South Bund fabric market

I have visited multiple electronic malls in Asia where hawkers try to lure you in their tiny stores.   On Sunday I accompanied some colleagues to a similar mall hawking fabric creations instead of electronic gadgets.   On the recommendation of others we made our way to booth 226 where my waist,  hip,  thigh,  calf,  leg length and crotch were carefully measured.   The material chosen is from swatch books, the lighting makes it a little hard to discern color and patterns but I chose the basics grays and blues.  There were many details to decide on pocket size and angle, shirt collars and cuffs. The measurements in simplified Chinese along with the drawings and fabric will be sent off to a seamstresses who will fashion worsted wool dress pants that are 3/4 lined with a single pleat and coin pocket.  Two female colleagues pulled pictures up on their Iphones of dress suits they wanted.  Soon their wishes started to take form into a creation as it went from phone to paper with additional personal touches and measurements.   My cost per pant is 210RMB or $34US; 110RMB for a shirt.  I have read the quality will not be like Hong Kong or Taiwan but with little to lose I bought three pairs along with cotton dress shirts. Someone from the office will pick them up and they will be sent home with our procurement team who leaves on the 29th. 

Funny how I associate these kind of places with Flea Markets in the USA.   It has been more than 20years since going to such a place in America but I feel drawn to them in Asia.  In China the malls and stores sell either very expensive Western products or very cheap clothing. There are hundreds maybe thousands of western malls in Shanghai.   The electronics and fabric markets offer personal touches along with people who really want your business.   Time will only tell if my creations look good and withstand the test of time.