Forum FAQ

Preferences

Watched Topics

Watched Forums

Female (American?) Shoppers in Shanghai

Shanghai Expat Forum Index » City Living Forums » Lifestyle Recommendations

Author

Message

shanghai8

Barker

Joined: Aug 23, 2005
Posts: 180
Location: Shanghai
Status: Offline

Posted: Nov 04, 2005 - 10:36 AM
Post subject: Female (American?) Shoppers in Shanghai

Hi Everyone,

This topic is for everyone, but I wrote American Female shoppers, as I am trying to gage the quality and price of women's' clothing in Shanghai.

I have not (yet- hehe) gone on any shopping sprees in Shanghai, other than the touristy stuff when I first arrived.

I am interested to start buying some everyday clothes: boots, pants (for day and night), cute tops, sweaters, etc...

I am most interested in the cut, quality, and fabric of items- rather than any "brand name."

That being said, I was interested to see if some of the gals (or fashionable men) out there, could give me the low down on where to shop- and what to expect.

I have read that these small trendy boutiques around the Shaanxi lu area, offers some great items, and the prices will be much lower than those in department stores (i.e Raffles, Super Brand, etc).

Can someone tell me what to expect, and the general price range of well made clothes. I thought it might be helpful to hear from those who are familiar with the types of stores in the US to name some comparisons/ this way I might be able to get a better idea.

For instance, the stores under Peoples Square. Are these things well made~? Will they last longer than 4 months?, etc..

I have read through the forums, and in particular, the Fake Market Ongoing list, but think what I?m asking is different (but sorry for the repetitive post, if some feel otherwise) Wink

For instance, can I get a great pair of trousers for 200rmb? Are they the quality of something you would find at Neiman Marcus, The Limited, TJ Max, etc... How much would a good quality pair of boots cost here (after negotiating)- and would they be Aldo, Nine West, or Charles David quality?...

I have not gone into any of these stores really, as I like to look at everything, and you all know how long it takes to negotiate your way out of "I'm just looking" Wink

Thanks!

AlliX

Ranter

Joined: Apr 25, 2005
Posts: 554
Location: shang-shady
Status: Offline

Posted: Nov 04, 2005 - 12:18 PM

IN my experience, I find you get what you pay for here. I've gone to Qipu Lu and bought clothes for under 100rmb, and they fall to pieces the second I wash them. There is also a tendency for clothes to be fitted for totally weird body types, not anything humanlike it seems. Forget about shoes - the quality tends to be so horribly sub-standard. For good quality stuff, I recomend the department stores like Isetan and the big malls. Not cheap, but for something like shoes or boots I don't think you can be stingy.

As for me, I buy my clothes when I travel. When I first got here, I thought it was great fun to buy all sorts of bargain clothes, but now I have a closet of ill-fitting crap. It was a waste. And if you are looking to be somewhat fashionable, and not necessarily on the standards of a pre-teen Japanese Harajuko girl, than you might want to avoid the bargain shopping of SHanghai all-together. But If you think wearing mini stocking socks under sandals and healed shoes is acceptable, than by all means enjoy the splendors of side street boutiques.

You can also try the fabric market where you can definetely get a pair of fitted trousers for 200 rmb. However, I've come to the conclusion that going all the way out to that stinky market where everyone is spitting and babies are pissing into holes in the floor and trying to explain to the tailor exactly how you want it, what you want, and risking having it come back all wonky and needing to get it redone for another week, is not worth my time.

When you are back in whereever you are from, just go to H&M, TJMax, Express, Zara, Macys, Nine West, whatever, and enjoy the comfort of discount shoping without all the hassles.

oreo

Barker

Joined: Aug 25, 2005
Posts: 158

Status: Offline

Posted: Nov 04, 2005 - 05:54 PM

I came to China with high hopes of finding all the made-in-China clothes you find at home, at a fraction of the price. However, a lot of it (esp. the higher quality stuff) is bound for export. The rejects don't end up at Xiang Yang - they end up at outlet malls in the US.

On Shanxi Lu I bought a short Banana Republic-type overcoat that fit me perfectly for 160 RMB (no bargaining). Fashion is subjective, and I am conservative, so a lot of the stuff I don't go for but heck it's fun to look. If you're a purse fan Shanxi Lu is good. For shoes, I agree with that that the dept stores are better for higher-quality shoes. I paid about 300-400RMB at Isetan for a nice pair of heels.

For original local labels, Taikang Lu has nice some showrooms (in one of the art buildings). Uber cool and well-made, not knock-offs. Cost about 1,000 RMB upwards.

You've put me in the mood, must do some shopping this weekend...

Mon_Mon

Rocker

Joined: Oct 07, 2005
Posts: 662

Status: Offline

Posted: Nov 04, 2005 - 07:12 PM

My experience:-
- Jiu Guang (Sogo) 7/F sometimes hold bargain sales on various topics ( these days on winter colthing). May able to find some items with good discounts
- Qi Pu Road (wholesale market). The mall next to the bus stop - my experience is the shops at 1st & some part of 2nd floor are more 'local' but I found quite some export items in the 2nd & 3rd floor of the other building of the mall (linked up by a bridge). You really need time to look at the things there to find the good items.
- try to buy approaching end of the seasons so there will be quite big discounts in the department stores for the branded items - of course try to avoid trendy styles because one can probably only wear the cloths 'the next year'.

CoffeeHawk_0
Board Buddha

Joined: July 14, 2005
Posts: 14456

Posted: Nov 04, 2005 - 08:46 PM

I'm not one of those 'fashionable guys', but:

The companies that make the good stuff here, and MOSTLY export it to the US, have to sell some % of the goods to the local markets. These items end up in the small shops you see everywhere. The key is to have a local friend that knows where these shops are, and then through her or him, have them convince the salespeople that you are OK, and you should get something better than a list price or a poorly negotiated price. You may not get the 'local's' price though. Sizes and colors are limited.

It was not a close friend that told me this and took me to get some $20 Ralph Loren dress shirts, but a friend of a good friend. I'm a little leary of the whole bit since some of the mediums were larges and vice versa. But, the quality was much better than the knock-offs I've seen, the colors seemed high quality, the stitching was good/normal, the material seemed a little off, but I don't know. Worst case, you can still find some high quality knock-offs.

AlliX

Ranter

Joined: Apr 25, 2005
Posts: 554
Location: shang-shady
Status: Offline

Posted: Nov 04, 2005 - 09:49 PM

CoffeeHawk_0 wrote:

I'm not so sure about this. When I worked in fashion, my company manufactured in Asia or Bulgaria (not sure why but that's what it was) and sold in their own retail stores and to aproved wholesale account. They did not allow any of their product to be sold in unauthorized places, i.e. small shops in the local market. This was a major brand name company so it was crucial for marketing purposes not to get their brand name mixed up in low-end shops. There was certainly no obligation for a manufacturer to sell a percentage locally, in fact, that's completely against the contract with the brand. This was the case with my former company and I know is the case with pretty much all major fashion clothing contractors. Therefor, brand name companies who manufacture here but sell mostly in the West are NOT authorizing any percentage of their stuff to be sold randomly on the street. All that stuff is fake - ALL of it. The few bits that get stolen from the factories tend to get sold still to higher end (albeit still sketchy) outlets for more money. I know that sometimes the "mistakes" from the factory that are meant to be destroyed get stolen from the trash and smuggled out of the factory and sold, but these are mistake pieces and as soon as you try it on you will see why. (When you see vast amount of name brand stuff in outlet and discount stores like TJ MAxx or Marshals, those are all last season's over stock and can't be sold wholesale to regular accounts.)

My point is, when you buy stuff from random little stores like the ones on the side streets here, you are most definetely getting a fake or a total piece of discarded crap. Possibly a good copy, but still not the real thing.

Caveat Emptor!

AlliX

Ranter

Joined: Apr 25, 2005
Posts: 554
Location: shang-shady
Status: Offline

Posted: Nov 04, 2005 - 10:38 PM

Wow, I'm a real nerd on a Friday night, but here is an article (from Beijing however) that states that those shops that sell the discount brand name (I've been to this place, Silk Street, in Shanghai and they claimed that all the items were real rejects) are indeed selling fakes:

The China Daily reports:

Top foreign brands sue Silk Street market

Beijing's Silk Street market, a bustling bazaar of broken-English bargaining and brand-name knock-offs, is in hot legal water.

Five world famous brands, Gucci, Chanel, Burberry, Prada and Louis Vuitton, are jointly suing the market operator, Beijing Xiushui Haosen Clothing Market Company, and five stalls, for selling fake products. They are claiming 2.5 million yuan (US$310,000) in compensation.

"Though the market operator had promised to weed out counterfeit goods in the market, it failed to keep these knock-offs out," said the plaintiff's lawyer Gao Hualin. "The company takes no measures to fight against counterfeiting, and facilitates stalls in selling fake brands."

aimecolette

Lurker

Joined: Nov 04, 2005
Posts: 32

Status: Offline

Posted: Nov 05, 2005 - 06:57 AM

My Chinese salesperson in my company told me that there's no such things as export overstock. What you see are knock-offs produced by Chinese manufacturers.