While in New York City, I finally had the chance to run into a branch of Uniqlo. It’s easiest to think of as the Japanese version of the Gap – in fact, they specifically adopted the Gap’s operating strategy in 1997, selling only unisex casual clothing of their own manufacture. They are apparently the largest clothing retailer in Japan by volume and profit alike, according to the Wikis, and their only US presence is in three stores in Manhattan.
I first heard of Uniqlo, predictably, through the writings of William Gibson. The novelist/present-futurist is apparently a fan of theirs, and having been provoked heavily by the Bigend Trilogy in terms of my own fashion sense, I had to make a run. Not least because they had on offer a cotton peacoat that might just be the alternative to the heavy wool one that has since become my favorite winter outerwear (even though it rarely gets cold enough to wear it).
Unfortunately, the price was too high for me to justify taking the plunge on a garment that didn’t blow me away. But I did buy three cotton jackets for $30 each. One was a black blouson-type thing, with patch pockets at the chest and sides, which is that vaguely-BDU-ish sort of military look that you can’t really identify whether it’s a shirt or a jacket. It’s also just a bit on the large side, so I deliberately washed it to see what would happen (we’ll find out as soon as it’s done drying over a chair in the garage). But the other two items are both sport coats – simple cotton blazers, three-button, one in a light khaki and one in a dark blue. And I’ve worn one every day this week.
They’re the last thing I would have thought of glomming onto. Not water-resistant in the least (quite the opposite), sufficiently wrinkly to be impractical for stuffing in a bag, but ideal for summer in the greater San Francisco area when you need to turn the chill of the fog for a bit but not swelter with the thing in the afternoons. And they’re sized just about perfectly – far more so than the Saboteur Invincible I spent way too much on. These two combined cost an order of magnitude less than the Saboteur.
I feel different with this thing on – today is the navy one, over a short-sleeve button-up patterned shirt – and I can’t put a finger on how. Older? Not really; nothing about cotton sportcoat suggests “old” necessarily. Younger? Eh, even though the blazer-jeans look was my go-to throughout grad school, I’m not feeling fifteen years knocked off (of which more later). Mature? Possibly – who can tell? Keeping the Nerf gun in one pocket might undercut that, though.
The other useful fashion news from this trip is that the Blundstones that I thought I wanted are just a hair too snug up front, and would almost certainly screw up my toe again. Meanwhile, the forest-green Levi’s/Filson collaborative trucker jacket looks really good – but for $278, I need something with regular side pockets.
I suspect there’s going to be a pretty aggressive cull of the jacket rack before long. The leather is going into storage for lack of utility unless something changes, and I’d like to put paid to the “performance outerwear” as much as possible and instead try to dress like somebody who doesn’t want you to think they hike and bike and run on the weekends, because, hi, have you met me?
Nope. Plain $30 cotton blazer might just be who I am nowadays.
Of which, as I said, more later.