Tuesday - June 21, 2005
In the most unlikely places.
Kayen, account director, caterer of South Beach
meals and ignorer of direct sunlight, is also an ubershopper. Her particular
downfall is zapatillas, but she loves any sort of bargain. Which is why we find
ourselves going through stacks of goods in the strangest places, like the Royal
Family mall in Bulacan, apartment 310 in Our Lady of Fatima building, the
Market!Market! tiangge, the Metrowalk bazaar and, just today, the Marketplace in
Mandaluyong.
The Marketplace is a somewhat cleaner version of the Royal Family mall, which on every floor smelled like dried fish. It is crammed with Tutuban-type stalls, selling slippers, baby goods, accessories, down-to-midmarket clothing and shoe chains like Page and Otto and row after row of clothes, clothes, clothes. In the midst of this plethora of consumables are two great shops: Clothes of Joy (complete with sunshine logo) and Bottoms and Tops (no, they do not sell exclusively gay male clothing). They're owned by the same person, but they carry different stock.
In both, you can find export overruns at fairly decent prices, with a good selection of sizes. Clothes of Joy carries Hollister, Old Navy and CK jeans. Bottoms and Tops carries Dockers and shelves and shelves of CK jeans and khakis, at P400-P450 each. They also carry tops for big guys and skirts for skinny girls.
One local designer whom I'd like to have more clothes from sells under the brand Ilaya. She has one stall in the Metrowalk bazaar. Her style is tailored-quirky, and quite wearable without being too safe.
I would like to have a boutique in an unlikely place too, one day, and have some other people find it purely by chance, and be happy because of it.
The Marketplace is a somewhat cleaner version of the Royal Family mall, which on every floor smelled like dried fish. It is crammed with Tutuban-type stalls, selling slippers, baby goods, accessories, down-to-midmarket clothing and shoe chains like Page and Otto and row after row of clothes, clothes, clothes. In the midst of this plethora of consumables are two great shops: Clothes of Joy (complete with sunshine logo) and Bottoms and Tops (no, they do not sell exclusively gay male clothing). They're owned by the same person, but they carry different stock.
In both, you can find export overruns at fairly decent prices, with a good selection of sizes. Clothes of Joy carries Hollister, Old Navy and CK jeans. Bottoms and Tops carries Dockers and shelves and shelves of CK jeans and khakis, at P400-P450 each. They also carry tops for big guys and skirts for skinny girls.
One local designer whom I'd like to have more clothes from sells under the brand Ilaya. She has one stall in the Metrowalk bazaar. Her style is tailored-quirky, and quite wearable without being too safe.
I would like to have a boutique in an unlikely place too, one day, and have some other people find it purely by chance, and be happy because of it.