Monday, 29Jan07
Highlights: catching up with the computer while the girls shopped, with a quick & unplanned shopping spree of my own
I was in no particular hurry to peel myself out of bed this morning, which is how I found a note by the front desk saying that the girls had gone shopping & would be back later.
No worries! Great opportunity to catch up on some writing with the laptop & organize the 300+ pics and videos I had taken so far in the last 5 days. (= I set up shop at a table in the lobby between the internet computers & the front desk… planted happily in a productive setting.
3 hours turned to 6, which then became 9, 12, and by the 13th hour it was 9:30pm. First sign of the girls… as they came walking in with smiles from ear to ear. Apparently Hoi An has a unique entrepreneurial marketing spirit, with entire neighborhoods of tailoring and shoe-making shops which offer to make just about anything out of leather or material for ridiculously cheap prices.
One of the girls is having 6 pairs of shoes made (she could pick the heels, material, style, and dress them up the way she wanted them). The others are having 3-4 made each. Moving on to the clothing wares, blouses, skirts, pants, jackets, suits… they can all be made, tailored to you personally on the spot. I lost count of how much stuff the girls got,, but considering they made their way back to the hotel after 13 hours, they did some damage.
The stores were still open at that hour, so I walked 3 blocks down the street to see for myself. In 40 minutes I put a little dent in my pocket book as well. Thinking I would just go see about a pair of shoes,, somehow that ended up becoming 2 pairs of shoes, 3 pants and 6 shirts.
They traced my feet on paper & measured around. Then for the pants & shirts they did all the measurements. I found a style of leather shoe I liked,,, but I wanted black. I got to pick which kind of leather. The shoes will be ready by 4pm tomorrow. $60 for both.
Shirts are $12 each,,, Pants are $20 each. I picked the materials for both. This will probably be the only time I ever get silk shirts made,,, like in a high end Italian store- but at prices that are less than a full bag of groceries!
Where does anyone get 2 silk shirts + 4 cotton blend + 3 dress trousers tailored & hand made for $130 total,,, other than Vietnam? They had volumes of fashion books to flip through & choose from,,, and both walls were covered from floor to ceiling with folded fabric. What a great concept. If there were places like this in the states,,, department stores would go out of business.
Highlights: catching up with the computer while the girls shopped, with a quick & unplanned shopping spree of my own
I was in no particular hurry to peel myself out of bed this morning, which is how I found a note by the front desk saying that the girls had gone shopping & would be back later.
No worries! Great opportunity to catch up on some writing with the laptop & organize the 300+ pics and videos I had taken so far in the last 5 days. (= I set up shop at a table in the lobby between the internet computers & the front desk… planted happily in a productive setting.
3 hours turned to 6, which then became 9, 12, and by the 13th hour it was 9:30pm. First sign of the girls… as they came walking in with smiles from ear to ear. Apparently Hoi An has a unique entrepreneurial marketing spirit, with entire neighborhoods of tailoring and shoe-making shops which offer to make just about anything out of leather or material for ridiculously cheap prices.
One of the girls is having 6 pairs of shoes made (she could pick the heels, material, style, and dress them up the way she wanted them). The others are having 3-4 made each. Moving on to the clothing wares, blouses, skirts, pants, jackets, suits… they can all be made, tailored to you personally on the spot. I lost count of how much stuff the girls got,, but considering they made their way back to the hotel after 13 hours, they did some damage.
The stores were still open at that hour, so I walked 3 blocks down the street to see for myself. In 40 minutes I put a little dent in my pocket book as well. Thinking I would just go see about a pair of shoes,, somehow that ended up becoming 2 pairs of shoes, 3 pants and 6 shirts.
They traced my feet on paper & measured around. Then for the pants & shirts they did all the measurements. I found a style of leather shoe I liked,,, but I wanted black. I got to pick which kind of leather. The shoes will be ready by 4pm tomorrow. $60 for both.
Shirts are $12 each,,, Pants are $20 each. I picked the materials for both. This will probably be the only time I ever get silk shirts made,,, like in a high end Italian store- but at prices that are less than a full bag of groceries!
Where does anyone get 2 silk shirts + 4 cotton blend + 3 dress trousers tailored & hand made for $130 total,,, other than Vietnam? They had volumes of fashion books to flip through & choose from,,, and both walls were covered from floor to ceiling with folded fabric. What a great concept. If there were places like this in the states,,, department stores would go out of business.
posted by jonathan adventures at 5:52 AM
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