Go to Tokyo
If you're trying to find out what's trendy in Tokyo, the bar none best way to find out is by going there yourself. This is obviously quite a big commitment which not everyone can afford, but if you do get the chance, definitely don't pass it up! Literally just go and people watch while you're there, and you'll know first-hand what people are actually wearing on a daily basis. You can start to get a sense for what styles and trends you want to try out from what you see people wearing just like you would normally!
It's also insanely cheap to go there right now, too Σ(°ロ°)
While you're there, don't pass up the opportunity to try on clothes from as many brands as possible so you can get a better sense of the brands with the most reliable fit and sizing for you. If you know for sure that certain brands always run too large or small it'll save you tons of heartache down the line when you're ordering clothes online!
When looking for fashion inspiration, do note whether you're in a trendy part of the city so you don't end up looking like an old lady (TヮT)
Follow Brands
There are also ways to find inspiration from the comfort of your own home, but it will require dedicated research for it to be effective! More than following individual people, a good indicator of what's fashionable in Tokyo will be what the popular brands are currently selling. A lot of trendy shops will even have a staff snap page where you can see full outfits that the shop staff have curated, which is an excellent place to shop ideas! Compared to magazines and other places, the staff snaps are usually aimed at being wearable with lots of daily outfits rather than being extremely dressed up.
Finding New Brands
On top of shopping the brands you're already familiar with, how do you find other brands that fit in line with the particular style or trend that you're interested in? Again, most of these shops cater to a wide umbrella of styles, so you won't be able to find it with a quick google search. This is where research will be extremely important!
To find related brands, start with something you already know and love. Hopefully there is at least one brand that you already know completely embodies the look that you're going for. If not, you can start trying to research what brands are being worn in the outfits that initially inspired you.
From there, start researching everything you can find about that brand. Do they have sister shops or spinoff brands? What part of the city are they located in? If you can find a mall or shopping district where their storefront lives, you can find out what stores are nearby - some shopping centers will cater to a specific demographic, which is hopefully what you're looking for! (Shibuya 109 and Laforet are good examples of this).
Another way that I'll discover new brands is through secondhand shopping. When I'm browsing mercari, depop, ebay, or really any marketplace. Since sellers want to advertise their clothing to a wide audience, sometimes they'll add tags for related brands similar to the piece they're selling. So if you're searching for Liz Lisa, maybe you'll find an Ank Rouge shirt in your search results. If you pay attention to these brands you might find a new favorite shop!
Not all the tags will be relevant to your search, but stay determined!
Fast Fashion Catalogues
This will be a hot take, but if you're only looking at mid or high end brands with a super defined look, then you're going to end up looking like a trust fund kid or a store mannequin. Cheap, fast fashion brands usually cater to the absolute current moment trends plus tons of basics that could be sold basically anywhere. I may be using the term "fast fashion" loosely here, but basically if their catalogue is cheap and has a lot of basics then you're in the right place!
Even though none of these shops will have a super distinctive look to them, there's still a subtle but noticeable distinction in how their clothes are tailored and styled compared to western brands which I think automatically meshes better with a jfashion wardrobe. When half your wardrobe is from Forever 21, it's going to be obvious. Even if there's a lot of similar pieces between F21 and japanese fast fashion brands, the small differences will blend the edges between your brand and offbrand pieces in a way that western shops never truly will. That's why in addition to finding brands that embody your dream look, I also recommend browsing these cheaper shops to give you inspiration on how to fill in the gaps in your wardrobe for daily wear.
Here are some of the shops that I like to browse for this kind of inspiration:
Those are the main ways that I find my inspiration as of now! Please let me know if you learned something!
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment