BACK LIST
Street, 552 8640. Mon—Sat 10am-5pm. Owner Peter McGraith describes his newly-redesigned shop as a ‘tranquil aluminium cavern.’ As well as his off-the-peg collection, he features a couture service for his own brand of extravagant evening wear. And the look? ‘Wacky but tailored‘. His designs can be seen in action at the 1987 Glasgow Style.
0 Bait Modes 7 Wilson Street , 552 3232. Mon—Sat llam—6pm. While still concentrating on the sexy, stretchy, clubbing clothes, Bait now stock casualwear by Pamplemousse and Near at very competitive prices. Exclusive lines of jewellery include handmade earrings by local designer, Cath Lair and striking deco pieces by Pure Fab. Also extremely tasteless greeting cards.
0 Miss Sellridge 83 Sauchiehall Street, 331 2420. Mon-Wed
9am—5 . 30pm ; Thurs 9am-7.30pm; Fri/Sat 9am—6pm. Also 27/29 Argyle Street, 552 2996. Mon/Wed 9am-5.30pm; Tue 9.30am—5 . 30pm; Thurs 9am—6.30pm; Fri/Sat 9am—6pm; Sun 11am—5pm. Almost impossible to enter Miss Selfridge without buying something. The fact that it self-destructs after two wearings never seems a deterrent. Their spies and production lines must be something else - they have copies of designer gaments on the rails within weeks of their appearance at the major trade shows. It must be enough to drive any self-respecting artist to drink, no matter what Karl Lagerfeld says about imitation.
0 Flip oi liollywood 72 Queen Street, 2212041. Mon-Wed 10am-5 . 30pm; Thurs/Fri 10am—5.45pm; Sat 9.30am—5 .45pm. Haunt of the flat-top brigade, practically all of whom seem to be in a band. Vast and crammed with secondhand American clothing, plus terrific own brand denim jackets and the apparently essential black satin bomber. Accessories: sunglasses, bootlace ties, badges and a nice range of shoes— Doc Martens, brothel creepers and cowboy boots. Not as cheap as they were, but still good value.
0 Cruise for Women 172 Ingram Street, 552 0034. Mon-Fri 10am—6pm; Sat 9.30am-6pm. Converted bank, now airy, spacious, coolly seductive store, stocking designer clothes from London and the Continent. Body Map and Nik Coleman among the
better-knan labels, with Mathilde from France and Soap Studio from Holland. Quirky, mega-cropped denim jackets, hats by Viv Knowland and delicious sculpted crocodile shoes by Emma Hape. From about £40 to £250.
0 Cruise for Men 39 Renfield Street, 248 2476. Mon—Fri 10am—6pm; Sat 9.30am—6pm. The shop forArmani, boys. Also a number of lesser-known but inevitably ultra-sharp Italian labels, and Chevignon from France. 0 Shock 33 Virginia Street , 552 1643. Absolutely anything at all made to measure. Ladies and gents wear, suits, ballgowns, shirts, jackets- whatever. Shock pride themselves on their personal attention and professional finish, and even the most detailed garment in pure new wool would be unlikely to cost more than £150.
EDINBURGH SHOPS
0 Comiche 2 Jeffrey
- Street, 556 3707. Mon—Sat
10am—5.30pm. The A-Team of fashion are assembled here — Kenzo, Katherine Hamnett, Willi Wear and Sarah Sturgeon , all exclusive to Edinburgh. The tone is deep-pile luxury and it doesn‘t come cheap - a Katherine Hamnett black
silk parka for example will ,
set you back £257 and a wonderful chunky Eric Beamon necklace about £180 — but it is stylish. There are also fine leather Joe Orton-style peaked caps by Andrew Wilkie £44, or £30/35 in felt and some much cheaper lines in jewellery, like Atelier with earrings at less than £10. 0 The Edinburgh Campus 42 Grassmarket, 226 5564. Mon-Fri 9.30am-5 .30pm; Sat 9.30am-6pm. The layout of this shop is a wonderful anachronism in an age where the designed interior seems to be all. The walls are black with red and gilt trimmings, and the lighting comes from deeply fringed Edwardian brass lampshades. The effect is wonderfully period , and though it is the shop’s proud boast that little has been changed since the premises belonged to a Victorian bank , it now seems to be a far cry from bank clerks and foreign trading. The clothes are smart, classic and fairly pricey (Harris Tweed pinafore £89.50, tammy £29) and their designers include Jean Muir, Hardy Amies, Aimes, Hourihan,
Louis Feraud and Ginocchietti many of whom are exclusive to Edinburgh. Other shops in Glasgow and Oxford.
0 Next Currently the marketing success story of the High Street, Next is up-beat fashion shopping in a carefully controlled environment. The polished wooden floor, front-facing rails and spacious layout all conspire to evoke an impression that is urbane, chic and fashionably classic. It’s easy to knock it and its corporate image isn’t everyone‘s cup of tea, but the clothes are beautifully finished, finely detailed and very reasonably priced and the service is first class.
0 Too 1 13 Princes Street, 2201856. Mon/Wed 9.30am—5.30pm; Tue/Fri 9am—5.30pm; Thurs 9am—7pm; Sat 9am—6pm. Next for the under 305 (women‘s clothes only) before they graduate onto the timeless ‘mature woman‘ classic style of Next Ladies. lt‘s directional, trendy and up-market and the current look is pre-war. shortish skirts, knee-high socks and flat Doc Marten shoes, with swept back hair, bright red lips.
0 Next Man 14—16 Frederick Street, 225 2462. Mon/Tue 9.30am-5.30pm; Wed/ Fri 9am—5.30pm; Thurs 9am—7pm; Sat 9am—6pm. Also within 119/120b Princes Street. Choose from looks which include ‘Baltic Defector‘ - heavy chunky knitwear, baggy padded jackets; ‘English Country Gent’ - jackets with big checks and heavy cords in brown, green and rust; ‘Trans European Man‘ - fleeced black denim jacket with suede collar £45 or black leather and knit cardigan/ jacket with embroidered motif; and ‘Watching the Detectives‘ — trenchcoats, dinner suits.
0 Next Ladies 119/120b Princes Street, 226 2948. Mon/Wed 9.30am- 5.30pm; Tue/Fri 9am—5.30pm; Thurs 9am—7pm; Sat 9am—6pm. Coco Chanel is the inspiration for theseason. It’s either a Fifties’ glamour look, very classic with lots of black and brown, or her less well known English country rose style with camel, tweed, flat shoes, pale face and red lips.
0 Next Boys 8 Girls 14-16 Frederick Street, 225 2462. Mon/Tue 9.30am—5.30pm; Wed/Fri 9am-5 . 30pm; Thurs 9am-7pm; Sat 9am—6pm. Newly opened shop with a collection for boys and girls from the age of 12 down to 2.
O flleei 2 Hunter Square, 225 9359. Mon-Sat gem—6pm; Thurs %7.30pm. The feel of the shop with its hessian walls, polished timber ‘ car and wooden fittings, lithe groomed American wboy, spruced up,
I lished and redesigned 1b emerge in suede and sheepskin fleeced jackets, £170. Also sells Kickers and Timberland shoes (£35.99 and £100 respectively) jeans (£23.50—£40) and chino cotton trousers (£22.50—40). Emphasisis on good quality, rather than fashion and though current ranges are all casual, smarter dressier lines are due in shortly. Mens clothes only but also lots of stylish design-consious accessories like Braun calculators, Durabeam torches, zippo lighters. Blueprint, the design magazine and Sekonda watches.
0 Smiths Menswear 124 High Street, 225 5927 and 101 Lothian Road, 228 2468. Mon-Sat 9.30am—6pm; Thurs 9.30am-8pm; Sun Noon—4.30pm. Also younger, more casual fashion at Smith’s Arena Menswear 2 Nicolson Street, 557 0338 and 23 Bread Street, 228 1118. Mon-Sat 9.30am—6pm; Thurs 9.30am—8pm. Smart, Oxbridge type clothes with excellent range of shirts, knitwear and Rodi Italian shoes. Guaranteed warmth from their large selection of Ciao jackets, something like a sort of thick and chunky Barbour, £135—£175.
0 Lady Tramp 98 West Bow, 226 7460. Mon-Sat 10.30am-5.30pm. Beyond the delicious-looking windows, all Victorian gas lights and old lace, is a surprisingly wide range of stylish clothes from luxury ball gowns to white tennis cotton shorts (£15 on the sale rail) and reasonably priced smart daywear. Ladies clothes only.
0 Miss Selfrldge 13/21 Hanover Street, 220 1209. Knitwear - dressers, jumpers and Fair Isle minis are much in vogue , plus lots of tartan and Spanish-type fiounces. They also have a bargain rail labelled Regrets- hopefully theirs not yours. 0 Top Shop 30-31 Princes Street, 556 0151. Mon—Sat 9am-5.30pm; Thurs 9—7.30pm. Also in the Basement of Debenhams, 109/112 Princes Street. No spacious layout here , but there are still many bargains to be had in popular wearable everyday clothes.
0 Eight Silhouettes 8 St Mary’s Street, 556 5069.
Mon—Sat loath—6pm. If you’re tired of the High Street chain stores and want to know where the new designers are, look no further. This is a new and bold venture giving space for eight different designers to operate his/her own self-contained business within the one shop. There is furniture, some excellent jewellery, fine leather jackets, hats and knitwear and what‘s this, £18 for a black leather filofax-style wallet? Can‘t be bad.
0 Sheepish Loolts 66The Grassmarket , 225 3249. Mon—Sat 10am—5 .30pm. After ten years in first craft and then fashion knitting, Bill Baber‘s philosophy about his designs is ‘if you can‘t protect it, change it‘. In the face of so much factory-produced competition he has made a virtue of necessity and specialises in styles and patterns the factories can‘t copy. Every garment is made up on machines by some 50 home-based knitters and each one is different. The range includes very colourful jumpers, cardigans and coats £45—£120 and all are made up in Shetland quality hard wearing wool.
0 Cruise Clothes 116a Rose Street, 225 4105. Mon-Fri 10am—6pm; Sat 6.30am—6pm; late night Thurs 7pm. Mens clothes only. The original Cruise shop which now has several shops, including Cruise Women, in Glasgow. Their style is very distinctive - classic, good quality, no graphics and with the emphasis on classic Italian-style chic. Colours for the season are ‘military desert‘ ie stone, biege, khaki and navy. Cotton trousers £32.50-£65, Shirts £32.50-£70 depending on fabric, suits £275—330, shoes average £4S-£62.50. Also sells various accessories like watches £17.95—£45 , hip flasks, filofaxes. H0pe to re-open a ladies' shop in the spring.
0 The Ivy League 41 West Nicolson Street, 667 8200. Mon-Sat 10am-6pm. The shop changed ownership recently but still continues its philosophy of selling work by a wide variety of young mainly Scottish designers. It aims to keep its prices low - day dresses from £25, ballgowns from £60—£80 as it’s a starting point for many designers. They are also always on the look out for new talent if there are any imaginative new designers out there. Men’s and women's clothes, hats, shoes and jewellery. 10% student discount.
0 Flip at Hollywood 60—62 South Bridge, 5564966. Mon/Wed 10am—5.30pm; Thurs 10.30am—6. 15pm; Fri 10am—5.45pm;
Sat 9.30am-5 .45pm. A well-established fashion haunt selling new and old American nostalgia — ‘Vintage 5015 for £3.95— whose prices are still " among the best anywhere.
SECONDHAND 0 Echo 26 St Mary‘s Street, ' 557 2686. Mon—Sat 12.30-5.30pm. An attractive honey-toned shop specialising in secondhand clothes (naval jackets, evening dresses and dayclothes) and very stylish period jewellery. One of many secondhand clothes shops in Edinburgh which has re-thought its image and done away with the grubby, jumble sale type rummage. Instead everything is freshly washed and ironed and there there is ample space and full length mirrors in its pleasant changing rooms. Well worth a trip. 0 Caplan Ltd 20 St Mary‘s Street, 557 2399. You would be forgiven for assuming Caplan was a contemporary fashion store with its trestle tables and minimalist design. In fact it sells mainly secondhand cothes and accessories with a sprinkling of modern stock. Though it’s slightly more expensive than you might expect for secondhand clothes, everything is chosen for quality aspects of tailoring like the cut, finish and detail.
0 Amorino St Mary’s Street. Good, reasonably priced everyday secondhand clothes with the emphasis on the Fifties and Sixties.
o The Look St Stephen Street. Don‘t lash out on a new morning suit, tails, waistcoat, dinner jacket, collarless shirt before you’ve tried The Look who have a good secondhand collection. Also everyday clothes jumpers, skirts, and good winter coats for men and women.
0 Maggles St Stephen Street. All aspects of secondhand clothes from nighties to coats to Fair Isle jumpers, and very good it is too.
MATERIALS
0 Cloth Shop 24 Craighall Road, 552 8818. If every time you find something you like you think you can make it yourself, The Cloth Shop is the best place for the material. An excellent range of stock includes a good range of wool and cotton tartan and tweeds.
42 The List 30 Oct - 12 Nov