Oliver Sweeney is a shoe shop that specialises in mens footwear. It describes itself as being built…read morearound the "patented Anatomical Last, bringing the benefits of custom made shoes to a much broader market." Bascially, it sells shoes, really stylish shoes at that. Even the look of the store is modish, bright white with minimal decoration and displays. The shoes are expensive and will set you back around £250 for a pair but the quality is second to none.

Oliver Sweeney is a swanky luxury men's shoe designer, also selling a small range of coats and…read moreaccessories. The shoes are designed by Sweeney himself and made in factories in Italy. The look is mainly formal, classic and polished. This brand prides itself on producing high quality footwear built to last. Their staff are highly knowledgeable about fit, and shoe-trees can be bought in the shop to prolong the life of the shoes. They provide a re-soling service and their website features ten tips on lengthening the life of your shoes and declares that 'a good pair of shoes are a life-long companion'. This is a very welcome change from the majority of high street shoe retailers selling shoes that won't last the year and expecting you to return faithfully to stock up on landfill. Prices are on the expensive end with shoes at around £250 but may well last you longer than five pairs bought at £50!

Despite being quite a small shop, this Aldo manages to pack quite a lot in, with a wide range of…read moreshoes for both men and women, as well as hand bags and accessories. Aldo's prices are about average high street prices, or just above...their range appears to reflect this with most styles pretty standard for a high street shoe retailer but with a few standing out a as bit more fashion forward. For blokes , unless you're going for 'casual loafers' or 'sports shoes' you have to abide by the current apparently unbreakable fashion rule that is irritatingly long pointed toes. I must admit I'm getting a bit tired of this look. To me, most guys wearing a pair of these shoes just look overly-self-consciously trendy but it appears a man would have to try pretty hard to find a non-pointed toe on the high street...unless venturing into Clarks or Slaters. It has actually got to the point where a man wearing a more rounded toe will probably look like he's making some sort of fashion statement...cue rounded toes coming back 'in'. Yawn. But if you like your toes trendy and pointed there's plenty to choose from! So to sum up, Aldo's not breaking any boundaries, but probably serves the average shoe-shopper well.

My first experience of Aldo Shoes was wandering past and espying some rather fab looking biker…read morestyle boots that were a bit slender than actual biker boots with a bunch of fab buckles and shoe bling, being a sucker for footwear I wandered in and picked them up expecting their price tag to read £300 plus, colour me pleasantly surprised when they came up at £140. Further poking around, led me to see another buckle clad biker boot for just £90, a quick sniff test and, yes, it was leather. Why hadn't I taken the plunge before? It's always been a place I'd walked by and never felt compelled to explore. Is it because I've got an uncle Aldo and I was avoiding it through disassociation? I'm not sure. It could be down to the fact that every time I've wandered by the store is absolutely teeming with people, or that I prejudged it to be super expensive and beyond my budget. My sensible shoe/non sneaker budget is always less than my kickass sneaker budget. In addition to women's shoes they do a range of men's boots and shoes, although on first glance, your man in your life would have to be a bit on the metrosexual side, as styles are more on the exploratory fashion conscience side of things rather than practical Clarks' types. Some of the selections are hit and miss, and as a demographic it's hard to decide if they're targeting the older middle aged crowd, the fashion conscience students, or the teenagers with far too much money yet a healthy appetite for switchblade stilettos and thigh highs. Hmmm. The last time I went in sale season was still in bloom, and due to busy periods staff were a little fraught and run ragged from traipsing up and down stairs, one imagines. More comment on that when I go back for my boots, preferably at a quieter time.

Like a child to a sweet shop, my eyes fixated on this shop as I walked past. The wonderfully…read morecolourful window display trapped me. There were two horses from a fair ground carousel and jars of sweets. And then I noticed the horse was a vehicle to display the actual product being sold in this shop - handbags! Handbags galore! Bigs ones, small ones, extremely colourful ones and very expensive ones! The whole shop was dressed up to create an image of fun. It said to me - if you have one of these handbags you are fun, classy and crazy! I really like this about the shop and went in to have a look even though the handbags are way out of my budget. I didn't feel intimidated as one might going into a shop where you clearly can't afford to buy anything. This may have been because of the female shop assistants who didn't look very intimidating. I'm sure they smirked to each other as I walked out. HOw rude. Luckily I don't need a handbag to express my personality for me. And I guess if you don't have the cash to splash don't even think about it!

Mulberry prides itself on high quality, high fashion clothing and accessories for both men and…read morewomen. The Mulberry bag is always sought after from fashionistas and always a staple wardobe accessory in Vogues capsule wardrobe collections! It's easy to be taken in by all the beautiful, yet quirky designs in store. But, as always in fashion, beauty comes with a nice, fat price. Shoulder bags will cost you around £650 which is way out of my budget it hurts. The quality is impeccable but I just can't justify spending so much on a bag that I will probably get fed up of after six months. Maybe if i'd been born into a ridiculously filthy fortune I wouldn't think twice...oh well! Anyway, the shops nice, nothing spectacular but nice with a few key bits and pieces. There are a few affordable pieces...you just have to look really, really hard to find them.

A new addition to Leeds Kirkgate Market, the vibrancy and warmth of colour which glows out of this…read moretiny stall is mesmerising. The products on offer are all sourced from India, and they both look and feel decadent. The scarves and pashminas are striking, with gold thread sparkling through their rich tones. A glass cabinet at the rear of the shop houses various pieces of ethically sourced jewellery. There were a particular pair of silver and turquoise earrings which I have mentally reserved as a gift for a friend, a bargain at only £5. Beautifully crafted leather bound diaries and notebooks occupy a section of the shop, this would also solve a present buying riddle for many people. Amongst the wicker baskets of prettily packaged incense which are strewn on the floor, a stunning collection of leather bags sit nonchalantly, waiting to be discovered. The lovely man who ran the stall informed me that they were genuine leather, but there was really no need, their authenticity was unmistakable. A particular leather laptop bag caught my attention, expertly crafted in the style of a satchel. The aforementioned man who is called Manzoor was extremely helpful and disclosed that should I wish to return, we could negotiate a price to suit both parties. I may just take him up on his offer.

This nice little shop caught my eye as I walked into the market recently. It is the first shop as…read moreyou walk in one of the many entrances and is filled with colourful scarves, bags and tops. Its a little bit more exotic than most of the stalls at the market, selling items from Kashmir, India. It has a nice aroma of incense, which it sells also. The scarves are marked at £20 each but I can't decide if this a reasonable price or not. Each one is unique and all the way from India, they are wider shawl-sized scarves but then they are only scarves. At least it is nice to see something a bit different in this part of town.

Oh my gosh. I have no idea where a place like this springs from, especially in the LS8 post code,…read moreand yet here it is standing proud. For some of the most high end designer clothes, outside of Harvey Nichols, this is absolutely the shop to browse. I'm embarrassed to admit it, but I literally spent about five minutes here as I was so daunted by the price tags. I was, after all, weighed down by a cumbersome ugly rucksack, dirty shoes and a red world-weary face from my travels that day. The lady, who I assumed to be the manager, greeted me very kindly even though she was busy with another customer so I thought that was really nice. Not even close to the reception I'd had in some of the other high end shops, as she was warm and friendly and didn't seem phased by my disheveled appearance one iota. In spite of that I only had to touch one of the beautifully designed dresses to realise that it cost £800 and I instantly became convinced that my hands were covered in grease and had left some kind of grubby mark on the collar. Perhaps this was the paranoia of being in a high end shop. I felt like at any given moment my rucksack may catch an entire display and put me into more debt than my student loan. There is a beautiful range of clothing, accessories and shoes inside this wonderfully laid out shop. They cater for men too, just as exquisitely, but as you may have gleaned by now - we are talking *high end* clothing here. My most coveted item, a jacket costing £300 odd, almost seems cheap in comparison to the dress I first glanced at! In any case, though I really thought highly of the design and the service, there is no possible way I could afford to spend money in here! Lovely, but definitely a place to save up for.

An up market, boutique shop selling high-end fashion wear for the well to-do of this neighbourhood…read more Black, chic, slim build and sunglasses type affair are what you'll find here enter and beware, you are likely to be pounced upon by an over-enthusiastic sales assistant or be greeted in a blasé manner until you flash your amex. Either way browsing isn't the most comfortable option unless you really don't care that is.