Shopping and Bank Holiday

Despite the fact that it's only 10pm and I took a nap this afternoon, I'm somehow exhausted as all get and go. Poop.

But. I promised shopping and Bank Holiday, so here goes:

Oh my goodness! I wish I had tons and tons and tons of money! Some streets are just one long stretch of shop after shop with the most wonderful clothing/footwear items in their windows! If properly funded, I could very very very easily develop a thing for shoes here. And coats. And dresses, oddly enough. And matching bra/underwear sets. And socks. So yeah, basically everything. And there are so many places to shop in! The only one I'm going to talk about at the moment is Primark, because it is by far the store that is least like anything I'd ever seen before.

So. Primark. The one I've been to is down at the end of Oxford Street by Marble Arch. It's big....about the size of Kohl's in RSM. As far as what type of store it is....think Mervyn's or Kohl's without as much selection in the footwear and jewelry departments. And cheaper. Much much much much much cheaper. So cheap, you don't really expect the clothes to last through too many washings, but you don't really mind since you got them so cheap. I got a military-style wool coat for thirty bucks. Dress slacks for ten bucks. Cotton tank tops for two bucks.

So you're thinking "Great Britt, it's cheaper version of Kohl's. How does that make it so weird?"

(I just chuckled to myself when I typed that last line. I'm not sure how to properly describe what it is that makes Primark such a fascinatingly strange place to shop)

I've only ever been in there in the late afternoon/early evening, so I'm not sure if the shop is always in the state of complete disarray I always find it in. Everything is everywhere. If you find something you like, you'd better grab it quick otherwise the girl behind you will snag it. The entire store is one huge free-for-all. Don't ever expect to be able to just pop in real quick to check out their new arrivals. The store is a mess. I feel bad for the employees that sort of wander through the display racks, half-heartedly attempting to return things to their proper places. I wouldn't recommend attempting to try things on since the lines for the one set of fitting rooms are always atrocious. As such, sometimes I've seen women trying stuff on in between the racks.

And then there's the line to checkout. Last time I was there, I waited about an hour. From what I can tell, there are either three or four groups of cash registers. The big ones have close to twenty registers, and the smaller ones look like they've got about ten. I waited an hour in the line for one of the bigger ones. And there's nothing to do. Bring your iPod. And a book.

Or, you can do what I do (and what Primark is great for): PEOPLE WATCH!!!! There are so many different kinds of folks wandering around, you could spend a day just watching them. From the Muslim women with only their eyes peeking out and the trendy little hipsters in skintight jeans and lowcut tops, to the frumpy old maids and the sterile-looking career women, Primark's got 'em all. And you know that even the ones that dress like they've got lots more money than you do are still there for the same reason: Primark is cheap. Sort of like Wal-Mart clothing, only without the oppressive multi-national corporation that takes advantage of its employees and engages in immoral business practices. At least as far as I know, though I admittedly haven't done much research into Primark's parent company.

Anyway, Primark is a hoot and a half, and if you come visit I will most assuredly take you shopping there. Then we'll go to Regent Street afterward and drool over all the posh clothing we can't afford.

Okay, Bank Holiday. There really isn't much worth saying at this point, other than the weather was wonderful, I spent oodles of time sitting in Hyde Park reading a book, and I discovered I really have a thing for steeldrum music. If somebody can find me a recording of "The Entertainer" by a steeldrum band, I would forever be in your debt.....

There are pictures on facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=49663&l=4eac6&id=560310472

There are also videos of the steeldrum bands, but facebook doesn't give me a public address for them. I think most of my faithful readers are already on facebook, but if you're not, you should be! If you have problems finding me on that site, let me know.

Okay. So I think that's pretty much it for catch-up from the summer. I'm going to put another one up really quickly about rush hour on the tube. Then I'll get into things that have happened since school started again. But that'll be either tomorrow or sometime this weekend.....