My shopping experiences until recently have been abysmal in Seoul. Here are some tips.
For your Calvin Kleins and other brands there are a bunch of “Factory outlets” at Gasan Digital Complex on the 7th line. The shops are hidden behind a huge store and it’s a good 5 minute walk from the station. I can’t really explain the location, so er… good luck finding it. The prices are sadly quite high compared to home. I don’t like shopping here, but this is were you get the brands like Levis et al. Sometimes they don’t have my size for 35/36 waist which is painful!
For tailored suits Itaewon has probably the best range. I bought my suit from the more expensive place “Saville Row”, as I am uncomfortable with cheaper tailors. Expect to pay at least 300USD for a tailored suit. 400USD for a better one. Choose Korean “Samsung” fabrics. Quality is good. You can get tailored shirts made up with 100% cotton fabrics for about 60USD. In big department stores you can find good ready-to-wear stuff for half the price. But tracking down good cotton shirts and English speaking sales assistants can be tiresome.
For basics I recently discovered a Korean store UNIQLO. One good branch can be found in the LotteMart complex at the station Jamsil on line 2/8. It’s on one floor up from the ground floor. LotteWorld has a pleasant lake and theme park nearby, so you can make a day out of it. UNIQLO is not that expensive and the fabrics are good. Sadly their socks suck. Polyester mixes. Socks should always be 100% cotton with perhaps a tiny bit of lycra in them.
For socks and other really good quality and designed items, the ground floor has a small branch of Muji. Muji is worth the trip alone, but it is expensive. There are other little stores around in the complex and they’re reasonable on a teacher’s budget. LotteWorld at Jamsil is definitely the place you want to go for your clothes shopping missions.
For shoes there is a Rockport dealership in Itaewon. But they often don’t have my size UK10 and the prices are high compared to the Internet and my purchases of similar Rockport products elsewhere abroad. I think I will just try order some over the Internet and pray.