Goods of Desire G.O.D. @ Central Clarke Quay

No money to fly to Hong Kong... (or Taiwan)

If anybody is going there, please buy for me 2 things from G.O.D. store and I'll pay you. Name your price first.

The 2 things I saw @ Central Clarke Quay should be cheaper in Hong Kong. Yes, I know haven't add airfare.  But if I can afford to fly there, I would already be buying from the store itself, isn't it? 

Searched online for sellers selling for cheaper, but seems the G.O.D. people have controlled the market very tightly.  Seems the only way to get the items I want is by buying from the store.  Or buy wholesale (which brings back:  If I can afford to buy in bulk, I can buy the 2 items from the store itself).

What I need is someone who can buy for me the 2 items and charge me a cheaper price than what the store is selling in SG.

To begin at the beginning...

I never heard of G.O.D. until a few days ago when dropping by to spy on Izumi salon upstairs of Central (see Monso review in the post before this).

After getting off at the bus-stop outside Central, I took the escalator at the side, thinking that it would be a more direct route to the 2nd floor than going into the mall. From there, I would go looking for Izumi.

After the escalator, the only way into the mall, is through a store which I know is new but didn't know anything about.

Upon entering, right away came upon an interesting X'mas tree with mahjong tiles-patterned rectangles hanging along lines across it. At first, I thought they were actual mahjong pieces, but seemed to be paper-made.

Very interesting, captivating ambience that made pause and look around.  Very... woody and... Vintage is not quite the word. Old-fashion is also not the word. How to describe it?  "Like another time" is close to that feeling, although also not quite right.  Something like Food Republic's ambience @ Vivocity.

At first, I was thinking it was just another vintage-style store selling nothing much except useless decorative things. But walking across to its other section, I was grabbed by the fashion there. Very nice. Very unique stuff.

Not many items, but very nice designs.  Very interesting Tees that made me think they were from Japan. On the other hand, there were Chinese words, making me think they are of our "Singapore things of the past" theme.  Their material feels soft and they look well-made/printed well.

Wanted to buy for my bro or myself (if he didn't like pink), the pink bowling T-shirt with the word "Fluke".  But didn't see a price.

Moving to the side, I saw these cool-looking jeans! I've never seen such designs before. Very unique. Although they look like men's designs/sizes, I was interested and looked for the price tag on one of them. Hmm...

Well, the price is Ok for such a pair of designer-style jeans.  That's when I started wondering who designed all these.

I went to a stand hanging with what looked to be men's jackets, and picked out a dark blue hoodie with old-fashioned Chinese knot buttons! Unique combination of vintage and modern cool. Loved it immediately.

Excellent material, excellent workmanship. I wondered if I could get it cheaper from Taiwan online. Checked the label to see the brand and where it was made in. The logo was hard to see. I only managed to get a multi-colored word "G" and the rest was indeciperable.  No "made in".  

Put on the S size over what I was wearing. 

Looked for a mirror. 

Mmm... ^_^  Excellent fit (although too long sleeves meant for men). I simply pushed up the sleeves and it was perfect. It reached my thighs, although it should reach a man's belt if a man were wearing it.  Price tag $139.  T.T Noooo.... I love it so much.

A young salesgirl came over to ask if she could be of service.  About 18 or 19, small-sized,  in a man's outfit of loose black pants and  loose black shirt with Chinese knot buttons, and if I remember... a black Chinese cap. Let me think if she had pigtails...  I think not.  Ahh... her outfit was so at odds with her youth and makeup. Such a young girl wearing such an ancient man's thing. (Somehow, it made me think she was wearing Master Q, Lau Foo Zi fashion).

I loved her service. Very nice girl.

I asked her who designed these and she said, "It's all from Hong Kong.".

She offered to check for XS, but I said no need (since I had no intention of buying and was going to walk away). Then again... I asked whether the sleeve length would be different between XS and S...

So, she went to a drawer to dig for the stock.  While she searched, I was thinking of perhaps asking her to set it aside first if there was XS (I'll come back another time to buy it. T.T, although don't know when. T.T).

On the other side, a rack by the wall hung women's clothes, but those were old-fashioned, Chinese-style older women look.

Turns out no XS. Well, expected, since, come to think, it's a man's design.

I asked how much was the pink bowling T. She said "$55".  T.T

I said, "Thanks" (for her digging for the XS) and proceeded to leave. T.T

Googling yesterday, found out the brand is called "Goods of Desire G.O.D.", Hong Kong.  Found out today, that the brand is actually not new, started some years ago. And only now in Singapore @ Central Clarke Quay since early July.  And quite a few people in SG have known about this brand and are happy it's now in SG. Seems I've come late on the scene. :(  In Chinese it's "住好啲" or  "住好 D".

I was in Hong Kong in 2008 and never saw the shop at Tsim Sha Tsui.  How could I have missed it? Damn. What a mess, the place.

The website that started this post = http://vimeo.com/44945563

Incidentally, I have always liked Samuel Hui's song  "半斤八両" from the old movie "The Private Eyes" (although I don't recall seeing the movie, although maybe I watched before).

The brand has an online shop that will ship stuff to "30 countries". Unfortunately,  it has only very, very few items compared to the actual store. Many of the Tees are not there, same for the hoodie that I want. Gimmick to make people buy from the stores.

Also, realized that... the designs are actually... Triad-inspired. ^_^;;  No wonder they had that familiar "vintage" feeling when I was in the store. ^_^ Just couldn't put my finger on it. Wasn't vintage, wasn't old-fashioned...  Triad.  http://www.butterboom.com/2007/12/31/god-arrested-in-hong-kong/

A song about damn broke people:   半斤八両 (Bun Gan Baht Leung - The Private Eyes) Opening Theme - Samuel Hui ( 許冠傑)