Check your Labels.

I've spent my weekend with my mum who came to visit me and of course to do some shopping! She's the ultimate shopaholic if I may add (I haven't really moved on from the "Shopaholic" thing...haven't I?) Well, she just wonders why I never have become like her towards money unlike my sister whom she prides of having her taste in clothes and fashion! I was the "wont buy unless it's a bargain, or it's on SALE and I don't care much about brands" type of daughter and well ... it works on my part when she hears me sigh and refuse to open my purse, as she would BUY the things she thinks I like but is toooooo frugal to do so.

So at the end of the day, I have some new stuff ... a pair of white Lacoste leather slippers, a gray dress with a belt and a red leather bag! hmmn... this works! I may have to pretend I don't like something in the future and my mum will eventually buy it for me! haha... keep that a secret! she doesn't blog.

After her mall stint, I took her to where I buy my clothes etc. and it wasn't that far from where we were, it's right across the street which I call : San Francisco ... But it's actually the St. Francis Square haha... A building filled with great buys. It's kinda like the shops you go to in Bangkok, but of course nothing compares to Bangkok when you're not brand conscious but stylish. I do feel comfortable buying in these stores after I've learnt from my travels, that no matter where you go ... things will always wound up to be Made in China! Sample? OK. I bought this gorgeous, Kenneth Cole Reaction Trench Coat in Black Wool at Macy's in the US ... I was sooo much in awe at the sight of it, that me being "frugal" have managed to slip a couple of hundred dollars for it! I wore it with great pride ... and when it's time to go to the dry-cleaners, guess what I read on the tiniest label I've ever seen in transparent tucked under one shoulder? MADE IN CHINA. So, who cares now right? I also bought this black, cashmere sweater in ITALY and it was MADE IN BANGLADESH ... I have to look on a map to find where Bangladesh is! want more? I bought a 24 dollar Hollister shirt in the US and it was MADE IN THE PHILIPPINES... Oh! I see, it's a good thing that more than "Brand" conscious I'm a Filipino that I still bought 2 shirts ... thinking that if they were Made in the Philippines, my countrymen gets paid for the shirts that I bought....

Anyway, let's NOT be racist even with labels on clothes and other things. If they are Made in China but you bought it from GAP, accept their quality control standards... accept the fact that Asia offers cheaper labor not everything that's made in 3rd world countries in particular, are rubbish and those that are Italian and American made are automatically superior in quality. Just have a heart for the jobs that these companies create and 'hope that there'll be no more OVER PRICING especially when you know where it's made!

SO!!! I just buy straight where the sources are...Manila is a shopping paradise! I found this really cute! Bohemian print flat shoes that's perfect for summer for only 250 pesos (around 5 dollars) ... when branded? around 20 dollars, I think.