Uniqlo Dry Color T: My New Summer Wardrobe
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Me Sporting a Uniqlo “Dry T” the other evening at a roof-top beer/BBQ garden photo by Nicolas Joannin  --  Hotel Avanshell Kyoto  --  Kyoto, Japan  --  Copyright 2012 Nicolas Joannin, https://plus.google.com/u/0/116578079434506112628
Olympus E-P2 + Leica 25/F1.4 at an effective 50mm — 1/100 sec, f/3.5, ISO 160 — map & image datanearby photos
Me Sporting a Uniqlo “Dry T”
the other evening at a roof-top beer/BBQ garden
photo by Nicolas Joannin

As I mentioned a couple of weeks ago in “Going Max Cliché While Learning About Off-Camera Flash”, I've recently gotten into fairly good shape, having lost more weight than I knew I needed to. It feels great, but means all my clothes have become extra frumpy. They were frumpy to begin with, and only got worse as I lost weight.

私は背が高いので、日本では服の買い物はあんまり出来ませんけれども、ユニクロの「ドライカラーVネックT」は最近の僕にぴったり。濡れたらすぐ乾くて気持ち良い、京都の暑い夏のおすすめです。

At 192cm (~6'4”) I can't easily buy clothes in Japan — even short-sleeve shirts generally don't fit quite right — but I found a T-shirt that I really like, and it's become my new summer uniform.

It's the Uniqlo V-Neck Dry Color T, a simple T-shirt in a variety of colors made from a thin fabric that drys very quickly, so even if you get sweaty (as you will do in Kyoto's relentless summer heat and humidity), it doesn't feel particularly uncomfortable, and when you return to the shade or indoors, you find yourself dry (and unexpectedly fresh) in no time.

A real bargain at an after-tax price of just ¥500 (US $6.40).

In an ongoing effort to try to feel more comfortable in front of the camera and in sharing those results, I'll share some shots of me in these shirts. I've got them in a bazillion colors, but it seems that I happen to have shots of me in only white and gray, from various recent outings with Nicolas Joannin.

At the Kajuji Temple (勧修寺) photo by Nicolas Joannin  --  Kajuuji Temple (勧修寺)  --  Kyoto, Japan  --  Copyright 2012 Nicolas Joannin, https://plus.google.com/u/0/116578079434506112628
Olympus E-P2 + LUMIX G VARIO 14-45/F3.5-5.6 at an effective 28mm — 1/1600 sec, f/3.5, ISO 100 — map & image datanearby photos At the Kajuji Temple (勧修寺)
photo by Nicolas Joannin

I think the outing that produced “Kyoto’s Kajuji Temple In Summer: Alive” was the first time I wore one in the hot sun, and it worked great.

photo by Nicolas Joannin  --  Kajuuji Temple (勧修寺)  --  Kyoto, Japan  --  Copyright 2012 Nicolas Joannin, https://plus.google.com/u/0/116578079434506112628
Olympus E-P2 + LUMIX G VARIO 45-200/F4-5.6 at an effective 90mm — 1/2500 sec, f/5.6, ISO 400 — map & image datanearby photos
photo by Nicolas Joannin
( I like this shot for showing how the Kajuji Temple lets you get into the thick of things ) photo by Nicolas Joannin  --  Kajuuji Temple (勧修寺)  --  Kyoto, Japan  --  Copyright 2012 Nicolas Joannin, https://plus.google.com/u/0/116578079434506112628
Olympus E-P2 + LUMIX G VARIO 45-200/F4-5.6 at an effective 122mm — 1/800 sec, f/5.6, ISO 400 — map & image datanearby photos
( I like this shot for showing how the Kajuji Temple lets you get into the thick of things )
photo by Nicolas Joannin

From last week's most delicious outing to a rooftop beer garden and all-you-can-eat BBQ (I've been three times this summer... I blog about it here)...

Mixed Bag at least the shirt is not bad photo by Nicolas Joannin  --  Hotel Avanshell Kyoto  --  Kyoto, Japan  --  Copyright 2012 Nicolas Joannin, https://plus.google.com/u/0/116578079434506112628
Olympus E-P2 + Leica 25/F1.4 at an effective 50mm — 1/100 sec, f/3.5, ISO 160 — map & image datanearby photos
Mixed Bag
at least the shirt is not bad
photo by Nicolas Joannin
In Animated Discussion  photo by Nicolas Joannin  --  Hotel Avanshell Kyoto  --  Kyoto, Japan  --  Copyright 2012 Nicolas Joannin, https://plus.google.com/u/0/116578079434506112628
Olympus E-P2 + Leica 25/F1.4 at an effective 50mm — 1/25 sec, f/1.4, ISO 100 — map & image datanearby photos
In Animated Discussion
photo by Nicolas Joannin

One evening recently I took Nicolas and his wife up to Shogunzuka where I often go in hopes of a nice sunset (most recently seen in “Anatomy of a Nice Kyoto Sunset”).

Trying to Gauge the Sky photo by Nicolas Joannin  --  Shogunzuka (将軍塚)  --  Kyoto, Japan  --  Copyright 2012 Jeffrey Friedl, http://regex.info/blog/
Olympus E-P2 — 1/60 sec, ISO 100 — map & image datanearby photos
Trying to Gauge the Sky
photo by Nicolas Joannin
Chatting photo by Nicolas Joannin  --  Shogunzuka (将軍塚)  --  Kyoto, Japan  --  Copyright 2012 Jeffrey Friedl, http://regex.info/blog/
Olympus E-P2 — 1/60 sec, ISO 100 — map & image datanearby photos
Chatting
photo by Nicolas Joannin
Waiting photo by Nicolas Joannin  --  Shogunzuka (将軍塚)  --  Kyoto, Japan  --  Copyright 2012 Jeffrey Friedl, http://regex.info/blog/
Olympus E-P2 — 1/30 sec, ISO 100 — map & image datanearby photos
Waiting
photo by Nicolas Joannin

Wait I did, and with no reward for it. As I mentioned in “This Evening’s Sunset in Kyoto” and most every time I write about sunsets, I often head up there only to leave empty handed. But this particular evening was particularly unphotogenic.... much worse even than in “Bland Sunset Over Kyoto: They Can’t All Be Amazing”....

Shogunzuka (将軍塚)  --  Kyoto, Japan  --  Copyright 2012 Jeffrey Friedl, http://regex.info/blog/
Nikon D4 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 110mm — 1/400 sec, f/2.8, ISO 160 — map & image datanearby photos
Unceremonious ending of the day  --  Shogunzuka (将軍塚)  --  Kyoto, Japan  --  Copyright 2012 Jeffrey Friedl, http://regex.info/blog/
Nikon D4 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 24mm — 1/400 sec, f/14, ISO 4500 — map & image datanearby photos
Unceremonious
ending of the day

Anyway, back to the shirts... if you're in Japan or The States or wherever Uniqlo sells, and it's often hot and muggy, their “Dry” line is highly recommended.


All 11 comments so far, oldest first...

Uniqlo outfits are amazingly affordable. For hose who might not know, clothing is fairly expensive in Far East.

My exposure to them is their winter line, around 10 bucks for their “heat” shirt, thats cheap.

— comment by David wong on August 11th, 2012 at 8:55pm JST (11 years, 8 months ago) comment permalink

I like the Muji Ts too. Last time I was in Tokyo, I had to get the XL, whereas a M would be enough in the USA.

— comment by Luc on August 11th, 2012 at 11:49pm JST (11 years, 8 months ago) comment permalink

Say, does the washing instructions mention of water temperature (preferably “warm”)? Here in USA (Hawaii and on Eastern side), I find the quick dry type of clothing (Nike, Under Armour) (to be mainly composed of polyester and) to be washed in cold water. Some polyester blends might have been washable in warm water, but my memory is fuzzy.

I did find some clothing from Asics (caps) & Adidas (shorts) which can be washed in warm water. Then again these were not the quick dry kind. These are rare to find and have to be (re)searched carefully.

Instructions? I’ll have to look, but I’ve just been throwing them in the wash (which is always cold water in Japan, though our “cold” water these days is pretty warm). —Jeffrey

— comment by parv on August 12th, 2012 at 5:43am JST (11 years, 8 months ago) comment permalink

What did you do to lose the weight?

Bunch of stuff… I’ll have to write up a post on it. —Jeffrey

— comment by Abraham Lincoln on August 12th, 2012 at 5:52am JST (11 years, 8 months ago) comment permalink

“Kyoto’s relentless summer heat and humidity”

Yeah….Right……(relatively speaking, anyway)

— comment by Marcina on August 12th, 2012 at 11:35am JST (11 years, 8 months ago) comment permalink

I just went out to get two of those Shirts today. Ususally when I venture out I am returning soaked, due to the Weather (classical Kyoto I guess). I hope this works out nice. I like the feel of the Fabric to begin with…

Uniqlo is great, by the way. Affordable and good Quality, on top of that it looks good. Quite the opposite of what you find in the overpriced Department Stores… They also have a Heat Tech Line for Winter, but since I return to Germany in three weeks I don’t get the chance to try that out…

— comment by Mathias on August 12th, 2012 at 12:39pm JST (11 years, 8 months ago) comment permalink

The positive review and the price looked nice for these, especially with the hotter than normal weather around here but it looks like they are not doing ecommerce in the US yet.

— comment by Rob on August 12th, 2012 at 1:06pm JST (11 years, 8 months ago) comment permalink

What kind of camera strap are you using?

It’s a Sun Sniper Pro (link). —Jeffrey

— comment by Sean G on August 13th, 2012 at 2:53am JST (11 years, 8 months ago) comment permalink

Yes, give us some tips that worked for you in losing weight.

Will ask my mother in Law for some of these t-shirts, it will be great for Texas hot weather.

Griselda
Arlington, TX

— comment by Griselda on August 24th, 2012 at 4:26am JST (11 years, 8 months ago) comment permalink

Where did you get the hat? Seems really good to me.

It’s a Sunday Afternoons Adventure hat. —Jeffrey

— comment by Boris on August 24th, 2012 at 7:14pm JST (11 years, 8 months ago) comment permalink

I have the ladies version of that hat, it’s fantastic! I use it all the time (going out to parks, fishing, hiking, etc.) I like that it covers the back of my neck and has very wide front brim.

It also feels a lot more breezy and less sweaty than my Tilley hat, which was my anti-sun go-getter till getting the Sunday Afternoons one.

— comment by Anna M on September 5th, 2012 at 2:02am JST (11 years, 8 months ago) comment permalink
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