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Walking the streets of Sydney I got thinking about how there’s some UK shops that I really do miss. Don’t get me wrong, Sydney has some fantastic shops, but there’s one thing that saddens me about making purchases in this city – I miss the couture of Europe and I miss my favourite shops from the UK.
Something had to be done for those of us that long for the shops of the northern hemisphere, so I’ve taken one for the team and developed a list of Sydney shops that can be substituted for your favourites back home:
If you miss Primark: Sadly there is no shop that I know of in Australia where you can buy a cardigan for £2 or a pair of jeans for £5. The closest we’ve got would be Target or K-Mart. Slightly more expensive but just as dodgy, these massive shops are to be found in Broadway Shopping Centre (just outside the city). On the other hand if what you love is the claustrophobic feeling you can only get at Primark on a Saturday afternoon as one thousand people scramble for cheap leggings, scratching each other and throwing mountains of clothing on the floor, Target and K-Mart are probably not for you.
If you miss M&S: We’ve got two big department stores in Sydney – Myer and David Jones. Myer’s prices are probably closer to Marks and Spencer‘s because David Jones is full of designer wear (and electric toothbrushes that cost $200). But if you want an M&S style food experience the David Jones Food Hall is definitely the way to go.
If you miss Top Shop: You’re in luck! As of last year Top Shop totally exists on Oxford St (the Sydney one I promise). If you can’t be bothered walking all the way down Oxford St, there’s also a bunch of stuff on level 4 of Myer that looks like you could have found it in Top Shop (in fact one of my friends told me that Myer stocks one of the brands Top Shop sells, although it’s way more expensive).
If you miss River Island: Personally, I feel like River Island provides a cool mix of “so normal it isn’t that normal” and “I just arbitrarily threw this on and look amazing”. Stuff akin to this hangs on the racks of Sportsgirl, which lives on Oxford St. Unfortunately there is no Sportsboy, but Just Jeans and Jeans West are sometimes okay for shirts and the like.
If you miss H&M: Join the club. I miss H&M with every fibre of my being. Sometimes I sit in a corner of my room browsing the online catalogue and dreaming of what might have been. Once I found a dress I really wanted so I drew a picture of myself wearing it and uploaded it to facebook. So believe me when I say there is no H&M in Australia. There are at least 3 on Rue de Rivoli in Paris. There are more than 10 in London. Someone told me there is one in Israel, but apparently Australia just isn’t worthy. So I get my H&M fix from a mixture of Cotton On and Chicabooti (both in World Square).
On the other hand you do have one other option: accept your location and embrace Sydney shopping. If you stop trying to be in Europe you’ll find heaps of rad surf shops and neat Aussie fashion. The shops here are cool in their own right…
