It’s well documented that fashion isn’t my strength… to put it lightly. So that’s why I found what happened this morning to be especially bizarre. I was having breakfast in the club lounge at the InterContinental Grand Stanford Hong Kong, and was going to the buffet to get some food. Suddenly I’m stopped by a…
Continue reading: “Excuse me, can I have your sweater?”
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Total creeper. He's going to be cuddling up with that thing and remembering your smell for years to come!
I guess you could have asked him for a business card, but in general, that was kinda creepy.
I'm inclined to agree with Marz but it is a fairly fashionable sweater, with the front kangaroo thing going on, so maybe it was legit. Why does he have so many sweaters in his room? I wish a designer would weigh in to see if this is typical behavior.
I suppose I'll be seeing knockoff sweaters like that all over the next time I'm in a Chinatown...
Lucky,
Do you happen to have a reader get-together in HK?
I am a loyal reader of your blog and happen to be in HK today and tomorrow.
Best,
I agree with Jetaway- I think he was hoping to get you back to his room and help you take off your sweater. This is so bizarre, you couldn't make it up. Stranger danger- don't accept rides or take candy from strangers.
From a gay perspective: He's hitting on you and hoping that he could allure you to his room and seduce you.
Fetish indeed! My stars!
Change of topic - have you seen Delta's new website that they surprised us with over the weekend?
I'd have pulled out my iPhone and started playing that Weezer song "If you want to destroy my sweater..." and then walked out!
I have to agree with @marZ. Very odd. No offense Ben, but that sweater isn't worth $129.
Hope you are having a great trip though.
Perhaps buy your sweater for 1000HKD.. and "copy" it and mass produce to sell each piece for 500HKD each...or.. just agree with @Jetaway's theory
You have the most bizarre things happen to you.
Did you confirm that the money was real?
Ok. That was way creepier than I first imagined it to be. I'd be very suspicious of anyone doing that *anywhere*, not just in a large city. Nonetheless, I hope you profited from this transaction.
Doubt the bill is fake. Counterfeits aren't horribly prevalent in HK.
But I do quite like the sweater....
LOL... I just forwarded your post to my personal shopper at Nordstrom with the message, "I want this sweater!" 🙂
Well, HKG is the place they make most of the fake designers items (you can find those online). He probably is in that business and had sharp eyes and spotted your sweater as something they would like to make fake ones. It was probably cheaper for him to buy from you than finding, and then ordering from USA.
Are you still at the same hotel? Any chance you see him again? Then go up to him and say something like "Hi. I've just got to ask about that sweater thing this morning. Can you fill me in with the details? Since it's already in production through Nordstrom and you could probably see details online, what was so urgent about buying it?"
I agree, odd moments like this leave you flustered and confused.
If you don't ever see him again take this as a lesson to think next time when caught off guard in a strange situation. If possible take control of your response by asking for time to think (which you did) and then if you want to know more, be kindly blunt and ask for more details. Put the burden back on the person approaching you. i.e., "I'm sure you'll agree, what you're asking is rather odd. Can you tell me more why it's so important to buy this sweater at this time?" If the person approaching you can't or won't give you more info then the case is closed.
Oh man, what was the name of your blog-stalker again? I bet a counterfeit 1000HKD it was him!
@ JohnBom -- I haven't, guess I should check. Somehow I have a hard time believing someone in a reasonably nice hotel club lounge is trying to buy clothes with counterfeit money. Seems more likely to just be someone really, really creepy.
@ Theo -- Sadly I was just there for a quick overnight. I'm already back home now. Hope to meet you somewhere else along the way sometime!
@ Phil S -- I have briefly. Lipstick?
@ Pablo -- Nope, white guy from Canada.
@ Toby -- Let me check. Oh, wait. 😉
@ gardengirl -- Already back home, but agree with you.
Hey Lucky, so in my line of work as the wife of a clothing manufacturer/designer, this actually isn't too bizarre! My husband has stalked people at stores if he likes what they're wearing to get a better look, and he constantly asks people where they bought an item or what brand it is. He has actually taken a shirt from a few people (thankfully not strangers, just his friends) in exchange for a new shirt from his company. He literally came home one time with a dirty shirt off a friend's back from a trade show. It's just that you never know where you might find inspiration, and if you love it you really can't let you go! That designer could make 10X, 50X or more of what he paid for your sweater if the buyers at a place like Nordstrom like it. Obviously he can't make the exact same sweater, he would have to tweak it. Conclusion- you should have asked for more $$ and at least 2 sweaters from his selection, I bet they were just samples.
I am surprized you settled for money rather than just asking him if he had some points to transfer to you.
That looks like the GAP sweater I got on sale for $9.99. 🙂 I will sell it for HKK1,000.
Hi Lucky - long time reader, 1st time commenter. 🙂
I'm actually a fashion designer myself for a big company, and this sounds totally legit to me (Albeit he did sound a bit pushy). He was probably is Asia visiting factories and trend shopping the market. It's always best to have the actual inspiration sample to take to a factory so they can try and copy/achieve whatever it is he liked- pictures are hard to work off of sometimes! ...and YES you can photocopy garments. It can bring out a more detailed image. I can't tell you how much of my day is spent fighting with a xerox printer....
With all that said- he sounds like the real deal, and not some creepy scam artist.
I think you made the best choice by taking the money, but agree with Jialing above that you should have asked for even more, and taken some of his sweaters too!! 🙂
My three cents:
1) I saw In the old days, my comment would have been "I bet there is no film in that camera". Too many true stories with that as the end note.
2) There is always a way out. Practice saying "No thank-you. Please leave me alone" to your family. If you can say it to your mother, you'll be able to say it to creeps easily.
3) You left money on the table. Your underwear would have went for 10,000 HKD.
Totally creepy. I guess you should be glad he doesn't design underwear for a living or something.
Was curious to know what this sweater looked like so glad you shared a photo!
What's next? Someone buying the jeans you're wearing?
Why are "creep" and "fashion designer" necessarily mutually exclusive? It could have been a creepy fashion designer who wanted to seduce Ben AND copy his sweater to sell back to Nordstrom! Two birds with one stone!
http://milevalue.com/tag/chicago-seminars/
Same sweater/t-shirt combo in photo with Scott from milevalue.com
@Puck -- that is HILARIOUS. Though it could be a little creepy that YOU remember what Ben was wearing.
OTOH, I might give 1000 HK to never see that goofy red t-shirt again.....
It's an interesting post. I think you're lucky to make money out of the sales. Just spend the money and stop imagine what the buyer is going to do with that sweater 😉
ROFL Frank!
Designers do this all the time especially fashion. They target certain hotels during fashion week, first class lounge we have seen this. Gift/Homewares can turn around an item in days and be in opposition to your product in 7 days and oh it's cheaper. Don't see it as much due to idiot websites like Pintrest. I know of one SE Asia markey where they advertise "as seen on Etsy" etc..
Best post in a long time!!! and your readers think so as well.
Take care.
This is turning into an interesting trip.... From ping pong to sweaters, what's next :-).
@hobo13 Actually did not remember what Ben or anyone else for that matter was wearing in Chicago. Comment #60 from @PatMike mentioned he wore the sweater in Chicago which reminded me milevalue had a post with pictures of himself with lots of bloggers from the Chicago seminar. When I checked it out, the sweater was a match.
The guy was probably just a buyer and wanted to show his vendor the style he's looking for.
Not really sure why everyone jumps to "fakes". It's a nice sweater, but it's not the first time that style was made.
Not to sound too disrespectful, but it's not a very... unique sweater is it. I suspect he had ulterior motives - why do you seem to attract these people?!
I actually had this happened to me a high end hotel in South America. When I was checking in, the guy said, "I like your jeans, can I buy them from you"? I said they were one of my favorite pairs, but decided to sell at $40 profit. He also upgraded me to a Junior Suite for the week I stayed there!
Ben, what is it about you & Asia that makes these things happen? To wit: I remind my fellow readers of the Kuala Lumpur scammer story, https://onemileatatime.com/kuala-lumpur-day-one/
Is that the same sweater you were wearing at the SFO dinner? Gosh, it's probably a good idea to mix your wardrobe up a bit.
Very interesting experience.. thanks for sharing. Random lucky deal for Lucky!!
It's a pickup line but usually I was asked for my shoes, admittedly some of my shoes back in the day were pretty out there...I have to admit, that there are actually people in this thread who think the pushy horndog was a designer, makes me smile.
you should have gone to his room to check out if he actually had the variety of sweaters he was talking about 😛
I bet that dude was totally hitting on you and wanted to get you into his room.
But cool sweater, I love how everyone is saying they've seen you with that sweater before.
Just watch CSI a few times and you'll never leave anything behind! That sweater is going to be wrapped around a dead hooker and you are the MAIN SUSPECT!!!!
LOL at this and what showed up in the WSJ just a few days later --- http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324556304578118891337284014.html
Perhaps he was on a Project Runway type show... there was an episode of PR where the designers needed to buy clothes off people in Central Park and turn them into a new design!
How did he share the photo with you? Did he send it to your email or worse gave you his sd card?
@ Rpm -- Hah, I actually snapped that picture before handing over the sweater.
@ Pablo - good lord it's just a white guy! not a creepy Asian from HK.
@ lucky - I would not be surprised if lots of your readers were initially attracted to this blog by your Twitter picture... Take it as a compliment!
Funny story. Weird stuff does happen in the region! But it was a cool sweater. The Gap, really?