My Short Break in Manchester [1]
[2]
[3] [4]
[5] [6]
[7]
Shopping in Manchester
Bags and bags and bags of fabulous clothes, luxury items and sweet
fragrances adorn my arms. I think I look seemingly okay, but when
I catch a glimpse of myself in one of the shop windows, I realise
I look more Bag Lady than Carrie and Co from Sex and the City.
Of course, I have just spent the last glorious six hours happily
trailing through Manchester’s array of shops. As the largest
city in the North West, it has plenty to offer in the way of shopping,
with many different areas to cater for anything and everything you
may want. From highly expensive to ridiculously cheap, Manchester
has it all. And let us not forget either the nearby Trafford Centre,
with its own huge amount of shops. So I had set off to spend a little
retail therapy in the city which at one time used to be a central
figure in the industrial revolution, but now lends its hands more
to shopping.
The Arndale Centre: the shopper’s paradise…
You would
have to be blind or foolish to miss the Arndale Centre in Manchester.
With entrances from Market Street, Wintergardens, Exchange Court
and Halle Square, this gigantic two storey glass precinct, mostly
built of glass, houses around 200 shops, department stores, restaurants
and fast food outlets. I decided that before beginning my shopping
expedition, I’d need a little energy to get me
going: in the way of a huge chocolate chip cookie and an alfresco
coffee from the Millie’s Cookies stall situated on the second
storey of the centre.
Although it suffered from the terrible Manchester
IRA bombing in 1996, Arndale has since restored its original building,
with the new section of the shopping mall opening just recently.
After gaining some ‘cookie’ energy, I made my way to
this new section, which houses, amongst many others, New Look and
River Island. This is one of the largest New Look stores you shall
ever find: plenty of fashionable dresses, tops and the latest stylish
coats and jackets. But as has been for the last couple of years,
it is New Look’s
range of shoes which gives the store its status, and the Arndale
Centre store is like a haven to your foot. Hundreds of pairs of shoes,
from patent and sequinned stiletto heels to flat pumps decorated
with a pretty bow, they are all here. I managed to while away a good
forty minutes trying on every different type of shoe imaginable,
before buying myself a pair of silver platform heels, very on trend.
Moving
over to River Island, this store complements New Look well. If you’re
looking for the perfect dress that you want to wear as both casual
and formal, then River Island is the best place to be. With plenty
of casual/formal dresses, stylish jackets and some slightly more
daring outfits, there is something for everyone here. Again, there
is plenty to find in the shoe department, but I found the fitting
rooms to be the major plus point, with plenty of cubicles and space
to see just how that little black dress fits. The good thing about
River Island and New Look too is that the prices are fairly cheap
and reasonable.
Becoming caught up in the fashion hype, I made my
way down to Miss Selfridge. On a personal note this is one of my
favourite fashion stores, with clothes that are stylish and fashionable
yet have that slight quirky edge on them. There is plenty to find
from a stylish pair of jeans to a colourful skirt, and unlike many
shops whose sales often consist of dozens of hideous pairs of zebra
print skinny jeans with broken zips, Miss Selfridge’s .....
Gallivanting in Alicante >
Gallivanting in Liverpool >
Gallivanting in the Lake District >