Fashion Cents
by Iya P. Joson
If someone offers you a used pair of jeans at a dirt-cheap price, would you accept it?
The glass of iced tea you’re drinking now could’ve bought you an interesting tee. Your roundtrip cab fare from Ateneo to Eastwood may have given you a snazzy, printed dress instead. That money you spent on a box of pizza? It would have been a unique leather jacket resting ruggedly on your shoulders.
Which then is easier to stomach? Such is the apt question for anyone curious and willing enough to enter the fashionably sound, exhilaratingly cheap and unpredictable world of ukay-ukay.
A thrifty tale
“Ukay-ukay” is a Visayan term that translates to “sift through” or “dig up.” Anybody with ukay experience would say that this is the most repeated maneuver in ukay-ukay shopping. In ukay-ukay, customers are left to sort through endless racks of clothing and huge piles of interesting pieces, all waiting patiently to be found and worn by a new owner.
“I started doing ukay-ukay when I was in high school. I’m from Cebu, and the ukays there are a lot cheaper than the ukays in Manila. You can get really good pieces for only P5,” says Mitzi Ong. An ukay ukay fanatic, Mitzi admits to having ukay clothing comprise a good 90% of her wardrobe.
The clothes from ukay ukay come from bulk clothing deliveries from overseas, shipments that are left untaxed and without tariff, explaining why P500 is more than enough for an ukay spree. Says Mitzi, “I remember this one time when I bought 10 clothing pieces from the ukay in Cubao Expo. I added it all up, and it amounted to P300. For about a month, I had a different outfit everyday.”
Accessible bargain bliss
“There’s always an ukay-ukay around your neighborhood, I’m telling you,” says Paolo “Mamu” Arago, a Dollhouse member and a recent ukay convert. For Ateneans, he suggests Ukay Ukay beside Mini Stop along Katipunan Avenue and Raberly along Aurora Boulevard as ideal places to embark on exciting ukay adventures.
Raberly and Ukay Ukay, both of which are only one tricycle ride from the Ateneo, have tops that are priced as much as P150 during a new arrival season, but eventually decrease to P80 on a discount period.
Raberly is much bigger than Ukay Ukay, in terms of floor space and number of clothing racks, and this consequently offers customers with more choices. Raberly trumps Ukay Ukay in terms of jackets, jeans, tops, bags and shoe selection, but Ukay Ukay carries a better variety of dresses.
Despite steeper prices and less clothing options (especially for men), Ukay Ukay has a more organized layout than Raberly. Clothing racks are spaced out properly, giving customers more room, and the fitting rooms they encourage you to use are well lit.
Mitzi recounts the ukay places she started visiting in Manila after leaving Cebu, “I used to go to Anonas,” she says, “although I think one shop there closed already.”
One store closing in Anonas would not pose as a problem for ukay goers. Famous for its four-storey high ukay-ukay building, it is imperative that Anonas is part of every ukay shopper’s checklist. Only one train station away from Katipunan via the LRT, this immensely large ukay-ukay can be immediately spotted behind the local Mercury Drug as you go down the Anonas station.
To course through this ukay haven, one must always remember this savvy shopping tip: the higher up the building, the lower the prices go and the lower down the building, the better the quality gets.
The 4th and highest storey in Anonas carries the cheapest and most expensive prices in the entire ukay ukay. The cheapest pieces go for as low as P10 per item, while the designer racks, containing clothes tagged with Zara, Calvin Klein and Tommy Hilfiger brands go as high as P400 a piece.
The best selection of bags and shoes are found on the 1st floor. Hardly worn sneakers, rubber shoes and ballet flats, all in very condition, had prices ranging from P200 to P400. A beautiful, mustard yellow Anne Klein handbag with an original value of $150, was found priced only at P900.
The ukay low-down
It’s inevitable that ukay ukays will charge more, around an average of P100-150 per item, when new shipments arrive. Big, bright tarpaulins screaming the words “New Arrival” are plastered outside the ukay to entice customers in. But as weeks go by, the items left unsold get discounted at 20% to 50% to make room for upcoming deliveries.
This kind of shopping utopia, a discount on a bargain, drives customers ecstatic with dirt-cheap prices. Mamu says, “You really have to take note of when the new stuff arrives. As time passes, they become P100 per piece then P50 per piece, and then 3 for P100. I know this from experience!”
Timeliness then is an important factor in ukay shopping. Ate Jane, a saleslady at Raberly says in Filipino, “If you wait longer, the prices become cheaper. When there are new arrivals, they become expensive again.”
Ultimately, the decision to go on new arrival season or discount period is up to the consumer. If one is after quality, then it is best to go when the shipments are new, even if the prices are more expensive. But if you want the thrill of a bargain, the discount period is what you seek.
Mitzi is an example of the latter shopper, “What I do is wait for their end-of-season sale,” she says. “The ukay-ukay owners, they are aware that ukay is becoming trendy so they set their prices high,” she adds.
This, however, comes with a word of caution and advice: patience is needed when looking for interesting and wearable finds.
Deluding deals
Good eye for clothing and consumer scrutiny are necessary skills for the ukay shopper. A bargain, no matter how cheap, is useless if its eventual purpose is to take up space in your closet.
Aya Lemence, an ukay shopper who discovered the joy of thrift items through style blogs, says, “You should be critical when you look at the clothes. Look at their condition first, before you buy them.”
Before heading to the purchasing counter, check the piece for unnoticeable tears around the hem or holes along the sleeves. “I wouldn’t want to get a stained shirt or something,” says Mamu. Also take note of irremovable yellow stains, especially on white pieces.
Like how the perfect top you’ve been eyeing in Topshop costs an whopping P2,000, ukay ukay also comes with a catch. Interesting finds await you in ukay ukay, and chances are you will not find anyone else in SecWalk wearing a similar piece.
For you to discover the true bliss that is ukay shopping, you must be willing to get down and dirty. As a quote from author Gail Rubin Bereny goes, “Remember that the most important thing you can take anywhere is not a Gucci bag or French-cut jeans – it’s an open mind.”
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