Clothing and shoe shopping

General notes

Men's styles are pretty much as you'd see in any western country, women wearing a wider variety from western styles but round necks rather than V and slightly longer sleeves.
More religious ladies tend to go with a headscarf, some even going as far as full coverings but these are pretty rare.
Batik is the local style for men and women at any event that requires formal dress.

Larger towns and cities all have western style shops so clothes and shoes are easy  to find for all but the largest of expats but you can expect problems in small towns.
The city shopping malls have many clothes shops, many larger ones having western brands.

Tailors and dressmakers are all over the place, varying wildly in quality and this is one of those occasions where size doesn't matter.
I've used many small tailors for made to measure shirts and been very pleased with the excellent results, but been equally disappointed with at least one larger posh looking place.
These guys will make anything in any size, meaning even a town with nothing as far as larger western sizes goes has everything you want.
The best way to find the good ones is simply ask a few people and they'll point you the right way.
Average waiting time for shirts has been just a few days, so pretty quick. With smaller shops, you can buy the material from the tailor/dressmaker or buy outside and ask them to make it up, but larger places will only work with material they sell.
Suits, dresses, skirts, trousers, anything you want in available in any size, and you'll be amazed at the very cheap prices in the smaller places. The very posh ones tend to charge very posh prices, but the quality at the best ones is pretty much Savile Row.

Batik

Batik is a style of material used for shirts, dress, and so on - It's the Indonesian standard formal attire.

There are two basic types, mass produced printed batik that comes in pretty cheap, or hand painted batik that isn't at all cheap.

Many towns have areas almost 100 percent dedicated to batik shops, Cirebon (Pro - Chiribon) is one of these, Yogyakarta being another. As batik is the iconic Indonesian style, it's very easy to find.

Batik Trusmi in Cirebon is an excellent example of a cluster of batik shops.

ITC and other indoor market style malls

ITC has a few places around Jakarta (and maybe other areas), and they're very handy for a wide variety of clothing, especially if your interest is cheaper but still reasonable quality stuff.
I buy most of my work shirts from a stall in their BSD centre.

This is ITC, BSD (or at least some of the clothing sections).
You'll notice most are market stall style but they have the advantage of an indoor air conditioned area.







There are many malls of this type around Indonesia and the close collection of small businesses means you can find a large variety of styles easily.

Tailored clothes

There are many top end clothing shops in Indonesia, Pronto being a fine example of such a place. Shops such as this have a wide variety of materials available and are able to make pretty much anything you want in whatever top quality materials you desire.
Ladies and gents fashions are taken to a whole new level at their shop in Bintaro sector 9.









Pictures with kind permission of the management. Thank you.

More tailored clothes

Many small tailors are dotted around the streets but they vary in quality a lot.  I sometimes use these places to make up a shirt from material I have been gifted.

Shoes

Shoes for most westerners are available in the cites, sandals are everywhere, but those of us with very large or wide feet can have a problem. My feet are unusually wide and I have serious issues finding shoes (I did in the UK as well), but some of the open back shoes will fit.
Large and wide fitting trainers are easier to find if you live in a city or larger town.

Men with larger feet can have problems over here, but there's hope.

I found a chain store that stocks shoe sizes up to Ero 46, yes, 46 as standard stock, and in unusually wide fittings.

https://www.skechers.com/en-us/store-locator

The one pictured below wasn't on their map at the time of posting but you'll find it in Aeon mall, Serpong.

I wish to keep this thread as up to date as possible so, if you notice an error, want to add something, or feel something could use more detail, please PM.

I hope this thread helps you and saves you much of the messing around so many new expats have to endure.

Welcome to beautiful Indonesia.




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