showpony

Jan at poppytalk asked me to write a glasgow shopping guide, I thought an excuse to have a good old wander round the shops - hell yes!

so here it is...

Glasgow, Scotland’s largest city boasts some of the best shopping north of London. We have a really wide range of shops; everything from exclusive designer boutiques to locally owned vintage treasure troves.

Although I could never hope to cover all that Glasgow has to offer in the way of shopping I’d like to give a good overview of what you can find here.

Contemporary design shops.
Stocking well known brands such as B&B Italia, Flos and Kartell, Dallas and Dallas (dallasanddallas.com) in the Merchant City is a must for lovers of European contempory furniture and accessories. Goodd, (http://www.good-d.com/) also in the Merchant City, houses a fantastic range of contemporary furniture. The shop has a carefully edited range of furniture, lighting, objects and graphic print editions, which combines important contemporary design work with exciting pieces from new design graduates. More contemporary design and design classics can be found in The Lighthouse shop, (http://www.thelighthouse.co.uk/) Mitchell lane. As well as the shop, the lighthouse, Scotland’s centre for architecture, design and the city, also has regular exhibitions, and events spanning its impressive six floors.

che camille

Independent shops
Away from the high street Glasgow’s independent shopping scene is flourishing, for the fashion conscious Che Camille (checamille.com) is a must, a showroom for independent design, made to measure, and one off items all in a fantastic showroom where you can see the clothes being made.
Also in the city centre, Brazen Jewellery Studios, (brazenstudios.co.uk) founded with the sole intention of investing in the finest creative talent, this boutique is as strikingly designed as the jewellery it houses. The newly revamped Glasgow School of Art shop in Dallhousie Street also supports local talent, with a collection of home wares and accessories from students, staff and graduates of this famous institution.

brazen

Glasgow School of Art Shop

A trip to the West End will reveal a whole raft of exciting shops. Off Byres Road, Cresswell Lane and Ruthven Lane are choc full of independent, gift shops, vintage treasures, little boutiques, and coffee shops as well as a Comme des Garcons Guerrilla store (guerrilla-store.com ).
E&A clothing (eandaclothing.co.uk ) on Queen Margaret Drive stocks lots of handmade treasures including clothing and accessories and is surrounded by intriguing gift shops, coffee shops and K1 yarns, arguably Glasgow’s finest knitting boutique.

K1 yarns

Authentics

Wander along Great Western Road to find vintage clothing in watermelon and Retro. Fabulous antique and retro furniture in Authentics, and of course Timorous Beasties flagship store. (timorousbeasties.com/)

timorous beasties

Other shops not to miss are Clydeside Antiques Centre (my favourite for vintage furniture), the newly opened Harlem on Duke Street, Dennistoun which stocks a range of contemporary design accessories, proving that Dennistoun is indeed blossoming and head over to the south side where shops like butterfly kisses and bowerbird prove that its definitely worth taking the trip.

Craft and small businesses
Glasgow also has a thriving market and craft scene. I’m a proud member of the Glasgow Craft Mafia (www.glasgowcraftmafia.com/) who have regular Handmade Haven markets at Mono - a refreshing mix of handmade, vintage treasures. You can meet the Mafia, browse the stalls and have some lunch and a drink. Other regular markets are Made in the Shade (http://www.myspace.com/wearemadeintheshade) and Sloan’s Market www.sloansmarket.co.uk/ The Craft Mafia website posts details about all up coming markets so check the news section if your planning a visit to Glasgow.

Glasgow Craft Mafia - Market at Mono

If you can’t make it to Glasgow, shop on line at Hannah Zakari (hannahzakari.co.uk) for unique independent design and handcrafted jewelry, stationery and accessories from Glasgow and beyond.

Other online shops and designers based in Glasgow that you have to check out are:
http://shop.merulapie.com/ home wares, gifts and art
http://www.supercutekawaii.com/ sells super cute kawaii – what else?
http://www.pistolwhipvintage.com/ vintage clothing, footwear and accessories
http://www.bebaroque.co.uk/ award winning pattered tights
http://www.dingdongdesigns.com/ you have to see these finger puppets!
www.dazeddorothy.co.uk fabulous leather and suede accessories
www.deepfired.etsy.com handmade ceramics
http://www.clarenicolson.com/ beautiful digitally printed textiles.

The Outnet has arrived! Its a designer outlet site from the team behind Net-A-Porter.com I got an email about it this morning and before I knew it I had a little wish list, thought I'd share it because there's little chance of me actually owning any of these any time soon.