It is common for us to buy clothes when we go on a tour. Most of the times it is part of the souvenir collection but sometimes I also buy new clothes to augment my wardrobe. Our habit in buying clothes is to try it for size because we had the experience of buying Medium size clothes that turn out to be smaller than Medium (not really small though). And for the Large size, it is only the Medium size in our standard. Where before my size was only small, now I have a merry mix of sized in my wardrobe cabinet.
I have not been to many countries. I have only traveled to India and China. I traveled to India more and China less. When ever I am in these countries I make sure to buy a lot of clothes. Since clothes are cheaper in India and China, I buy clothes when I am visiting these countries.
In fact I can't stop myself when I see certain discount sales going on at very reasonable prices in certain countries like I remember my last visit to Australia. I was like wow when I visited Parramatta area and saw a number of weekend shopping areas selling clothes at almost throwaway prices. I bought number of casuals from there.
I always buy clothes when I travel. Doesn't care if it's just a simple shirt, I always buy something (in general, prices are always good too)... But I buy more for the interest in having something that represents where I've been. It's like a materialized memory (and for me this is very important).
There is always the thinking you'd get better quality clothes when you buy them abroad especially from the western world. This is one reason I like buying clothes abroad, sometimes I see that clothes are cheaper abroad and of better quality when compared to shopping locally. I find I cannot do this online as I really have to take time to test wear and be sure they fit before payment.
I am back in Australia and visited one of my favorite shopping place called Flemington basically a wholesale vegetable and farm produce selling point where people from different parts of the city come for weekly shopping but what I find more interesting are those temporary shops which sell everything needed in our household. Those things include from kitchenware to clothes and electric bulbs to garden tools, bikes. I bought couple of good clothes at almost throwaway prices there.
I only buy clothes from a foreign trip if it is a good deal. Otherwise I am usually on a budget while travelling so I buy minimum items. I do buy other stuffs while travelling but only things that I really need.
When I visited my family in New Zealand a few years ago, we went to Auckland to explore and tour and there are a lot of things to buy, especially clothes! So we went shopping and there are certainly nice bazaars and shops to go to and I had bought several clothes at a very convenient price. Some ranging from $3-$8 and shoes with the same price. Same with bags and skirts
Yes this part of the world certainly has that kind of shops in certain areas which attract visitors from a long distance with their catchy names like "One Dollar Store" or 5 or 10 according to quality and availability. The same shops sale with Dollar one signboard on Saturday and they change to "Everything $5" on Sunday depending on stock. People familiar with their tactics keep a close watch on them.
