(girl) Finding clothes my size in Japan?

Hello everyone,

I am very excited for my trip to Japan next spring, and I love to shop, but I don't know if I will be able to easily find clothes?
I am 156cm tall, so I am not really worried about that, but my sizes are 95/76/100cm.
In US I wear size 6/8 jeans and size S (sometimes M) Tops... are my sizes fairly easy to find there? Any girls out there with similar size, do you have any experience?
Also, I don't know if it would matter, but I rarely wear pants, unless I'm traveling, so I would mostly be looking for skirts and shirts?

Finally, one last question, my converted shoe size is 24 (in JP)... is that large size/hard to find in Japan?

Thank you for any and all help!

Maria

Dear Maria,

actually, I have the same sizes as you, but I am 178 cm tall. However your hip and your breast will be your biggest problem. And it is really diffecult to find here something. If you can find something it costs a lot of money... Good luck!

Your shoe size will be in the normal range that most stores carry though it will be at the top of it. The normal range tends to go to 24-24.5 and sometimes 25 so you should be safe.

We're not far off the same size and I'm able to find clothes to wear though sometimes I do need to compromise a bit.

While pants might be hard to find with the hip size, it should be easier to find skirts and Japan has no shortage of cute skirts as they are definitely more of a skirt country, even in winter.

Tops do present a bit of a problem and it will feel weird looking at L and LL sizes instead of S and M but you will be able to find things. The hardest part is actually finding fashion that looks good on you as it's more tailored toward the less curvy Japanese body.

Shopping may be a little frustrating and might bruise the ego a bit with the new larger sizes you'll be looking at but it is possible to find clothes. Just know that not every store will carry the sizes you need.

For plain and simple work type clothes, Uniqlo tends to carry a good range and I also find Honeys has a good mix of sizes and fashion that is cute and can be good for casual or work. g.u. is a store owned by the same company of Uniqlo and is even cheaper and tends to gear towards younger shoppers. Dependng on your fashion tastes you may or may not find something there but again, not a bad place to pick up some basics. There are certainly other stores out there but these three will do in a pinch and are quite affordable.

So basically, you won't end up naked but shopping may not be as fun as it was back home and you'll have to work a bit harder to find clothes that fit properly and fashions that flatter. But it can be done and there's no reason to break the bank for it.

Thank you both for your answers! It really helps hearing from girls with similar sizes and their experiences ^^

After looking at some Japanese online clothing stores, I am starting to think maybe it would be easier to just buy regular t-shirts and not even try going after blouses or buttoned shirts :/

I am glad skirts will be easy to find, I hope to find some cute flow-y ones :D

It is rather disappointing to know I might/probably not be able to buy a lot of the cute things I always see online, but at least I'll still be able to buy cute non-clothes items!

Can I just endorse the above about Uniglo. I have a 95cm bust and larger hips and I find Uniglo usually has a range that suit. May I add NEXT a UK chain that has several shops around suburban Tokyo and they carry sizing for both Japanese and Westerners... often up to size 16.
My shoe size is 24 - 24.5 and I have no trouble, usually shop at Tokyu Department Stores. I've bought boots and formal dress shoes. In fact I like the fact the Japanese sizing seems to be a bit wider than European sizing.

My shoe size is 25.5, which is 7 1/2 in UK.

Really hard to find this size...

Have you tried ABC Mart?. There stores are around quite a lot of the suburban malls and in mid range department stores. www.abc-mart.com