As women, we all know the important role that shoes play in a lady’s life. Shanghai can definitely be a heaven for shoes shoppers IF you got little Cinderella feet.

I’m a 1.77 meter tall girl with US10 size shoes and soon after arriving to Shanghai I discovered that buying shoes was not going to be an easy task for me. My first encounter with the ‘shoes problem’ was in a little shoe store in Shaanxi Rd., where before even asking an employee looked at me and said: ‘No, we don’t have size 40’. The response got repeated over and over again in Parksons Mall: ‘No we don’t have that size’.

I cannot tell you how discouraged and inadequate I felt that day. Obviously there is always the solution of ordering shoes from the US, but this option didn’t attracted me that much not only because I will end up paying a lot in shipping, plus the waiting time plus the fact that you should try your shoes before buying them because they can ‘seriously hurt’.

I was committed to get my shoes and I decided to not give up, so after doing some research in different expat sites in the net, I discovered about the ‘custom made’ shoes option.

Coming from the US, a highly industrialized country, getting ‘custom made’ shoes has never been an option for a ‘working girl’ like me because of the extremely high price tag. In Shanghai the story is quite different and getting ‘custom made’ shoes although not an extremely cheap solution is definitely in the ‘affordable’ section.

Shopping is a favourite hobby for many of us, but for the rest it can be just, plain hard work.  Here are my top shopping tips that should get you through your Spring shopping unscathed.

1. Make a list before you go shopping.  Look in your wardrobe and see what you have and what you need.  What colours and styles do you have?  What item of clothing are you always missing when it comes to putting an outfit together?  Always make sure that a new buy will go with at least 3 items that you already have in your wardrobe.

2. Make a budget.  How much money are you happy to spend on each item?  Are you looking to buy an investment piece or some smaller fashion items to update your wardrobe?  When looking to buy an investment piece such as a wool coat, suit or leather goods always buy the best quality that your budget allows.

3. Wear makeup and shop on a day that you feel good about yourself.  If you are looking in the mirror and not liking what you see, it doesn‘t matter how fabulous the new clothes are, you won‘t like them because you don‘t like you.

Since V-day is coming-up, and because I co-own a sex shop here, I thought I'd take the time to talk about what's available in Shanghai and where you can get it. As I'm obviously biased, I welcome you to take my advice with a grain of...MSG.

In the review: Buccone's, Oh! Toys, G-Le, Amy's Bedroom and of course that sex toy market. There are also some recommendations for Valentine's shopping with someone special.

Image credit: krazydad

A smart way to keep warm this winter, besides locking yourself in the bathroom and sitting under the heat lamps, is by getting yourself to a Uniqlo store and buying some of their HEATTECH products.  This clothes range utilises a special type of fabric that comes from Japan and is designed to pull the heat out of your body, while being super light-weight and comfortable.  I was a bit of a skeptic when I saw the product and felt how thin it is, so I only bought one of each type to try, but after trying them I went back to buy all the other colours! 

They have a few different types of products ranging from tank tops (79rmb), long sleeve tops (99rmb), skivvies (99rmb) to leggings (99rmb).  I suffer badly with the Shanghai winters and I only wish I knew about this product the last few years I have been here. You can check out the product range here.