what i read about koenji is true: the place is DRIPPING with secondhand/thrift/resale stores. there are a few along my north koenji path to the train–including my second favorite, mode off. and then, if i pass the train station and head into south koenji, there is the PAL. the PAL is a long, covered outdoor mall that has what ultimately is my favorite store in tokyo: don don down on wednesday. funny name; serious collection…*commence stefon from SNL voice* this store has everything. but first, let’s take a minute to dissect tokyo’s secondhand store culture.
you can actually find secondhand stores in MANY places in tokyo–from small neighborhoods to major retail areas. sometimes even inside a high end mall. that said, this kind of shopping seems to be WAY more commonplace in tokyo than in the states. from what i have discerned, there are really about four distinct kinds of used clothing stores here:
- high end: found in expensiver shopping areas like omotesando hills, these stores are reselling really high-end couture stuff–your chloé, celine, gucci, dior, comme des garçon, etc. don’t get it twisted, tho: shit’s still expensive. 0_0
- true vintage: these stores have actual old stuff, like 70s and prior. i noted that the 80s aren’t really represented, and my theory is that this is when mass market fashion really caught on–the age of express, the limited, gap…and all their successors. clothes were cheaper, styles were more ubiquitous, and quality was lower. this stuff is more than 30 years old now, so it’s legit vintage, but i didn’t see it in any of these stores, none of which were exactly low price.
- just wacky: a small number of these shops are selling really wild looks (think of the most out there styles from the 70s), revised styles (imagine old shirts re-designed with patched together kimono fabric), or items from niche areas of fashion. koenji’s hayatochiri and dai dai are examples of shops specializing in the former two options, while resale shops in harajuku, e.g., sell stuff for the lolita or goth niches.
- broad range: this is where i live. now, to be clear, even these stores–ALL of them, in fact–will have some high-end stuff. and the absolute STAR of high-end labels in thrift stores is burberry. there was NO thrift store i visited that did not stock some burberry. from the dinkiest independents to the big chains. like, it was weirdly omnipresent. but outside of their high-end sections, these stores sell a broad variety of labels, including both japanese brands and brands we find in america. but i didn’t go all the way to tokyo to buy something from zara, now did i?
the don don down on wednesday in south koenji (i subsequently learned that it’s a chain) is a pretty big, broad range secondhand store, and it has a great selection. there’s a main area of what i determined to be more recent arrivals, and then there’s another big section where the tags all have different cute (hey, kawaii!) graphics of produce on them–a strawberry or a watermelon, e.g.–that represent the price. it drops all the way down to the mushroom, which represents a mere 500¥ (less than five bucks at the time of this writing)! i was elated and ultimately purchased a DOOOOPE top and a skirt. bonus: they take credit cards.
my second favorite, mode off in north koenji, is also a chain with a lot of real estate. found some great flat ankle boots in there for 500¥ to replace the rapidly disintegrating pair i had brought for my walkabout kicks. my third favorite, dostyle, is also in north koenji and is a smaller, seemingly independent shop. great selection nonetheless, and they had christmas and new year’s day sales–yaay!
worth noting is that japanese men are clearly WAY more fashion conscious than american ones (duh, i guess), as evidenced by how many times i walked into a secondhand store only to discover that it was menswear only. this holds true across all kinds of secondhand stores and even all kinds of clothing stores in general, including entire malls sometimes. japanese men be SHOPPING!
to sum up: unlike in the united states, thrift shopping in tokyo is not the weeding-through-junk-at-goodwill-or-salvation-army experience. it’s all buffalo exchange or better–with some great deals to be found for discerning yet frugal fashionistas* like myself.
One Month in . . . 