Fashion: London vs US

After hearing so much about shopping in London, last week I finally got to see for myself what it is all really about. And let me say, fashion in London is both exhilarating and depressing. Exhilarating because everything is so much more funky, cool and interesting than in the US. Fashion in the US is simply much more plain and casual.

A good example of this is Ella Moss. The clothes they show of Ella Moss in US stores (left) just doesn't do justice to her! At this fabulous store that sells mixed brands called Brown Focus they sold some gorgeous Ella Moss creations that were intricate, innovative and cute (right-although this is perhaps not the best example since Brown's online presentation is not exactly that good).

Then there was of course, one of my favourite brands, Ted Baker London! The store was huge, with 2 floors devoted to men's fashion and one to women. But there were still a LOT more styles and variations than the Ted Baker store in SF. For example, they had the black dress I bought in the SF store in almost 5 different shades. There was also this amazing Stilo dress (above) that fitted me to perfection! Alas, it was £110. . . . so I settled for this funky brown silk polka dot/jersey striped v necked sleeveless top instead. But I am still thinking about Stilo and kicking myself for not getting it.

Even their "cheap" high street stores were great. After oogling at their site for so long, I finally stepped foot into a real top shop store. It was crazy! On the friday afternoon that I was there at the Oxford Street store, it was packed with shopppers trying on and buying all their wonderful, relatively good quality, super trendy clothes, shoes and accessories. But the weird thing is, unlike H&M, the stuff there wasn't even that cheap! Sadly, I had to limit my purchases. . by a lot. I finally DID settle on this cute Chloe lookalike crocheted camisole that was only £16 ~ $30USD (left). Unfortunately, the turnover rate was so high that they'd already ran out of them in size 8 that wasn't foundation/lipstick stained. . . :( I also considered these thongs too. They're simple but cute, perfect for me to traipse around campus in. But again, £36~S70USD for a H&M/Zara quality pair of thongs seemed a bit steep.

So you can see how shopping in London can also be very depressing. Yes they may be prettier, edgier and all, but they are also even more expensive and unaffordable.