigger city – Lumine, Parco, lucua, some department stores have mid range select shops on the 2nd-3rd floors.
For best cost performance, find a brand you like, get items second hand on mercari, etc…
Brands I like that have lasted years and years are /styling, and some items I found at Studious.
Family sales
Try しまむら if there is one around you.
Have you tried any of the outlet malls such as Premium Outlets or Mitsui Outlet Park? You can typically get much better discounts on brand clothing. They often have free shuttle buses from the closest train station.
Also some American retailers actually ship to Japan for a fee. Saks off 5th or Macy’s for example. During Black Friday and other big sales it can be way cheaper than Japan even building in shipping and duty costs.
Sirano bros
Ships, Beams, United Arrows and Journal Standard are all decent mid-range options, but Yahoo! Auctions and Mercari really the best way to get interesting stuff for cheaper.
Gap and Banana Republic both have stores in Tokyo (and presumably elsewhere) as well as e-commerce nationwide.
I always envy the men, when I shop at Zara, as their clothes seem much better made and of nicer materials then the women’s clothing that’s often either hit or miss in terms of quality. My husband got some very decent woolen sweaters from H&M that have lasted him a few years so far and from GAP some stuff too.
Do you fit Japanese sizes? If you like feminine, but incredibly well made and practical pieces nearly my entire wardrobe is Celford. They carry 32-38 in most things and sometimes a 40. Their stores are usually in LUMINE, which also has many shops with great quality with items in the 1-3万 range usually.
Wife goes to Zara and also will go to places with smaller but numerous stores like Parco or the Subnade in Shinjuku.
Outlets.
Women have so, so, so many choices in this country. It would be helpful if you gave us an example of your preferred style of clothing. There is street, casual, elegant, romantic, girly and so on.. with shops catering to each style.
Any photos of designs you like?
*(If you are okay with cute clothes that women in their 20s often wear, I really recommend Honeys)*
Cos, United Arrows (also their other lines like Beauty & Youth, Green Label Relaxing) Beams, Beams Heart, Ships, Iena, Tomorrowland, Nano Universe (wait for the sales on Zozotown for those last two because they get heavily discounted). also Baycrews stocks good brands, and some random overseas pieces, as well as their own line.
For overseas brands, Shopbop does pretty fast shipping to Japan and they carry Madewell.
Koenji and Shimokitazawa are both good places to buy second hand designer clothing
If you live in a major city like Tokyo, yey going to a any train station.
Any train station at all will do. amost have karge buildings near then.
Inside those buildings, if you go above the ground floor.
You will find many,many, many, many clothes stores for women.
And, if you inspect the item before buying, you might be able to find something up to your stringent US standards.
Nordstrom ships internationally.
How would you describe your style? And can you fit standard Japanese sizes?
I have some pieces from Lily Brown, Mercury Duo and FurFur, that I got 2nd hand. They’re much nicer quality than GU, H&M et al. (although still a lot of polyester unfortunately). These brands all have a distinct, very feminine, quite trendy style that may or may not be your cup of tea. And they also usually only have one, maybe two sizes.
If you’re looking for more natural fibers and ethically produced items, People Tree might be worth checking out. They have a lot of nice basics, as well as some funky patterned blouses, tunics etc. Totally different style to the first bunch I mentioned, but one of my favourite summer dresses I’ve ever owned is from them.
Zara. One step up from Uniqlo