You can hear the kind of hard bargain I drove for them in the podcast. One thing I didn't get a chance to explain is how the stalls work. They have short lengths (about 2 meters) of lots and lots of fabrics. If you want a short length, you just get what's there. If you want a longer length, they get on the phone and call someone who magically appears a few minutes later with it. How they manage to keep track of hundreds of varieties of fabric and where in the world they store the extras is one of life's mysteries.
The swiss dot with orange polka dots was my first purchase in the Mekong Delta town of My Tho. I had a translator with me as that was the work part. I didn't bargain though--at around $3/yd, I couldn't ask to go any lower.
The stretch silks I got at the Ben Thanh market in Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon). I bargained for Cidell's fabric and ended up paying around $5 yard. When the asking price at the next stall, where I got the rest of the silk, was only around $3.50 yard, I was no longer quite so proud about my bargaining skills. I just paid their asking price, because I thought it would be obscene to get it any cheaper.
There is more fabric than you can shake a stick at. Here's the fancy stuff:
Here I am in hog heaven. Check out the slightly dazed, slightly manic grin.
And here's the girl who sold me the fabric at non-tourist-fleecing prices (I think):
I haven't decided what all it will be yet, but I think the blue floral might be the Duchess of Windsor dress from the March BWOF. I made it in a knit (and still haven't reviewed it) for Vietnam, and loved it:
fabric photos from the trip and all the photos from the trip.
You can download the podcast here, or listen to it below.
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Cidell insists that I show you my Paris wardrobe. I leave in the morning so I don't have time to say anything about it. But a picture is worth a thousand words, right?
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1 comment:
I feel like a stalker or something because I read you blog and have never told you! Thanks for sharing your good ideas and trip information. I love it! (Now I need to go tell Cidell I read hers, too, so I can get over this "stalking complex" I've developed.) I first "met" y'all on PatternReview in case you're wondering.
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