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Ukay-Ukay: a shopping paradise for bargain hunters |
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My four months trip to Philippines gave me a striking glimpse of how people in my country keep up with the sky rocketing prices of goods vis a vis their modest salaries. Eating in turo-turo (literally means to point with your finger) or small food stalls where you could eat a cup of rice with any dish of your choice for like .50 cents (30 pesos) is a normal scenerio for a filipino economising his budget. But what shocked me this time was the presence of undisregardable number of ukay-ukay or second hand (oops vintage) clothes stores of clothes piled up like moutains. Ukay-ukay in fact, is a Visayan (dialect) for "sift through " or "dig up". Up north the term is "wag-wag" to dust off, because you literally find the best bargains by digging them out of a pile and dusting them off from mountains of second hand clothes.
Its history travels way back in the late 70's when Ukay ukay was referred to garments shipped to the Philippines as donations from some charitable group to help refugees and calamity victims. But soon enough, with growing number of overseas filipino workers who learned to collect used clothing preferably designers labels and send them to Philippines. Entrepreneurial friends and relatives would buy them in bulk and sell by the piece to the public. But right now most of these clothes in ukay ukay come from over runs and surplus of garment factories. Ukay ukay are normally found in the center where there is a heavy traffic of people. Prices of goods can range from 20 to 60 pesos for blouses and dresses, pants and jeans from 100 to 250 pesos and leather shoes and bags for 100 to 200 pesos. And the best part of it, you can even haggle to lower the price. These are basically a sanctuaries for people who want some change from the mass produced clothes sold at big malls or if you just simply want to create your own fashion style. So for fashion afficionados of limited budget its the best place on earth.
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