Where Do Locals Shop in Seoul for Clothes? Skip Myeongdong

Seoul locals rarely shop in Myeongdong, which is packed with tourists. For clothes, Dongdaemun can't be beaten on price and choice. The Hongdae, Yonsei and Ewha area is full of boutiques with a college-town feel. This guide sorts each district by what it is actually for.

Dongdaemun for cheap clothes, Hongdae, Yonsei and Ewha for boutiques

Rows of trendy clothing stalls in a large Seoul shopping district alongside a street of small boutiques

If your goal is clothes shopping in Seoul, pick one of two directions. Go to Dongdaemun when you want a lot of trendy clothes for little money. Go to the Hongdae, Yonsei and Ewha area to wander between small clothing and cosmetics boutiques. The setting is relaxed and young. Myeongdong belongs on the itinerary only as an evening walk.

A busy shopping street is not automatically a local one

A wide pedestrian shopping street in Seoul with signs in many styles and a mix of shoppers walking

Tourism pages tend to say that Seoul's shopping streets are loved by Koreans and visitors alike. That's true in a loose way, but it hides the real split: each area has a job and an audience. Some are aimed at foreign visitors, some at older shoppers, some at students and trend followers. Once you know which is which, cheap shopping in Seoul gets a lot easier to plan.

Area	What it's really for	Who it's aimed at	Subway
Dongdaemun	Cheap, trendy clothes	Bargain and trend hunters	Dongdaemun History and Culture Park Station (Lines 2, 4, 5)
Hongdae, Yonsei, Ewha	Clothing and cosmetics boutiques	Young, college-town crowd	Not covered here
Garosu-gil	Select shops and luxury brands	Trend watchers	Sinsa Station, Exit 8 (Line 3)
Itaewon	Hanging out, now more upscale	More Koreans than Americans these days	Not covered here
Myeongdong	Fashion, beauty and food	Foreign tourists	Not covered here
Namdaemun Market	Souvenirs and household goods	Older, less trendy shoppers	Not covered here
Insa-dong	Antiques, calligraphy tools, fans, interior wares	Anyone after something very Korean	Not covered here
Seochon	Crafts, especially ceramics	Gift and home shoppers	Not covered here

For cheap, trendy clothes, Dongdaemun is the best shopping district in Seoul

Shoppers sorting through racks of colorful fashion at a night market beside a curving silver building

Dongdaemun shopping is about volume. Nothing else in the city gives you this much to choose from in cheap, current fashion. That is why the district is widely thought of as a mecca of shopping. It works best when you already know you want clothes and have time to compare.

One thing to know before you plan a whole day around it. Dongdaemun Design Plaza, the landmark building here, draws visitors even when they buy nothing. People come for the structure, the night views and the exhibitions. Treat it as a sight as well as a shopping stop, and leave a little time to look around.

Myeongdong is the wrong turn most first-timers make

Is Myeongdong where locals shop, or is it mostly a tourist street? Mostly a tourist street. It is a long-established district for fashion, beauty and food, tailored to foreign tourists, and it pulls in huge numbers of travelers every year. Think of it as Seoul's Times Square: great to see.

That doesn't mean you should avoid it. It is busy in the daytime and absolutely full at night, and that crowd is worth seeing once. Go in the evening for the atmosphere and do your real clothes shopping elsewhere. For more on what the street offers by day and by night, see: Myeongdong Street Seoul: What It's Famous For, Day or Night.

Namdaemun Market suits souvenirs, not wardrobes

Is it worth going to Namdaemun Market? It depends on what you're hunting for. The market is a place to buy souvenirs and general goods rather than clothes or skincare. Its stock is less trendy and aimed at an older crowd. A young shopper looking for the latest looks will probably walk out empty-handed. If you want gifts to carry home, it earns a stop.

Younger locals: Hongdae, Garosu-gil, Dosan and a changed Itaewon

Besides clothing boutiques, the streets around Hongdae, Yonsei and Ewha have plenty of cosmetics shops. The energy is relaxed and young.

Garosu-gil in Gangnam-gu is the more polished option. It has many cute select shops alongside luxury brand stores, and it is regarded as a barometer of trends.

Itaewon has changed. It sits right next to the Yongsan U.S. military base and used to be where American soldiers and base kids hung out. It has become much more upscale, and these days more Koreans than Americans gather there.

Getting to Dongdaemun Design Plaza and Garosu-gil by subway

Both are easy to reach by subway. The routes are laid out step by step below.

Dongdaemun Design Plaza: ride Subway Line 2, 4 or 5 to Dongdaemun History and Culture Park Station. The plaza is right beside it.
Garosu-gil: ride Seoul Subway Line 3 to Sinsa Station and leave by Exit 8.
Plan to walk between boutiques once you arrive.

What to buy besides clothes: paper, ceramics, prints and bags

Insa-dong is the most Korean of Seoul's shopping streets. Its stores sell antiques, calligraphy tools, fans, and interior items and wares. Until the 1970s, workshops selling hanji (traditional Korean paper) to craftspeople and artists lined the street. The family-run Dong Yang Hanji is still one of the few specialists left.

In Seochon, the craft gallery Ilsangyeoback sells ceramic plates, tea sets and moon jars (round white porcelain vases). The pieces come in a range of sizes and are made by artisans from around the country. At the art collective Print Bakery, numbered and signed prints and posters start at $50. Original works start at $400. Pleatsmama's flagship store sits in a centuries-old hanok (traditional Korean house) and carries a wide range of products, and its bags are also sold online.

For everyday supplies, E-Mart is Korea's version of Walmart. It sells everything from groceries to assorted household goods.