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In this blog, I will cover used and new clothing shopping as well as leather.
When clothing shopping, you’ll learn that some of those are inexpensive comparing Costa Rica and North America. Costa Rica has quite a low labor cost. The result is inexpensive goods and services.
Many more solutions involve a high percentage of labor compared with a smaller percentage of raw materials. Therefore, the resulting cost is much below the cost of clothing or repaired clothing up North.
While I believe that there are only a few leather tanning facilities in Costa Rica. Compared to leather items in the States, factory-made and handmade leather goods can be very affordable.
My Boots
I had custom-fitted western-style leather boots handmade. This included decorative stitching plus clones of my prescription orthopedics. My wife had custom-fitted leather boots handmade with decorative leather lacing and decorative stitching.
Each pair cost us $175.00. Similar custom boots, if you could even find handmade boots in the U.S., would easily double or triple in cost.
If you’re looking to buy boots or a leather belt, or even a saddle for your horse, look for a “Talabarteria”. The image above was taken from Talabarteria La Moderna.
Ropa Americana
You will not often find off-the-shelf clothes in the “inexpensive” column. However, virtually every town we’ve visited here has one or more used clothing stores, called “Ropa Americana”.
These clothing stores feature “as is” garments imported from the U.S. and Canada. There are some good deals if you are not opposed to buying and wearing previously owned clothing. We know folks who have purchased some stylish, first-quality designer labels for five or ten dollars.
The Seamstress
Every town also has several seamstresses or “costurera”. They don’t always have a storefront so you may have to ask around. Having garments handmade is a common practice here and very affordable.
You find the fabric in one of the department stores like Yamuni first. Then you go to the seamstress, get measured, and show a sample or a photo of the design you want. “Et voilá”!
It will be a delight to wear a well-made piece of new clothing. You can also get that Ropa Americana garment you just bought altered or repaired, very, very inexpensively.
The Author
The author of this blog, Ticonuevo, is a US expat who moved to Costa Rica. He and his wife used the services of GoDutch Realty to purchase a property in Costa Rica. Therefore, in his blogs, Ticonuevo describes his own experiences of taking the step of moving to Costa Rica and getting a new life started.
