My thoughts on the Japanese retail scene have been pretty well documented, but I could resist posting some slightly out-of-reach items from MAPS. The men’s shop is another one of those amazing stores where I would buy most everything within arms reach. The classic styling and attention to detail get me every time. With that being Japan and this not Japan, the only consolation is the internet – at least you can look at all of the cool things you can’t buy. That is, unless you have a friends in good places. So the moral of the story here is, get yourself a friend in japan. Some of my favorite items from MAPS are after the jump.
Engineered Garments green duffel
Sierra Designs khaki jacket with Pendleton lining
Engineered Garmets x Haversack canvas bag
Damn Michael! Just when I was trying to curb the spending you had to go and dangle the carrot in front of my face.
ä½ å¥½
我ä½å°ç£
日本ä¸éŒ¯å–”
ä½ æ˜¯æ—¥æœ¬äººå—Ž
Those knit vests would be perfect for going to sad karaoke bars and singing sad Nick Drake songs.
That wool CPO with peacoat slash pockets is real cool.
The Keds Duck Boots stole my attention for much of the morning! Jennifer Aniston’s GQ cover may well usurp the lion’s share of my afternoon. My only source of respite is the weekend. TGIF. Thanks, Michael. Great finds!
where can you buy the duck boots?
Jamie — those boots are Japan only…
ACL
that jacket in the post titled “Sierra Designs khaki jacket with Pendleton lining” is in fact very attainable in the US, I own something that is almost exactly the same (except for the color of the zipper) from Penfield. It’s like a legitimate authentic American company or whatever so its a really nice jacket and pretty cheap.
The jacket is called the Penfield Kasson and comes in the same exact colorway
First of all – thank you so much for all your wonderful writing. Very insightful and inspiring!
Second – let me introduce you to my japanese ‘friend’, Juno:
bid-service.jp/
Juno’s saved my day quite a few times over the years.
Cheers, Kenneth
Oslo, Norway
Hi there, big fan of your blog. Maybe this discussion has already happened, but I was wondering if you are a Dick Proenneke fan. He’s kind of a cult figure among outdoorsman — basically he lived by himself in the Alaskan wilderness for 30 years, building log cabins, smoking his own meat, making flapjacks with wooden spoons of his own construction. Meanwhile, he also cut a very stylish figure in classic American workwear. There are lots of great clips of him on Youtube.
I want that wool shirt jacket badly but I’m guessing that a Japanese large is probably an American medium or maybe even a small. Any clue? Know if they sell / ship to US?
Like a lot of Japanese stores, they provide detailed sized info. The photo model is 169cm tall and slim build, wearing size S. The basic measurements for this garment are listed as follow (size – torso width – base of the neck to cuff end – top of the back collar to hem):
S 51.5cm 83cm 70cm
M 53.5cm 85cm 73cm
L 56cm 88cm 75cm
(BTW, apologies for my unfamiliarity with haberdashery terms.)
Lastly, hate to do this to you, but the jacket is out of stock at MAPS. They’re still available at other stores, just not this one.
Way to go Kenneth! Our little secret is out now!
I’ve been using him for three years now. I agree he’s changed my clothing world with the accessibility
to Japanese brands.
I still can’t fathom why American companies won’t make these available to us North American consumers. Engineered Garments is made in New York, FCOL.
But luckily friends will be going to Japan soon…
so is it not possible to buy from the website or call the store directly and have them ship to US? there’s a lot of stuff on here i’d like to own.
Yeah Don, not at all possible unless you use a proxy…
Hey sorry Wayne! It only means that we have to up our game one more level…