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Clothes shopping abroad
If dressing well and keeping up with fashion is important to you, clothes shopping abroad can leave you feeling frustrated and confused. Not knowing where to go shopping for clothes can involve you wasting lots of money on clothes that don’t suit you and don’t fit properly. Some people are often so put off with the experience that they give up and fashion just passes them by as they continue to wear the same togs year after year.
Building a Wardrobe in Spain
When I first moved to Spain, I really missed my UK high street stores and being able to pick up my size and go straight to the counter as I understood the “fit” in different shops. However, after nearly two years I think I have almost sussed Spain out fashion wise having feeling very lost at times. The Spanish tend more to buy a few good quality clothes to last. However, this doesn’t suit my style as I get bored so easily with the same clothes and love to wear new things all the time. Today, I am pleased to say that I have found a way around this without becoming too classic and conventional. I am back on track and am currently updating my wardrobe for both good quality basics and trendy items. Instead of pressurising myself to rush out and buy everything in one go, which always leads to disappointment I am working on it little by little. Although, there isn’t the vast selection of shops that we are used to and the Spanish still frequent specialist boutiquey types of shops, you can pick up some bargains if you know where to go.
Mix classics with cheap, trendy pieces
The trick for me is to spend a bit more on classic items that I will wear for two or three seasons e.g. black trousers and go to the young, cheap and cheerful fashion shops for trendier items.
Shopping with Granny
Compared with the Northern Europeans, the Spanish like other Latins are smart and conventional dressers. Young people wear “young fashion” and as they become older people become increasingly smarter. Unlike in the UK stores such as New Look and Dorothy Perkins cross the age range so granny and granddaughter can find something to both their tastes in the same shop, Spanish shoppers stick to the shops strictly allocated for their age range. Zara is an exception with its three different ranges Trafaluc for teens, Zara Basic for twenties and thirties and Zara Woman which is aimed at exactly that, the 'woman'.
Shopping is a hobby
Clothes shopping has become a hobby for British women as entire weekends are spent determinedly power walking around shopping centres. However, despite the addiction to buying new clothes many women still look very ungroomed when out and about. It is true that in Spain, people don’t seem to be slavish to fashion and buy more quality to last.
Keeping up with the trends
I personally love to keep up with the trends and I believe that when a woman is bored with fashion, she’s bored with life. I really enjoy the experimental element of dressing that I think metropolitan Brits do best. We are not ashamed to pick something up in a charity shop whereas our European counterparts would cringe at the thought of wearing a stranger’s clothes. I suppose we laid conventional dressing ideas to rest in the sixties when people began to express their ideology through their clothes. I do feel that in Spain, there remains a strong element of being judged on your appearance and there are accepted conventions of appropriateness based on age etc.
The turnover of fashion trends in the UK is enough to make you dizzy if you are trying to keep up. In Spain although the trends come onto the high street, they are slower to make their way in. For example, the stripes that have now been exhausted in the UK are still new on the scene in Spain. The Ugg boots which were huge in the UK three winters ago have only just started to gain mass popularity last winter in Spain. It seems that the Spanish are more careful when adopting new trends whereas the Brits are more willing to try them out often regardless if it suits their shape or not. For example, the skinny jeans have been embraced by the British woman skinnies and curvies alike, whereas the curvier Spanish woman can still be seen in her safer, more forgiving bootcuts.
I do find that the Spanish love the “English” style. When I say style, I am referring to the country tweedy look that you don’t see English people wearing in the shopping centres. Likewise, on a Sunday you often see little girls wearing the type of smock dresses and huge ribbons in their hair that I might have worn as a child in the seventies and eighties.
If you live on the Costa del Sol, although it is tempting to go to La Cañada and buy in shops such as Dorothy Perkins and Top Shop try to avoid this. I would advise against the UK high street stores with the exception of H&M for a number of reasons. The clothes will be more expensive than they would be in the UK and you could in theory get two similar quality tops in Zara in Spain for the price of one in Top Shop. The fabrics used in British clothes are to be worn in the UK climate. Spanish clothes are made from much lighter fabrics and you could find yourself sweating in your Top Shop t-shirts in the height of summer. Also, if you buy from Spanish shops, when you go back to the UK your clothes will be a bit different from everybody else.
Having said that, if you are bigger than a size 16 unfortunately in Spain the shops haven’t quite grasped the concept that fashion is not the reserve of the anorexics. Fortunately, there is Evans in La Cañada which is very good with keeping up with the trends. Also El Corte Ingles department store is good for classics in the size 16 plus range. You could always shop in the cheaper shops such as Stradavarius and Bershka for funky, trendy accessories.
Use this conversion chart as a guide but by no means follow it religiously:
Conversion Chart
UK Spain
6 - 34
8 - 36
10 - 38
12 - 40
14 - 42
16 - 44
The clothes in the high street stores vary tremendously in size and you may find that you need to try on the next size up or down from your UK size. At the very average height of 5”4 I often find that trousers legs are very long. This isn’t because the Spanish women are tall, they are generally quite petite. The trousers are long enough for the tallest shoppers and everybody else has them altered. Many shops offer such as Zara and Mango an altering service for a few euros.
Do not expect to do all your clothes shopping for one season in one shopping trip. Do it gradually over time.
Looking for bargains
If you are a fan of sales and you resent paying the full price for clothes only to find that they are reduced a couple of weeks later than you won’t be disappointed in Spain. The truth is there are just two sale seasons per year the January sales which unlike in the UK start in January and the summer sales which, you’ve guessed, begin at the end of August. The discounts aren’t at all generous and it is unusual for anything to be reduced by 50% until the very end and this would only be because nobody wants it or it is an uncommon size. My advice to anybody shopping in Spain would be if you see something you like buy it as the sales aren’t really worth holding out for.
To Market, to Market….
Do not expect top quality fashion in the market but what you can expect is lovely colourful kaftans (a great cover up around the pool or on the beach), jewellery, handbags and pretty sandals. It is a false economy to assume that the market is always cheaper than shops. However, you can pick up some unusual and interesting trinkets. If you are in the Costa del Sol, try the following:
Keeping up with the trends without being mutton dressed as lamb
It is true that some of the latest fashions on the high street are strictly for the very young and very thin. However, just because you aren’t 18 and a size 6 it doesn’t mean that you can’t keep in touch with the latest trends. My advice would be to mix classics with trendier pieces and to mix the latest accessories with your capsule wardrobe. For example a simple pair of well cut linen trousers can be brought up to date with a pair of pumps and a polka dot shirt. You can update your wardrobe instantly for the spring with some fresh new longline t-shirts and colourful beads.
If you are into the latest trends and fancy a taster of what is on offer on the Spanish high street check out the following:
http://www.e-stradivarius.com/
http://www.zara.com/v06/index.html
http://www.mango.com/paises.htm
http://www.bershka.com/v06/index.html
If you are into quality classics and more grown up fashion have a look at:
http://www.massimodutti.com/v06/index.php
http://www.adolfo-dominguez.com/default.asp?idioma_act=1
http://www.benetton.com/html/index.shtml
Buying Underwear in Spain
This is generally something that you don’t think about until you look into your drawer one morning and find it stuffed with grey, stretched, useless old rags. So where do you start without good old reliable Marks and Spencer’s on your local high street. You could hold out until your next trip to the UK but what will you do in the meantime. Well, if you are based on the Costa del Sol you can always take a trip into Gibraltar where you will find a few familiar stores such as Marks and Spencer’s, BHS and Next. But be warned: do not expect the same level of customer attention that we have come to expect in the UK. Alternatively, if it really is familiarity that you are after and you live at the wrong end of the Costa del Sol, try Dunnes Store in Fuengirola.
For smaller busted women you can have a lot more fun as you are more catered for than the heaving bosoms. Both Women’s Secret www.womensecret.com and Oysho www.oysho.com have an enormous selection of “ropa interior” (underwear), complete with coordinating quirky accessories. Likewise, Zara stores will also have a selection of underwear but beware of itsy, bitsy sizes. Don’t forget H&M stores underwear section and I have even seen some Etam underwear stores popping up in some shopping centres.
If you are bustier and need something a bit more substantial than head for the main department store El Corte Ingles. Alternatively, you could try the back street, specialist underwear shops if you are looking for a more personal service.
If it’s just some basic knickers that you are after than you can also pick them up with your weekly shop in Carrefour or Eroski. Larger stores will also have a more extensive range but be prepared to try on a few bras before you find you fit as the sizing system is different. I also noticed that Carrefour stock disposable knickers which are great for travelling. Avoid buying market underwear at all costs as it will fall apart and you won’t find the correct size particularly for bras.
Socks and Tights
Calzedonia is the high street Mecca for socks and tights. Alternatively, there is the sock department in El Corte Ingles. Again, if you live on the Costa del Sol you can always stock up in Dunnes store or head for Marks and Spencer’s in Gibraltar.
Buying Toiletries in Spain
Two of my biggest sacrifices for moving to Spain were Boots and Superdrug. This I will never get over as there is no equivalent and Spain just doesn’t know what they are missing. So what can a bubble bath junkie do for a fix in Spain? Not a lot really. Most big shopping centres will have a Body Shop or Yves Rocher, which stock slightly interesting bath products but nothing like the choice that we are used to. Having said that,the problem with the unlimited choice in the UK as that you are left with lots of half empty bottles in your bathroom as you try to work you way through all the ranges. Department stores stock the higher end of the market designer beauty products. For standard shower gels, which incidentally come in gigantic everlasting sized bottles and are cheaper than in the UK then go to the supermarket. Depending on their size, the supermarkets also stock budget make up ranges such as Rimmel and L’oreal. If you are looking for something to treat a particular skin complaint than you will need to go to a “farmacia” (chemist) where you will be advised as to what you need.
Buying shoes in Spain
Shoes in Spain are beautiful and there is so much variety ranging from the most simple soft leather pumps to the most glitzy sequinned sandals. There is something to suit every type of dresser with quirky, funky designs and more conventional shapes. They tend to be narrower 
so you may find yourself going up a size to fit, especially since feet swell in the heat. As well as shoe shop chains such as Fosco there are individual shoe shops which all stock different styles. If you are a real shoe junkie it is also worth looking around the markets too for bargain shoes. One word of caution is to be careful what you take back to where in the UK. Although, your gold sparkly numbers may not look pout of place strutting around the streets of Banus, you may get a few stares walking down your high street back home. The ideal is to have a Spanish shoe wardrobe and a British one. Don’t forget Mango and Zara do gorgeous shoes ranging from conventional office shoes to sparkly pumps.
Check out the following shoe shops:
Fosco
Accessories:
Spain is land of the accessories and where British women have always been very shy of them, Spanish women like the French embrace floaty scarves and dangly earrings. In fact accessories play a key role in getting dressed. All towns have cute little accessories shops stuffed with all kinds of adornments. They are usually sectioned off into colours and are a great place to buy gifts for women as they usually wrap them up for you into sweet little packages. Presentation is taken seriously in such shops and they are delightful to browse around for trinkets. The UK chain Accessorize also have branches in Spain including in La Cañada shopping centre in Marbella.
Bags
You can pick up funky unusual bags at the market as well as designer copies. The latest in bag fashion can be found on the high street such as Zara which does lovely smart bags and Mango which does some more quirky styles. There are also one off boutiques which specialise in just bags and sometimes shoes. There is a lot of choice and they tend to be more colourful that the choice in the UK.
Great Shopping Haunts worth Checking Out
La Cañada Shopping Centre, Marbella
Miramar, Fuengirola
Malaga
The do’s and don’ts of fashion in Spain:
Do not wear your best dress and heels to fly in, not only will you look inappropriate but you will be very uncomfortable.
Do not wear a bikini top walking around the streets. It is not appropriate. You wouldn’t do it in the UK so don’t do it here.
Do not flash too much flesh. It does get very hot but wearing next to nothing will not bring your temperature down!
Shop in shops like Zara and Mango in the UK for holiday clothes as they are Spanish chains and the fabrics tend to be lighter and cooler than other high street stores such as Next.
Do not wear stringy vest tops or bandeaus unless you have very slender arms.
Do not wear mini skirts and itsy bitsy tops. It looks trashy and is unnecessary. If you are going to wear a mini skirt balance the leg exposure with a very plain crew neck t-shirt, a polo shirt or a long line t-shirt.
Do not squeeze into sizes that are too small as you will look fatter and draw attention to your body’s weak spots. If you are a size 14 and want to be an 8 but aren’t prepared to diet, accept it and dress accordingly. I am not saying dress like a frump but there is so much choice in fashion that there is something for everyone.
Also bear in mind that everyone puts on weight on holiday and we tend to swell in the heat so make allowances for sizes when shopping.
If you have an enormous bust don’t think that you can hide it with a baggy t-shirt as you will look like you are wearing a tent. Wear a good fitting bra and a simple fitted v-neck t shirt that doesn’t expose your middle.
Save evening wear for the evening
Do not bring out the wardrobe that you have been dragging out for the past five summers. It is tired and dated and that’s exactly how you’ll feel wearing it.
To avoid paying excess, experiment with your outfits by mixing and matching before you pack.
Avoid Lycra, nylon and polyester and buy clothes in natural fabrics such as cotton to keep cool.
If you are having a winter holiday do not bring the wardrobe that you would use for the height of summer. You may find yourself very cold and possibly wet. People tend to think that just because they are going to Spain they need to pack just their summer wear but if you look around yourself during the winter months, you will notice that most people are wearing jackets. Although, you will feel warmer coming from the UK, you will still need to bring some light winter clothes as it is chilly in the morning and cold at night.
If you do get sunburn, which you should avoid at all costs be careful not to wear colours which accentuate your red glow.
Bring clothes that do not crease easily as you do not want to spend your holiday ironing.