Sales!

Rebajas! Twice a year the Spanish calendar marks the start of a month or so of sales, January-Feb, and July-August. I was lucky enough to arrive in Spain with rebajas in August, which was very helpful when my luggage was lost and I was left with only the sad clothes on my back...which when traveling trans-atlantic tend to be more comfortable than fashionable making me feel quite out of place in the land of Zara where most women would never be caught dead in tennis shoes outside of the gym (where I believe very few are found...although don't quote me on that I haven't been to a gym since being here either, but have plans to get to one soon...maybe). In any case, this round of rebajas I hit the stores up on the first days to try to feel like a part of the crowd, an important part of Spanish society, and becuase the news was claiming rebajas were supposed to be the best in years due to the financial crisis with up to 70% off at some stores. So far I haven't bought much, the crisis is hitting me pretty hard as well, so, since I won't be buying, I'll imagine.

Besides Zara and company (Berska, Massimo Dutti, Pull and Bear, Strativarious, Oysho), which are owned by a very rich Gallego, Amancio Ortega, and seen on all the women in Galicia (I reached the moment of being sick of Zara when suddenly walking down the street or watching TV I could named where the clothing people were wearing was bought. I'm now over that phase and back to loving Zara since I can afford it, usually.), the next most recognizable Spanish label in the stores and on the streets is Desigual. Desigual means unequal, and like Camper shoes, is based on the idea of creating unique items that set the individual apart from the crowd. When someone is wearing desigual its obvious too, bright crazy patterns, and usually there is someway that the clothing is uneven, a zipper is off to the side, the skirt is asymetriccal the buttons don't match...I don't think I'm quite ready to pull off the look yet or the price tag, but most of my friends here have at least one item from Desigual, and as crazy as the clothes may seem the always tend to look quite nice in them. Check out their newest collection here.