Last weekend I was so ready to spend plenty of time shopping in PARIS! I couldn't wait. The first full day spent there, my friends and I walked around and came to shops such as Chanel, Dior, and Versace to name a few. Yeah... way out of my price range.
On the streets everyone wore black, it was worse than in London. I spotted some younger girls wearing fun street fashion, but it was kind of rare in all honesty.
After my observations, I realized that the people of Paris are classic, staple item sort of people. Not really what I was expecting.
This made me realize that there is a huge difference, that I was not aware of, between London and Paris fashion.
In London, shopping is a lot easier to access for people of all price ranges. On one end of the spectrum is Primark that offers dirt cheap clothing that is not necessarily going to last you very long and then there is Harrods which offers all high end designers. In between there are MANY stores offering different styles, brands, and target customers.
In Paris, there are high end designer stores, big department stores (like Harrods), and that is about it. We were talking to some friends from Paris and they told us that if we want to go shopping to visit this one department store which they claimed to be excellent. Upon our arrival, our first glance was "Hey, this looks like a great place," but once we actually looked around, we realized that this is just a department store with high end designers in different sections. It made me think: does the young crowd of Paris really think that "average" clothing consists of Vivian Westwood and Chloe?
Another difference is that in London, certain areas are designated to be shopping streets such as Oxford Circus and Piccadilly Circus and all different stores can be found on these roads. In Paris, there are areas called Operas which are their shopping districts but still the clothing is for customers willing to pay higher prices.
I could be wrong though, maybe shopping is just more difficult to spot in Paris.
Either way, I would much rather go shopping in London being a twenty year old woman who loves shopping.
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Monday, February 9, 2009
Rain
I was told by everyone that London is the place for rain. I didn't really believe this statement until I actually saw it with my own two eyes. I was definitely not prepared, mostly because I didn't want to be. I'm not a rain person, and as of now, will never be.
So, with rain falling about every other day, I have finally figured out that I need to invest in some rain boots. This came to me today after walking for about two hours in sopping wet oxfords, which in turn, put me in a sour mood.
Looking around at everyone else dry booted feet, I realized that not many people wear actual rain boots. Most shoes I noticed on a rainy day were either calf height leather boots, hiking boots, or stilettos (which is not uncommon for any weather here because I saw some lady wearing four inch heels when London had their biggest snow in eighteen years).
I decided to invest in a nice pair of boots, ones that will last literally forever. I chose to hunt for Hunter boots. This came about from when I was back home in Indy. My Mom and I were in Nordstroms looking for good shoes that can get wet in preparation for the London rains (which obviously didn't work out well). We saw the table of rain boots. I couldn't see myself wearing any of the styles.... at all. They were all so plain, chunky, and odd. We looked at Hunter and Sperry mostly. Then we got into a conversation with the lady helping us about Hunter boots being from the UK. They originated in Scotland but have a huge client base in London these days.
Well, once I had to deal with this terrible rain, I decided WHO CARES WHAT THEY LOOK LIKE, I'M SICK OF HAVING SOPPING WET FEET! My search for Hunters began since, well, they originated from this area!
I went into sooo many stores to find my perfect match. I saw red, but I have a red coat, saw green, but I felt like I was in the army, saw brown, but I already have a pair of tall brown boots. This was a lot more difficult than I had expected it to be. I seriously went into at least eight stores. The last stop was Harrods. I found Hunter heaven!
BUT, to my luck, the only colors they had in my size were green and pink (which I never wear). Obviously someone is buying these shoes if they don't have any sizes! I hope people don't just wear them around their garden, because I have not seen one person on the streets with Hunter rain boots on. I will be the one to change that though, when I end up finding the black originals.
So, with rain falling about every other day, I have finally figured out that I need to invest in some rain boots. This came to me today after walking for about two hours in sopping wet oxfords, which in turn, put me in a sour mood.
Looking around at everyone else dry booted feet, I realized that not many people wear actual rain boots. Most shoes I noticed on a rainy day were either calf height leather boots, hiking boots, or stilettos (which is not uncommon for any weather here because I saw some lady wearing four inch heels when London had their biggest snow in eighteen years).
I decided to invest in a nice pair of boots, ones that will last literally forever. I chose to hunt for Hunter boots. This came about from when I was back home in Indy. My Mom and I were in Nordstroms looking for good shoes that can get wet in preparation for the London rains (which obviously didn't work out well). We saw the table of rain boots. I couldn't see myself wearing any of the styles.... at all. They were all so plain, chunky, and odd. We looked at Hunter and Sperry mostly. Then we got into a conversation with the lady helping us about Hunter boots being from the UK. They originated in Scotland but have a huge client base in London these days.
Well, once I had to deal with this terrible rain, I decided WHO CARES WHAT THEY LOOK LIKE, I'M SICK OF HAVING SOPPING WET FEET! My search for Hunters began since, well, they originated from this area!
I went into sooo many stores to find my perfect match. I saw red, but I have a red coat, saw green, but I felt like I was in the army, saw brown, but I already have a pair of tall brown boots. This was a lot more difficult than I had expected it to be. I seriously went into at least eight stores. The last stop was Harrods. I found Hunter heaven!
BUT, to my luck, the only colors they had in my size were green and pink (which I never wear). Obviously someone is buying these shoes if they don't have any sizes! I hope people don't just wear them around their garden, because I have not seen one person on the streets with Hunter rain boots on. I will be the one to change that though, when I end up finding the black originals.
Sunday, February 1, 2009
Week One
From the moment I arrived in London, I was in search of one thing: shoes. I have a pair of boots that physically look dead. They have numerous rips, salt stains, and discoloration. I am in dire need of new ones, but I refuse to throw them away until I find ones that look similar.
So, in my search, I have been constantly looking at shoes. On people’s feet, in stores, and in magazines, shoes in London have similarities and differences than the average shoe found in the United States.
In general, when looking about different streets, the citizen’s dress in a more business casual way compared to the average US citizen. Calf length, black leather boots, black trench coats, black opaque tights, and high waisted skirts dominate the traditional everyday wear for women. Black is a standard color for men and women. When I was on the bus heading to the flat, the frequency of black coats was the first thing I really noticed.
Shoe wise, boots are a staple shoe for all women. Boots that end right below the knee are very popular. Colors range from white, browns, gray, and black being dominant. Buckles, shoestrings, zippers, studs, eyelets, fringe, and ribbon add a little personalization to each shoe. Looking around stores such as TopShop, New Look, and Office’s new arrivals for the spring season, oxford shoes seem to be the next hot item. Styles with heels, tassels, flats, boots, stings, blacks, reds, and grays are found at these stores. Prices for these shoes very from 20 to 120 pounds.
So far, I have had no luck on my mission of finding new suede gray boots unfortunately. The winter season’s sales are now ending quickly, but spring boots are still being put on the rack. Hopefully in the next weeks someplace will be selling the perfect boots to replace my dead lifeless ones.
So, in my search, I have been constantly looking at shoes. On people’s feet, in stores, and in magazines, shoes in London have similarities and differences than the average shoe found in the United States.
In general, when looking about different streets, the citizen’s dress in a more business casual way compared to the average US citizen. Calf length, black leather boots, black trench coats, black opaque tights, and high waisted skirts dominate the traditional everyday wear for women. Black is a standard color for men and women. When I was on the bus heading to the flat, the frequency of black coats was the first thing I really noticed.
Shoe wise, boots are a staple shoe for all women. Boots that end right below the knee are very popular. Colors range from white, browns, gray, and black being dominant. Buckles, shoestrings, zippers, studs, eyelets, fringe, and ribbon add a little personalization to each shoe. Looking around stores such as TopShop, New Look, and Office’s new arrivals for the spring season, oxford shoes seem to be the next hot item. Styles with heels, tassels, flats, boots, stings, blacks, reds, and grays are found at these stores. Prices for these shoes very from 20 to 120 pounds.
(all from TopShop)
To go along with this type of menswear shoe, the hareem pant would work well. (Also found at TopShop).
This pant has been found in many of the Spring Collections found in stores along Oxford Street. It comes mostly in gray, black, tan, sweat pant and dress pant for any occasion. I have seen few people wearing this style. One woman was wearing the business casual side of the hareem pant with boots and a trench coat. Another was wearing the casual side as a red cotton material with high-top tennis shoes. Both ensembles were both cute and daring, being it nicknamed the "Hammer Pants".
This pant has been found in many of the Spring Collections found in stores along Oxford Street. It comes mostly in gray, black, tan, sweat pant and dress pant for any occasion. I have seen few people wearing this style. One woman was wearing the business casual side of the hareem pant with boots and a trench coat. Another was wearing the casual side as a red cotton material with high-top tennis shoes. Both ensembles were both cute and daring, being it nicknamed the "Hammer Pants".
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
