And the little sweatshirts, do they have those in the U.S.? I've been in Taipei for over a month now, and I still can't stand the little sweatshirts. I see them everywhere--girls wearing a short-sleeved overshirt that only goes down halfway. They don't close in the front (thank god), but they still look ridiculous, and I can't imagine they're useful in the summer in Taiwan. There is no need to wear an overshirt outdoors--no one would argue with that. But in case you wanted one to wear inside, since many buildings here are heavily air conditioned, why would you choose one that covers less skin than the shirt you have underneath? That's what I want to know.
Little sweatshirts aside, there is plenty to choose from here in the way of fashion, and it's mostly real cheap. Taiwan is big in the textile industry, as you may know from reading garment tags. There are many, many clothing shops in Taipei where almost everything costs less than $13, and if you go to more than one clothing store in the same area, you are likely to find the exact same wares. For example, when I bought my sandals, I noticed that some types of shoes were sold in every shoe store in the vicinity, and since I bought mine, I've been seeing them around town on other women. An area called Wufenpu (five point place) is apparently great for clothes shopping. I went there with Willy, his cousin James, and his cousin's shopping-savvy girlfriend, Kelly, who also happens to be an English major.
Like I said before, traveling to a foreign country is supposed to be a learning experience. Well, add to the list that I have expensive taste in clothing. We must have passed a hundred booths, and the three or four items I inquired about all cost over $35. That doesn't seem like much for a nice shirt or item until you consider that every other shirt or bag or pair of shoes is advertised at less than $7. (Besides, in the local currency, my picks cost over $1000, which just sounds like a lot.)
Anyway, the marketplace at Wufenpu was so huge and overwhelming that I walked out with aching feet but no purchases. Still, it gave me a good introduction to clothes shopping in Taipei, and I've since bought a skirt, my first ever pair of capri pants, and four shirts, two of them prominently featuring monkeys, all for U.S. $40. (I don't know what it is with me and monkeys lately. Perhaps it's because I was born in the year of one.) But besides the good deals and the cartoon monkeys, part of the joy of clothes shopping in Taiwan is the most excellent slogans in English that you'll inevitably find. And if you can read Japanese, you're in luck, because they have those too--I can't vouch for the humor or correctness of the grammar, though.
Now, I've heard stories about someone getting a tattoo of Chinese characters and finding out later that it means something totally bizarre (remember that commercial for the pilot of "Committed"? what, you don't?), and I'm sure that goes for clothing as well, but personally I'd rather not wear something without knowing what it means. Either this is not the case in Taiwan, or middle-aged ladies inexplicably want to walk around town wearing a shirt with a butterfly and the word "EROTIC." I have also seen shirts whose messages appear to be recipes, assembly instructions, or Avril Lavigne lyrics. Apparently, anything written in English is good enough to be fashionable.
I'd have to say my least favorite of these cryptic messages are the ones that are nearly or completely gibberish. After I bought the abovementioned skirt, I realized that the belt had writing on it:
"THE LANTERN BY THITOUGO GUYSEAVEYOU SEENTOUR ND THER!"
...and so on. I've also seen quite a few shirts with random letters on them, although, to be fair, I've never seen anyone wearing one of these. More common, and more entertaining for me, are messages that make perfect sense but are funny. Two of my favorites have actually been on notebooks (another ripe source of funny English):
"Remove happiness from your goals."
"Vigor Puppy: The thinner the puppy, the better it will work."
The former was probably just a bad translation, but Vigor Puppy...that one's a mystery. It has a picture of a puppy, but that's all the clues we get. I thought puppies were supposed to be cute, not hard-working. Even dogs, these days. I bought one of the notebooks so I could ponder Vigor Puppy at my leisure.
Another thing I've noticed about English slogans on shirts in Taiwan is that they are excessively optimistic. Most people can probably understand the shirt I saw a little boy wearing that says "Happy Kids" with a picture of a smiling kid. (Wishful thinking, I imagine.) I've also seen a shirt that said something along the lines of "This dress has exciting and attractive fashion," which, if it were true, would not need to be said, right? My favorite was a sequined Minnie Mouse shirt I saw a teenage girl wearing that said on the back, "MINNIE IS INQUISITIVE, INDEPENDENT, AND A POSITIVE ROLE MODEL." Come on, now. No one really thinks that, do they? No one I know. I'm not sure what percentage of the population can understand the meanings of these subliminal fashion messages, but to me, a native speaker of English, it seems almost like subtle brainwashing.
Well, in conclusion, I found me a bathing suit when I wasn't looking, and it was marked for sale in America, so it fit my idea of a swimsuit (i.e. no writing, no pockets, no swim-impeding frills). Not that I'll get to use it, now that we're in the middle of a typhoon....
Me and Colin at the National Palace Museum.
Willy's grandmother bought me this shirt in China.