I am Japanese, and when my family decides to go clothing shopping, that is synonymous with UNIQLO. I live in a city with many foreign residents, so I was surprised to almost never see foreigners in UNIQLO, or wearing their products.
I asked my American classmate if she likes UNIQLO and she said it is ugly, bland and androgynous. I never thought about it like that, but now that I notice it, western clothes do have different shapes and designs to Japanese regular brands like GU and UNIQLO.
Do you guys like UNIQLO? Is it good value, or not something most foreigners are interested in?
39 comments
I would love to wear Uniqlo. They just don’t have anything in my size.
it’s cheap for the quality so sure
All my guy friends shop there too
Yes. It’s all I wear. lol. The underwear is too small, though.
Haha. Have worn Uniqlo for almost everything but work suits for years before I moved here. Wearing everything from there right now. This is from a fat American
I love it! It’s clothes. And it’s cheap.
“She said it is ugly, bland and androgynous”. We all have personal opinions. There is no need to take the opinion of this person as gospel.
Edit: We seem to have some fashion experts on hand. 🙂
The underwear, socks, and tshirt I am wearing right now is Uniqlo.
They have a lot of great clothing. My wife and I both like it a lot.
Yes like it.
I would say most wear uniqlo, it’s cheap and easy to find simple stuff to pair with nicer clothes.
I’m sat in my room right now and everything I’m wearing is uniqlo. If I’m going out and want to look nice, I’d wear less uniqlo though.
I had never heard of UNIQLO until I moved to Japan. I don’t really have any brand associations since I didn’t grow up with it.
I sometimes like Japanese clothes, but in general the fashion does feel pretty bland. Where I’m from, people like to wear form fitting, often colorful clothes. Here everything fits very loosely if you buy the “recommended size” for your measurements, and most things come in beige, grey, black, white, or sometimes blue.
I find maybe 1-2 pieces of clothing per year that I like in Japan.
Yes they do. Especially in Asia. Singaporeans love it.
Source: Am Singaporean.
Uniqlo Ginza store, has often more foreign people than Japanese inside.
Whenever I’m wearing anything that isn’t Uniqlo, that means I didn’t choose it.
It’s good for basics, but very little of what they make is particularly inspiring.
I prefer stuff that is fitted and gives me a shape and silhouette, so a lot of Japanese brands make me feel boxy.
Probably 70% of my wardrobe is Uniqlo. And when my Mum visits from the UK, she stocks up on their ブラトップ because apparently nothing like that is available back home.
Uniqlo is quite popular in US. At least it was a kind of hipster brand 10 years ago or so. Their first store in Manhattan was always packed.
Same in China. When I was there uniqlos were always packed. Always a long queue to pay. Especially during holidays season you’d see a lot of people go spend their bonus on loads of clothes. I guess it’s more of a mass market high cospa brand there.
I like Uniqlo. In fact what your classmate calls “bland” is what I like about their clothes. No juvenile designs or wild patterns, no flashy branding – sometimes “bland” is good.
Would love if they actually had trousers my length in stock though…
Yes i love uniqlo as underwear and undershirts.
Same with Japanese i rarely see anyone wear uniqlo as their outer or jackets but everyone wears it beneath. Maybe your classmate means that: Uniqlo is generic and not a statement pieces so they don’t wear it on outer top
I’m an XL-sized Japanese-American who wore almost exclusively UNIQLO the first few years after moving to Japan in 2011. Even if I didn’t gain weight since 2020, I stopped getting excited about the stuff they have, especialy when I’d see someone else with the exact same thing. The shirts and jackets with patterns are the worst for “ユニバレ.”
I like how they’ll hem the pants for you but I have a pile of jeans with the seat/crotch ripped from bicycling too.
Currently taking most of it to the donation boxes except for the HeatTech stuff for winter, which I still buy. Some of the solid color items might be okay to hold on to.
Fits very well with a Scandinavian wardrobe, I’ll say as a Dane. We usually like our stuff more understated than the shouty American styles.
For underwear, socks, t-shirts, and lots of basics like plain sweatshirts or polos, I wear almost 100% Uniqlo. Easily available, fine price and quality.
For jackets or other outerwear, I prefer a bit nicer stuff so usually buy imported items.
Don’t like their suits or work clothes. I get dress shirts made-to-order because Japanese sizes don’t fit me.
For everyday casual things like button ups, they often don’t fit my torso very well or are too long, and I have better luck at places with US sizing like the Gap or Levis in a similar-ish price range (especially when on sale or at outlets). Some Uniqlo items end up fitting well, so I do have a decent amount of Uniqlo stuff but not nearly as much as my basics or staples.
I do! But bland and androgynous is my taste in clothes : )
Uniqlo is HUGE in Sydney and Melbourne. Very popular in Australia. It’s the most common ave people buy basics, especially men for shirts pants and sweaters
Always using a mix of clothes from Uniqlo and Workman+.
Not looking for high fashion. Perfectly fine for a Dad.
Every single foreigner I know lives almost exclusively in UNIQLO.
Most men I know like uniqlo, women not so much.
I sometimes buy stuff like underwear or heat tech or whatever, but their clothes are extremely boring for my taste.
I like uniqlo but their sizes are awful. I have tried their online sizes but the issue I face is that it’s ↔️ big not ↕️ big. I’m 170cm woman with wide hips. I STRUGGLE finding a good pair of pants that can keep up with my legs.
It’s definitely a matter of personal taste. I dislike UNIQLO style because I find it bland, but I’m also someone who doesn’t own a single plain t-shirt.
I also find UNIQLO expensive. If I find something I like at UNIQLO, I could most likely find something very similar(or even UNIQLO brand) at 2nd Street or BookOff for a third of the price.
Mainly for underwear, I don’t like their style otherwise.
If you didn’t know already, Uniqlo is so popular they have stores outside Japan. Philippines, China, Thailand, SG have it.
IMO, their best products were their tank tops./shirts that already had bras inside. Never have to worry about bra strap coming out from the tank top since it’s part of the top. I guess the only con is if the cup size doesn’t fit.
Heat tech also has saved me a bunch of times.
So yeah, foreigners do like it. I think a possibility is that Uniqlo’s sizes may not be as inclusive for those who are bigger, or if they did that size isn’t always available.
I used to have a bunch of uniqlo stuff, but I stopped buying years ago because well, I just have enough clothes. At this point I only buy if they have shirts from anime I like, or need to buy heat tech apparel for the winter.
Uniqlo clothes are boxy, short and ill fitting to my body.
Furthermore they rarely stock my size in store (xl) so I have to order online and return stuff. The return process can be a nightmare so I just don’t bother.
Then there is also the dreaded Uniqlo twining where you will see someone wear the exact thing you are……..
I like it because it’s decent quality for a decent price. I don’t splurge on my wardrobe so Uniqlo is fine for me.
However I do feel that the styles have become a lot more bland in maybe the past 6 or 7 years. I remember being a lot more impressed with the selection back in the day. Every year they seemed to have new and appealing styles. Then one day I went there and remember thinking, “Oh this year’s lineup isn’t so great. I hope next year is better.” That “next year” hasn’t come yet.
The jeans and chinos are good, the rest is just so bland and also ‘asia fit’ so doesn’t suit my figure.
Interestingly Uniqlo Singapore has more fashionable and better fitting clothes.
I go to uniqlo sometimes and like it – but think there prices have become too high.
Shimamura is hot or miss but the stores have more variety.
For foreigners Uniqlo is great as you take the stuff home and no one else is wearing it.
In Japan – so many people look the same.
*Looks down at self*
Yeah… erm, 75% uniqlo today, lol.
For trousers or whatever, I usually don’t want a bright colour or anything, I want them to be fairly bland so they’re easy to pair with a more interesting t-shirt or something that I’ll get from elsewhere else. Their socks/underwear are pretty good as well.
Overall, they’re decent quality as well as being decently priced so as long as that continues, I’ll continue to pick up the basics from there.
Japanese fashion for women honestly sucks. Everything is so huge/boxy/some shade of beige or other dull colour that I’d never wear. Years ago I went in Shibuya 109 (even though I am well into my 30’s lols) hoping to find some really random wacky out there stuff that wouldn’t be well, like the aforementioned products and nope, they were going hard on the 1700’s peasantcore brown potato sack dress vibe.
I’m a more shapely female, so I find that uniqlo fits about as well as a tent would, if they fit over over my bust. To be fair, this isn’t a problem unique to uniqlo. But also, I agree with the “bland” statement as well. I do have some friends who go there for simple things like casual work shirts and pants though.
Hello, a Brit here.
Unlike your classmate I love Uniqlo. I buy a lots from there, as they almost always fit pretty well. They are a bit more simple and not so form fitting, but I prefer that to some of the clothes back home which can be too flashy.
If UNIQLO is bland and androgynous then I don’t know what Muji is.