Category: Fashion

A user on Reddit a few days was asking about a local vintage clothing store which in places like the States and Europe is generally a store that sells second-hand clothing. Although I’m not aware of any vintage clothing store in that sense we do have a couple of thrift shops that sell second-hand clothes:

Odettes Closette – They’re located inside 8 Mall in Salmiya.

Thrifty M.E. – An Instagram only based account.

Both places also accept donated clothes and accessories but if you prefer your stuff to go to a better cause, below is a charitable organization which also accepts your second-hand clothes:

Basta – 80-90% of the items donated to them go to low-income community members. The rest of the items get sold with the money going towards funding student tuitions. Other than clothes you can also donate toys, books, and gadgets.

If you know of any other thrift shops let me know in the comments below.

Yesterday I dropped by a new department store that opened up called The District that carries a number of brands including UNIQLO and Lululemon. I was curious to check out the UNIQLO items since I tend to stock up on their t-shirts and socks whenever I’m in LA.

Just to be clear, this isn’t an official UNIQLO store. I ran into the owner while I was browsing and had a chat with him and turns out they tried bringing the UNIQLO brand to Kuwait but UNIQLO weren’t interested (even Alshaya are having trouble trying to get the brand). So, what they decided to do was buy UNIQLO products at normal retail price, ship them to Kuwait and slap their markup onto the items. How much of a markup? Well here are the prices of a bunch of random items so you can compare:

Low Cut Socks
Online: KD1.2
Kuwait: KD2

Dry Pique Short Sleeve Polo Shirt
Online: KD6
Kuwait: KD17.5

Fleece Long-Sleeve Full-Zip Jacket
Online: KD6
Kuwait: KD24

Oxford Slim Fit Long Sleeve Shirt
Online: KD9
Kuwait: KD24

Women Ezy Jeans
Online: KD12
Kuwait: KD30

Sprz NY Basquiat Short Sleeve Graphic T-Shirt
Online: KD4.5
Kuwait: KD24

Ouch right? But here is why their prices are so expensive. Stores tend to buy items at wholesale prices, so for example, if an item retails for KD10, the actual cost of the item to the store is around KD4. The KD6 difference would cover the cost of shipping, customs, salaries, rent, and profit. In this case, The District is purchasing the items at full retail price of KD10, then slapping on the cost of shipping, customs, salaries, rent and their profit resulting in the prices you see above. I didn’t check the Lululemon prices but I’m assuming its the same.

If you want to check the place out yourself, The District is located in Bida’a [Google Maps] and they’re also on instagram @thedistrict_kuwait

Thanks Aisha!

Dar Scrubs is an interesting small store that sells clothing and accessories for doctors. I didn’t think there could be so much variety in scrubs but I guess even doctors want to look good. I even spotted Grey’s Anatomy branded scrubs which is actually pretty smart of the show.

If you’re a doctor (or just looking to role play) then you should pass by and check them out. They’re located in Promenade Mall inside their Soapbox space. If you don’t feel like passing by you could also check out their online store [Here]

If the five H&M stores already in the Avenues weren’t enough, H&M are now planning to open another one! The new location is where the old Debenhams used to be in phase 1 of the Avenues and according to the hoarding, it’s going to be the largest one in the world. It’s crazy that we need the largest H&M in the world first of all but it’s even crazier that is opening in a mall that already has five other locations.

Update: Reminds me of this hilarious (and real) scene from The Simpsons…

If you grew up with Swatches in the 80s then you’ll most likely recognize the X-Rated Swatch that was released in 1987, the GB406. I never had one, instead around that time I had the more colorful Swatch Navigator, the GB707. A couple of days back I was on eBay looking for a clean, but well-priced GB707 when I noticed someone selling a boxed X-Rated watch for around $120 which seemed weird. Usually, the original black X-Rated watch sells for around $500, and one in this condition would be even more. I realized something was up and quickly googled the X-Rated Swatch to find out Swatch had re-released the model last month!

It was around 11PM but since its Ramadan, I knew shops were still open. I called up one of the Swatch stores and asked if they had the watch in stock and I was told that the black ones had been pulled from the stores, but the red one was still available. I knew I could order the watch online but figured I’d head over to the store and try the red one out to see how it looked on my wrist, but also to get clarification on the “pulled” aspect of the black ones. I’ve had situations similar in the past with Swatch where a highly desirable model is usually put aside for their good customers/collectors.

I get to the Swatch store and start talking to the salesperson who turned out knew their vintage Swatches. She actually pulled out the store’s copy of the highly desirable and difficult to find “Swatch-Clopedia” and we started going through it. After reminiscing over classic Swatches from the 80s and early 90s, and then showing me some stock of old Swatch Guards they still had in store, I was about to leave when she told me to hold on. She picked up the phone and called her brand manager and told him there was a customer in the store who wanted the black X-Rated Swatch. She hung up the phone, went away for a minute and came back with a black X-Rated watch. She told me her brand manager told her it was ok to sell me one and I ended up paying the KD21 price and leaving with it.

The watch is pretty great looking and practically resembles the original 1987 version with very minor differences. Old Swatches tend to have small diameters but the new X-Rated is 41mm which is similar to most modern watches, I think it looks really good when worn. If you’re interested in this watch and can’t get it in Kuwait, there are a ton of people on eBay selling it for around $120 which is still reasonable. But of course, nothing beats walking into a store and paying retail price for one.

According to a contact of mine at Bloomingdale’s, the Kuwait branch might eventually start carrying menswear at their store in 360 Mall. Currently, they only sell womenswear but starting soon they’re going to start selling some men’s accessories as well. Next month they’re also going to bring their exclusive collection by Les Benajmins to Kuwait.

I personally think they should bring menswear and I never understood why they didn’t have it initially at launch. Right now I seem to be spending all my money at Allsaints which I don’t mind, but I’m also starting to look like an Allsaints billboard. So having more options works for me.

On more than one occasion I’ve been asked if I know a place that sells Swarovski crystals, usually by girls who might have had a crystal element fall off their shoe, purse or some other kind of accessory. I’ve previously sent them to Barakat but because they don’t have that big of a collection of elements, the girls usually don’t find what they’re looking for.

Yesterday I was heading from my gym to MEAT by foot and spotted this small place with jars on display in the window. I was curious so I got closer but I still couldn’t really tell what was inside the jars, so I walked into the shop to get a closer look. Turns out the shop was covered in these jars and inside each one were different kinds of Swarovski crystals. It was just a shop dedicated to selling Swarovski crystals.

So if you ever need any crystals to replace ones that have fallen off, you probably won’t find a place in Kuwait with a larger collection than this place. The shop is located behind Crystal Tower in Kuwait City [Google Maps] and their phone number is 22419172.