Los Angeles Needs Uniqlo

Shanghai, on Nanjing West Road near Maoming Road

One of the things I miss most about NYC is Uniqlo.  I don't understand why they haven't opened up a store yet in Los Angeles; I hear that Manhattan is about to get its second location, totally not fair.  I love Uniqlo; the clothes are pretty basic, but perfect for the staples (jeans, tanks, jackets, shorts) with an enormous variety of colors and styles and I think the prices are incredibly reasonable for the quality and comfort of the clothes even at regular price, and even better on sale / promotion (which you can often find).  The clothes don't really go out of style since they are so timeless, so they are inherently wearable through all seasons.  They often do capsule collections with my favorite designers including Phillip Lim, Opening Ceremony, Alexander Wang, and have an ongoing collection with Jil Sander (albeit at higher prices than their regular clothes).  The stores are massive; the NYC store in Soho is 36,000 square feet, enormous, especially for New York.  I miss having the Uniqlo around; Z was nice enough to bring me my Uniqlo fix when she visited this summer, with shorts that I wear everyday and some of my favorite lightweight and warm heattech tanks and tops.  Since I haven't been to NYC in awhile, I had to make a trip to the Shanghai and Taipei Uniqlo stores while in Asia.  Both stores are relatively new, with the Shanghai store opening about six months ago and the Taipei store opening in October, in the Uni-President Hankyu (Ban Ji?) department store on Zhong Xiao East Road..  Particularly since it was so unexpectedly cold and windy in Shanghai, I bought a couple pieces to wear immediately, all around $20 per piece (less for the heattech, more for the blazer).  In terms of prices comparisons, Shanghai was the cheapest while Taiwan and New York (based on the website) were comparable.  Uniqlo deters me from buying Lululemon, particularly for non-technical non-workout clothes; warm and comfortable fleeces at Uniqlo start at $20, whereas most Lululemon hoodies and jackets are $100+.

Taipei store: Charlize Theron and Orlando Bloom model for Uniqlo

Head to toe Uniqlo: cotton navy blazer, gray scoopneck heattech tops (I love these for layering, particularly when skiing), purple corduroy easy legging pants

White fleece jacket (so soft and comfortable), same heattech long sleeve and pants. Also bought a faux fur wrap (not shown)