Walking out to Chunghsiao E. Rd, all I see are stores full of women’s clothes. Even the side vendors are almost 90% all for women. As a male who is well dressed (i think), I think its disappointing to come here and find so few stores catering to men’s fashions.
What I have heard is that women buy clothes for men? Theres just not enough stores out there for men to even choose, thats why. In the US, you’d have Banana Republic, GAP, J.Crew, Abercrombie, Ralph Lauren, FCUK- where approx half the store is men and half is for women. Here, you walk to Benetton or any other brand, and 3/4 of the room is for women-- go to 101 and see.
Sometimes I get real pissed, but I can’t do anything about it. You guys know where MEN can shop in Taiwan??? Also, prices in Taiwan for apparel is ridiculous, but expected. Any cheap places ppl know of???
The people who run ad agencies in Taiwan seem to feel that only women spend money based on what they see on commercials, so that’s where they put all of their emphasis. Accordingly, most of the commercials for men’s products are half-assed at best, because nobody sees that as an area money can be made. A friend of mine feels that this makes Taiwan a seriously imbalanced matriarchy, but I’m not sure if it’s that simple. I wonder if it has something to do with males and females being treated almost as separate animals here, as opposed to the more balanced viewpoints in other countries. In any case, none of these so-called “malls” are complete without a more balanced selection. As they are, they’re pretty useless to us guys.
Michel Rene. French-sounding name, but they’re from Hong Kong, I believe. In the same price category, you have chains like Net and G2000. When I really want to splurge - once a year - I go to the Armani Exchange at the New York New York.
You can find all the brands you mentioned (GAP, Banana Republic, Timberland, etc) in stores in Tian Mou. They will cost a fraction of the US-price, but the label might be “scratched” (As far as I know these are leftover stock lots from factories - with the scratched labels they are not considered “original” anymore and are sold at lower price to third party)
However, you will not have the same shopping experience as in a GAP store in the US. These shops are just packed with all sorts of womens, mens and kids-clothes… and yes: the majority of shoppers are female.
Well dressed man - NOT. The reason why you don’t see Banana Republic, JCrew, Gap, ect. is that all that sh*t is made here. Not only is it cheap but its tacky. Hell, I know the guy who actually makes Tommy Hilfiger - its a Chinese guy, not the white poster-boy you see on the adds. Kmart and LL Bean are made in the same factory. Calvin Klein is nothing more than a name tag that is sewn on a cheap made-in-China garment after the fact. Victoria’s Secret is dirt cheap in Macau.
A well-dressed man does not buy off-the-rack. Step up from the gutter and go to a reputable tailor. You will find them in the major western hotels in Taipei. A cashmere blazer says heaps more than some trashy blazer you bought for $199 out of the back of the JCrew Spring catalog.
If you insist on buying off-the-rack then quality and style can be found with Hugo Boss. Gap? What a fuck*ing joke.
Your average Taiwanese Joe doesn’t care or know about fashion. The favourite brand is surely “night market.” Yuck. Then again most xiao jies and tai tais have zero fashion sense either.
On a flight from Taipei to HK, take a look around and I bet you can differentiate the Hong Kongers from the Taiwanese.
“Fashion” is just a capitalist conspiracy to force women to needlessly throw away excess consumer dollars every change of season. It’s one of the biggest scams in the history of human civilization. Clothes exist primarily to function. We are not strutting peacocks. I applaud Taiwanese men for not giving in to such consumerist brainwashing. Conspicuous consumption is always such a sickening thing.
Yes, it’s great - I don’t have to worry about looking trendy, not that I ever did I’m female and I still have a problem buying clothes - I’m small enough that I can find stuff that fits, but where are the simple, streamlined tops that aren’t: pink, frilly, covered with cute characters, plastered with logos, badly cut and/or made of material roughly the thickness of tissue? The American chains sell quality stuff but I prefer NOT to act as walking advertising for one - the vast majority of them are logo branded. Just one Marks and Spencers, that’s all I ask… maybe Gap would work for me, if I can find it. The HK chains are passable, but the material is still just a little too shoddy. Not really on topic, but don’t think it’s all easy for women.
A dislike of pink and frilly is surely a form of culture shock. :shock: Pink, cute and fashionable are synonymous here. Gold is another: gold shoe buckles, gold handbag chains, gold stockings, tops with a gold sheen, mock leopard skin effects
OK, yah, maybe I made it unclear, but yeah its hard to find clothes that DON’t have brands- thats why I named the above-mentioned clothing outlets.
Well-Dressed men don’t have to be rich or buy Hugo Boss, as I am very far from being rich. However, even the clothes I find in Night Market are very tacky. Its made with a very Japanese style - sometimes patches on shirts, wacky designs, I dunno, definitely not suitable for me.
I remember in Korea it was quite different, much more balanced, and clothes looked a lot more casual and you can actually wear the stuff to dinner parties. Also it was CHEAP.
I guess I will try Tianmou, but I don’t have much hopes for it.
I thought all those outlet stores in Tienmu closed down.
If you want nice clothes learn to buy when they are on sale. Of course this means that you only get to wear the piece for a a few weeks, as the sale is inevitably at the end of the season. So you buy for next year. Eventually you have a nice wadrobe of standard pieces and only have to spend a few new things each season, for which you can pay top price if you want.
And Drum-Session you don’t know what you’re talking about. Tailors nowadays in general don’t have the same options that bigger clothing companies do to choose fabric. Last summer I wanted to get some linen shirt and pants made with a similiar fabric to a pair of YSL pants and an Armani shirt I’d bought a few years ago. No one had linen like that. Either too thick or too thin, or too rough, or not the right color. I did end up getting some stuff made and it is very nice, but I wouldn’t hesitate to buy from a good name-brand company either.
Nauticca was making casual pants a few years ago with a combination of polynosic and linen or flax. The look was like a very light linen with a great drape. The feel was like wearing nothing at all, perfect on those 37 degree summer days in Taipei. I went to a tailor to get some pants made with the same material (for some reason Nauticca’s pants of the same material now look cheap) and they didn’t have it. No one had it. They had 100% linen but I didn’t want the rough texture.
The hypermarts are the places where I get my cheaper weekend/work in Taoyuan county clothing, the biggest they have fits roughly on my frame.
I had 1/2 dozen shirts made at the tailor at Howard Plaza in 2002. They lasted 1 year before the collars looked like I had ironed them with a steel brush. Therefore, I just got some shirts made in HK, much better, and their best material only NT$1k per shirt. My first HK tailormade shirts lasted 7 years, and I still use suits sewn a few years ago in HK. Talk about a long-term investment.
The tailors here are OK, but much more expensive than HK and the quality is not up to HK.
Well the tailors in HK are used to a british/western standard. Taiwan hasn’t had the experience.
For example, when I got my shirts and suits tailored. The shops in the states and HK measured up my body, recorded the numbers, chalked up the fold marks, and double checked the chalked lines against the numbers. Meaning, they makes suits using measurements/numbers.
When I went here in Taiwan, they just chalked up the fabric. No numbers. I was told they make suits by the body with no numbers unless asked. Granted things turned out ok. But the feel was slightly different.
Nothing really wrong with the Taiwan style. But I’ve found that using measurements, the product usually ends up with a better quality feel.
It was always nice to know that I could always get a shirt made up on the snap if I really needed one done. All I had to do was call up the shop and ask them to make me up a shirt and not have to worry about it being a bit off.
I’m female and I still have a problem buying clothes - I’m small enough that I can find stuff that fits, but where are the simple, streamlined tops that aren’t: pink, frilly, covered with cute characters, plastered with logos, badly cut and/or made of material roughly the thickness of tissue? The American chains sell quality stuff but I prefer NOT to act as walking advertising for one - the vast majority of them are logo branded. Just one Marks and Spencers, that’s all I ask… maybe Gap would work for me, if I can find it. The HK chains are passable, but the material is still just a little too shoddy. Not really on topic, but don’t think it’s all easy for women.