This Taiwanese Couple Dressed Up In The Clothing Customers Left At Their Laundry Shop And Now They’re Instagram Icons
An elderly couple who own a laundry shop in Taichung, Taiwan, has gone viral on Instagram for dressing up in iconic outfits made out of the clothing customers forgot to pick up from the store.
The couple, 83-year-old Wan-ji and 84-year-old Shu-er, have been married for 61 years and have been operating the Want Show Laundry Shop for almost 70 years, their 31-year-old grandson, Reef Chang, told me.
@wantshowasyoung / Instagram
Chang, who runs their Instagram @wantshowasyoung, said ever since he was little, he had noticed that customers often forgot to pick up their clothing from the laundry shop.
@wantshowasyoung / Instagram
He then came up with the idea to dress his grandparents in the leftover clothes because he wanted to remind people not to forget to leave their clothes behind as it results in losses for laundry shop owners and encourage them to support his grandparents and those in their industry.
@wantshowasyoung / Instagram
“Part of it was also because I saw that my grandpa and grandma’s lives were very boring, and they were sitting around everyday doing nothing so I wanted to help them experience some fun and excitement in their later years,” he said.
@wantshowasyoung / Instagram
Chang said Wan-ji and Shu-er initially didn’t believe that people would like the outfits because they considered them “old clothing,” Chang said. @wantshowasyoung now has more than 111,000 followers.
Now his grandparents make suggestions on the outfit colors and combinations, even saying things like “This is how I used to wear it.”
@wantshowasyoung / Instagram
Chang said none of them expected the Instagram account to take off internationally. “For my grandparents, they would have never thought in their entire lives that so many people would fall in love with them,” he said.
@wantshowasyoung / Instagram
Chang said he reads every comment and message to Wan-ji and Shu-er and that the couple are very happy to hear the support and encouragement of people from all around the world.
Courtesy: Reef Chang
Chang said they will continue to share photos and that his grandparents hope to show people around the world that they shouldn’t limit themselves.