6.29.2009 in Xinyi District

dress -- Clever Nettle, shoes -- Sogo... I forget which brand, belt (in left picture) -- eBay, necklaces -- Shida night market, headband -- Accessorize

Ron and I went to Xinyi district on Monday, which is where we usually venture on our days off if it is raining. The shopping district might be a mess of overpriced brand names and sales people who practically hurl themselves at you if you even so much as peep in their store's general direction, but there is a covered walkway that goes from Taipei 101 all the way to the end of Shin Kong Mitsukoshi and connects Page One, and English-language book store, the Warner Vieshow movie theater (that is it's old name... people in Taipei don't really call it by it's new name) and Eslite, another book store with a huge selection of English and Japanese books and magazines. It's a nice alternative to staying in the house or sitting in a cafe when it's pouring.

I ordered my 1950s dress from Clever Nettle when we were back in the States for our wedding. My comfy shoes are from Sogo Zhongxiao. Shoe departments in many Taiwanese department stores are arranged by brand, and each brand is staffed by its own salespeople. It can get stressful after a while, because you might be looking at one shelf, getting pressure from one salesperson, turn around to look at another shelf, and all of the sudden two new salespeople descend upon you. The good thing about it is that they offer really good service as a result... and, frankly, the annoyance is a pretty good incentive to stay away from shoe shopping. You can't see it very well in the photo, but I'm also wearing a necklace I bought from Shida flea market. There are currently a lot of vendors there who sell these adorable, girly, vintage-inspired pendants from Korea.