I did that this past long Raya weekend instead of doing something exciting like… Oh I don’t know… going on Branson vacations perhaps? Unforgiving task to carry out but ultimately fulfilling as I can now open the doors to my closet without the fear of clothes falling down around my ears. Oh and I also found a brand new wardrobe without spending a sen! How about that for frugality?

If you have received the latest Isetan Kuala Lumpur newsletter you might notice that they have launched some new clothing sizes. No more starving yourself or taking appetite suppressants to fit into the teeny weeny clothes previously on offer.

Clothes now comes in bigger sizes to suit the general populace. On the other hand, some other lines like Cresendo have made smaller sizes for the population who are of the smaller built. I haven’t shopped for clothes in Isetan for a while so I can’t quite recall off hand if their clothes fit well or not. However I do remember going there recently and being quite taken by their new lines of dresses that look at once classic yet weren’t wallet busting. Not only that, even shoes now come in quarter and half sizes so you can be sure that your shoes fit you exactly.

I think that’s worth checking out.

I was at Metrojaya MidValley last week when I saw they have a new section with Laura Ashley home furnishings, home decorations and clothes. I was quite surprised to see Laura Ashley being sold in Metro – somehow I never expected them to go into department stores this way. I’d seen their stand alone stores in KLCC but never went in because I only associate them with curtains for some reason. It might be all that chintz.

Anyway, I was looking at their clothes (there were some really hefty discounts available) but I couldn’t get any because most of those on sale were of larger sizes. (See, there’s no real reason to take diet pills when you can easily find nice clothes to suit you!)

I did see a lovely silk pair of pyjamas. Luxurious white silk with black lace trim camisole and cropped pants. IN. MY. SIZE!

Problem: Price before discount was RM389 and it was 10% off.

Sorry mate! That’s too much to pay even for me the pyjama queen! LOL… Would you pay?

The normal crocs mary janes shoes and thongs were 40% off for women and men’s were going for 50% off. It was pretty good, if you don’t have a pair of Crocs and want a pair. Prices were about RM70-RM80+

I don’t know if its still on sale or if the hefty discounts have been cut after the presale. Still, you don’t see Crocs go on sale that often and you don’t even have to battle warehouse sales for these prices!

Heaven knows, bridal studios have costumes for all sorts of styles, they could have tuxedos too? For tuxedo shirts, I’ve seen them in Marks & Spencer for more affordable ones or I think they are tailor made most times for perfect fit.

Honestly though, those who do have to wear tuxedos on a regular basis probably have the money to afford tailoring!

I haven’t been back there since my last visit mainly because I haven’t had the time to shop anywhere lately. The nice thing about buying it from Isetan is that when Isetan goes on sale, the jewelry too goes on sale for selected lines. Good yes?

I saw on WWD that luxury watch brand Bedat & Co has been sold to a Malaysian firm, Luxury Concepts Watches & Jewellery Sdn Bhd. (link) Bedat & Co was previously owned by the Gucci group. (news here)

My first thought when I read this bit of news was “Oh my! We in Malaysia can actually afford it in these times?!” So I looked up the Luxury Concepts company and saw that they are the ones behind the luxury brand watches in Starhill Gallery. These are the stores where you can go to buy your Patek Philippe and Armand Nicolet and other brands I’d never heard of in the mainstream market.

Is this an achievement? Well, put it this way. When will you ever see Gucci, luxury and Malaysia in the same sentence again? We hit the main fashion retail news for once!

When I first read about the new limited edition HP Mini Vivienne Tam notebook I thought I’d really want it. The whole package called out to me, where it looked both functional and gorgeous. Also, its a lovely small size just like my Asus Eeepc. However, now that I’ve seen more pictures of it on Cnet, I’m less enamoured with it. The press pictures made the peony cover look so much better than it does in real life based on the pictures I’m seeing.

The problem of course is that, this is just a dressed up version of the HP Mini 1000 which would cost half the price of the jazzed up version. Its just not worth paying extra for a shell – pretty though the shell may be. I’d rather be spending that extra money on memory be it Mac memory or just memory for my other notebooks to jazz things up on the inside rather than on the outside.

So yeah, after hearing that it might cost a cool RM2800 here in Malaysia if or when the Vivienne Tam edition is brought in by HP, I think I’m giving it a miss. Pretty it might be, but practical it just is not.

Sigh… anyway, some good places I’ve found for gown shopping are Salabianca and Phenomenal. Phenomenal sometimes has some strange looking things, but last year they had a gorgeous midnight blue dress that I absolutely loved. I did not get it due to various reasons – the primary reason being I did not have anywhere to wear it to! So, I’m curious to see what they have for Christmas this year. I have also picked up a nice dress there during their sales for about RM150 – long, silver and fits perfectly!

Salabianca has lots of beaded stuff if you like that, and although I’d admit that some of the clothes look strange, there are hidden gems. I have actually taken my mom there and she managed to pick up a nice looking 2 piece outfit that wasn’t excessively beaded and which made her look sufficiently prosperous and dressy LOL…

These are 2 stores that I’ve found that were useful in my search. Perhaps they might help you too.

Not pictures of the sale.

There’s the FJ Benjamin Branded sale on this weekend. If you like La Senza, Guess, Banana Republic, Gap and Raoul make sure you head on down to Bangsar Village II in Kuala Lumpur (3rd Floor above MPH bookstores) to grab some deals.

I was there today. I thought prices were so so. Raoul ladies shirts were RM80, skirts were RM120 for 2, dresses were RM150 for 2 but designs were awful (to me). Banana Republic dresses were RM200, tops ranged from RM70-RM120. Gap jeans were RM120 and tops ranged from RM20-80 or so. La Senza had a good range of sizes for bras and panties this morning but I’m not sure how much is left.

There are loads of stuff, and loads of people and you don’t really want to be spending precious time in the queue for the fitting room when you can be digging through the piles of clothes for bargains right? So, here’s my tip for how to dress at a clothes warehouse sale.

• Wear a light or short skirt - it makes it easier for you to try on pants and jeans or skirts which you can slip on under the skirt in a quieter corner of the hall. A light skirt will help also when trying on a dress so it doesn’t look as bulky.
• Wear a light T-shirt or spagetti strap top - It makes it easier for you to slip on shirts and T-shirts and dresses don’t show up so bulky as well.
• Wear flats - It is easier to move around in flats or flip flops and it makes it easier to try on shoes. Besides, you’ll be  considerate to other shoppers who don’t like being stepped on with heels!

So, what did you get from the sales? Spill!