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Tea & Sympathy

  • Shopping
  • Bangsar
Tea & Sympathy
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Time Out says

Note: Tea & Sympathy has ceased operations until further notice.

You won’t be getting tea and sympathy from anyone here, just clothes (and no accessories). Eighty per cent of the stocks are sourced from Bangkok, and the remaining locally-made ones are designed by Naomi Lim, the store owner.

Although this rather bare store has limited items, it makes the shopping experience easier and decision making faster. Only three pieces are available for each simple, casual and easy-to-match design, and one piece for each dress as well as other complicated designs. Overall, expect to find baby doll tops, cocktail dresses, playful looking skirts, avant-garde jackets which remind me of Vivienne Westwood creations. Some clothes are designed in line with current trends and some are not. The cheapest items: casual, floral-print cotton tops (RM59), easy to mix and match. By and large, the store offers competitive pricing when compared to other nearby boutiques.

For some of Lim’s own designs, she resorts to 1950s silhouettes – nipped at the waist and with a full skirt that accentuates the figure – and 1960s straight-cut shifts with long sleeves and mini-skirt hemline. All fabrics used are sourced locally or from Mumbai and Japan. Lim dislikes using chiffon and silk, citing them as cumbersome. She prefers stiffer materials like taffeta, bridal satin. Her favourite is made-in-Japan medium-weight cotton canvas which is ideal for Malaysia’s humid weather. However, recommended are the cocktail dresses made from bridal satin, brocade and silk, and intricately made casual, cotton dresses. All come in muted colours to enable you to accessorise easily.

The store has recently introduced work shirts (RM195) designed by Sean, an indie designer from Bangkok. Made from cotton, polyester and cotton spandex, and with an emphasis on collar construction workmanship, the work shirts look a little avant-garde, with a hint of Victorian influence, and are not your usual staid office wear. Tea & Sympathy has also received orders via its blog (style-taketwo.blogspot.com), from customers from Singapore, Jakarta and London. Local customers, meanwhile, can easily access the physical store and, among other things, enjoy free hemming services and request custom-made outfits (with three free trial fittings), only during off-peak periods between March and August. Custom-made clothes cost RM129 onwards.

Details

Address:
Second Floor
7 Jalan Telawi 2
Kuala Lumpur
59100
Opening hours:
Open Mon-Sat, 12noon-9pm; Sun, 12noon-7pm.
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