Thai Clothing Brands

I really love checking out locally made clothes in the places I visit. Bangkok, Thailand is definitely a fashion hotspot. Just walking through the busy streets and taking the MRT provides you with an unexpected fashion show. The locals look so fashionable, from their hair, to the accessories, their clothes and shoes. And you can tell what's this season's trend: every other girl is wearing a short tent or bubble dress which I used to think looked baggy and shapeless but this trip changed my mind.

Its a chicken and egg situation. Did the funky fashions come from the cool local stores which available at most Thai malls? Or are the avant-garde, high-quality local designers a response to the Thai youth's innate fashion sense?

Whatever the case may be, no self-respecting woman should skip a trip to Siam Central, Siam Square and Siam Discovery which are shopping havens right next to each other and conveniently located at the MRT/BTS train interchange. Check out the following stores:

• Jaspal - a mini-Zara with a men's section, ladies section which wasn't particularly impressive to me unless you're a "basic" dresser, but I was so bowled over by the shoes that I immediatly snapped up a pair. This month Jaspal has a 70% off sale! Maybe the new collections will be much better, I may have caught the dregs of last season when it came to clothing.
• Greyhound - I positively fainted from wanting to buy something from sleek clothing label Greyhound, but it could possibly be also from the price tag. They have avant-garde but classy tops, pants, jackets and dresses, as well as a casual clothing line called Playhound. A friend of mine told me that Greyhound has already made its London Fashion week debut although I wish they'd make an online debut because I cant seem to find a website.
• Jim Thompson - He's the entrepreneur who made Thai silk globally famous, then disappeared while trekking in the Cameron Highlands of Malaysia. His legacy is top quality (slightly premium priced) Thai silk goods like scarves, pashminas, bags, dresses, wallets, ties. The designs are classic and delicate, I bought framed notecards of his famous prints just so I could take some Jim Thompson home.

I also zipped through the Greenhills-like Siam Square and saw a lot of moderately priced clothes, bags and shoes but its more of a "trendy" than a quality buy in this area. But the real "trend" and low-cost shopping mecca is the Chatuchak Weekend Market which I set myself to visit another day.