Spring Break
Well,
I’m just back from a short spring vacation: 10 days in Malaysia and 10 days in
the South Pacific. A long way to travel
for a short time. I will share textile
adventures with you as soon as I Photoshop some pictures. This vacation I didn’t concentrate on buying
vintage textiles as I have a very large collection of vintage batiks, ikats and
songhets from trips to Indonesia.
Instead I hit the markets for clothing for me and for gifts. Nothing can beat the selection (and prices)
of markets. In Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
the Central Market was the place to bargain and was conveniently located a 20
minute ride on the city “hop on” free bus from our hotel. Although I had vowed to purchase only for
others, I couldn’t resist purchasing a “few essentials” for myself. Also visited were KL’s Chinatown markets and
the various markets of Penang (an island off the coast which we also
visited). My only restraint was the thought
of the over-weight baggage fees for the return flights. For caftans, scarves, tee-shirts and batik
fabrics the markets could not have been better. However, for shoes, that is another matter.
If
you have followed this blog you know I really, really love shoes. The selection of gorgeous, reasonably
priced, footwear is astounding in Malaysia.
So a trip to the large city malls was in order. Store after store of shoes, sandals,
flip-flops, boots of every description.
And talk about bling!! Crystals
and rhinestones are the usual embellishments in Asia, but this was simply over
the top. It was as if a thousand
workers manned with those “bedazzler” tools went berserk and decorated every surface of silk blouses, scarves,
tee-shirts and, wait for it, shoes.
Displays of jeweled shoes sent light beams across the stores. Encrusted flip flops called my name. Unfortunately I am not expecting an
invitation to a royal wedding and here in Santa Fe they might be considered
over the top. Therefore I begrudgingly
settled for a pair of coral and tan leather loafers and one pair of lovely
sea-foam green suede flip flops with suede flowers.
The
great misfortune of this trip was missing the Malaysia International Shoe
Festival. I cannot even begin to
imagine what wonders one might have encountered. But rescheduling our home reservations seemed excessive (besides,
I was outvoted).