OKAY, so who among you is tired of bargain bin diving at the Great Singapore Sale (GSS)?
Because I am – well, a little bit.
So to cure my shopper’s fatigue, I decided to check out one of the newest attractions in town – the Orchard Central mall next to the Somerset MRT station.
Touted as the "centre of new", it is one of Singapore’s tallest malls, standing at 14 storeys high, including two basements.
What an eye-opener it was.
Although not many shops are open yet, the mall does a good job of advertising who’s in business by displaying wares from various stores in clear glass cases at various locations in the mall. There is also a cluster of mannequins – togged out in clothes and accessories from stores that are open – in the ground floor’s foyer.
For instance, I spotted an uber chic black-and-white maxi dress from Skye and cute tops for clubbing at Glitter Glam – both on the third floor.
Though the corridors look very dark and narrow, as a lot of hoarding is up around unfinished units, a good number of new things will keep even the most jaded of fashionistas occupied.
There are about 11 stores open on the ground level, and brands like Guess, Soo Kee Jewellery and The Hour Glass beckon shoppers with interiors so spanking new they glitter alongside the bling in the display cases.
Desigual, a Spanish casualwear brand on the ground floor facing Orchard Road, caught my eye with banners that said "up to 50 per cent off". I ventured inside and was greeted by cheerful colours and flirty sundresses. Itsy bitsy, cuter-than-polka-dot bikinis were going at a respectable $62 per set – talk about turning up the heat for summer.
Upstairs, I was attracted a mysterious little store called Mika Hayashi, which looked like an hermetic black box with just the words "Japanese diva retro funk store" on the outside.
It is an effective way of drawing curious shoppers in: I found the place crawling with youths pawing over Cosplay-type dresses in psychedelic colours.
Basement one seems to be the most bustling floor for now. Highly reminiscent of Far East Plaza, the stores here are small-sized but plentiful, and appear to cater to the youth market. I found my Louboutins involuntarily tottering over to a store called E2 Lingerie, which sells brassieres, arranged from floor to ceiling, in candy-coloured columns. Better still – some of them are going at 70 per cent discount.
So you see, my daaahlings, you don't need to hang around the same old brands to find good deals this GSS.
Oh yes, that reminds me: One of the best things I found about the mall was its innovative steel and glass facade, which has "super escalators" taking you up more than one storey at a time. The ones that take you to the higher floors give a bird's eye view of the Orchard Road surrounds, which is a breath of fresh air in more ways than one.