Swimsuit Shopping in Hong Kong

It's that dreaded time of year (for me)

when I go on the 

HUNT for a swimsuit. :{  

Usually the process goes like this:

-Visit 20 stores (at least)

-Sort through the racks of string bikinis

trying to find something with enough

fabric to justify the high price tag 

AND something I can actually feel 

comfortable wearing outside of the 

privacy of the bathroom.

-Try on the ONLY 3 swimsuits

that MIGHT work, to find there

was not as much coverage as

it looked like it would have when I saw

it on the hanger.

-Try not to cry when I leave the 

dressing room and the attendant says

"Didn't any of them fit?"

I can sum it up in three words -

IT'S A NIGHTMARE!!

OR

I HATE IT!!

It was discouraging to start this process

here in Hong Kong and find

only one of the local stores even 

carried swimsuits and my TINY daughter

couldn't even fit one leg into the body of the 

suit marked LARGE.  NOT GOOD!

So we talked to a friend,

Haleigh's Young Women's President,

and she suggested we try Stanley Market.

Oh JOY!!!

Joy for the selection of CUTE fabrics.

Joy for the MODESTY of the Chinese people

and the available styles.

Double JOY for the cute owner of the 

shop who actually got my size right

on the first try. (Haleigh's too!)

Here's the FUN part.

The shop was TINY (about 6' x 12')

and LOADED with suits.  We had to DIG 

to find the fabrics and styles we wanted.

HOWEVER, the owner somehow knew what we

were looking for and dove into the pile

of packaged suits and found exactly 

what we had in mind.

THIS is the dressing room.

(I am grateful they had one.)

It too was full of suits in bags.

There was about 6 inches of 

available space to stand in.

The hanging curtain not only

provided privacy from the store

but from the open door to the street below.

HILARIOUS!

We ended up purchasing 4 CUTE, modest, suits,

2 for me and 2 for Haleigh,

for $75 US.  NOT BAD!!

We also purchased some stylish sunglasses.

4 for $30 US - one of the pairs was Oakley.

Flat Stanley INSISTED on trying on the Oakley's.

He also found a card with his name

written in Chinese.

Nightmare turned into DREAM 

trip to Stanley Market.