I was always intrigued on this and then have been a number of times for work pre Covid up to 2019.

Beyond affection for BB shirts and USA in general, Ivy influence much overstated outside a core following. Those into it, really into it. Most wearing BB and J.Press there would not even associate it with Ivy, just trusted traditional business clothing from USA. Fitting in is what matters to the old generation and Ivy wear bridges Japan and USA business Wear. A BB BD will often match with a non USA style suit, the Japanese have their own distinct cut of suits.  It is always suits never sports jackets.  My BD, knitted tie look with a good mac worked well there. People tend to check your shoes too, I wore C&J black grain derbys which went well and oxblood Sanders that deliberately stimulated a raised quarter brow for the colour.

But the Ametora book might mislead people into thinking it is more of a thing than it is there. It is a hard-core fashion thing there, but they move on like any fashion. Not Ivy at all, but as comparators we could equally talk about Paul Smith and Margaret Howell who are appreciated greatly there. Commenting on the Ivy hard ore fashion thing, will be more insightful by others. Of course we should acknowledge Tailor Caid in this thread, but in price and patience he is at the absolute upper end.

I really do like Japan for many aspects and look forward to getting back, but I think the Ivy aspect has been somewhat overstated.

Last edited by An Unseen Scene (2021-10-03 09:06:30)

I think it's primarily hipster/fashion based in terms of  Japanese clothes coming west other than a few companies.  On the whole, Japan doesn't make clothing for export to 'West', it doesn't need to. It is one of the world's largest markets in its own right, then has wider eastern Asia close by.

There was the economic boom and growth of such as Muji and Uniqlo globally. Muji has retracted from that now. Uniqlo is fine, but it is deliberately providing non-fashion based wardrobe staples.

It's a subject to handle carefully, but a big issue on Japan clothing export is sizing - when you're there and you look at the sizes, they are much smaller by standard, so do not necessarily export well to the West. 

When I mentioned about Paul Smith as a comparator, there are 200 Paul Smith shops in Japan. 200! Margaret Howell has 89 shops in Japan (not just in womenswear, in menswear and footwear too) and only 12 in the whole of Europe.  Brooks Brothers pre-Covid and sale had 83 shops in Japan, 25 of which were in Tokyo.  How many of those remain now, I don't know - but doubt it is the same number.  J.Press is generally in high end mall concessions.  Although BB had 83 shops in Japan, it's seen as an expensive, business man's chain for traditional clothing - so has the same issues there as it had pre-sale in USA.

I have seen some amazing Japanese clothes, that we would all here like sold in small 'private' malls, often within an office building (private offices, not blocks).  These are all beautiful but have three issues, the prices are astronomical, the fit far too small for us and the language barrier.  Japanese people often do know English (far more than I know Japanese) but they can lack confidence to speak it and are unpracticed.  Non of these brands have I seen mentioned in the West and it seems wrong to take photos, but they make great clothes domestically that combine Ivy influence with a sort of stripped back minimalism.

Last edited by An Unseen Scene (2021-10-04 08:15:16)

Still have some of the old Free and Easy magazines that are nice to flick through occasionally while you have a cup of tea. A lot of ‘cartoon Ivy’ depicted, but also some inspiring outfits and beautiful photography. It’s a place that’s on my list to visit when the madness finishes.

I could see no point, for once, in starting a new thread on Japan - although this post may be slightly 'off-topic'. 
TRS has spoken at least once about the Japanese Ivy crowd 'mixing it up'.  What do people elsewhere feel about this?

I've had a few bits and bobs from Japan over the years, two or three pairs of Edwins, some "Two Moon" Sweatshirts and numerous pairs of socks. It's not really any better than anything else that's properly made. There is no magic fairy dust that makes it so. Everything is sized a bit on the small side as you can well imagine>

I've also got a good few magazines I bought for specific photographs/covers, the Ivy Illustrated books and an original copy of "Take Ivy" I managed to import about six months before it was re-printed in English, I was pissed off about that, it cost me a small fortune!
It strikes me that it's the Koreans that seem to be keeping the torch lit at the moment, some of the clobber I see on Instagram is utterly stunning and worn so well. An XL over there is about a 34" Waist though, so I'll not be partaking!

https://www.brooksbrothers.co.jp/top/search/asp/list.asp?s_cate3=8

Everything is sized a bit on the small side as you can well imagine

Probably why it works for me, 29in  waist 38in  chest - they have some of the best curated vintage, some of which can be picked up for very little, they do the best examples of CVOs and Sneakers (Doek, shoes like pottery, Wakouwa), especially compared to what Sperry et al turn out (battered old clouds still bite). They also did the original LVC (Valencia St) gear which if you can find it is much better cut than the current offering quality wise and the Lee Archive items from the 90s are another level.

Agree, it’s not fairy dust, but they make some really interesting items with way more attention to detail than most of what’s currently out there. You don’t have to go to Clutch cafe and pay through the nose, whilst there’s nothing that beats a physical store, the internet and the many auction sites give you access to so much more, just check the measurements!

Last edited by Tomiskinky (2022-03-17 00:39:02)