Urgent help required with shopping in Ho Chi Minh City

Hi,

We%26#39;re currently in HCMC and am after help with where to go for decent shopping.

Have been to Ben Tanh Markets (day %26amp; night) and Saigon Square and found most of the stuff to be sh*t!

Have also been to Zen Plaza and it was complete opposite (everything way out of my price range).

I am looking for a ';normal'; shopping centre if such a place exists here similar to those found in Australia that sells quality clothes and shoes etc but am not necessarily after brand names.

Thanks heaps.

Urgent help required with shopping in Ho Chi Minh City

From my experience, you have to buy at individual shops along big streets. They鈥檙e everywhere and have their own local brands such as PT2000, Sifa, MaxxNino, etc. But they are not cheap. A blouse is around 200,000 VND.

I bought my shoes at shops at the end of Pasteur Street District 3 and at Nguyen Dinh Chieu Street nearer to District 5.

I found them expensive so I didn%26#39;t buy any early this month.

Urgent help required with shopping in Ho Chi Minh City

Since you鈥檙e there, did you check Tax Shopping Plaza and Parkson nearby?

IMHO, there is unfortunately no such thing. Cheap things here are like you found them in Ben Thanh market and SG Square, very lousy. Quality local things are overpriced like you saw in Zen (a decent dress costs around $70-$200). Imported stuffs are out-of-season and still at full price (check out Versace and Marc Jacob).

You might wonder where the locals shop. Well... most of the people here who want nice clothes at a low price get them at the neighborhood tailor. Others go to Bangkok or Singapore.

If you insist to buy something, i can recommend these local clothing lines, in the high-to-low price order:

For women

- Song by Valerie McKenzie: on Le Thanh Ton street, near the City Hall, opposite Saigon Tourist

- La Bella: on Paster street near Le Thanh Ton. Next door is the great bag shop Ipa Nima, of which the price tags will knock you down on the floor.

- Oxy: on Hai Ba Trung street near Le Van Tam park.

- Caro: on Ly Tu Trong street, near the back of Ben Thanh market, between Thu Khoa Huan %26amp; Nguyen Trung Truc. Nice cotton dress costs about $20.

For men

- An Phuoc (%26amp; Piere Cardin): on Ly Tu Trong street, near the back of Ben Thanh market, between Thu Khoa Huan %26amp; Nguyen Trung Truc.

- Viet Tien: there is a store upstairs in the Tax Shopping Center.

My advice is forget about getting quality dress shoes in Vietnam. If your shoes break, buy flipflop.

I bought an Impa nima ladies wallet last year.

I wanted something that was excellent quality not junk, still after a year it looks perfectly new and it is used every day.

It did cost around $100 aus but in comparison to other brands and costs in Aust I think I go a bargain.

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