Every year on New Years the big companies and stores in Japan will offer these so called 福袋 (ふくぶくろ) which basically means bag with clothes in it. The selection is originally supposed to be random which means that unsold stock will be divided by size and then stuffed into these bags and sold for a special price. You never know the contents of the bag but you usually get your moneys worth a couple of times in goods. It’s a great time of the year to be in Japan especially if you’re into fashion and can get stuff of your favorite brand for just a fraction of the original retail price. If you want to order goods directly from Japan but don’t know where to start read my guide about how to order directly from Japan.
I’ve seen the girls trading the stuff they just got with each other which is much more important to the whole lucky bag thing than you might think. There are probably few countries which sell their stuff in “one size”. A big portion of the girls fashion brands is only producing in a one size fits all which is daringly called “free”. They are even making shoes without sizes, couldn’t believe it at first. I was wondering when I first visited Japan that many of the girls shoes were a little too big for them, the same goes for their jackets. Now I know why…
Even after Nigo selling his company A Bathing Ape, I’m still a big fan of the brand. It was one of the reasons I got interested in Japanese fashion back then and if you search through their releases you will still find some great stuff. Just ordered the latest Bape emook from cdjapan which shows their Spring/Summer 2014 collection in advance. Or better, a big part of it. These little look-books are actually sold like magazines and always contain a little goodie of the brand to make the purchase a must for every collector. I’ll post some pictures of it when it arrived.
The online Japanese fashion warehouse zozo.jp was offering lucky bags from different brands last year. You had to pre-order in early December and got your stuff within the first week of January. I only went for a small Bape lucky bag but my girlfriend got herself a Journal Standard and a Freak Store lucky bag. She wasn’t too pleased with the contents. It was mostly pretty cheap stuff.
Even if all the pieces did cost triple the price she paid for, it wasn’t worth it. Just get one proper piece you really want especially considering the one size thing in Japan. But I have to say I’m quite pleased with my Bape lucky bag. Maybe I’ll get the big one next year. But judge for yourself.
