After uploading my last post, two of my friends asked if I could share some of the places I went shopping in Japan... And I figured I might as well make a list for my blog if I was going to type it up twice - that way everyone can enjoy!! I didn't do a lot of shopping while on my trip, but the places I really enjoyed I listed below. If you like the same fashion styles I do and will be in Japan soon, you should check some of these out! (And even if you aren't visiting Japan soon you can still visit many of the webstore links and order internationally with tenso.com !!)
Ladurée
The famous French macaron company! They have two different kinds of stores in Japan... One for makeup and one for desserts!
For the desserts (cakes, macarons and ice cream!!) I went to the Shinjuku location in Lumine 2 department store. It's on the first floor and you can see it from the outside - there is a beautiful window display! There are a few fun shops around it too that sell various accessories. For the makeup, I actually ran into the counters at several department stores, so I'd just check the shop listing link above for what's closest to you.
Very soft, cute and feminine with lots of beautifully illustrated prints. Also, they use cats and other cute animals in their designs!! Major plus for me. I had never heard of this brand until I was in Japan and I really loved everything I saw. It all looked very well made and the designs were super unique.
Isetan is a really nice department store I visited in Shinjuku that carried Isetan Girl, Dolly girl by Anna Sui, To B. by Agnes B, Q-Pot and various adorable brands... I think most of these were on the 2nd floor, but Q-Pot was another level or two up. They also had Ladurée makeup on the 1st floor! This place was a homerun for me, but unfortunately I found it at the end of my trip when I was broke and exhausted... lol or maybe that's a good thing for my wallet ;) Either way, it has tons of great things in one location! Highly recommend visiting here to see in many types of styles of well made clothing!!
Q-Pot
I've written about Q-pot before on my blog, but for those who aren't familiar with it they are a brand that specializes in luxury dessert themed jewelry and accessories!! They have amazing aesthetics and I love all their creations so much. Even if you don't plan on buying anything it's worth stopping in to peek at the jewelry!
While there I also recommend you go to the Q-Pot cafe! The decor in the cafe is amazing and all the food there is edible recreations of their jewelry themed items! Kinda funny!! They also have really great tea and the desserts are delish. Below is what I got while I dined there - keep in mind if you visit you must get food and drink while there (and if you have a guest with you, they have to as well!). It's probably to keep people from hanging out to see the decor without paying for anything.
To b. is another one of the brands I discovered at Isetan and mentioned above, but it's so cute I wanted to feature it on it's own. Very modern, girly and French. I love it! You could get some really well made and classic pieces from this brand!
Tons and tons of adorable brands and lots of different price ranges to shop. They had Milk, Emily Temple Cute, Tsumori Chisato, all the well known Lolita fashion brands, tons of jewelry (I got an amazing cat ring and Studio Ghibli jewelry there, see below!) and so so much more. This has to be my other favorite department store I encountered! Highly recommend!!
Tsumori Chisato is another brand I discovered on my trip. It's a little high end and I didn't care for the clothing very much. What I liked more were the cat themed accessories!! This brand seems to make quite a bit of cat themed things which were priced kinda high but not too bad. I felt like the pricing was reasonable for the good quality.
MILK!! This is one of my favorite Japanese brands. I felt like Fashion Japan's website described it very well, so I'll paste their description here:
"Started in 1970, MILK (ミルク) quickly became popular with young women because of its girly and romantic attraction. Although it was one of the first brands to offer Lolita fashion, it has gone way beyond that fashion style. The brand uses a lot of frills, lace and cute prints to present a very playful image. It is especially well known for its mini skirts, dresses and camisoles. It aims to make, in its own words, casual look lady-like. MILK also has a brand for men’s fashion, called MILKBOY."
I don't feel like the brand uses a lot of lace anymore - if anything I find the designs very modern and streamlined with lot's of hearts, polka dots and other whimsical touches! This is where I got my heart shaped purse which is a classic item the brand is known for.
ETC is another lolita fashion brand with a mixture of retro girly inspired pieces. Lot's of prints - definitely more whimsical and over the top than MILK but not too in your face like other lolita brand clothes. My red coat came from this brand!
Tons and tons of toys, stationary and other various character goods. They have a floor just for Rilakkuma and a really nice Studio Ghibli section!! It can get a little crowded in there so I'd recommend going when it's not a peak shopping time of the day.
This is the shop I visited in Kyoto that sells both MILK and Katie brand. It's very small but has a good selection despite it's size. This is one of the few places I found in Kyoto that sold whimsical clothing brands like this. (The styles there seemed to be more conservative but I might just not have known good places to shop!) The website doesn't translate well with Google, so I'll paste the address here:
京都市下京区寺町通４条通寺町下ル貞安前之町619-3
Access 〒 600-8031
Shimogyo-ku, Kyoto, Kyoto Prefecture Teramachi communication Shijo under Le Teianmaeno cho 619-3 2F
Closet Child
Closet Child is a second hand store for lolita fashion and various alternative/punk fashion. I actually had ordered from them many times online before going to Japan and always had great results!!
I went to their Shinjuku location, but they have tons of locations all over Tokyo and even a Vivienne Westwood speciality store! I really want to go there next time I visit. If you are interested in ordering online this blog posts has a good walkthrough.
Samantha Thavasa is a brand I discovered through Non-no magazine before my trip. Their purses are a little expensive but they seem to be well made and mostly leather with unique designs. My favorite design is the one below - I wasn't able to get it on my trip but I hope to pick it up in the future through an international shopping service! I'd recommend checking them out if you are interested feminine leather bags, wallets and other purse accessories.
I put all the locations listed above on a Google map for you guys too!
View Japan Shopping in a larger map
Places I didn't go but would like to visit next time I'm there:
- Katie - Shop list and Webstore
- Palnart Poc Jewelry
- Swimmer - Shop list
- Cerise - Shop list and Webstore
- La Foret
I'm not sure when I'll be going back to Japan, but I'd love to visit again and make more time for shopping while there!! Until then, I'll just watch things through magazines/websites and hopefully do some online shopping.
I hope this list was helpful to you guys or helped introduce new and fun brands to you!
*Any photos included in this post that weren't taken by me came from the brand's websites! Please visit them to see more great photos of their products. :)
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