Now on with the regular entry. Japan is a country that is extremely concerned with aesthetics; cars, buildings, even toilets are all designed with the intention of being functional as well as pleasing to the eye. The most important aesthetic to the Japanese is without a doubt fashion. Tokyo being the epicenter of fashion in Japan, I felt the need to burn a little cash. More often than not you will notice that the Japanese attempt at taking western styles of fashion and tweaking them out just enough to make it look like they dressed themselves while on acid. This is why you will find so many American and European brands strewn across Japan. The only difference between the brands here and the brands represented there is the cut in clothing, and this is a positive. Japanese people on average being of smaller stature and frame demand tighter fitting clothing, as an American who hates the College-Campus-Clothes-Too-Baggy-Hackey-Sack-Look I was pretty excited.
Any skinhead/mod worth their weight in combat boots and vespas would be excited at the idea of multiple Fred Perry stores. In NY decent Fred gear is hard to come by, theres 99x but their stock is usually pretty stagnant. Once I found out that Japan hosted many Fred stores I was a very happy boy. Also around the New Years clothing stores have huge sales, which makes finding good bargains incredibly easy. I picked up a pretty nice boy scout belt and a jacket which has now become one of my favorite articles of clothing.
Shoes in Japan are bigger than god. Footwear is a key part of the Japanese youth wardrobe. Lucky for me I had Jaybil to show me to a secret spot that instantly became one of my favorites. It was like Flight Club NYC except not shitty and overpriced. The only downside was looking for size 13 shoes in a country with an average size of around 7 or 8. But I was able to find a really fresh pair of CO.JP Pistachios. I always loved the CO.JP stuff, and even more so now because not every herb in the world can walk into a skateshop or Journeys and picked up a sweet pair of limited SB's.
A huge style fad in Japan right now is dressing like you just came from a Suicidal Tendencies show in the 80's. They love vans, the love fliphats, and most importantly they love flannels. I was able to pick this guy up on sale at a real nice price. Quality Levi's western flannel.
A store that is gradually making its way to the states (theres now one in NYC) is Uniqlo. This place is awesome, its like the GAP of Japan except with way better clothes and stuff that actually fits properly and not like an oversize burlap sack. I got this quality work-guy shirt for less than 20 dollars and it fits like a dream. Hopefully they don't change the cuts of the clothes for Uniqlo USA.
Visiting one of the most renowned Tattoo shops in Japan as well as the world I felt it necessary not to just get tattooed but also pick up a shirt. Designed by Nami from 3 Tides, anything with satanic goats on it gets my instant approval.
Thats all for today, consumerism is awesome.
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