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Here is the reply I got after saying that I was interested in buying new shoes.

靴買うならTシャツやいま使うもの買っては？！

I think I got the overall meaning however I’m a bit confused with “買っては”. I don’t really get the “っては” part. Could you explain? Thanks for your help!

shibuyastar
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The ては is short for 「～てはどう(ですか)？」, "How about doing ~~?", "Why don't you ~~?

～を買っては？ = ～を買ってはどう(ですか)？
≒ ～を買ったら？　= ～を買ったらどう(ですか)？

The ては in ～～てはどうですか literally means "If~~" (≒～たら).
(ては = the conjunctive particle て + the binding particle は).
So ～てはどうですか literally means "How is it, if you do~~?" --> "How about doing~~?"
It's definition #6 on goo辞書.

靴(を)買うならTシャツやいま使うもの(を)買っては？！

"If you're going to buy shoes, how about buying / why don't you buy a t-shirt / t-shirts or an item / items that you'll use now instead (rather than shoes)?"

Chocolate
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  • It disturbs me that the を between 靴 and 買うis missing. Is it in general ok in Japanese to omit the を particle as we please? – ナウシカ Jul 26 '15 at 00:42
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    Yes, two を's are omitted in your sentence. (I edited my post.) Particles such as が, を, に etc. get omitted quite often in casual/daily conversation. Eg.「コーヒー(を)ください。」「お金(が)欲しい。」「学校(に)行ってくる。」 – Chocolate Jul 26 '15 at 05:10
  • Thank you for your help! (It's not my sentence though (^^)) – ナウシカ Jul 26 '15 at 05:49
  • @ナウシカ Oh! It was not your question! Sorry, 間違えたぁ... – Chocolate Jul 26 '15 at 08:00