Clothes for age 30s/early middle age?

After researching this forum, I found a lot of posts about clothes but mostly for the barely age 20 people. From what I gather, clothes are very small? Do shops carry slightly bigger sizes for more mature people?

I'm 165cm, usually wearing size EUR38 in France, EUR36-38 in most non-French European brands. Being almost age 35, I would like to know whether shops carry my size for clothes targeted to the young middle age group (say 34-40)?

Thank you very much!

Gap has American sized clothes, so you might want to go there. Eddie Bauer is another American store that you should try. But 165cm is not that unusual for women nowadays, so you might try the larger dept. stores tool

Cecile,

French size 38 sounds absolutely common in Japan if I'm reading the measures correctly (a website says bust 85�`88cm, waist 64�`67, hip 91�`94). You should look for Japanese size 9 or 11 or M. You can find them everywhere.

Don't waste your time at 109 shopping mall, because all they have are noisy teen shops that carry the skinniest stuff you can think of, but we Japanese also develop middle-age fat, you know :)

I am about your age, although I don't consider myself to be middle aged (yet), early or otherwise!

I can't say I've noticed shops specifically targeting the quite narrow age group you mention- I'm not sure exactly what kind of clothes those might be actually! I usually try to buy clothes that suit me and that I feel comfortable wearing rather than those I think might be targeted at my age group- people's tastes vary so much anyway.

I shop at Zara, Uniqlo, Muji, H&M, Benetton and a few other places but am a bit restricted in where I can buy things that fit because although I am also about a 38, I am taller than you, so length is an issue. I think that those shops target quite a wide age range- would that be suitable?

As Uco says, 109 is likely to not be for you, and LaForet in Harajuku will probably be the same.

Thank you very much to the previous posters for very useful information.

Uco, yes, my measurements are in the upper range of what you stated.

Thank you for suggesting Uniqlo Sira. I got a micro fleece jumper from there earlier today. The L size fit me comfortably. The M was a little small (mostly short)

I will visit the other shops recommended when I get the chance.

I conclude that the clothes are not as small as my initial impression reading this forum.

Some of their clothes are matronly, but Talbots has some clothes that maybe OK. The same for Laura Ashley. They are more expensive than uniqlo though. Uniqlo is hit & miss for me - more miss - L is too big in the waist & hips but M is too small in the bust.
H and M has some reasonable basics but check the quality.

You can consider this off-topic, but for those who are having trouble finding reasonable yet fashionable clothes at malls and indivisual stores, you might want to take a serious look into department stores.

After decades of seeing department stores going all wrong, people seem to get the wrong impression that department stores are pricey and un-trendy.

But when I found out that the cool clothes a young tall lady I know were wearing were from Sogo department store in Yokohama, I decided to do some serious shopping. I finally found my ideal overcoat at one of the shops aimed for ladies age say 20 - 40. I even found 2 coats and had to go back and forth those 2 to pick one. I'm 49 now, and friends tell me I look great in that coat.

You have to keep in mind that the trend for jackets are now short-lengthed and slender, but you can try to look for coats and clothes that are designed to be long in the first place.

Uniqlo, H&M, Zara, XXI forever (even though its technically young there are tons of styles to choose from)

All of these stores are great shopping for nearly any age and size here. However, Japanese women tend to love their fashion in layers so they often buy a slightly bigger size to accommodate such layers. I don't necessarily shop in the Japanese stores because their style isn't like my own. ( I don't like flower dresses or baby doll fashion.) ^_^ Yes I know there is more to their style than this but quite often I see these shops more than the rest. Either way they don't appeal to me.

Anyways! Have fun shopping. You can start with the named above and then from there if you see a shop you enjoy have a look. I must say that there are more shops to wrap your head around.

I agree with all the shops listed above. Uniqlo is hit or mis for me too I actually find it to be too plain for my tastes. It's grate for things like under shirts and winter jackets though.

My biggest advise is to not limit yourself to shops based on age. I'm 26 going on 27 and I still shop at shops in tenjin core mall ( fukuokas version of shibuya 109) like Liz Lisa and Cecil McBee. You should just base your choices on the clothes you like!

I'm even taller at 170 cm btw so even at places like 109 you can find things that fit as long as your relatively slender. You don't have to be a stick to shop there. I do have problems with jeans and pants sometimes though. Gap is goodbfor that. If your into the hipster look most big cities here have American aperal. Also in Fukuoka there is a new abercronbie and fitch which has American sizes but like in the states it's pricy I assume if it's in fuk then there should be one in Tokyo too. Pants in j shops are often too short for me so perhaps western shops are better for that if your tall.

Just an update:

Thank you very much everyone! Japan is really a shopping mecca with the most curteous service.

Uco, you are very right about dept stores. It was sale season and I got quite a loot of things from Daimaru.

Generally speaking, I neither had a hard time finding clothes nor shoes. The average shoe size of a western woman is 24.5cm (EUR 39), so the average western woman should be able to find her shoe size almost everywhere in Japan. Shops carry up to 170cm height for clothing-- the majority of western women are shorter than 170cm so Japanese sizes are not so small. I now wonder where I got the notion that Japanese people are very petite?