wu fen pu

Wu Fen Pu, pronounced woo-fen-poo; and a greater mashing-together of clothes stores I have never seen. It was like American Eagle, Abercrombie & Fitch, Forever 21, Express, and a bit of Hot Topic got caught in a tornado, mixed up a bit, and then deposited in tight-quarters clothing stores in a three square mile labyrinth of alleys.

There was a roof overhead, so the area could be open during rainy days, too. Many of the shops had air conditioning and fans, and since it was all trapped under the roof and between tall apartment buildings, the area inside was very cool and pleasant, even during the heat of the day. (Today was very hot and bright, with almost no cloud cover, which is unusual for Taiwan.)

What a shopper needs to know about Wu Fen Pu is that the clothes are not necessarily going to be high-quality, although you can find good clothes at good prices, and it is very fashionable stuff; you see many people wearing these styles outside the district. The cheaper clothes (NT$100 or a bit more or less) will be in the center shops, not near the entrances. You can see in the last picture a sign saying "100," which means the items in that section or on that rack are going to be NT$100 a piece, which is about US$3. Some pieces will be 1 for NT$100/2 for $150, or 1 for $200/2 for $350--bargain prices, in other words. There aren't many shops (if any) with areas for trying on clothes, so you're often taking a gamble that the item will fit you and flatter you the way you want it to. However, if you're looking for cheap clothes for everyday wear or an easy way to keep up with fashion without paying big prices, it's a good place to go.

The thing about fashion in Taiwan is that outfits that would be considered over-the-top or fashion disasters in the west are merely "mild self-expression" or "well-dressed" here. Women will wear fancier shoes in more everyday situations than westerners would, and mixing patterns or layering odd things is just a matter of course. There's a bit more emphasis on added detail, like lace or frills or bows or patterns or beads or sequins or color or writing.

I didn't buy anything, although I did find a dress with a nerdy reference on it that made my day. If the style had worked for me, I'd have bought it in a heartbeat. :)