Buying clothes in Japan

[ibiza]

I'm heading to Tokyo in a couple weeks because I desperately need to buy some cloths. I'm 6 foot 3 and weight about 185 pounds. My shoe size is 13, although some of my shoes are 12's and some 14's.

My question is, where can I get some decent clothes that will fit me in tokyo? I'm already planning on going to Diesel Japan and Nautica. I really like (some) of the clothes at Marui (OIOI) in my city, but none of them fit me. THey only go up to M and I need an L or LL.

I know there have to be stores in Tokyo that cater to japanese men over 6 feet tall. Any help would be great.

Thanks.

[aquamarine]

If you want to make money here, bring an extra set or two of shes in size 12. Those buggers are farkin' hard to find, take it from me.

[Maths Dude]

Mate, I am 6'3" as well and I never had a problem getting clothes. I always went to Uniclo, I got good sized shirts and pants for just a few thousand yen each . Shoes werent a problem either.

[Mulboyne]

If you are looking for big shoes, there is a shop in Nishi Gotanda and another in Nishi Shinjuku. I'd still advise buying overseas but, if you are running low, you can usually find something.
Big-B Site (Japanese Only)


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[Taro Toporific]

I know there have to be stores in Tokyo that cater to japanese men over 6 feet tall. Any help would be great.

As I've said many times before here on the FG, The GAP and Eddie Bauer carry large sizes here and have many locations. Since WWII expats have shopped at Shinjuku Mens ISETAN MENS' 7th floor, and Ginza's Washington Shoes---both are pricey but can fit monster size guys. Suits at Japanese discounters like AOKI are large enough and there are tux rental places will provide gaijin sizes (if you give them a week's warning).

If I need some rags, just wear whatever the GAP and Eddie Bauer offer since both retailers have stores near my house and office. However, I have bought "computer-order made" from SUITS AOKI and my formalwear at Omotesando Brooks Brothers.

Shoes are taxed at 40% rate, stock up before you come here. Specialy sport shoes can be a REAL problem. Finding my size 12 EEEE gym shoes is a pain --Costco Japan and Sports Authority here have them sometimes.

If you want Japanese fashion house stuff, you're better off buying it in the Real World...Japanese fashion stude Issei Miyake, et al will not fit you: you need the export-only couture.

[yakinoumiso]

As I've said many times before here on the FG, The GAP and Eddie Bauer carry large sizes here and have many locations. ...

Well. thanks for saying it again...

I:ve had a few suits made at Seibu. They did nice work, and the price was the same as the comparable off-the-rack suit. Other clothes are a bit of a problem since even if I can find the right combo of waist and length, the rest of the cut doesn:t make the cut.

With regards to shoes, I:ve been able to find Nike up to 30 cm, but New Balance only up to 28.5 (too small). So I usually buy my shoes online from Road Runner Sports. They charge the actual shipping cost, and you get hit with some duty (about 1000 yen per pair of leather shoes, and 700 or so for sport shoes). But even then I think it:s cheaper than ordering the same ones through The Sports Authority or wherever...

[Charles]

...As I've said many times before here on the FG, The GAP and Eddie Bauer carry large sizes here and have many locations. Since WWII expats have shopped at Shinjuku Mens ISETAN MENS' 7th floor, and Ginza's Washington Shoes---both are pricey but can fit monster size guys....
[snip]
If you want Japanese fashion house stuff, you're better off buying it in the Real World...Japanese fashion stude Issei Miyake, et al will not fit you: you need the export-only couture.

You know, it's funny you mention Isetan, I spent years shopping for a proper dress overcoat my size (I'm tall and hard to fit). I couldn't find anything in the US, but I found a nice Armani overcoat at Isetan 7th floor, I was astonished, Armani's maximum size is way smaller than would fit me, they NEVER make large sizes, but hell, there it was. But I couldn't afford it even though it was cheap by Armani standards (only ~$1000) so I only have my substandard trenchcoat.

But I don't think you understand how couture works. You don't buy Issei Miyake at a department store, you have to wrangle an invitation to his boutique in Akasaka for a custom fitting. Off the rack couture, even if it is the proper size, only fits properly on about 1 in 100 people. And of that 1%, it only looks good on about 5% of them. That's why people stick with one designer for OTR, they find someone who cuts clothes that has the right fit for their body type, and they stick with it because they know the cuts are usually from the same basic patterns.

BTW, my deepest sympathies about your poor 12EEEEs. I wear 13EEE but once a shoe salesman insisted I should try 12EEEEE and it gave me corns and ingrown toenails (never listen to shoe salesmen). I have to drive 250 miles to Abrams Shoes in Chicago to buy proper sizes, they're hard to find in the US, I'd hate to try to find them in Japan. I usually wear Rockports for general street hiking, but I had to wear my dress shoes one day during my recent Tokyo trip, alas they seemed to have shrunk a bit (I think they got damp and I didn't have shoe trees to keep em stretched). The shoes pinched terribly, my right foot got really messed up. I had to have foot surgery when I got back to the US. Unfortunately, the surgery didn't work, so I have to go back for more surgery in a few weeks. Foot surgery is intensely painful, but the Darvon sure is nice.

[maraboutslim]

Do you guys really have triple and quadruple E feet, or are you just adding a few letters like all the Japanese girls do to their cup sizes?

BTW, if worse comes to worse, I heard there are some shoe shops in the area near the Sumo stables that carry large sizes.

[Taro Toporific]

Do you guys really have triple and quadruple E feet, or are you just adding a few letters like all the Japanese girls do to their cup sizes?

Sizes EEE or greater ain't hardly a bragging point: It just means a person has fallen arches, fat or disabled like me.

you don't know how couture works

Dang, I knew that somebody might notice that I couldn't figure out how to spell/type "pret-a-porter" correctly so I used "couture" imprecisely.


Anyway, the point is you can buy whatever you might need in Tokyo, but it's wise to buy your clothes and shoes overseas in the Real World, since that's what any saavy Japanese person does.



A model presents a Japanesque hat during Common Threads Japan 2004, a fashion and charity event, at Tokyo's Kanda Myojin shrine October 15, 2004.

[Charles]

Yes indeed, my 13EEE feet are all too real. You know what they say about people with big feet.. They have really big...





...shoes.

[Mulboyne]

You know what they say about people with big feet.. They have really big...
...shoes.

[Charles]

Love the pic. It reminds me of what my shoes look like, sitting in the genkan. I never have trouble finding my shoes.

[cliffy]

Do you guys really have triple and quadruple E feet, or are you just adding a few letters like all the Japanese girls do to their cup sizes?

Sizes EEE or greater ain't hardly a bragging point: It just means a person has fallen arches, fat or disabled like me.

Yes it is no joke for people with "odd" size feet, my feet are 11 3/4" X 5 2/3" (heel to toe X across the toe). I shop to find shoes that fit and only then look at style. At least I have 'even' feet, one of my cousins has one foot 18" and the other 20", yes that is correct a foot and a half and damn near two feet long, it needs a big breeze to topple him! ( I found a bottle of Rum works too)

[stuckinkysuhu]

Anyone have trouble with Japanese pants? Back home I always thought of myself as quite slim, but here I can never squeeze into the things. Even if the length and the waist size is right, it seems like I get stuck trying to get into them. The Gap etc... offer no problems but any of those slightly trendy looking pairs of Japanese jeans and I'm embarassing myself in the fitting room.

[Guyfawks]

I`d try F-One for suits - from 29,000 or 39,000 start price, the latter made in Japan. Best to wear a suit you like (or even not like, as they can then judge where to adjust the size). I`m very happy with their service and quality - as I say go for the 39,000 series. Another place is Fukuoka Tailor, but I`d recommend F-One.

[Guyfawks]

Anyone have trouble with Japanese pants? Back home I always thought of myself as quite slim, but here I can never squeeze into the things. Even if the length and the waist size is right, it seems like I get stuck trying to get into them. The Gap etc... offer no problems but any of those slightly trendy looking pairs of Japanese jeans and I'm embarassing myself in the fitting room.

You can get a pair of slacks tailor made at Fukuoka from 10,000 and F-One from 15,000, both tailored to your fit and requirements. A little higher initial cost, but should last you years and years...

[Coligny]

Spam and cheeze anyone ?

[kurogane]

Anyone have trouble with Japanese pants? Back home I always thought of myself as quite slim, but here I can never squeeze into the things. Even if the length and the waist size is right, it seems like I get stuck trying to get into them. The Gap etc... offer no problems but any of those slightly trendy looking pairs of Japanese jeans and I'm embarassing myself in the fitting room.

Yes. Very much. Same problem, except I am only slim in my deluded mind. One Uniqlo shop person could barely stifle a giggle, and that was Regular fit with plenty of extra room in the waist. I think its the bums and the thighs. Over the years I have gone for the puffy work pants, but GFs and wives tend to raise That Eyebrow at those as daily wear. I always just went with Gap stuff otherwise; when the end of the season sales are on the bigger sizes are often on for quite cheap.

Another idea might be these guys: they seem to have decent prices and a range of sizes: http://www.2ndstreet.jp/

It's a used clothing chain.

[Mike Oxlong]

I have found certain brands have become both tighter fitting in the ass and even more snug in the crotch for the same style of large jeans/shorts/underpants. When previously a large would fit kinda sorta well enough to be useful for daily wear, that is no longer the case. I have to buy a size up if I want to get the same sort of clothes. Oh bother.

[Russell]

I wouldn't call it spam, rather unrequested advice.

Finding good suits is not that easy anyway. I needed some, and finally settled on suits at AEON for less than 10,000 Yen.

Decent quality, but not tailor-made of course.

[kurogane]

I have found certain brands have become both tighter fitting in the ass and even more snug in the crotch for the same style of large jeans/shorts/underpants. When previously a large would fit kinda sorta well enough to be useful for daily wear, that is no longer the case. I have to buy a size up if I want to get the same sort of clothes. Oh bother.

Yes, I also suffer from this strange affliction, where the sizes keep shrinking even though I am drinking beer and exercising less................

I think the cut of the clothes actually is getting smaller and tighter. It's part fashion or style, but it's also economising on fabric to increase the profits on things that can't be raised in price. Last summer when I bought some Uniqlo nylon soccer shorts I went for an XXL or XXXL and they are only marginally baggier than my 8 year old Uniqlo XLs of the same sort. Some of the arms on their casual or dress shirts are comically tight, and the cut itself is obviously tighter. I have gone back to Gunze for gonch and long johns. A least when they say XXL they mean it, though I hate that belly button high rise.

[Coligny]

I wouldn't call it spam, rather unrequested advice.

Finding good suits is not that easy anyway. I needed some, and finally settled on suits at AEON for less than 10,000 Yen.

Decent quality, but not tailor-made of course.

User have 2 posts, only in this thread and answering to an 11 years old message...

[Russell]

Anyone have trouble with Japanese pants? Back home I always thought of myself as quite slim, but here I can never squeeze into the things. Even if the length and the waist size is right, it seems like I get stuck trying to get into them. The Gap etc... offer no problems but any of those slightly trendy looking pairs of Japanese jeans and I'm embarassing myself in the fitting room.

Yes. Very much. Same problem, except I am only slim in my deluded mind. One Uniqlo shop person could barely stifle a giggle, and that was Regular fit with plenty of extra room in the waist.

Uniqlo clothes have never been a fit for me, even though I am not particularly fat (BMI is 22). I suspect they do not fit anyone; they are probably made by the same factory that used to manufacture Mao costumes.

[Russell]

I wouldn't call it spam, rather unrequested advice.

Finding good suits is not that easy anyway. I needed some, and finally settled on suits at AEON for less than 10,000 Yen.

Decent quality, but not tailor-made of course.

User have 2 posts, only in this thread and answering to an 11 years old message...

Let's see what he/she has to say on cheaper suits from other brands.

Hello, Guyfawks, are you still there? Who art thou anyway?

[yanpa]

I wouldn't call it spam, rather unrequested advice.

Finding good suits is not that easy anyway. I needed some, and finally settled on suits at AEON for less than 10,000 Yen.

Decent quality, but not tailor-made of course.

User have 2 posts, only in this thread and answering to an 11 years old message...

Iz reel purrson who passed the many hurdles involved in signing up a new account. Either that or a spambot which passes the Turing test.

[Coligny]

Spambot are so 2000'
Now they use chinese slave labor...

[wuchan]

$400 suits?

pass....

[legion]

Yes, I also suffer from this strange affliction, where the sizes keep shrinking even though I am drinking beer and exercising less................

Weird, the same thing happens to me

Do you find your summer wear shrinks every year even though it has only been sitting in a drawer?

Inches get shorter each year too.

[kurogane]

Yeah, the universe is full of coincidentalisms..............

But they really are cutting that shit tighter and shorter lately. It does make fine economic sense, after all. Tell the lemmings they like it tighter and they shall agree. I still think Toraichi is the answer:

https://www.toraichi-shop.com/

Rock the Knickerbocker, babe.