Shopping in Singapore has gotten rather expensive, not just with the slew of foreign luxury brands conquering similar icons of “modernity” in fresh-faced supermalls, but also because of the ironically expensive platter of supposedly “indie/street” fashion students are accustomed to. The famous city of cheap shopping, Bangkok, is only available during summer/winter breaks – so what can we do besides settle for severely overpriced “blogshop” clothes online?
Here is a list of great places to do thrift shopping to quench all your sartorial needs!
1. Praiseheaven Family Megastore (The Salvation Army)
500 Upper Bukit Timah Road, Opens Monday – Friday, 9am – 5pm
Tel: 6349 5312
If you’re looking for a legitimate experience of thrift shopping, this Salvation Army store is the one to go to! However since it is called a “megastore”, you might get distracted by a ton of other things like soft toys and furniture. Especially hot amongst regulars are Jim Thompson household items!
2. Shop@REDCROSS
62 Jalan Khairuddin (Opera Estate), Opens every Friday, 10.30am-3.30pm
Tel: 6664 0500
Besides Salvation Army, check out the Singapore Red Cross’s charity store for surprising finds! Like the former, this charity store also offers a wide range of items from household appliances to apparel. You can also bring down donations to pass to volunteers on duty.
3. New2U
96 Waterloo St (www.scwo.org.sg). Opens Monday-Friday 10.30am-2.30pm
This thrift store is run by the Singapore’s Council of Women’s Organisations (SCWO), which is also where all the proceeds from sales go to. Look out for their daily themed sales with items of the day going from $1 – like T-shirt Mondays, Skirt/Trousers Wednesdays and Shoes Thursdays. They are well known for hiding great high fashion bargains so it might be the best place to hunt for second-hand clothes.
4. *SCAPE Flea Market
*SCAPE, located behind Orchard Cineleisure, has long been a weekend hangout for teenagers in Singapore. It regularly hosts fleas over the weekend (Friday to Sunday, 2-9pm), be it at their indoor or outdoor spaces. Their main flea organiser http://whattheflea.com, also hosts fleas in several other locations, so you might want to check their website/Facebook out. Most of the flea booths are small online set-ups, unlike in previous years whereby majority sold second-hand clothes. These apparel and accessories are mainly thrifted from places all around the world like Bangkok and China, and are affordably priced and well on trend.
5. Bugis Street/ Bugis Village
4 New Bugis St. MRT: Bugis. Daily 10am-10pm.
Before *SCAPE, there was Bugis Street. Move past the ground level filled with souvenirs to the upper levels where you will find quaint stores selling a variety of apparel and accessories. Prices are notoriously cheap here and are a favourite amongst the K-pop/J-pop female crowd.
6. Haji Lane
While famous for housing local independent labels, this quirky street also offers cheaper alternatives like MarkedDownMarket and Blogshopping. These stores bring in trendy apparel from Bangkok and sell it at a much cheaper price than what is offered online.
7. Far East Plaza
Far East Plaza is definitely a hotspot for Singaporean youths and the lower floors offers many cheap bargains, all neatly arranged in racks (unlike charity stores, albeit pricier). One example would be Blogshopping, which gathers popular pieces from a select of blogshops and sells it at their store.
8. The Editor’s Market
#03-06A Cineleisure Orchard and #04-08/09 Orchard Central, Opens Sunday-Thursday Noon-10pm; Friday-Saturday Noon-1am.
The outlet at Orchard Central is more expensive but offers higher quality and more unique pieces. Both stores operate by the concept of wholesale, so if you buy items in bulk it would be cheaper. This is also available on their online store: www.theeditorsmarket.com. Compared to other stores that sell “blogshop” clothes, Editor’s Market is well-known for being the most trendy.
While prices may be cheap, it is important to check the clothes for defects like wear and tear, especially with charity shops. Cotton clothes are very susceptible to being worn out and stretched over time, while white apparel are also prone to discolouring. Also, loose thread seem to be a common occurrence with blogshop apparel, with details like beading and embroidery that may also require a more thorough check before buying!
*Note: If you are buried in assignments or projects, going out for a quick wardrobe revamp will be a luxury. Try shopping online instead. Affordable online shops are aplenty out there. For instance, Zalora offers a wide variety of clothing, accessories, shoes and beauty essentials. What’s your favourite shop? Let us know.