I want to bulk up my summer wardrobe with breathable basics. I’m female and I especially want basic tops. 100% cotton. Hard for me to get around (no car, somewhat inaka) so I’m hoping to get some ideas of where to look before I take a day trek to different shops searching. Thanks so much!!
(Please don’t recommend airism—my sweat just collects in those synthetic plasticky fabrics and the scent magnifies LOL.)
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Gap, Uniqlo (Linen shirts), Banana Republic. And you can check/buy everything online. Ha! Same same re airism!
Uniqlo has 100% cotton items (their socks are also very high cotton content, 85%+, which is a lifesaver)
Muji is another. They’re selling nice lightweight cotton shorts and pants this season.
I have the same problem with airism. It’s like a sponge for sweat, so I have to wash everything with vinegar just to get it clean, and that makes it degrade pretty fast.
Muji is fantastic. Their stuff is pretty comfortable and not tight-fitting, which is great in summer because sweat doesn’t stick your clothes to you. A lot (most?) of their stuff is pure cotton and pretty plain/simple in design so you can wear it with whatever else. Not the absolute cheapest choice, but fairly inexpensive in that it won’t break the bank and it is still far cheaper than most big brands. And the quality is generally good so it will last years, unlike airism.
Uniqlo has cotton stuff and linen, so has GU. But I have seen nice cotton (and occasionally linen too) at Paseos and Shimamura. I also bought a few linen blouses and tops from second hand shops. Those are my favorite buys as it usually is upmarket stuff (they have labels inside saying it’s Irish linen, or made in Italy, even if I don’t know the brand it’s clear that it wasn’t cheap) and I pay maybe ¥500 or max ¥1000? A linen blouse at Uniqlo costs much more.
Same about Airism so I switched to Muji’s cotton tanktops. Not as compact or slinky as Airism of course but the cotton is nice. It’s their さらっと綿 line.
For clothing, if you want more trendy things than Uniqlo or Muji, I do get a lot of my natural fabric clothes from Zara actually, like cotton button-downs and linen wide pants etc. Just have to check the fabric content. Also check Zozotown for online shopping, they carry all kinds of brands including Banana Republic. A favorite of domestic casual brand that’s mostly natural fabrics is Canal Jean. The pants especially are great quality, tops are hit and miss. But it’s mostly in 1-2 sizes that I’d say fit from US size 2-6. Higher quality brands that have some good cotton and linen stuff are Beams, United Arrows, Tomorrowland. But wait for coupons and sales for those.
My go to is Nissen. I have a nylon allergy and sensitivity to other synthetic fabrics and Nissen carries a lot of cotton and linen clothing with tall and large sizes.
Wait, so I’m not the only one thinking airism (or other ployester made clothing) smells bad after lots of wearing and washing… I’ve replaced most of my clothes with cotton made stuff. Both tops and pants.
I’m on the budget side of shopping, so I just stick with GU, Muji, and Uniqlo. Look through their online stores and read the product description first, so you don’t have to spend hours in the stores to read the tags. Using cotton as the keyword gives you specific results with products that are advertised as cotton made products, but some stuff could be 100% cotton and don’t show up in the results because they don’t have cotton in the product name, so you have to look deeper. Also, not sure what’s your size is but I don’t limit my search to 1 section, I own stuff from mens/womens/kids sections
I find a lot of good summer shirts at Shimamura. They also have sizes up to Japanese 5L for those that don’t fit into standard Japanese sizes.
Once you have some basics, go to a large ModeOff or BookOff Bazaar. Many of them have very large amounts of women’s clothing.
Merino wool stuff like Unbound Merino are resistant to odors and can regulate temp well, are quick dry, and are pretty comfortable. They’re pricey, but might be good to consider as an alternative to full cotton.
GAP also has fabrics made from natural fibers. A lot of people rec MUJI but I find their clothes weirdly cut and end up looking potato-sacky unless you have a petite thin, no hip, boobs or butt body type and I like loose clothing in summer lol.
If you are okay with online shopping then I would recommend ZOZOTOWN. There are hundreds and hundreds of shops that you can find in shopping malls but they also sell there online. Many brands have linen products during summer too so you can find a lot of those on zozotown website/app.
On the general subject of summer clothing, I have recently discovered [Modal](https://www.sustainablejungle.com/sustainable-fashion/what-is-modal-fabric/) fabric, (which is semi-synthetic) but is amazing for keeping dry and cool. I discovered it when I bought “Sheath” men’s underwear in the USA. Alas, it’s fairly pricey stuff.
I buy from only three brands these days: Banana Republic, The Gap, Sou Sou.
I only buy things from BR when on sale, but The Gap seems to have a permanent “Get 40% off if you buy three things sale”. BR/Gap are the same parent company so you can mix items in the basket to get free shipping.
Use Rakuten Rebates to get some extra money back from BR/Gap purchases.
Edit to add: Muji has some 100% organic t-shirts in at the moment, but some very similar styles are cotton/polyester blends so make sure to check the labels.
Famimart conbi wear has 100% cotton tshirts