I hope you will like this article, do not believe anymore that England (in fact, UK) is an expensive country. If you stay a long time, as I do, and if you have time to visit Malls, Shopping Centers, you can find the most advantageous things for you, regarding price, sizes, etc. Firstly, I will mention that I don’t go to Zara, Mango – they are in Romania too and they have the same prices (but here these prices don’t seem to be so high comparing with their income; this does not happen in Romania). I go to New Look and Marks and Spencer, English brands and here the clothing differs from what we find in Romania at the same brands. I buy from Mark and Spencer when they have big discounts because this brand clothing is expensive.
But let’s take a look, I will tell you what seems to me advantageous 🙂
Primark
For me this Shopping Center seems the most advantageous option, it is huge and you can find everything you need. It has 4 levels: clothing and footwear for men, women and children, home and beauty, accessories, bags, all kind of products. You find all the sizes XS – XL (6-22). With a budget of 50-60 GBP you buy all you need to dress yourself from head to toe. It’s better to go during the discount period, you buy on nothing. For example, a winter coat (here winter is not like in Romania because the temperature is higher, a minimum of + 5 degrees, rarely happens to be colder) is 5 GBP discount price; I bought in June, before going to Romania on holiday, 2 pairs of sandals, very nice and colorful, with a price of 5 GBP/one pair and I wore them all the summer. In UK the discounts are real, not as in Romania where the prices increase before the discount period, and then they put a discount – the result: the price is the same as in the rest of the year. Here you can find discounts all the time, but the great ones are at the end of the season. I am not a fun of the discounts but I go and see what they have in the discount area, it is possible to find nice things at a good price. Primark is the best choice, from my point of view, to do shopping for you, for friends, for home or if you need to buy presents; it is impossible not to find anything interesting and necessary. The prices start from 1 GBP and you find clothing, footwear, everything is necessary for women, younger, sportsmen, ladies, casual, wedding 🙂 , Bimboes 🙂 , all types of jeans, leggings, all the colors (blue, green, brown, black, burgundy) and when I say everything this means truly everything.:) And another important thing for everyone, you should not stay and wait at the fitting rooms, you can take them at home, you see what it fits you and what doesn’t fit you or you don’t like it, you go back and get the money back if you keep the receipt. It’s available 28 days – plus a few days is ok for them, they accept the receipt and you can have the money back. If you pay cash you get money back cash, if you pay by card, you get money back on card. If you don’t have the receipt you can buy something else at about the same value as those you want to return. I love Primark and I suggest you, when you come in UK to visit it, you can find it almost everywhere in UK, even London and you don’t have to spend much money (they have the same prices and goods).
TK Maxx
If you want to buy from famous brands go to TK Maxx; but you loose time, there are many products, old collections, not all the sizes, it seems to me a little better than a SH. I bought 2 blouses but it took me 2 hours to find them and I thought, sincerely, it didn’t deserve. Here, I’ve found ok the cosmetics and the footwear. Talking about cosmetics, you can find good brands at good prices, 50-70% discounts. I buy perfumes and face creams, I am a dependent on creams 🙂 ; you should make a research to be on stage for discounts because the most famous brands are sold immediately (Clarins, Elisabeth Arden, Estee Lauder), people take advantage of discounts. You can find also brand clothing for kids; it looks nice being so small, the clothes are discreet not as those with the brand name written with big letters, to see everybody that our kid wears brand clothing; there are also nice toys starting with books and toys for new born and ending with dolls, kitchens, toy cleaners, all kind of interesting and funny toys.
My recommendation regarding bags and wallets (there are hundreds), footwear, good brand cosmetics and toys is TK Maxx.
plus size clothing
This means up to 64-66. I am not a slim woman; I am so and so, not very fat (during the last months I’ve lost some weight). The first time when I saw them, I wondered how huge they are; there are shops where you can find all the sizes but I’ve found a shop where the clothing runs up to size 46 (16 in UK), the patterns look as those for old women, only a few modern patterns; if you have time you can find nice and special clothing, nice dresses and blouses. I buy blue jeans and T-shirts from Primark; they are cheaper with 20-30% than in this shopping center. If you want big sizes go to Taking Shape (the biggest prices), Yours, Evans. I have found these shops until now and I would recommend. I will make a remark, their sizes fit every time. L or XL is as it should be at all the brands. In Romania, the sizes do not fit, they vary.
special clothing
I have discovered two shops with special/original clothing. It’s a queer style, original cutouts with uneven cuts, some are unique. You don’t always find big sizes (16,18,20 not plus size clothing). From my point of view they are expensive too. But I like to visit these shops only to see their special patterns, although they are expensive. I don’t know its name, I will write a P.S. next time I go shopping. The second one has reasonable prices, I bought a spring jacket last autumn, I thought a lot until I paid it. I also bought a blazer – bolero last days, I liked it very much, with a 25% discount because it is extra season 🙂 . Its name is Dot, a little shop, with special patterns, it is in Cardiff, inside Morgan Arcade or Royal Arcade (I don’t know exactly where is it because the Arcades communicate; but you can find the shop looking at the shop windows – theirs differ than the others).
kids
I have already mentioned for kids Primark and TK Maxx. The first option, from my point of view is Primark. You can find T-shirts with 1.3 GBP (discounts) and trousers, dresses, etc, all at good prices. Those from Disney, Star Wars, Minions brands are a little more expensive. There is also a Disney shop where the prices are bigger, you pay the brand too, but sometimes you can find nice and funny things. Another good brand and shop for kids is Mothercare, they have everything you need for new born and kids, the prices are so and so, not very expensive but of good quality and when I do not find something at Primark I go and buy from Mothercare and Debenhams, a good option for kids clothing and footwear.
I won’t write all my impressions in a sole article, but I’ve tried to show you the essential part of shopping in UK from my point of view. Probably, in future, I will add other new and interesting ideas, depending on what I’ll find out.
If you have questions, don’t hesitate and write to me, I apologize if I cannot answer immediately, I am not familiar with this staff. I try to accommodate and learn quickly, as soon as possible 🙂