İstanpologie

Kozzy Mall

My favorite store

I love shopping in Istanbul! Especially, when I am out with my best friend Canan, and especially, if I pretend to be her personal shopper all day.  Istanbul is already a fashion center with rows and rows and rows of fancy clothing stores, shoe sales, outlets, vintage stores and boutiques in busy shopping malls arranged like sparkly beads on a string. Despite the number of local brands and the overwhelming sale signs, prices are a bit too expensive... Nevertheless, “7 taksitte ödeme” or payment in 7 installments with no interest rate, is enough reason for Turkish women to hurry the streets hauling Italian designer bags held in both hands.

The best part of shopping in İstanbul is that the stores do not close until almost midnight. So most people shop as a whole family, but men usually end up sitting outside with phones in one hand and a cigarette in the other, and children left to "day"care centers planted inside the malls. 

Custom-fitted trench coat

 It is always fun to sit down at a street café and watch the latest trends among women of all types: covered, pregnant, fat, curly, old… This year, covered women arrange their head-wraps like the Afghans, and compared to previous years' Saudi style, this is a huge progress in my opinion. Turkish women –covered or half-naked- are also always well-groomed. Even in their worst, their nails are done, eyebrows waxed, cheeks blushed and hair either dyed or blow-dried.  Always tailor-fitted, their outfits are never too small, nor too big nor too tight. So, it’s not surprising to see women lined up in front of mirrors with their hemlines getting pinned and pants and trench coats fixed to their sizes. All for free. Returned within the same day.

Oh mine…I love, love, love shopping in İstanbul!