June 5th marks the annual world environment day. its going to be same old story whereby people will advise you how to save water, electricity, paper, blah blah blah.
but recyclofashion has taken this to a whole new perspective.
we want you to spend, but spend wisely. and we are going to teach you how to spend only $100 malaysian ringgit in Johor Bahru (JB) without any regrets. at recyclofashion, we promote local design and buying from thrift stores. this not only reduces carbon footprint but also proves to be a very enriching experience for those searching for treasures.
started out as an impromptu trip to JB, we (shiying and harng) decided to go with a budget (we also sometimes have the tendency to overbuy… not an environmentally friendly habit) and see how far we can travel. we started the day at 12 noon and wanton mee with ice milo near the checkpoint was our first meal. right after lunch, we took a taxi to Jalan Dohby which is a stone’s throw away from the central, where vintage stores in shophouses thrive. we chanced upon this eclectic restaurant casually decorated with an array of found vintage furniture and decided to sit down and have a soft drink.
roost juice bar and restaurant
rubik’s bricks
gorgeous tables made with plastic rulers
the girl next door store, which was really next door to roost.
chandelier made with glasses. very Stuart Haygarh-esque
after some window shopping, we left the place, empty handed because while the clothes were reasonably priced and extremely tempting to buy, our budget allowed us to only purchase 1 piece. we headed over to EXPIRED, another vintage store which also doubles as a salon (just like the girl next door). unfortunately, the store was not open. we walked around and found another thrift store instead.
the thrift store is located at the 2nd level of De’ Stulang
plaid pants for 10 RM
paisley shirt 10 RM, 70’s pants 5 RM
mambo men’s shirt 15 RM
florida’s underwater creatures tee 9 RM
cropped floral pants 6 RM
we wanted to walk back to central to save some cash and to explore the place further but had to take a taxi because there was an expressway. we dropped off across city square for a splendid dinner.
awesome food complete with teh o peng and teh halia
dinner is located at Plaza Seni (just beside City Square Mall), the 70’s pants was also bought here.
- Shiying’s thrifted buys: 30 RM
- Harng’s thrifted buys: 25 RM
- Meals: 14 RM (lunch) + 9 RM (dinner) + 7.8o RM (roost) = 30.80 RM
- Transportation: 3.8o RM + 5 RM + 5 RM = 13.80 RM
- TOTAL EXPENDITURE: 99.6 RM
here are some of the tips to help you make that eco and budgeted trip to JB:
– avoid driving into JB, instead take a public transport. it may be a little packed but it’s all worth it.
– bring along a 500 ml water bottle so that you can spend less on drinks and also avoid buying bottled drinks. but that doesn’t mean you will have ill treat yourself by not getting yourself that icy chendol from the roadside stall.
– bring along a tote bag large enough to contain all your buys and say no to plastic bags.
– wear comfortable shoes. a pair of jimmy choo is definitely not recommend.
– bring along a good company (so there’s someone to share your cab fare with)
That’s about it! hope you had a good world environment day and hope these tips help!
Hi, Im interested in heading down to jb too for some thrift shopping. The above sounds like an excellent place with array of shops to head down. But any ideas where else I could go for some genuine-secondhand clothes shopping to dig up some intriguing finds?
xx
oh hello there!
the above places are some of the shops that we personally find that has some really good vintage buys.
of course there will be some other random shops around the area that serves up an amazing piece of clothing but for the overall variety and shopping experience we would suggest the 4 places as mentioned.
if you are adventurous enough, you can explore the shophouses or shopping complexes around JB. they do have surprises here and there, like a 1RM vintage badge sold in mama stores or even some crazy 70’s fabric skirt in shopping complexes.
Girl Next Door and Expired has really some exciting vintage / street wear pieces at affordable prices ranging from bottoms at 69RM.
clothes here are handpicked by the owner and definitely you will be able to find something you really like. Shoes here are pretty amazing too.
great shopping experience with air conditioning for the polar melting weather and Girl Next Door provides hair salon services too.
as for De Stulang, this store is the epitome of a thrift store. you will be able to find all sorts of clothing ranging from a bear suit to frilly lingerie.
it will require you some time to rummage through the racks and of course, being a thrift store, its pretty dusty and warm.
almost like a treasure hunting trip, you never know if you will go back empty handed or with 2 hands filled.
prices here are cheaper and you can ask for a discount.
no shoes found here though.
Plaza Seni has a couple of rock n roll stores that sells pre owned clothing at 5RM each. the owners here are generally more easy going so you never know if you could get further discount on the 5RM jeans.
in a nutshell, we say go be Dora for the day, explore every single aspect of JB and there will be something that you will walk home with.
omgomgomgggg love shi ying’s mambo men shirt!!!!