UNIQLO SF

Konnichiwa! It's been a while, and wanted to share my experience at the new Uniqlo San Francisco store that opened in Union Square. I do not know how I managed to wait in line for 1.5 hours at 9am without any coffee! (For those who know me, they know I need coffee to start my body motor.) Got in and it was organized chaos. Whoever trained the team did a good job of having energetic and helpful salespeople. I also appreciated the "Japanese sales style", which involved 1 salesperson shouting their product promo to customers. Reminded me of these different boutiques and competing salespeople attracting people to their tiny clothing shops in Tokyo's Harajuku district.

I totally scored on colorful $9.90 denim, which they will alter for $5. Say what?! YES, $5! For denim over $20, the alteration is free! The price promo does not last long. I basically bought all colors, whether I liked the color or not because they could be gifted or whatever. They had $20 Merino wool v-neck sweaters, $40 fleece lined hoodies, and 6 pairs of colorful socks for $9.90. My bag was full and I walked home with a tote bag.

HOWEVER, do note when you plan on returning or exchanging go straight to the top floor, registers 13 and 14. Do not waste your time on the main floor only to be told by the register guide person that you need to go upstairs.

For alterations:

First, get your denim pinned in the fitting room. Upon checkout, ask the cashier to print you an alteration receipt, then keep an eagle's eye on the alteration drop off tables. One is on the right side of the main floor, which is basically a portable kitchen island type table, or on the top floor on the left side of the cash registers. They've quoted anywhere from 1-3 hours, which is really not bad for a store that just opened. I wore my new favorite, altered turquoise denim a few hours after purchase. Super happy!

So go shopping nowwwwwww!
http://www.yelp.com/biz/uniqlo-san-francisco

TokyoFashion.com

My new favorite website for the latest and greatest in Japanese fashion. The island country is literally an incubator of far out, creative, eccentric fashion you cannot find elsewhere. Find me on Twitter too!

Japan Fashion Week 2012

Tokyo Mercedes Benz Fashion Week (日本ファッション·ウィーク 2012) has been going on the past week, and it's showcasing cutting edge fashion from upcoming Japanese designers.

It feels great to see more Asian faces in print ads and strutting on the catwalk. Fashion and beauty should be equally represented of all ethnicities. Thanks to YouTube, Vogue, and the growing economic power of China it is time to acknowledge the Asian consumer. My favorite new Japanese or mixed Japanese models are Tao Okamoto, Juliana Imai and Saki Asamiya. Tao and Juliana have been on the catwalk for several years while Saki is new to the scene.

TAO OKAMOTO

(courtesy of fashiontv on Youtube)

SAKI ASAMIYA

(courtesy of fashiontv on Youtube)

Not sure the reasoning behind the Backstreet Boys soundtrack, lol. Maybe to remind us 20 somethings about being teenagers in the 90s?

JULIANA IMAI

(courtesy of entrevista on Youtube)

I love this video because she keeps repeating "VOGEEE (Vogue)" over and over, and Portuguese coming from an Asian face is sexy!

Of course we cannot forget the importance of Japanese men's fashion either! Below are two examples of the wild variety of aesthetics from Japanese designers. Many people in fashion are familiar with Yohji Yamamoto's contribution to getting Japan on the world's fashion radar. In my view, his designs are provocative, historical, and universal. I can see where he incorporated bits of Japanese samurai hair styles, men's kimino style jacket, and Indian jodphur pants. To be honest, I LOVE creativity but I am not that brave.

YOHJI YAMAMOTO

(courtesy of ELLETVFASHION)

Then you have the more modern, Eurodisco and British rocker prep from DressCamp headed by designer Toshikazu Iwaya. I like some of the tight fits, and the boots. I enjoyed how the pants appeared like running water when walking down the runway.

(courtesy of senatusmag on Youtube)

Happy fashion watching!