Noelia Radío
Mom, part-time waitress at Cava 71, clothing designer/vendor
From: Avellaneda (province of Buenos Aires)
Age: 28
Q: How long have you been selling here at the San Telmo street fair?
I’ve only been doing this since last December. Before that I was living in Bariloche and making handmade dolls.
• Why did you decide to move back from Bariloche?
I broke up with the father of my daughter and Bariloche is too expensive to rent an apartment by myself. So it made sense to come back.
• What do you like about making and selling clothes in the street fair?
I like that the people enjoy my clothes. I like to see how it fits on them. I’d like to do this full-time but the hard part for me is the selling. I don’t like being pushy.
• Who are most of your customers?
Most of the people that buy from me are Europeans and Americans.
There are a lot of them here at the fair on Sundays. Eight out of ten people that buy from me are foreigners.
• Do people try to bargain with you a lot since you sell on the street?
Mostly the foreigners will try to bargain with the price, Argentines never do that.
• How do you feel about people bargaining for a lower price?
If they’re short five pesos that’s one thing, if they want a large discount it’s different. I don’t make any money if I take that much off the price. What’s weird is, if I explain that, they’ll still buy in the end.
• Which nationality haggles the most?
Brazilians probably, but they’re still cool about though.
• What do you like about the San Telmo street fair in particular?
There’s cool people here, we’re friends with the other vendors it’s like a little group. We share mate and things, hang out — it’s a good time.
• Aren’t the police giving the sidewalk vendors a hard time in San Telmo now?
Yeah, we sometimes had problems when we were on the other side of Independencia (Avenue)— you could only set up after 4:30 or so. Over here they don’t bother us.
• How much did you make today?
I made 300 pesos (US$100 at times exchange rate), which is good, last Sunday I only made 40 pesos (about US$15 at time’s exchange rate) .
• What’s the most surprising thing you’ve seen working in the market?
Well not much would surprise me; I’ve seen everything here. This is San Telmo! A little while ago the half-naked travesties came by promoting the club that they have on Sundays.
What would you call your fashion style?
(Friend’s interjection): Ridiculous!
No, she’s kidding. I don’t know.
• And this hairstyle?
I don’t think it’s a style — I just cut my own hair!