Monday, September 13, 2010

Really neat stuff of Japan -Workman clothing store!

Ok.. I am a BAD blogger: hardly blogged at all during visit #2 (jan 2010) and nothing after I got back home. But as the evenings get cooler here, I start to think of how I will escape again to Japan, and some of the really neat stuff I want to see again. . .

Temples? Fast trains? Mt. Fuji? Nawwwwww... I want to hop on my bike, navigate the incredibly narrow sidewalks for a 20 minute ride past the next train station (yukari-ga-goka, nicknamed "Potterville" by my friend - look for the monorail loop that heads northward from the main train line, midway btw. Tokyo and Narita airport) and head to the "WORKMAN" clothing store!!!

As pointed out in Chiba Wiki, (http://www.chibajet.com/wiki/Finding_Gaijin-sized_Clothing) finding Gaijin sized clothing can be a bit of a challenge. "Workman" is a serious work-wear store, but has great casual / sportswear that actually fits, and MOST IMPORTANTLY does not commit grievous fashion errors. No excess of logos, piping and striping on the arms!

I am a middle-aged tall, thin guy. I wear a tweed or linen jacket most of the time. I want solid black poly-pro crew neck sports shirts, like the kind Helly Hansen USED to make before they they went logo, piping and stripe-mad. Lots of folks can't or won't do "Klub-Kid Rave Gear", but the hot weather and humidity in Japan makes %100 cotton a real poor choice for traveller's clothing.

http://www.workman.co.jp/

Lots of XXXL / 3XL sized stock.
(equiv to Canadian men's XL) Very reasonable prices.


YES!!! Nice online catalog too, in Japanese, but you'll get the idea.

Note that you can also go completely nuts and buy a giant baggy set of scaffold- worker's
"tobi' pants that you will NEVER EVER wear again. They also have those toe-sock shoe things, "tabi", but my feet are too big and my friend told me not to draw attention to it, as "big feet of a fool"
(archaic insult aimed at country bumpkins) is still an issue.

So, yup, next time I escape.. off to "Workman" if only because I put a ciggy burn in my favorite black, long-sleeve, crew neck, poly-pro sports shirt (on sale for Y900, should have bought 2 of them! Drat!)