Located at 399 Lujiabang Lu, there is a veritable fashion wonderland that would make Tim Gunn drool. It’s called the Shanghai South Bund Fabric Market, and Buffin and I are in love.
The first time we paid the market a visit was two weeks ago with my Uncle Bill’s friend and co-worker Sarah, who has been working in the Shanghai branch of their law firm for the last few months. The night before, Sarah had taken us for drinks at Sasha’s, a hip bar in a 1920s, concession-era mansion.
“Oh please, I make a Western salary over here,” she said. “They’re probably paying you beans. I’m buying.” Not gonna argue with that logic.
Over Lemon Drop martinis, Sarah convinced us to come with her the next morning to the fabric market (“I’m addicted,” she admitted). So, bright and early, we hopped in a taxi to meet her. Normally, we would’ve just taken the subway, but she couldn’t give us directions since she “is so not a metro girl.” This woman cracks me up.
Housed in a non-descript, run-of-the-mill building, the fabric market is anything but. Picture this: three floors of stall after stall of beautiful, insanely inexpensive fabrics (cashmere, silk, chiffon – you name it) backed up by an army of tailors who can custom-make anything your heart desires. It might not turn out exactly as you’d envisioned, but, hey, when you’re paying the equivalent of $50 for an intricately detailed coat, tailored to your personal body measurements, you learn to deal with it.
All morning, Buffin and I followed Sarah around like little puppies as she picked up her completed orders. When we got to a stall specializing in jersey-knit cotton, Buffin and I found dress patterns in the tailor’s look book that we liked. Spurred on by Sarah (seriously, she refused to leave until we agreed to have something made), we were both measured and paid our deposits. Not after some hard bargaining, though. I’m not one to back down, as any family member or friend can probably attest to (sorry, I love you?), so I got a pretty good deal.
Fast forward to today, when we finally found the time to pick up our dresses. Buffin tried hers on first – a red v-neck dress with ruffles down the middle. Then it was my turn to get behind the thin sheet that was masquerading as a changing room. Besides the fact that it’s so short I should probably wear it as a shirt, I was pretty happy with my deep purple, one-shouldered little number.
“Pretty happy” might be an understatement since I’ve already found myself going through my closet to see what clothes I’d like copied in another fabric and flipping through the lone fashion magazine that survived the trek to China to get inspiration. Oh, Sarah...what have you done?
No comments:
Post a Comment