Myeongdong Shopping Guide (Part 1)

Myeongdong is located at the heart of Seoul and considered as THE shopping paradise in this city of shopaholics and sea of clothes. Myeongdong is great because here every brand, big or small, gathers on a relatively small area, enough to satisfies all kinds of customers' needs.

Hence I would like to create a little legacy of 4 years spent shopping here by creating a virtual map of Myeongdong with the best shops at the best prices (Please refer to this post for a detailed map of all the shops mentioned!)

To begin with, Myeongdong has all the high-street brands like Zara, H&M, Forever21, Giordano, you name them. These shops are located all over the place, and pretty easy to find. Just stick to the main street you're gonna find all of them.

Plenty of them are the Korean brands, especially the cosmetic ones. There are at least two of each: Tony Moly, Missha, The Face Shop, Nature Republic, The Saem, Etude House... Also there are popular Korean clothing brands like Basic House and Codes Combine. 

Now the interesting part is to explore the non-brand shops where you can find made-in-korea clothes at much cheaper prices and huger variety. Here are some of my favorites:

This is A-land, a rather expensive shop (somewhere from $40 - $200) comparing to the average price, but they offer a wild range of products, some very unique too Plus there's a flea market on the 3rd floor (stuffs from $10 to $40), and sure one can find some vintage for oneself to entertain.

Some shots inside the flea market on the 3rd floor

Also an official retailer of TOMS shoes in Korea, but they have really limited choices.

Another interesting shop is one named Supermarket, the only place where I spot imitated brand clothes and bags. They focus more on shoes and bags than clothes. Bags range from $50 to $70, shoes from $40-50$, and clothes are $30-$50/piece.

That Celine-like tote at the corner is $70 for your information. 

Meanwhile on the street, you can purchase leather bags/totes/purses with $10 or less. There is a stack of cheap leather shops across from SPAO.

<Read Part 2 here>

<For an actual map of the area, read this post>