It’s impossible to talk about La Botica de Tango (The Tango Boutique) without mentioning Laura Hernández, Laura is a famous Uruguayan dancer that performed in every mayor stage in Montevideo. It was her, that in the year 2007 created a unique place in the city, where you can buy shoes from Argentina, Brazil, and of course Uruguay.
Normally it is Laura herself, the person that welcomes the many Uruguayan and foreign visitors, usually a great number of tourists visit the Mercado de La Abundancia, a historical building where La Botica is located. But in some days you can find Laura’s father Alfredo Hernández, and that is your chance to have the most interesting conversation, because Mr. Hernández has been a tango lover all his life, and he can tell stories about the time when Tango was a huge part of the Uruguayan society, about the 50´s and 60´s, about the great dance floors and orchestras.

Besides shoes, tango clothes are a must in La Botica. For the ladies there’s a great variety of babuchas, dresses, blouses, etc. Meanwhile, for the men we can find trousers, shirts, t-shirts, among many other items.
But La Botica is not only about clothes and shoes, the list of products in the shop includes books about tango, cd´s of all tango styles, and souvenirs such as crafts and postcards to name a few.

Regarding Uruguayan shoes, La Botica works with a tailor made shoe system, where the client chooses the model and materials for the shoe, then his/her feet is measured , and all the information is sent to the shoe maker that created the model, that will make the shoe specially for the client’s feet. It is very common that the client also adds changes to the shoe design to make it personal; therefore, many of the shoes bought at La Botica are unique and created specifically for a particular costumer.

As mentioned above, La Botica is located in the “Mercado de La Abundancia” building, a historical building that is also the headquarters of “Joventango,” the first and best known tango institution in Uruguay. Actually, for many years Laura has been part of the staff of this institution, in which the main tango dancer s of Montevideo have learned to dance. The Mercado de La Abundancia gives a historical framework that makes visiting La Botica de Tango a must for the local or foreign tanguero.