The “109″ is Tokyo girls’ fashion Mecca. It is a department store filled with all kinds of clothing shops pushing their boomboxes to 11 and displaying as many colors and shapes as possible to attract the zillions of young girls who just came to burn their cash on boots, g-strings, cute shiny purses shaped like shoes etc. Most of it looks like a sequel to the Paris Hilton episode of South Park, but suddenly something stands out and you’re rewarded you made it so far.

Apart from having the cutest salesgirls in the whole building, Barak has the ultimate jeans for the girl who wants to go lower than the usual low waist jeans. In fact, they’re so low, you couldn’t even wear them. And not only they are LOW, but you gotta wear them OPENED… So they created an illusion with those denim to protect your morale and reputation. According to Virginie, these should be picked up by Diesel and become a big success in the West very soon. So I guess we should make sure you read it hear first…

These jeans are tight, and they have your usual wear-and-tear holes here and there. So far, no suprises. What’s new are the shorts attached-in, coming out from the top, which are what you actually “wear” while the rest is trompe-l’oeil. And it works!

A big belt, a short top, and you’re sluttier than ever even though you’re not revealing anything more than with normal low-rise jeans. Somewhere, somehow, there is an Italian designer working on these right now. Maybe it is time you get back to your fat-free yoghurt diet before summer.

If you don’t know Uniqlo and you live in the US, start looking forward to the day they will open shops there, because apparently they are seriously talking about it. If you live in the UK, go there and buy lots of stuff because apparently sales are not going so well. If you are in Japan, you must be blind. If you are anywhere else, tough luck…

Uniqlo is a chain of clothes stores with many shops everywhere in Tokyo, and throughout Japan. They sell all kind of clothes and accessories at very affordable prices and overall they are comparable to GAP in terms of quality and style, except much cheaper and with more choice in the “basic” stuff. Overall, Uniqlo has a bad reputation among snob people, and a very good reputation among people who’d rather buy a white T-shirt and a grey cotton pair of socks somewhere else than at (insert very expensive brand here that manufacture their products in China anyway)…

But what Uniqlo does VERY WELL, is their T-shirt campaign just before Summer. The one for this year, “T05″, has just started, and it is full of goodness (if you don’t feel like taking my word for it, just go and visit the website).

Why are these T’s so great, you ask. And I answer. Every year now, Uniqlo summer T-shirts series features a whole bunch of designers and studios, some famous, some less famous. But many of them and many very different designs. But that is not all of course: they also got the rights for some Andy Warhol, Keith Haring, and Roy Lichtenstein. So you get your usual cliche stuff, but you also have a few very recognizable yet original designs. But there’s more. They also got the rights for certain Fonts from the Linotype Foundry too. T-shirts with the name of the font written proudly on the chest, in its own typeface. This year, Eurostile and Gill Sans are really extremely cool. Or maybe I’m a geek. Difficult to know for sure, sometimes…

And if you’re not satisfied yet, they also have a whole series of american Colleges logos, and also music instruments/equipment brands. Oh, and by the way, most of these designs come in a choice of several colors shirts. Enough?

So, cool designs, but that happens everywhere all the time, you say. And you are right. But that is because I haven’t finished yet. I haven’t mentioned that except for the Warhol/Haring/Lichtenstein series that sell for 1,500 yen per shirt (that means less than 15$), the other series sell for 1,000 yen each (i.e. less than 10$). And we are talking silk screen printing on good quality thick cotton shirts… Now, go visit their (flash) website and dare telling me there is not one shirt you would spend 10 bucks for (and look sexy all summer)!

Come on, which ones do you like most?