Uniqlo, the hugely popular Japanese chain store that stocks a variety of simple, practical and affordable clothing, has expanded into a world-wide venture, with stores in Singapore, Australia, the United Kingdom, the United States, Germany, France, Russia, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Bangladesh, and, well, you get the picture. In the West in particular, Uniqlo has a pretty cool image thanks to its simple, pared-down designs and celebrity approval (for example, Pharrell Williams designed a range for them in April 2014), so it might surprise some of you to hear that there are people in Japan who tend to be a bit snobby about Uniqlo, looking down on its regular clientele for lacking in fashion sense.

Website Mynavi Woman, perhaps in attempt to assuage female readers’ fears that potential love interests might be put off by their practical attire, conducted a survey to find out how men view ladies in Uniqlo. 117 dudes between the ages of 22 and 39 were asked the following question: “If a woman showed up on a date with you dressed head-to-toe in Uniqlo gear, would it be a turn-off?” 

The response was a resounding “of course not!” 76.1 of the participants said that a Uniqlo-clad lady wouldn’t be a problem, while only 23.9% were snobby enough to say yes.

Here’s that data again in a visually-appealing pie-chart format! Mmm, pie.

▼ Would a girl dressed in Uniqlo be a turn-off?

Here’s what some of the participants had to say. Let’s start with the Uniqlo nay-sayers!

TURN-OFF

“If it’s a date, I’d prefer she made some effort with her outfit.”

“I’m put off by clothes that appear cheap!”

“It’s ok if it’s like a camisole or something, but if she’s wearing full Uniqlo it would give me the impression she hadn’t bothered to look stylish for the date.”

“I can’t think of anything worse! Bleghh!”

NO BIG DEAL

“If she looks good, who cares?”

“If it suits her, great. Actually I’d be more put off by a girl who relies too much on designer brands instead of having her own style.”

“I can’t see how this could be a problem?”

“There’s nothing wrong with spending your money wisely.”

“I’m a big fan of Uniqlo myself, so of course it would be fine.”

“As long as she’s got style, that’s going to be apparent even if she only wears Uniqlo.”

“Uniqlo has a lot of stylish pieces along with the more casual stuff.”

“As long as she’s well-presented, Uniqlo is totally fine.”

“A nice girl can look great in Uniqlo. I like their skinny jeans.”

Online opinions on the survey itself ranged from “who cares?” to “who could even tell what’s from Uniqlo and what isn’t?”.  A few lonely souls even howled at the injustice of theoretical dudes turning down ladies for wearing Uniqlo when they themselves can’t even get a date. One fellow even made the bold claim, “Even if she’s wearing Shimamura, I don’t care!” (Shimamura being a very cheap fashion chain popular with young people on a budget and often the subject of snobbery for that reason).

Perhaps in this economy it’s time to stop judging each other for the price of our clothes and focus on more important things. At any rate, we’re glad we’re not going to be sneered at for making good use of what Uniqlo has to offer. Mostly because, without their patented Heat-Tech undies and fluffy fleece jackets, we’d freeze our tails right off in the frigid Japanese winters!

Source: Jin115.com, Excite.co.jp
Image: Wikimedia Commons © Slisalsok