Globe Trotting and Style Spotting: Partners in Style

Believe it or not, there is one thing that we adore more than shopping—traveling. Forget shopping local, our favorite pastime is shopping in far-flung destinations. From the streets of Hong Kong, to the restaurants of Lisbon, we’ve set our fashionable feet on many a-stylish city. As we land in Europe and take-off from Asia, we scour for the hot spots to shop. One lazy Sunday as we sun-bathed in Golden Gate Park, we reminisced about some of our fave international shopping destinations.

Lena: Tokyo is a city of dichotomies when it comes to style (and just about everything). From trendsetters in Harajuku dressed for New York fashion week, to cutesy girls in ironically adolescent fluffy pink dresses, goth punks, hip hop divas, and stern business men in classy suits—it’s by far one of my favorite cities to shop. (Sadly my fat booty can hardly fit into a pair of pants, let alone a pant leg … or god forbid … a pair of shoes.) Oh the shoes—so many beautiful shoes too tiny for my Sasquatch feet.

Shyla: First of all, you have a phat booty, not a fat one. Second of all, you were not able to buy shoes? I can’t think of worse torture. Thirdly, I so regret not hauling my phat-ass into your suitcase.

Lena: So many sweet mochi-filled memories … Tokyo is hard to navigate but once you get to know the mammoth city and do some exploring, you’ll find quaint neighborhoods and hip streets. The most famous place to shop is the streets of Shibuya—think, Times Square on crack and then times that by ten.

Shibuya, photo courtesy of dadou (cc)

Shimokitazawa is a small neighborhood just a hop, skip, and a jump away (if trains could hop, skip, and jump) from Shinjuku station, a hub of all transportation in Tokyo. Here, winding boulevards are crowded with small boutiques, thrift stores, trendy cafes, and plenty of young hipsters smoking cigarettes and perusing the shops for tapered jeans and vintage tees.

Shimokitazawa, photo courtesy of xiaming (cc)

Shyla: I would be freaked to dive into shopping in a city the stature of Tokyo. I have heard crazy things about its size and uber hip youngsters. I’d probably just hide in some clandestine café and stuff my face with tempura and sake. There must be mountains of amazing secret riches. Isn’t everything there outrageously expensive?

Lena: After living in San Francisco, Tokyo seems like a cheapskate’s paradise. Okay, that’s a lie, but I when I lived there, I made next-to-nothing and still shopped my kimono off. (No surprise here.) You can find some great bargains in Tokyo, just stay away from the high priced department stores in Shinjuku and Shibuya. You can stretch your yen at unique, smaller boutiques, and the vintage style in Tokyo would make Marc Jacobs proud.

Tokyo is crazy ... crazy and inspiring. Especially when it comes to style—everyone lets their freak flags fly and no one judges because they all look outrageous and incredible. I love it. I miss it like I’d miss my soul mate. Is it possible for a city to be your soul mate?