Used/vintage clothing stores, small bars and restaurants, the birthplace of punk in Tokyo, alternative styles and what not. That's what Kōenji is all about. With these on our minds, we hopped on the train and rode all the way to Kōenji. The original plan was to check out Nakano broadway as well (since it's the next stop from Kōenji), but we stayed in Kōenji a bit too long so the stores in Nakano were already closing down when we got there. Maybe another day then!
Anyway, some pictures from yesterday:
overall spinns second hand top jóuetie cap fig&viper shoes fig&viper socks fig&viper
belt somewhere in tallinn necklaces somewhere in harajuku
Woooppp have an outfit shot for once! I've never really been into buying used clothing, because I hate the idea of not knowing who's worn it, and in Finland all the second hand stores I've been to have been suuuper messy and full of crap, so I haven't found anything. And to me, the smell of old clothes is off-putting as itself as well lol.
But some days ago, I visited Spinns in Harajuku and noticed they were selling some pretty neat used clothing side-to-side with new items and they we're displayed really nicely in the store, so it didn't feel like buying something used at all (infact, I didn't even notice they were used at first!). So, as I didn't feel like I was digging through somebody's garbage, I actually found this cute denim overall and bought it!
I was also pretty impressed that I was able to find something that fit me here and is not stretchy material! Maybe I have done something right lately and shouldn't totally cross out the option about buying bottoms here in Japan...
Little streets in Kōenji.
While me and Paris were taking some pictures in front of this cute little store, a japanese lady came to us and asked if she could interview us for some TV program for a moment. After we said yes, a whole camera crew appeared out of nowhere lol.
They just asked us the basic questions like where are we from, what do we think about Japan/Kōenji, are we musicians or fashion designers (this is weird because we hear it almost everyday hahah, why can't I dress like this and be a nobody) and so on.
Then we went into the store above and they filmed us while we were checking out the clothes and took us to another store next to it. The other store was on the second floor and it would've never crossed my mind to go there if the TV staff wouldn't have told us to. Because the stairs were super scary and rotten like, and then you arrived to a little balcony and found a small door to the actual store. It beats me how do people find these places if you don't know where you're going??
I don't know where the footage will end up to, but I got a t-shirt that says "I ♥ 高円寺" on it as a present from them hahah.
Some really unique items in the small Kōenji boutiques. The red things on top right are actually heels. I wonder how you're supposed to walk in them.
After the filming, we decided to check some more stores on our own, and this one especially was super cute! Used clothing and toys galore!
They had a room like this inside the store and I just couldn't resist to snap a couple photos there. It would be a perfect set-up for some pastel themed photoshoot!
Paris checking out dem clothes.
More pastel goodness. They look so nice like this but I don't think I could pull off wearing something like that.
After we were done with Kōenji, we met up with our friend Laka in Nakano and continued the night at Shinjuku Nichome and Kabuki-cho. I have no plans for today yet, but I think I'm gonna go ask Paris to go grab some food with me now. So, laters!
