Myeong-dong, Seoul

by Angela

Myeong-dong is one of Seoul’s main shopping districts and I just found out about it!  I went to Seoul yesterday for a dental appointment that went a lot quicker than planned.  Since it was still early, I decided to find the Forever 21 and H&M stores that I’ve heard were in Seoul.  Little did I know that the stores were in an amazing shopping district!

First and foremost, how to get to this shopping paradise:  The area is in between the Myeong-dong station on the light blue subway line #4 and the Euljiro 1 station on the green subway line # 2.  The Myeong-dong station is a little closer more stores.   Take the light blue subway line #4 to the Myeong-dong station.  Go out of the station at exit 6.  At the top of the stairs, the main shopping street is immediately to your left.  Forever 21 and H&M are both on this main street, just keep walking until you see them.

There are tons of stores here as well as a couple department stores, the Migliore Shopping Mall, and an underground shopping area.  There were many stores that I recognized as chain stores from different countries, there were also some Korean chain stores, and there were a lot of smaller boutiques and shops.  The streets and alleys were lined with individual vendors selling all sorts of things.

Forever 21 is an American originated chain store.  This one was HUGE – 4 floors of shopping!

H&M is a Swedish originated chain store.  This one also had 4 floors of shopping.

Just down the street and a left turn from the H&M pictured above, there is another H&M!

I actually bought a dress and a t-shirt from some shops in the Myeong-dong subway station before getting to the actual shopping district on the street above!  Many things bought from small vendors here have simple “made in Korea” tags and no sizes.  There is only one size in a lot of Korean clothing and if you ask the vendor what size is it, they say “your size!”  Problem is, you’re rarely allowed to try anything on from these vendors so you have to take a chance as to whether it will fit properly or not.

In the shopping district, I bought a few tops and a couple sundresses from H&M and Forever 21.  This was the most that I have bought while shopping since I’ve been in Korea!

I passed a street vendor selling dog clothes and had to buy this embroidered Adidas jersey tank for Dulce.  She’ll be wearing it for the next 5K race we run in!  In the states, she wears a size medium in dog clothes but here in Korea, she wears an x-large.  The average Korean pet dog is very small so Dulce, in comparison, is a giant 🙂

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“I always say shopping is cheaper than a psychiatrist.”
~Tammy Faye Bakker