Curated Content from Around the World

One peek into my apartment, you can tell I have an affinity towards clothes and decorations that have been on this earth far longer than I. Vintage and antique shopping has always been a favorite pastime of mine, and I find something extremely cathartic about sifting through racks of mothball-scented clothing to find a beautiful piece. So, it was a pleasant surprise when I arrived in Southeast Asia and discovered the intense caliber of second-hand shopping. It’s through this activity that I was able to track down the ‘cool’ areas of every city I’ve visited. Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur, and Singapore boast impressive underground scenes that almost seem to materialize at thrift stores. That’s to say there’s plenty of nightlife, shopping, and dining that you won’t find on TripAdvisor. 

It’s easier to find these places and dive in than you’d think. You can very easily look up “vintage shop” on Google maps and meander around the area to find things that spark your interest. However, my preferred method is approaching someone I think looks cool and striking up a conversation. I suppose coolness is subjective, but my general rule is keeping an eye out for vintage clothes or interesting tattoos- hence proximity to a thrift store. Everyone I have met this way has given amazing suggestions for places to go that are popular with younger locals. My only advice is that if you’re backpacking, you have to control yourself around some of the shops. I’m mostly saying this as a reminder to myself because my backpack is physically not large enough to accommodate all the things I have bought. I’m also getting really tired of carrying around a bag that weighs the same as a large child. 

I digress. 

I was hoping to find older Asian apparel that you can’t get in the States, but I have to say it was more Western than I had been expecting. I couldn’t tell you how many Reba, Garth Brooks, or Nascar t-shirts I shuffled through. I even saw an Alabama Crimson Tide shirt in the hands of a fellow thrifter. I was curious exactly where all of this came from, so I asked the cashier at FibresFriction Vintage Store in Singapore. The owner of that particular outlet makes regular trips to the US and sends back his finds. I  scored a Fleetwood Mac t-shirt from their reunion tour in 1997 at this location-you can imagine my elation. On this same block in the Arab district of Singapore lay plenty of similar second-hand stores with a wide range of prices, so I’d recommend checking this area out. It’s especially fascinating if you accidentally visit during Ramadan like us. 

Yet up across the equator, in suburban Bangkok,  is where the real deal is. The third time I visited the city on this trip, I was making my way down Soi Cowboy (the Red Light District equivalent) when I stopped along one of the dozens of roadside dispensaries. The guys running it were about my age, sporting some impressive ensembles. I asked where they usually shop, and I was given a slip of paper with an address in Thai and the words “ Chatuchak Market”. It seemed like a good lead, so the next day I embarked on the metro with Google Maps as my guide. 

It was impossible to miss. Crowds of people were migrating towards a gate that opened up into a massive open air market. There had to have been at least a thousand stalls here; it’s indescribable. Street food, drinks, very convincing designer knock offs, and every sort of good were on display along the main walkway. I was already overstimulated, and I hadn’t even entered the winding labyrinth of vendors that lay ahead. I only had 2 hours so it was time to get cracking. This place was like the Louvre-you could spend all day exploring this maze and you still wouldn’t see everything. Some sellers only had tshirts, other shoes and bags. There was a good number of people that had meticulously curated inventories of antique clothing. I was lucky enough to stumble across one with a Gunne Sax dress from the seventies that I’d been coveting for months. My shopping spree could not have been going better until I found a spot with everything from tie-dyed Grateful Dead to N.W.A. apparel. Most of their stuff was a little out of my price range, but luckily there was a bar inside. I ended my excursion by grabbing a Singha -the Thai equivalent to Bud Light. Banter ensued with the shopkeepers/bartenders about tattoos and The Cure in half-English, half-hand gestures. All too soon it was time to go home. So I boarded the metro back to my AirBnB-dehydrated and out of cash. 

If you’re headed to a new city and don’t know exactly where to start your adventures, my suggestion is to seek out vintage shops and see where that takes you. Odds are you’ll find countless other spots in the same areas that draw a similar crowd. It’s much easier said than done, but you have to let go of any fear of talking to strangers as well. 99% of people you approach are going to give great suggestions and maybe even introduce you to a new friend. If you’re like me and your closet looks like it belongs to an 80 year-old hoarder mixed with that of JWoww circa 2010, then you’ll have a field day at any of the places I’ve mentioned. Honestly I mostly wanted to brag about my finds, but I also wanted to share my method for getting to know a new place. As an ex-introvert, I admit that going up to random people on the street and asking them where they bought their pants can be scary. It’s been proven time and time again that fortune favors the bold and you owe it to yourself to reach outside of your comfort zone. Not only will you find the best shopping, but you’re also bound to meet some friendly locals who are more than happy to share a piece of their life with you.