Brrr nights bring out ‘winter’ wear in Baguio

Elderly women mixed and matched their homegrown sweaters with thick snow jackets at Burnham Park in Baguio City. The cooling temperatures have allowed local folk to bring out their best winter fashion gear, usually courtesy of Baguio’s secondhand clothes stores where snow jackets from the US and Asia are stocked.
PDI-NL PHOTOS / Richard Balonglong

BAGUIO CITY—It’s starting to feel like winter in this city, with tourists and residents strolling down Session Road in thick jackets, fur-lined coats and boots, and ukay-ukay (second-hand clothes) shops doing brisk business in woolen shawls, bonnets and leggings.

As the mercury dropped to 10 degrees Celsius on Friday, people brought out mothballed winter clothes to cope with the nippy weather and look fashionable.

The city experienced the coldest day this month on Jan. 11 when the temperature plunged to 9.6 degrees Celsius.

BIG CHILL A Russian fur hat and a scarf keep this man warm as he strolls through Burnham Park in Baguio City. The winter attire worn by many Baguio residents most likely came from the city’s secondhand shops, which reported an increase in sales as temperatures plunged in the past two weeks. RICHARD BALONGLONG/INQUIRER NORTHERN LUZON

The chill has meant brisk business for ukay-ukay shops as tourists hunt for thick, hooded sweatshirts or heavy winter jackets.

Fur-lined collars

Bernie Wanawen, an ukay-ukay shop owner, laid out her collection of sweaters and jackets on Friday morning, confident that the cold would reel in customers. True enough, half of Wanawen’s winter wares were sold by noon. Her female customers, she volunteered, favored jackets with fur-lined collars and sleeves that sell for P350.

Josephine Guimalan, an ukay-ukay shop salesclerk, said business has been good, as shoppers buy warm clothing not just to cope with the cold, but also to look fashionable.

Jacked-up prices

The demand has jacked up prices in some shops, with sweatshirts now selling from P180 to P300. Wanawen said she would sometimes advise customers to save their money and shop “during summer or when the cold season is over,” advice that often fell on deaf ears.

The hunt for cold weather outfits has also made the daily night market on Harrison Road fronting Burnham Park a major attraction. The market opens at 9 p.m., and shoppers often stay until midnight when the temperature is at its coldest, sipping cups of scalding hot coffee or chocolate and steaming bowls of arroz caldo (chicken porridge).

Sonia Carreon, a Dagupan City social worker, sorted out winter clothes in an ukay-ukay store along Session Road, and said she was shopping for her four children staying here until Jan. 19. She said their family outing had not anticipated the almost freezing January weather.

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 First posted 9:10 pm | Friday, January 17th, 2014