Something I get asked a lot, I guess because I also made a book on kimonos, is where to get cute textiles. In a word, Nippori (near the train station). There is a street called Senigai, which is a DIY/ crafters dream district with shops lined up selling lace, buttons, materials (from very cheap to very high quality) to kimono fabrics to branded material (Hello Kitty, denim barnd material, kimono company textiles) to traditionally dyed materials and so on. They also sell wholesale clothing, and just really ridiculously cheap fashion -- like 2dollar t-shirts and 10 dollar jackets, I don't know what the quality is like, but if you are on a budget, you can get a lot.
There are numerous shops in this district (you can easily spend a day here), the most famous being Tomato and one entire floor is devoted to character fabrics. It is AWESOME.
