In praise of shopping IRL

Why it's still worth setting foot in an actual shop.

I only made it into a clothes shop once in the final year of my last job – and that was because I had spilled coffee on my top and I had a board dinner later that night. This was because I was very busy, but also because, aside from supermarkets, shops in Sydney tend to close between 5pm and 6pm except on Thursdays… when they close a whole hour later. These opening hours are not designed to enable people who work during the day to go shopping during the week if they even work normal hours – let alone conducive for someone who was working most weekends too.

I still don’t have time to go to the shops now, even though I work fewer hours. However, on those rare occasions when I have taken time off work to be able to step inside a shop, I’ve been surprised to find other customers there. Who were these people? Had they also taken a day off to go shopping? On closer inspection, I discovered they fell into two groups: students, and Ladies Who Lunch.

Given these demographics constitute their in-person market, increasingly shops are catering for these students and people who don’t need to work. This means they preference street style and high fashion clothing rather than professional wear. This then becomes a perpetuating cycle: the shops don’t sell the clothes people who work need because these are not the people who have time to go shopping. And because shops don’t sell the clothes we need, even if we did find time to take a day off, we wouldn’t find what we were looking for, which is what happened to me.

Because of this, I mostly shop online for clothes and beauty.

In the few recent times that I have been able to get to a shop (on the weekend which still feels like a major achievement) I’ve also been struck by how slapdash the presentation of many of these shops now is, particularly concessions in department stores. On a recent trip to David Jones, Bianca Spender’s concession was a sole beacon of well lit and well pressed loveliness in what was otherwise best described as an ‘early-2000’s jumble sale’ aesthetic (this is not just a dig at David Jones, the sad state of affairs is not unique to Australian department stores, it’s similar in the UK). Frankly, I’m amazed the Ladies Who Lunch put up with it. Just buy a steamer, DJs.

So it may surprise you that I still recommend shopping in real life when you get the chance – just not in department stores (the exception to this, as with so many other things, is Japan, who elevate department stores to an art form). There’s an art to it, though – and I’ll set that out below.

So put on your walking shoes and take that day off (or make time for yourself on a weekend), and hit the shops…

WithPockets X

1. Go to the source

Firstly, if you have a choice and don’t live in the country, it’s always worth going to the actual store of your brand of choice. And if you’re not sure what your brand of choice is, the store will give you a good idea of the kind of aesthetic they have and whether it matches your personal taste. Viktoria and Woods’ shop is light wood and eco-friendly, Farage has dark wood and polished steel, Karen Gee’s store in the Strand Arcade has heavy drapes and is quiet and private. The fit out of the store often tells you more about the style of the clothes and the kind of person they’re for than the brand website.

I know a lot of people find it intimidating to go into a store and walk around if you’re the only one there and there are three shop assistants on duty. My advice is to engage the shop assistants in conversation early on. A good shop assistant will know all about the clothes – how easy they are to maintain, what the fabric is and where it comes from. If they get a feel for what you like, they can suggest other outfits you might not have noticed. Someone who is bad at their job will just tell you everything looks great, a good shop assistant will find you something that looks better.

The exception to this rule is concept stores (i.e. not a department store, but not just selling one brand), like Browns in South Molton Street in London. Browns Fashion is high-end but unlike those Chanel stores you get in Westfield, it actually feels like a high-end shopping experience. They give you bubbles, there’s a dedicated staff member allocated to you and a couch for you to park any accompanying friend or partner (they also get wine and nibbles). It’s basically personal shopping without the need to book. I bought my wedding dress in the sale at Brown’s (sage green Ric Owens – don’t judge me) and it was honestly one of the best shopping experiences of my life.

Tip 1 – Save time and shop in clusters

The advantage of a department store used to be that you could look at multiple brands in one go (the disadvantage now is that frequently they don’t have the full range available anyway, half the time they just tell you what you want is “in the Bondi Junction store”). So when I shop, I generally go to a ‘specialist’ high street where the clothing stores of a similar kind clustered together. For example, in London these can be found in or near Royal Exchange and Liverpool St Station, Knightsbridge, South Molton Street, Westbourne Grove and Dover Street Market (the Kings Road is not what it was and no one local actually shops in Notting Hill Market).

2. You can feel the fabric and see the quality (or lack thereof…)

Ever had the experience of buying something online and when it arrives it isn’t as good as you’d hoped? If you shop in a store, you can see the stitching. On a recent trip to Oroton I manhandled a shirt and it was so smooth and soft I had to check the label to make sure it was cotton. I wouldn’t have guessed that from the image online.

Conversely, by going into a shop I discovered that this Vince silk shirt ($565) ) was astonishingly expensive considering the quality. Vince silk shirts are the shirt of choice on a lot of movies and TV shows right now, but, as with many theatrical costumes, what looks good under stage lighting can be, in the cold light of day, a clever trick.

Also, if you visit a shop and notice they have a lot of creased clothes on display this gives you a very good idea of how hard it will be for you, the busy customer, to maintain that outfit. If I’m going to need to spend $500 a year on dry cleaning to ensure that shirt keeps its shape, I’m not buying it.

3. You get the right size – and you get it now

Online shopping Is great, but who has time to go to the post office if it doesn’t fit? (in fairness, I have been the beneficiary of this tragedy many times on eBay, see my previous article on second-hand shopping tactics) If you go to a shop you can see what size you are in that brand (which may be entirely different in that brand compared to another brand you like because sizing is not universally standardised).

Also, when you walk out of a shop having made a purchase, it’s yours right away. You don’t need to wait up to 3 weeks for it to arrive only to have it stolen off the porch (OK this one is an Australian thing. If you buy a suit in London, Dubai or New York often you can get it delivered same day).

Tip 2 - Ask for a non-display item

Don’t feel pressured to buy the one on the hanger if you don’t have to (how many people have tried it on? Are you going to pay to have it dry cleaned before you even wear it?)

Remember: you can always try on the clothes in the shop to get a sense of the size, fit, and fabric quality and then buy it online when the sales are on…

Do you prefer shopping in-person? And, if so, how do you manage to find the time to set foot in a shop? Let us know…