During my trips to Japan, as a girl on the curvier side, clothes shopping was an absolute nightmare. I saw so many cute dresses and skirts I just wanted to grab but knew they would barely fit past my thighs, that was if I could even get it on in the first place! There are some other options, like ‘oversized’ clothing which can fit, but getting something tailored and fitted to your actual body shape is always preferable. I set to work researching some brands I could splurge one and I found my clothing haven in a store called ‘Punyus’.

Punyus was created by Japanese plus size comedian Naomi Watanabe. ‘Punyus’ loosely translates as ‘chubby’ in Japanese but the store isn’t only for plus-size girls. The sizes are marked as 1, 2, 3 and 4, and in my experience sizes 1 and 2 cover XS, S and M where 3 and 4 cover L, XL and XXL. On top of their own designs, Punyus has had some really exciting collaborations with other groups such as ‘Sailor Moon’ and ‘Pacman’. When I was in Tokyo I visited their two physical stores. I also saw heaps of advertisement for the store in train carriages and even above the Shibuya station right across from the famous Hachiko statue. It was pretty incredible seeing so much body positivity spread all around.  The stores I visited werein Tokyo Skytree and Shibuya 109 shopping centre, the stores were quite small and did not carry all the items I had seen online.

But there was nothing I could really do as the original online shop did not have international shipping. Instead, you had to use a forwarding service which cost an arm and a leg. On top of this, Punyus clothes are already on the pricier side (at least for me).  But today the company announced that they have opened an International online store where international customers can buy from them direct. The store can be found here, and currently does not have much merchandise available. But I’m sure that will change inn the coming weeks as more products are added.

The new store seems to ship pretty much anywhere but shipping cost is still pretty high. For example I put a sticker in the cart and shipping to Australia was $18 USD. However, I the added a skirt, and a shirt and the price went up to $19. So $18 could be the flat rate for all items and then it rises with the weight.

I’m so incredibly excited to see this brand make a splash in the International market. I will definitely be waiting for some more items to come onto the store before I go do some shopping. For those who are a bit worried about the prices, the Japanese store has very generous sales every month and I’m sure something similar will happen in the International store, especially during seasonal changes. Let me know in the comments what kind of items you’d love to see in the International store! Till next time 🙂