Beyond Retro

This shop is like a warehouse living up to its reputation of a prestigious vintage experience. Half of it looks like a fancy dress store displayed where ever they could fit until you walk further into the shop and realize it has been thought out. One section was displayed in old suitcases with mannequin single hands that displayed vintage rings and bracelets and cage walls with fur shoulder hangings. The staff seemed friendly but not that interested in what you where looking for. However we were in near closing time which being an ex retail worker myself I know 15 minutes before closing time is the period where you want to tell costumers to "Piss off and stop wrecking the clothes I just tidied!". The shop looked smaller from the outside but when you entered was surprising big which draws you in further and further. It really was laid out to suit its vintage lover customers and in no way was compromising to suit other customers that are not interested in vintage.

Urban Outfitters

This shop is another one I have attended many times before now. Something I always have concluded about Urban Outfitters is everything matches the lifestyle they have consumed and buying any item is buying into this lifestyle whether it be a heavy knit arty style cardigan to a flowery alcohol hit flask. Everything is quirky, the material mannequins which make the models look shapeless and chunky but yet lovable, the wooden flooring with wooden displays with wooden bowls holding accessories and fashion jewelery. The music heightens this experience with dirty hip hop and sales assistants with piercings and heavily tattooed. Although the clothing doesn't always follow fashion trends it is almost always inevitable to be identified as an urban outfitters when wearing any of their products. They have managed to produce a style that is recognized and appreciated all over.

Hoxton Boutique

This little shop is very little. It is very well lit and extremely white adding to the brightness. Its not very atmospheric but has the minimal approach. All the displays are on chrome glass cases displaying accessories and fashion jewelery. The clothes are on the railings on the walls and again aren't crammed like what you would find in high street shops. This shop wasn't really my taste as I didnt find the items of clothing very exciting, unique or in fashion for that matter. But could appreciate why some may like it.

Topshop

This store is massive. In my personal little opinion (if anyone should care) its TOO big! As soon as I entered I felt the entire London population had decided they too needed to be there. The shop was bombarded with visual displays whether it be window displays or high level mannequins displaying the clothes that where inches below it. This shop also precedes its reputation as a leading high street shop. Each floor meets the needs of the costumer whether it be rows of any kind of shoe you could imagine separated by concessions, classy and casual or the vintage section where clothes are in displays of old suitcases to appeal to your average vintage shopper. The staff seem very run off their feet however nevertheless helpful and eager to help. Each floor is mapped out with tills in every section so you never have to look very far to know where to pay. It has to be said that Topshop has made high end designs available to those with an average income, perhaps you could call it copying or perhaps you could call it genius.

'B' Store

LOVED this shop! The shop had steps going down into one simple room of wooden displays with romantic lights and friendly welcoming assistants. The clothes where laid out spaciously with folded items on top of the rails. The shoe section was glorious, each laid out in their own little wooden box separating them each as their own little masterpiece. Perhaps the style was more to my taste but I personally really enjoyed this shop and appreciated it as very unique. The changing rooms where little and very much apart of the shop adding to the old school experience whilst showing that there is never a bombard of shoppers in this shop making you feel like your on an underground tube. You could easily be left to your own thoughts whilst looking happily at the heavy winter coats or unique neck pieces. Needless to say I was instantly drawn to the price tag in sheer nieve hope, nevertheless if and when I ever get out of my overdraft, I will return!

Matches

This shop precedes its reputation as a high designer stockist. The shop is classy with light boxes, classy mirrors and minimal rails that have each item spaced out with its own importance. The sales assistants where both friendly and non pressuring (perhaps they too could smell we where broke) Nevertheless I felt at ease to walk around clothes I hope to someday be able to afford. The shoes section was small but displaying carefully picked glamorous shoes.  Although the shop wasn't very big that suited my taste, I personally like the feeling that it will be a short visit and that I will never get lost or being sucked into a maze. Perhaps it is the saying 'less is more'

Convenience Store

Was closed. Is hardly ever open. Hope to see it someday.

Oxfam Boutique

Immediately this store stood out as an extremely upmarket charity shop. As a committed charity shopper myself the price ranges where extremely off putting to me, getting used to paying no more than £4 for a jumper makes me extremely stingy in my old age and £20 becomes a rip off. The shop decor however was made to suit the prices, it was romantically lit with wooden floors, clean and tidy with black wooden displays for the shoes and belts showing more visual effort had been put into this shop. However the products themselves to me where not as exciting as the experience, a lot of it felt like rejects from Matalan with tacky belts and ugly skirts. I couldn't shake the feeling that the buyer either did not have taste or took whatever they could get and really should remove the word 'boutique' from their title. Perhaps that is a little harsh.

Dover Street Market

Dover Street Market to me is a unique store designed for quirky fashion lovers, where nothing is set out to simply entice the costumer into getting out their purses but rather to stop and appreciate fashion in all its artistic and creative glory. Through out the shop there is a range of eclectic displays were either clothes are hung from or simply make you stop and stare, whether it be an old burnt out piano with shoes on top or an office mobile with a bin needing emptied.  The floor was run down and many of the walls and sections where purposefully looking like they where under reconstruction which was in complete juxtaposition to the high end fashion clothing that was on the rails. It was not mapped out as straightforward as Selfridges where if anything you where looking for you would find, but rather you could often find yourself very lost but enjoying where you were anyway. This store was not created for all wealths, I could not even afford a bun in the cafe on the top floor however it was more like a museum of fashion to me. Therefore it is not really a store that would appeal to the non rich non fashion industry people.

Selfridges

Selfridges

Selfridges is a large department store that stocks everything one would want from a shopping trip; food, home items, shoes, bags, high street, high end designer items, jewelery etc. You can literally enter the store in the morning and not leave until late that night, if you where somebody that didn't like to walk the streets of London.  Every floor is made to suit the particular shopper that would be interested in the items that floor offered. For example the bottom floor is food items, restaurants and home so as such the floor is made to be homely with a real class, encouraging you to sit down in one of the cafe's and enjoy the atmosphere. It happens to be the most affordable floor and as such is on the ground where all shoppers would walk through encouraging all to buy. The music is jazzy Christmas music that is easy to listen to and enjoy. Everything from the simple white decor and festive decorations to the marble like floor compliments the feel of the floor. It is clear that the visual merchandising in the windows is not the only thing Selfridges put 100% effort into. 

As soon as you enter floor two immediately the music changes to chart music where the light is bright to see your face clearly and the workers become far more hands on telling you about deals and asking are you interested in trying a product. I ran from this floor, personally do not enjoy being talked into buying anything and not being allowed to think for myself. It COMPLETE opposition to this you can walk up a floor to the designer section, where the music, workers and decor is minimal allowing each designer to have they're own creative space that affluently displays them and what their label represents. However I found it to be as if they could smell that my purse was empty and could feel their unwelcoming breath on my neck. Although to say that I didn't enjoy being that close and personal to the legends of fashion work would be a lie!

Although Selfridges is not my kind of shop I can appreciate how it would appeal to the majority of shoppers, each floor and section has been carefully thought out to meet the needs of the customer and make their visit enjoyable. It suits all classes, style and age.