Most people here know that I'm a sample sale whore... and I don't mean to throw that w word in a casual kind of way. If there's an imperative sample sale on (some good uns' coming up in London...Nicholas Kirkwood and Emma Cook woot woot... ), I'll be there combing through meticulously and obsessively.
Sadly the word 'outlet' doesn't instill the same kind of excitement. This is supremely silly but it makes complete sense to me... the fact that a sample sale is usually restricted by date and time, in my head, whatever I end up buying feels a lot more special (even if it is a 10-season old scraggy cardi...), and so the idea of a permanent sale at an 'outlet' doesn't really get my shopper's blood rushing.
Therefore I was a bit doubtful as to whether I'd find anything at Ap Lei Chau's Horizon Plaza which houses Lane Crawford, Joyce, I.T.'s outlets (there are several I.T. outlets about and in general, I'd be surprised if someone shopping in Hong Kong DIDN'T stumble into something I.T. related/owned) and now a Marni outlet too. I had heard good things about it but given its slightly far out location, I had never been before and as we were pulling up, the coach loads of tourists getting off to get in on the outlet action, made me even more dubious.
A slap on the wrist is in order because just at Joyce's outlet alone, my eyes were welling up with the amount of bargains. I'm the kind of person that gets excited by the reductions of items even if the final price is still unaffordable and Joyce makes this particularly accute as they list all the prices the item has gone through season to season. I was lusting after a number of Christopher Kane giant pailette and crushed velvet items, a Rick Owens jacket, some Sacai knitwear and a Proenza Schouler coat and nearly walked away with a lilac Comme des Garcons blazer but ended up empty handed. Yet I was strangely satisfied with my empty hands as I could tick off Horizon Plaza as a place to go when I am finally feeling flush (sadly this trip has fallen just before Christmas when friends and family come before my own superficial needs...).
I fared a wee better at Lane Crawford (it's hard to list WHO they stock but rather it's better to eliminate who they DON'T have... ) and a Givenchy ruffled cropped cardigan and a VPL dress went into the basket (does anyone else put stuff in baskets only to do a shop-circuit and put it back down?) but in the end, it was this pair of bargainous Bruno Frisoni platform sandals with an abundance of grosgrain ribbon and gold ring tie-ups that finally made it to checkout at the price of HKD650 (around GBP58) down from HKD7000.
I could well have tipped the Xmas funds away in Horizon, but it's actually knowing that this place is pretty much permanently there that left me feeling more than happy. I'll be back, ya?
On another Hong Kong discounting note, I must thank the few readers who have been leaving/sending me tips even though I didn't ask for any. Mee and Gee in Central (on Li Yuen Street West in Central... think there's one in Mong Kok too) was a pretty rad suggestion. It's a cross between a vintage and deadstock store and everything is dirt cheap, with all wares being under HKD100 (GBP8) and averaging at about 3 quid an item. This is going to be the oddest excuse I'll give for not coming away with anything but bear with me. Sadly, the things that I was interested in were the deadstock 70s printed shirt dresses and skirts from Japan but...
... and here goes...
...the night before I had stayed up late to watch at TVB series that is a bit like the Cantonese version of Cold Case/CSI where they kept recalling the past of a serial murderer/rapist and one lady was lying dead on an old lino floor wearing a chintzy 70s printed shirt dress, with eyes rolling back into the head. The resembance to the stuff in Mee and Gee was a little close what with my awful sleeping patterns and low tolerance for erm... scary dead eyes. So it was this mental image that prevented me from stuffing my wardrobe with more skirts to add to the 278+ inventory.
Me thinks I've waffled on about NOT shopping but the key point to take away is that Horizon Plaza and Mee & Gee get the thumbs up. : ) - a symbol that everyone can understand... bah... who needs copious amounts of text anyway!
