Taipei Shopping

[renferme]

Any FS-ers live in Taipei? - i'm working out here at the moment and I've got the day off tomorrow!

I'm interested in looking at young fashion, not designer or any western luxury brands. (I've seen enough of that in Europe already). I want the fun stuff, the Japanese brands or local Taiwan equivalents
- the kind of stuff you see in Japanese mags Junie and Cutie.

Where should I be headed? I'm staying quite central in the Ritz Landis. Any fashion night markets I should explore? I usually visit the ones in Taichung, are there any similar here?

 

[cloud9]

you get to travel every where...!
london hk, taiwan..!
i envy you...

 

[Artemis]

When I last visited Taipei (a long 4-5 years ago) there were nightmarkets everywhere and most of them had clothing stalls that you could barter down to dirt cheap prices. I can't remember where anything was (cut me some slack, I was 11) but there's a lot and they mostly sell the same things so just visiting 2 or 3 will suffice. As for eastern high end stuff there's Sogo, a Japanese department store ($$$) and around that area there should be a cluster of pricey boutiques. I vaguely remember an open square with a fountain, and huge cosmetics store and a glasses shop called 20/20 where a friend worked All the places around there should have the "local Taiwan equivalents", although it's basically the same as what's in Hong Kong from what I remember.

Sorry this hasn't helped a lot but have fun! Anything you get will be different from the stuff back home B)
Btw what do you do that brings you to Taiwan?

 

[renferme]

When I last visited Taipei (a long 4-5 years ago) there were nightmarkets everywhere and most of them had clothing stalls that you could barter down to dirt cheap prices. I can't remember where anything was (cut me some slack, I was 11) but there's a lot and they mostly sell the same things so just visiting 2 or 3 will suffice. As for eastern high end stuff there's Sogo, a Japanese department store ($$$) and around that area there should be a cluster of pricey boutiques. I vaguely remember an open square with a fountain, and huge cosmetics store and a glasses shop called 20/20 where a friend worked All the places around there should have the "local Taiwan equivalents", although it's basically the same as what's in Hong Kong from what I remember.

Sorry this hasn't helped a lot but have fun! Anything you get will be different from the stuff back home B)
Btw what do you do that brings you to Taiwan?

Thanks! every little helps. I'm developing sneakers out here.

 

[serenade_ingenue]

Taipei ! yay ! I'm from Taipei
I would suggest to spend the money on food instead of clothes in TW though
Designer labels in TW are sorta overpriced comparing to US
the rest I don't really know
hope this helps!

 

[ayovveya]

This might not be what you're looking for but...

http://www.shiatzychen.com/

 

[serenade_ingenue]

This might not be what you're looking for but...

http://www.shiatzychen.com/

my mom's fav brand.....
not recommend to gals under 30
they sometimes have quality defects though

 

[jesssii]

theres alot of really cool shops behind tong ling on zhong xiao east road. really cute boutiques and stuff. also if you want cheap cheap clothes. theres a place called Wu Fen Pu. hope its helpful!

 

[ilovepositano]

sogo on tun hwa north road is the most high end department store. sogo on chung-hsiao east road is the poor cousin. there are cute boutiques behind chung hsiao east road like vanessa bruno, etc. (at 4X paris prices). and there are cute stores in tien mu where some expats live.

 

[Deleted member 1957]

I saw some really nice Taiwan denim brand at a night market...was pricy but very unique

 

[Miss-V]

sogo department store all the way, and any night markets. lucky lucky girl!

 

[michyed]

Hmm... Taiwanese shopping isn't all that great. I'm from Kaohsiung, but I know all about the shops in Taipei. Western brands are highly overpriced (An Armani Exchange top sold for 40USD in the states was almost 300USD in taiwan) so just go for the Japanese stuff. Designers are very overpriced... Nightmarket stuff = crap quality (and prepare yourself for skin infections too)

I do like the little family owned clothing stores that go by a certain theme (around tienmu). They usually get their stuff from Japan, obviously overprice their stuff but the clothes there are decent.

 

[michyed]

OHHH but if you're into electronics and stuff, BUY ALL YOUR STUFF IN TAIWAN! It is sooo cheap here in taiwan. If you purchase them from family owned electronic stores you can actually haggle. No worries, their stuff is never or rarely fake.

 

[Cicciolina]

Are there any recommended local brands, or anything that's worth keeping an eye out for at night markets (other than food, of course! )?

 

[michyed]

^I'd still recommend staying away from shopping at the nightmarkets. Their food is super dirty too... Be careful. The people that have lived here long enough would recommend staying away from it.

As for brands, Shu Uemura and Shiseido are very cheap here! European brands are highly overpriced, so get those in your home country... Unless you live in NZ or Australia. You should load your shopping bag with a sh*tload of cute Japanese stuff!