Shopping for Clothes Abroad
It's tricky when you don't know the stores, the brands, or even your size
For most of our time traveling, we haven’t done much clothes shopping. We packed what we needed, traded out a few items in California in February, and have mostly made do with that.* However, the girls keep growing (N now wears the same size as S, much to S’s chagrin) and with our time in Albania on the horizon, we knew we would be wise to pick up some items this summer. (Albania is not a mecca for clothes shopping and some items you’re better off buying and bringing with you either due to poorer quality or lack of availability.) In fact, we left some things behind in Tirana so we’d have space to acquire new clothes.
We snagged a few things in Norway (skirts** and some tops for the girls), but many things are expensive there, so we mostly waited to shop in the UK. One of the items we for sure knew we needed were new bras and underwear; the quality of what’s available in Albania isn’t great. When I asked around, folks said go to Marks & Spencer on our stop through the UK. I knew nothing about M&S but took people’s word for it. (Turns out it’s a department store sort of like Macy’s in the US, though a tad nicer, but not as nice as Nordstrom.)
How many Marks & Spencers does one need to go to when shopping for bras? Apparently the lucky number is four. I wanted the girls to get fitted to make sure they were in the right size, but it turns out you have to make an appointment. Of course, to set an appointment, you have to call or go in person. Seeing as I can’t easily call with a US number, that meant going in. So when we got to London, I found the nearest one to us (store #1) and stopped by after walking through Hyde Park by Kensington Palace. How posh, right? I grabbed a slot for the next day, our only option since we were leaving London the day after that.
Well, the girls weren’t in the mood to go the next day. (Are they ever? Though in fairness we had just traveled from Norway and travel days take a lot out of us.) So we didn’t go. Not the end of the world; surely there had to be other M&S locations along our path through England. When we got to Bournemouth, we spent an afternoon shopping at their mall. It wasn’t anything amazing, but it had an M&S (store #2). We actually spent quite a lot of time there trying things on, especially me. But when I went to inquire about bra fittings, they were entirely booked up for the time we’d be in town (about another week). Seriously? How could bra fittings be that in demand?! This was a head scratcher.
Once we moved on to Oxford, we had another shopping day. There’s a lovely mall in the center of town and it includes an M&S (store #3). This is where we finally got the girls fitted, though it wasn’t a full fitting, whatever that means. We walked in expecting to set an appointment and the woman offered to take the girls’ measurements right then. That’s all we were after anyway, so we said yes. Perfect, right? Yes, except they still needed to shop for bras and didn’t want to do it right then. So we did other shopping but never made it back to M&S while in Oxford. (N ended up finding a bra at Uniqlo that she liked, so at least she got something, and both girls got underwear.)
After arriving in Bristol and making travel plans for Copenhagen, the clock was ticking. We needed to do as much remaining shopping in the UK as possible because prices in Denmark were likely to be as high as they were in Norway. Also, Scandinavians are tall and the girls’ legs aren’t long enough to fit the pants there! But I digress.
We took a day trip to Bath (multiple, actually) and at M&S store #4, we finally got bras! The prices were reasonable compared to US prices (GBP £26 each, or not quite USD $34), so hooray for that! (We spent much more at Third Love in the US and would again if we had access but obviously don’t.)
Besides bras, we did manage to find other items on our outings, though less than one might think. And this is precisely why I don’t like shopping. For women, finding something that fits well, that doesn’t cost an obscene amount, and that’s more or less something you need (versus simply want) and will actually wear, can be a tall order. And if you’re a tween or teen with picky taste, woe to you. Add to this the fact that we were unfamiliar with many of stores and brands and didn’t initially know our sizes (women’s clothing sizes are 1-2 sizes larger than US sizes but shoes are 2 sizes smaller than US sizes) and it means we spent a lot of time without getting much in return.
I normally have stamina for about two hours of shopping at a time, but I sucked it up and did longer outings with the girls so we could maximize the opportunity available to us. I know we’ll ultimately need a few more things, but suitcase space is trending full, so we’ll either have to find them in Albania or take a side trip this fall, maybe to Italy.
Here’s more or less what we got:
S: Jean skirt, romper, dress, tennis shoes, bras and underwear, jean shorts, athletic shorts, and some tops. She tried so hard to find jeans, and finally found a pair on our last shopping day.
N: Same jean skirt as S (same size, too—S did not like this), bras and underwear, some tops, a long flowy dress, and a pair of shorts. Also, a knee-length white dress that S tried on for her (because same size) on a day N didn’t want to come shopping; S argued she should’ve gotten a commission on the deal, LOL. N also tried to find tennis shoes but none of the ones she liked were available in her size.
L: New pair of running shoes (I was happy to find a pair of Brooks Ghost, which I’ve worn before and know I like); bras; long, flowy skirt (can put leggings underneath for cooler weather); several tops; and a pair of nearly new Birkenstocks at a thrift shop for ~GBP £20 (USD $26)!
I really also wanted a couple of long skirts that I first found at M&S and then subsequently saw at a store called White Stuff (don’t love the name but I liked the clothes), but I couldn’t for the life of me find tops that matched. I tried really hard! Such a bummer, especially because by the time we were shopping in Bath the skirts were on sale.
Other than our outing in Bournemouth, C didn’t come with us. That trip about did him in, LOL. He did need some things for himself, though, which he ordered from Amazon: Shirts, shorts, jackets, and water shoes; everything fit. No joke, he probably spent 15 minutes picking things out online and was done. Gah! It’s unfair.
Do you love to shop for clothes or are you more like me? If you travel full time, how do you decide when to shop and how do you make space for new purchases?
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*Caveat: I got one item in Singapore; the girls got swimsuits in Malaysia and that’s a whole side story for another day; C bought a coat in Japan and the girls got a couple of items there, as well; and N got tennis shoes in Argentina because she had worn through her original pair.
**N bought a white skirt only to accidentally leave it behind in Bergen. You know how everyone has a family member who’s notorious for leaving things behind? Well, that’s N in our family. Anyway, she was devastated because the cost was coming out of her clothing allowance regardless. Fortunately, the skirt was found and our amazing host in Bergen sent it on to us in the UK. She has no idea what an impact that made!