Monday, August 4, 2008

Fashion Finds from Far Far Away

My two week adventure to Taiwan has left me with serious jet lag, a new bag of clothes and a hybrid between a question and thought. These rare specimens are called a questhought. If you didn't know these existed, well surprise, they do exist. Well, in my world anyways. What a strange world I live in.


I did do some shopping in Taiwan, but don't worry I didn't go mega-crazy. I think. If I could sum up Taiwanese female fashion I would use the word "cute". They all dressed rather modestly. I was surprised to see so many people wearing jeans and jackets when I was wearing a tank and shorts and still feeling the humid heat.

For all you cheapskate peeps, Taiwan shopping is definitely a must if you are ever to visit the lovely island. Sure with cheap clothing comes cheap, or a less than high, quality, but you can find some pretty cute things out there.

Before coming to Taiwan, I was afraid I wouldn't be able to buy anything because of my gigantic size. Asian sizes tend to run really small. My last experience in China was buying an XXL. Awesome. But thankfully, I did manage to find things and thanks to the loose and bubble trend that is going on in Taiwan worrying about being the sad girl who couldn't find anything that fit would only be a story of fiction.

Oh and back to my questhought. Why are my feet so big?! The only thing I couldn't manage to find were shoes my size. I think my feet in Taiwan are the rarest creatures in that island. It doesn't help that my feet are not only big in length, but big in width as well. It's an embarrassing moment in your life when your mom asks the store manager what's the biggest size they've got and the store manager asks how big and your mom points at you and the store manager looks down at your feet and immediately shakes her head. Then there is that awkward moment where you look at the person and she looks at you and you look back knowing fully well that the person is laughing uncontrollably inside at your gigantic feet. Finally you walk away empty handed while your size 6 footed sister gets to comb through the racks and shelves of cute, trendy, (although cheaply made), dainty shoes of joy. Luckily enough, I did manage to scrape up two pairs of lovely sandals in my size! Even though on one of the pairs my squishy heel peeks off the shoe, I will call them shoes in my size. Take that you small non-size-9-dainty shoes of horror!!!

Back to shopping. The place I went most was WuFenPu. It's an area made just for shopping. Every little alley is filled with the smell of new clothes unwrapped or wrapped in plastic packages (and imported from good ole China). Most stores had sale items - $100, $200, $300 and so on. These are in Taiwanese dollars roughly $30 NT= $1 American dollar. Knowing me and my primal thrifting instincts I rarely left the comforts of those sale racks, getting almost everything at WuFenPu for only $100.

A lot of the styles I saw there were not so much different to the trends over here except in a more "asian/FOBby" manner. I don't know if you get what I mean, but I'll carry on nonetheless. I saw many suspender inspired items, a lot of bubble hems, graphic T-shirts with large phrases printed on, and lots of jumpers. There weren't any dressing rooms and trying things on was a big no-no, so I had to wing it, use my instincts and estimate. I often overestimated my skinniness or is it underestimated my fatness? Either way, I had to give some things over to my sister.

Without further ado, my Taiwan trip haul.


1&2 Jewelry was from my aunt. She went to China and bought all these interesting pieces and planned to sell them for profit in Taiwan. She told me to take whatever I wanted. Um, okay? So I did. I got these awesome ring-bracelets. Now all I need is an Indian outfit and I'm ready for my bollywood debut! // 3 dress: $100NT from a night market. Very schoolgirl meets leprachaun. Mildly tight, not sure if to give it to a friend or somehow make it work.

1 tshirt and not just any tshirt, a PANDA t-shirt. $100 NT. The thing I love about asian countries is the mass amount of panda paraphernalia they have. SO CUTE. I have an insane crush on fat pandas // 2 shiny shiny dress. $100 NT. I'm not quite sure why I bought it. Maybe I was trying to fullfill my inner diva's style sense. It was my first purchase and I think the cheapness of everything got to my head. I'll figure it out somehow!// 3 top. $100 NT. I'm a sucker for things that have doodles that look like I drew them and for bubble-esque hems. And the round buttons on the straps. I'm a sucker for many things in life, these are just a few.



1 top. $100 NT. I love the faux suspender straps and black and white is one of my favorite combos...because they're panda colors! // 2 PANDA BAG! $100 NT. I almost peed in my pants when I saw this. // 3 shoes. 2 pairs for $300. They're a lot cooler in real life and are so comfortable. Maybe it's because these were the last pairs sitting out there and have been worn and stretched to perfection?

1 floral button top $100 NT, it has a collar and then two straps making an X in the back. // 2 Tunic or super mini dress $100 NT. Simple but nice with fake crystal buttons. One step closer to my African safari dreams. // 3 Jumper $100NT, I love a good ole jumper.


1 tshirt $100 NT, my mom didn't like how it looked on her so she gave it to me. // 2&3 dress& tunic 2 pieces for $150. These are super comfy pieces. Way cheap.

I also did shop other places but didn't really buy except when we went to XinmenDing, a place where a lot of young people hang out. Not as cheap as WuFenPu but still fun!

1 lime jumper $300NT, there goes the bubble! // 2 pink doodled mini-dress $300 NT there goes the bubble again! and the doodles! // 3 Be Happy Shirt $100 NT because I like being happy.

There it is folks, my haul of clothing from Taiwan. I really need to stop buying and start prioritizing things in life like sleeping. I need to fix my internal clock. I didn't know jet lag could screw with my brain this much.


Oh yeah, and click here. Heehee.

27 comments:

Anonymous said...

You got some really amazing things! I really love all of them. <3 Lucky!

Kelly-Ann Maddox said...

Argh, this makes me want to go shopping again, and I only went myself on Saturday! But it inspires me to go to a far flung location to get clothes I wouldn't come across in London..

Amazing panda bag, and that mustard pinafore dress is dreamy..

Elisa Kwon said...

thanks so much for your comment, I'm so glad I rediscovered you blog! Especially at this point of your travels :)

Your buys were absolutely superb, I love the panda items...so cute!

Sorry about the feet, the issue with mine are that they're too SMALL. Maybe we should both go somewhere where we can exchange our abnormal foot sizes for more society acceptable ones. ;)

p.s. Korean prices kick Taiwan prices' ass!!!

Stephanie said...

Oooh, you got so much stuff! I really love the schoolgirl/leprechaun dress and the panda bag is so cute!

Squishybubble said...

Holy cow!! I am soooo jealous of like EVERYTHING!! All of those clothes are soooo cute! and pandas...I love pandas.

Charmaine said...

wow you got some pretty cute stuff! makes me want to go to asia and spend like hell!!! i'm trying to save up my money for japan next summer! yeeee. i love the grey jumper and suspender top. so cute! can't wait to see them on you!

Casey said...

Love the clothes you got! Oh, and I love your blog too.

Ida said...

lovely findes!!

Isabel said...

Wow, you seem to have gotten a ton of amazing stuff for super cheap. You are awesome!

Those sequins are making me drool. Seriously.

Shen-Shen said...

I love that jumper on the bottom, and that panda purse, OH MY GOD!

I'm Taiwanese too, although I haven't been there since I was about 4 months old. The cheap cutesy clothes are really alluring though.. I think I'm going back next summer for some hardcore shopping. Thank God the American dollar is strong SOMEWHERE.

Unknown said...

wow! you got some amazzzing clothes.
i love them all!

Annie said...

ohh the jumper and dresses are so cuteee.
im so jealous ive wanted to go to taiwan for soo longg.

Rebecca Jane said...

What amazing finds! I love love the green/leprechaun dress and the lime jumper. Adorable! And the panda bag!!!

A Black Tie Event said...

I love everything, especially the panda bag :]

Anonymous said...

hey, im from taiwan, and i have to say the shopping is amazing. its such a contrast from the shopping im used to in london, but its amazing. did you go sogo? xx

Anonymous said...

:)

Unknown said...

i'm from taiwan too, i adoreeee the shopping there. it's fantastic, and your haul is nothing short of epic. <3

Anonymous said...

Oh man, reading this post and the last makes me really wish I was there right now! Especially what with all the night markets and cheap clothes. I was supposed to go this summer but the trip got pushed back to winter. I miss Taiwan (I'm from there, too). :(

Anyways, just stumbled upon this blog, love it!

Kim said...

wow, you got a lot of cute things! does $100NT mean that it was $3.00 American? That would be ridiculous!

Elisa Kwon said...

"she HAD a guinea pig named 'fat fat' in chinese until she died in a tragic accident involving a young girl with slippery hands"

D=

On a happier note, I've added you to my links list!

Always In Style said...

I am loving the panda themed goodies -- cute!

jessica ann said...

oh my goodness your blog is so lovely! that jumper is beautiful! xo

Anonymous said...

I love your jumper ! My mom looked at it and says, "Oh; that is so easy to make, I made those all the time" lol

Anonymous said...

cute!!! ^_^ but I so love the panda handbag! heheh anyways nice page!

MizzJ said...

Ooh a great post! I'm going to Taipei next month and I CANNOT WAIT. The #1 thing I'm looking forward to IS the tiny shoe sizes! I'm a size 5 so this is going to be my idea of heaven :)

Anonymous said...

Love your jewelry & other accessories too. Well, I'm fond of jewelry & got my last purchase through Ross Simons.

On On said...

wow tooooooooo cute!!!

I love Panda... and just bought a Morn Creations Bag from the following Blogshop:
panda.cwahi.net

Share with you the photos of my lovely panda tote bag tmr... hehe