Now I know why people kept telling me to go to Hong Kong with an empty suitcase – I took the bare minimum with me and still struggled when packing for my return. For years I’d been hearing how amazing the shopping is in Hong Kong and I knew I would go crazy. Hong Kong is an absolute shopping paradise. I dare not count exactly how many pieces of jewellery I bought, although you can see it all for yourselves in the pics above. For some reason I decided I would buy at least two coats in Hong Kong – I was successful and got three (unless you would call my houndstooth one a long jacket).
I’ve always had mixed feelings about fakes but got carried away whilst visiting the infamous Ladies Market and came back with a wannabe mini Balenciaga, MCM rucksack (a brand which I initially hated but ended up being obsessed with after seeing all the cool HK kids carrying their MCM rucksacks), Kate Spade popcorn bag (I had no idea Kate Spade had made a popcorn bag, I fell in love with it before realising it said Kade Spate on the side – classy) and two Maison Martin Margiela/H&M candy bags (I’m suspicious they might be the real deal, they’re identical to the real ones). This is something I might have to dedicate a separate post to!
In all honesty, I would say Hong Kong is better for shopping than London. The latter is saturated with high-street brands all doing the same thing. Hong Kong has tons of high-street brands too, but the variety is incredible, since they have many Japanese and Korean brands that we’re missing out on on this side of the ocean. The main difference is that Hong Kong has many shopping centres full of privately owned boutiques. And whilst a lot of these boutiques have the same items (many of these boutiques buy their stock from Korea), they also have plenty of gems too that you won’t see 50 other people wear. I would recommend Rise Commercial Centre in Tsim Sha Shui for amazing fashion-forward pieces, the area of Mong Kok for super affordable pieces (it sort of reminded me of Camden Town but much, much better – that’s where I got a lot of my jewellery bits from), Causeway Bay (it’s full of designer stores but also a few shopping centres with lots of amazing privately owned shops, such as Beverly Shopping Centre) and Tsuen Wang, not at all in the midst of the Hong Kong buzz but home to another super affordable shopping centre full of great finds. Seriously, if money/lack of wardrobe space/lack of suitcase space weren’t issues…
One high-street brand that I completely fell in love with was the Korean gem that is Åland. Imagine a fusion of Urban Outfitters and & Other Stories… I bought three skirts from there and the 7Up fabric stickers that are soon to be stuck on my new cheap HK flats. This store has a great selection of cool, keep-on-the-radar brands – us Londoners seriously need an Åland here!
As for what I wore, I wore the same things a lot of the time (hey, I was just being practical) but naturally ended up wearing some of my new pieces too. Had I known that it was going to be so hot, I would shown lots more skin – nude tights and t-shirts would have definitely made an appearance! I absolutely love my pink coat, silver brogues (from an awesome shoe shop called House of Avenues, similar to Dune but much, much better) and faux-leather quilted skirt, similar to my Primark one but sturdier and essentially way better. It was a super successful shopping trip and when I go back (that has to happen) I really will take an empty suitcase. Apart from two outfit posts, this is probably the last post of my Hong Kong diaries – it’s about time I caught up with the present…
xxx
