A Useful Resource... Where Are The Used Clothing Shops???

[miyu-sakura.livejournal.com]

Since several of the gothic lolita on this list are very familiar with Tokyo, I was wondering if we could have them comment on the best places to find used clothing in the gothloli style. I think that it's realtively easy for gothlolis to find the standard stores using their GLBs and some maps, but the used stores tend not to advertise as much in such publications and are more a matter of local knowledge.

So please, if you know of a good used store, or have encountered one on your travels in Japan, comment below with as much information as possible on:

--The Name of the Store
--Where the Store Is (especially in relation to other things)
--What the Prices and Merchandise Are Like
--Anyting Else Useful

Thanks!

x-posted in EGL and metamorphique

Comments

[xevron.livejournal.com]

I was in Tokyo last week. The only used clothing shop I came across was um, I actually forgot the name of it.

But it was in Ikebukuro. If you go down the sunshine street right after the mall (huge blue sign that says "sunshine city) make a right.
On the left side of the street look for the anime gamers sign then just go in there. It's on the fifth floor inside the Disk Wave cd shop.
They had some really cute things when I was in there ^^v
It was second hand and really cheap compared to retail prices.

In Harajuku there's that shop complex thing I also forgot the name of. They have tons of different stores in there.
Across the street from Harajuku station there's a huge street. Cross it and go down that little alley with hundreds of people crammed into it.
It has a name but I'm also spacing on that.

When you get out of the alleything make a right and just keep going until you see the HMV record store sign.
Go in there and just go look around. It's like 8 stories tall. I'm sure you'll find something in there you like. I almost had a heart attack and died.
But most in there is full retail price, which can get really expensive.


Hope that helped a little.

Re:

[chibi-pink.livejournal.com]

"In Harajuku there's that shop complex thing I also forgot the name of. They have tons of different stores in there.
Across the street from Harajuku station there's a huge street. Cross it and go down that little alley with hundreds of people crammed into it.
It has a name but I'm also spacing on that. "

Do you mean Takeshita Street? Deffinately a must! There are quite a few used clothing stores down there, but not so much used EGL.

Re:

[xevron.livejournal.com]

YES!
That's the street. That like, my favorite place in all of Tokyo. haha.

I actually have more of a visual/punk style so Takeshita street is my favorite place. ^^v

[aitreni.livejournal.com]

Closet Child
http://www.discwave.co.jp/c_child/index.html
(there are addresses and maps for all locations on the site)

Closet Child is basically the clothing department of the used rock/visual CD shop Disc Wave. There are 3 branches in Tokyo (Ikebukuro, Shinjuku, Harajuku) and one in Yokohama. I've only been to the Ikebukuro and Shinjuku branches... Since these are used clothing shops carrying whatever people drop off, the stock changes constantly so you never know what you'll find. When I went to the Ikebukuro branch there was a LOT of H. Naoto, but that brand is so popular that you're likely to find it everywhere. At the Shinjuku location I found a surprising amount of Alice Auaa clothing, but I suspect that's more due to some Alice Auaa junkie having recently gone broke than an ongoing thing. Prices tend to be around half of the original retail.

(this response also x-posted, sorry Miyu ^^;)

[sumirechan.livejournal.com]

Today I went on a fact-finding mission to Ikebukuro and Harajuku. ^_^

Here is Ikebukuro Closet Child. Do you see it? No, you do not. I never would have found it if xevron hadn't explicitly said that it was in the same building as Gamers, INSIDE the Disc Wave shop on the fifth floor. The building is easy to find, though, since it's right next door to Tokyu Hands.

Take one of the East exits (the side that Seibu department store is on--if you're in Tobu department store, you're on the wrong side) out of Ikebukuro Station. Align yourself so the station/Seibu/Parco building is behind you and walk away from it on the left side of the street. When the trees end, follow the crowds across the short crosswalk onto the wide pedestrian thoroughfare. Follow that street past all the movie theaters, and just before the end, you'll see Tokyu Hands and Gamers/Disc Wave/Closet Child on your right. The entrance is along the little side street, and there's an elevator you can take to the fifth floor.

The merchandise there struck me as not in very good condition--I was expecting things to be immaculate and like-new, like at a fancy consignment shop, but the cotton sweet-lolita skirts and dresses, in particular, looked limp and rumpled, like they'd been machine-washed repeatedly, and the T-shirts looked obviously used, despite their 3000-5000 yen price tags. Merchandise: a little of everything--coats, pants, skirts, shirts, dresses, bags, etc, all major brands. The shop was dim and there was a wrinkle in the carpet that I stumbled on. Based on my experience, I wouldn't recommend making a special trip to Ikebukuro just for Closet Child, but if you're already going to K-Books or the Sunshine Prince Hotel or someplace, it's convenient.

[sumirechan.livejournal.com]

In Harajuku, both Closet Child and Brand X are a stone's throw from each other on the famous Takeshita Doori shopping street--it's right across the street from one exit of Harajuku station, but if you come out the exit and see the big Snoopy store across the street, cross the street, turn left, and walk downhill to come to Takeshita Doori.

I'd estimate that they're about halfway down the street, near the 7-11. If you keep an eye on the second-floor windows on your right, Brand X is unmistakeable--the windows are blacked out, with famous brand names stenciled across them in pink. Harajuku Closet Child is on the left just a few doors down, on the third floor above one of the punk shops and the Beatles shop.



Brand X is tiny and jam-packed with lots and lots of stuff, so much so that I didn't really want to wrestle anything out of the racks to look at it more closely. I think one rack was of menswear. The price tags I looked at seemed higher than at Closet Child, but then, it seemed like they had more upscale stuff like Gaultier and Moi-Meme Moitier (and a case of rare Vivien Westwood knickknacks), and things seemed in better condition overall. Some nice (but still expensive) bags. Shoes, too.

I liked Harajuku Closet Child best of the three stores I went to--it was well-lit, spacious, and the clerk there was nice. Not as much selection as Brand X, though. It was there that I noticed that the price tags had two different prices on them--a regular price, and a member's price that was a few hundred yen cheaper. I asked the clerk how to become a member, and she said you just write your name and address--you don't have to pay anything. She said you could still be a member even if your address wasn't in Japan. So if you go to Closet Child, try telling them "Kai-in ni naritai" (I want to become a member.)

Last of all, I went to the Laforet department store, where Putumayo, Angelic Pretty, and Atelier Pierrot were still having their winter clearance sales. Prices were comparable to used prices, but for brand-new merchandise, so the best thing is really to come to Japan in January (not sure exactly when the summer sales are.)

(cross-posted, sorry.)

[miyu-sakura.livejournal.com]

You are awesome. Seriously. You rock every part of my world.