Fabric Market

9/5/09

After a rough Friday morning, Hallie and I decided to get out of the apartment that night. Hallie’s uncle has a co-worker living and working for a law firm here in Shanghai. She is a really fun 30 year-old lawyer who took us to this fun bar called Sasha’s. It was a nice cocktail bar filled with expats (I hate that word, “expats” it sounds so criminal or something to me...). After we finished a couple of drinks there, we went across the walkway and ended up at Zapatas, a bar that we went to the first night we went out in Shanghai. It was entertaining to watch all the madness go on, but found it ultimately tiring and called it a night pretty early. We had a fun Saturday morning planned.

That brings me to this morning. We got up around 8:45 to make our first trip to the Chinese fabric market. I had no idea what I was in store for…I immediately thought of Amelia and how excited she would be about going, which incidentally made me pretty pumped to see the place. Well, it was INSANE. Completely INSANE…insanely awesome.

This is my best attempt to give you a visual:
The market is a 33 kuai cab ride from our apartment (across town) and the building is massive. We walked in to three, jam-packed stories of fabric, fabric, and more fabric. There were sections that could make shirts, costumes, suits, pants, dresses, jackets, scarves, vests, shorts, skirts, you name it. Thank goodness we were with a veteran to the market and one of her friends who spoke fluent Mandarin.

I think the first hour we spent in this fashion Mecca we were essentially speechless. Where do I begin? Should I go with jersey or silk first? Pants or a shirt? Should I just start with a casual dress? Or do I want a crazy costume? Or perhaps a suit? Yes, my mind was working on overtime. We followed our market gurus from kiosk to kiosk, more and more baffled and amazed. Each station had numerous rolls of beautiful fabric. The jersey was thick, the silks were soft, the suit materials were structured, and the sequins were so glittery.

Hallie and I decided to start small because, A) we are on a teacher’s salary and B) we were completely overwhelmed. We both picked our favorite dress pattern from a book and got measured for our custom-made jersey dresses. I chose a deep red and Hallie picked purple. It was our first attempt at bargaining, which was pretty awkward. I guess with practice and learning some key phrases, I will be better off. We get to go back next Saturday to try on and make adjustments or pay the final amount and take the dresses home. They can finish anything in one week.

While perusing the halls of the market, I kept a running list in my mind. They allow you to bring in clothes that you own and they will copy the pattern (shape) of the garment and make it out of whatever fabric you like. After thinking about how much Amelia would love this place, I immediately thought about my mom. Wow, the lady would go nuts in here! There are tons and tons of suit shops that can make any kind of suit you could dream of. I can see her coming here and getting 10 suits made. Haha, wink wink Mom.

After the intense morning, we were taken to a delicious American café called “Element Fresh.” OMG, it was so good! Since living here, we have had trouble getting our protein in our diets. So I ordered up the biggest club sandwich and ate in silence. I couldn’t speak because I was too happy. After I wolfed down my nearly 100 kuai lunch (around $15, that’s some big spending here), it was time for a big rest. (the Chinese people call a break “a rest”) Hallie and I came back to our apartment and assumed the position ie: airplane pillows in hand and plopped down on my miniscule bed for a mean DVD party. We successfully finished the second season of “Weeds” and I of course fell asleep in the middle and was out for the night. We really need to figure out how to not be tired on Saturday nights…..

Yingwo: Hard sleeper