The Designer Warehouse is one of my favourite London discoveries…read more Not far from my home, and just off Seven Sisters road is a monthly sale for designer clothes - having heard from it from a colleague, I didn't really know what to expect. It was great and would definitely recommend giving it a visit. When getting to the warehouse, you have to leave your bag and coat (including your phone) in a cloakroom, and may a small fee of £3 (or 2?) to be able to get in. The sale is over 2 floors, and organised by designers - some are really well known, some are smaller names I've never heard of. It's not a posh environment, it's just rows and rows of clothes on hangers - and you have to take the time to go through them to find the gems, and also your size. There aren't any changing rooms, but there is an area where you can go and try them on at the back of the venue - it's closed off to men, but you do have to accept getting changed in front of other women. I am myself a massive fan of Vivienne Westood, and this was also the opportunity for me to try on a few pieces of her clothes - and yes, I did cave in and buy a top (1/3 of the original price) and a scarf. Good to know: they separate their sales between womanswear and menswear - their schedule is updated on their website.

From the owner: Named "The Best Designer Discount" outlet in London by the Independent on Sunday, by Time Out as…read more"one of the Ten Best Reasons for living in London", and by Elle "a Top Twenty favourite shopping spot", the Designer Warehouse Sales have established themselves as one of the foremost destination venues for fashion lovers. With more award winning designer labels housed under one roof than at any other outlet in the country - including high style retailers Selfridges and Harvey Nichols - DWS provide fashion lovers with the best of designerwear at the lowest of possible prices. Held over three packed days, twelvetimes a year, these Sales offer customers catwalk one-offs, showroom samples and cancelled orders from the pick of the current seasons collections. Expect reductions of 60% or more on the rails of clothes packed into spacious studios in London, outside the Congestion Zone.

I have an inexplicable soft spot for this store. I find the stuff here to be not great quality, and…read moreless hip than your grandma's closet. Yet, there is something endearing about Chris and Nicki. This shop is completely behind the times, sells no labels, just clothing that looks sort of religious and cheap handbags. This store has also a small children's section. I am rooting for this shop because it is so blissfully unware of any sort of hipness. It is refreshing. I like the cheese factor. I don't know if this store will last longer than the current generation shopping in it (probably older folks). It makes me feel soft though, reminds me of Grandma in Brooklyn on 86th street.

I shouldn't like leather. I do like it though. I have guilt for liking it and I'm not sure I would…read morebuy it new. City Leathers is tempting however. City Leathers makes leather handbags, shoulder bags and jackets. There's a man at the back altering the hides in his work room. I saw leather handbags here (Italian Leather) for 19.00, which is not bad. A shoulder briefcase will cost you about 70 pounds. There is a good selection of leather coats for men and women and one can be yours for a little over 100 pounds. Leather is hot. I'm still grappling with the issue.

Not a lot to say here. They replaced my watch strap with a decent quality one at a reasonable…read moreprice. I didn't have the watch on me at the time but they were fine with letting me return a few days later for them to fit it for me. I'll go back for another watch strap when I need one :)

I want to live here. I want to curl up amongst the squirrel T shirts and Alice in Wonderland…read moredresses and nap for a while. I would then wake, bright eyed and bushy tailed ready to face the world again. I should have never have popped my head in here. They sell a variety of designers that make drool form in my mouth and trickle down my chinny chin chin. One of these is Eley Kishimoto, swoon. Seriously, I actually had to be dragged out the shop. Even with my zero budget I almost fooled myself that I needed something from here. Just a bag, a tiny bag. My bank would not even notice... would it?! I want all my Chanuka pressies from here. Just saying, in case you were thinking of buying me something. Get. It. From. Here.

What a great stor! A good mix of brands, including the own brand Sefton range. Found my fiancé a…read moregreat mac! Staff are amazing and couldn't do enough for me! Will defiantly be coming back.

This branch of Choice Travel and Fashion is not a fabulous as the one in Finchley. I think the…read morehandbags in here are sub par. The prices are similar to Finchley but the bags are more cheap looking with too many rhinestones on them. You can get a bag for 14.00-20.00 pounds. Choice Holloway also sells disabled badge covers in leather for 5.00 and the Pro Sport Le Sportsac Knock Off Range. There were some bags here on sale for 5 pounds but I am not really that impressed with this branch of Choice. I'll stick with Finchley (a 5 star review in bag quality/value).

There are an impressive amount of bags here for perusing, although be warned, avoiding the…read moreattention of the sales assistant is impossible. They can be pushy, but if you just let them say their piece, they'll eventually wander back behind their counter. From rucksacks to luggage cases all at lower end competitive prices, you'd be forgiven for thinking everything here is bordering on a steal. There are some very nice fashionable looking items in this store. Something just doesn't resonate with me though. Maybe I am being harsh, but I do not trust the quality. More often than not you get what you pay for. The prices here definitely undercut the high street. Yet nobody sells for less unless they have to. On close inspection a few of the bags I've been interested in had small holes or loose threading to the straps. if you buy cheap, you get cheap, but if you want cheap, this shop is great. If you are looking for a bargain or something you want to throw about, then this store is a good option when you don't want to break the bank.

This is a Toys R Us for adults! I went on the hunt today for mini cup cake liners and went in my…read morelocal bakery to ask where I should go. Head straight to the source was my thoughts. My baker lady said, "Party Party, just in Dalston market" so off I trotted. As I approached this vast store firstly I was shocked that I have lived here for 3 years and never actually seen this magical place. Down stairs as you walk in you are greeted by sales staff in themed waist coats, this time of year they have pumpkins all over them. The head fella wears a fez - that automatically gave these guys an extra star, it's not often I get sound advice from a fez but this guy knew his stuff. Downstairs there is this wonderful area filled with party accessories, from balloons to costumes (pretty basic but good value for money) and hats, masks, tinsel, tablecloths, candles the lot! But this wasn't the best of it... anyone who loves to bake needs to come here. Upstairs hidden away is a shop that sells cake accessories, from cutters, to edible glue, to silver balls, cake stands, plastic bride and grooms and more. I was in a rush and only meant to spend a few minutes picking up the liners but walked out with 2 silver cake trays, silver edible balls , cake liners, vanilla extra and icing caps. I want to go back and buy more right now. If you are making a cake, you must spot by here, it's everything you need all under one roof!

This place is for all the celebrations, birthday, wedding, anniversary, christening, holy comunion,…read moreballoons, banners, beautiful cakes that you can order and every thing you need for craft. Their balloons are absolutely unique, I didn't see the models anywhere else. The staff is very patient when you have to try or open the different items to see how it will look after.

The last time I was at Ooh La La, I fell in love with a Victorian, mint green, children's frock…read morecoat. This is the caliber of stuff we are talking about here; the kind of thing usually seen in stuffy museums, irritatingly in untouchable glass cases. To be fair I couldn't touch this either because it was hanging up on the wall and I didn't ask to get it down because I couldn't afford it. When I can though, I'll go back in the hope it's still there because teamed with skinny jeans and some Westwood heels it's got New Years Eve outfit written all over it. Ooh La La is an antiques store hired out by various magpies who I imagine would do a pretty good job if they went on daytime TV gem, Antiques Roadshow. It's bursting at the seams with oodles and whatsits and gizmos galore, definitely enough to rival The Little Mermaid's collection. They have furniture, clothes, accessories, postcards, clocks, watches, pretty much every invention ever all under one roof. Also, Robbie, the man that rents the most space in the shop is really friendly and not at all like some of the grumpy old men that run antique shops and only talk to cats.

Don't be put off by the horrific name of this renowned vintage / antique shop. Be sure to have a…read moregood look around or you could easily miss a lot of this fascinating place, it's not huge but there are little things packed in everywhere. There's a fair bit of French stuff as the name suggests, but there are some interesting bits of British history too - including nice old telephones, and a small section of clothing at the back (only women's I think). The ladies might also be tempted by the collection of vintage handbags on offer, which ranged from about £25 - £60 from what I saw. All in all it is possibly a little pricey, but still much more realistic than you'd find in The Mall in Angel, and although the owner wasn't particularly welcoming, he seemed very knowledgeable - and I'm giving him the benefit of any doubt as I did hear him mention to someone else that he 'felt like shit'.