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Dress me, please?

Source

20:30 / 15.10.04

Can anyone recommend some good clothes shops/areas in London?

Specifically, I'm looking for some nice, preferably brown jeans (I can't seem to find any anywhere). And seperately, I'm also looking for a casual blazer/jacket to wear out in the cold winter (preferably not denim - perhaps wool or corduroy).

Any other recommendations are welcome.

No star here laces

08:22 / 18.10.04

If you are packing a fat wad, get yourself to Selfridges which is truly a glorious retail experience, but dead pricy.

For cheap 'n cheerful, H&M Oxford street is kind of the holy grail, if you don't mind buying clothes that everybody else is wearing and that fall apart within 6 months.

As for small and boutique-y, I've been gone too long to know...

Tryphena Absent

12:21 / 18.10.04

6 months my arse, Hennes & Mauritz clothes last ages, the only thing they fall down on is the cut.

Kit-Cat Club

15:25 / 18.10.04

Topman probably has a lot of winter jackets in right now, as them seem to be in this winter - you'll pay a bit more than H&M though...

ONLY NICE THINGS

07:20 / 19.10.04

Specifically, I'm looking for some nice, preferably brown jeans (I can't seem to find any anywhere).

There may be a reason for this. Brown jeans in anything other than corduroy (or leather) are not likely to be easy to find...

Alex's Grandma

23:54 / 19.10.04

Anyone who can get through more than about ten minutes at the Selfridges on Oxford Street without having something akin to a panic attack is a stronger person than me. I've never got the length of even looking at prices, it's the sheer scale of the place, or the way it's laid out ( something, I'm guessing, which is largely to do with the geometry of angst, ) whereby you can't just go in and have a look at the jackets, say, but instead have to schlepp round each particular designer's individual display, as your eyes go blurry, your hands turn to claws, and the cold sweat pools in the small of your back. Personally anyway, as a retail experience it leaves something to be desired.

Tryphena Absent

17:19 / 20.10.04

You have to be in love. If you're not in love than Selfridges is hell. And by love I mean material love, not any of that namby-pamby person love.

Ganesh

09:57 / 21.10.04

I've always found Selfridges menswear department a sublime shopping experience. The shop assistants are attentive but, crucially, not overattentive, allowing one to drift around, Brownian motion style, fingering the lovely lovely fabrics.

Their changing rooms are nice too.

Alex's Grandma

02:27 / 22.10.04

This is all very well Anna, Dr G, but do you go in there on your own ?

Frankly, I'm going to have to have a big belt of scotch even thinking about it, my dears.

No star here laces

04:44 / 22.10.04

It's good on your own, or with company. Having company leads to spending more time there, and more money. But you may lose out on a crucial item due to your companion finding it first, so it is to be attempted with caution.

The only thing you should never, never do is go there at sale time. THAT is a truly horrifying experience...

Alex's Grandma

04:59 / 22.10.04

It's no good on your own, or with company

There's probably somewhere else that would answer to that description

Alex's Grandma

05:04 / 22.10.04

Sorry S-laces, I misread your post, as a negative thing.

I didn't mean to.

Alex's Grandma

05:12 / 22.10.04

I couldn't live with myself if that was honestly true, generallly.

Ganesh

09:36 / 22.10.04

This is all very well Anna, Dr G, but do you go in there on your own ?

Well, yes. I'm a little old to clothes-shop with my mother.

Goodness Gracious Meme

13:25 / 23.10.04

You're really not. Shall we get her down.

Selfridges is, as Anna points out, a *love* thing. And I don't think I've ever bought clothes from there, but I like to go and spend time with her, nonetheless.

If yr' spending in that bracket, you might also check out South Molton Street, a tiny stree just off Oxford street, for some great boutiques.

I'm also too long gone from London to know much about interesting new places, but if Pineal Eye is still going (Brewer Street, where all the record shops are in Soho) I'd recommend that as a place to get great individual design/ideas. You'll pay for it, though.

Other end of the scale. Primark. Less amazing for men's clothes, but still has a pretty good hit-rate. You'll find a Primark in most poorer locales, Lewisham used to have a great one. Or Brixton.

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