Fleas & Things on the street market shopping!

This was another wayward post. Several years ago started but the bones of it still hold truth when you are going to a flea and doing street market shopping in any country.

A while ago I went to the Short North Reduction Sale. It was packed!  Never had I gone to a reduction sale where there were so many people before.  I usually go later and get some good pickings but this year I wanted to be early to make sure I had first dibs.  Oh, so not the case this year.  It was heavily advertised in ways that it wasn't in the past and I felt the space was much smaller.

After going through that and then to my Friends Flea Swap at the Gangway it got me thinking about some not so common sense tips when going to these sorts of events.
1. Do not expect there to be a dressing room
2. Don't bring a super bulky bag (if you even bring a full purse at all)
3. Be prepared to be elbowed and disregard this as rudeness (it is a battlefield of discounts essentially)
4. Bring lot's of Cash most vendors even though they have credit card machines in their stores they rarely bring them out to these events or the wifi will be spotty.
5. Be prepared to wait in a line
6. Come early at least an hour before the actual opening if you want the best picks.
7. Dress Prepared!

This last part is what I want to cover mostly.  When I say dress prepared I mean dress as if you need to try things on and won't have a fitting room available because most likely you won't.

 My staples for dressing for a flea or sale like this are

1. Leggings, bike shorts or boy shorts
2. Tank top (or sports bra)
3. Baggy sweatshirt to go over (can also be used to put on the ground if you don't want your feet on the direct floor)
4. Skirt (if I feel I need to have something besides the leggings/tights)
5. Flats to wear but heels in the purse (to try on things for height).

 Another trick to use if there isn't a fitting room and you don't want to try something on there at least for pants and skirts is the neck trick.  The neck trick is where you take the garment and wrap the waist band around your neck.  If the two side seams don't touch them it is too small or if it goes way past each other when they meet then it will be too big.  You do not want to make it choking tight or else you are just cheating yourself.  Keep it as loose around your neck as you would like to be on your real waist.  I know that seems like witch craft but it is a tried and true method. Just remember this is to match your waist so of course if they are high rise or vice versa and hip hugger pants think about that accordingly.

When I go to the street markets in Korea often times there are never dressing rooms and they would hand you a big elasticized skirt that you could either put on top and hang on your neck or just over my waist to try clothes on with out being indecent. Sometimes they would let you behind their booth to change but most times they would take you just to the end of the aisle with the "to-go" dressing room. It's not for everyone but for some people the discomfort is worth the discounts or they just like a little adventure and non-uniformity.

Best of luck to you if you take the dive to hit up a flea or street market and remember it's not personal if you get shoved a little (especially in Korea from older women, that's pretty normal).