Fashion Fiasco

Shopping on Oxford St.

Today we decided to get on the tube and make our way to Oxford St, where all the shopping seems to be done.
As we stepped out into the open air, the first thing you see is hoards of people stampeding down the street with their fancy shoes. The streets are still strung with hanging christmas lights that actually are formed to make umbrellas, christmas presents, stars and snowflakes. Despite how well they are designed that is the last thing your eye catches as you lead your way down the pavements.
 I must explain the fashion of London. Whoever said that blue jeans were an American thing was sadly mistaken. The major different is the fit. Ever bluejean is very well fitted. There is not a single pair of boxers showing or a bell bottom to be found. Straight leg for the men and skinny for the women. The reasoning, I assume, for this is because anything else would be dragging on the "dirty" street and would constantly get wet. Also, baggy pants don't fit in the fashionable boot of the season for the women. These people dress to be seen constantly. Everyone is making a fashion statement in the highest quality. I have never seen so many suits, leather loafers, fur coats and high heals in my life.
The exit for Oxford St is called Oxford Circus and whoever came up with the name, wasn't kidding. It is just covered in fast walkers, slow walkers, people of all ages as well as  shops from department store size to shoe box size. From old buildings to new but we had to eat before we started this escapade. The choices? Pizza Hut or KFC...Come on London! Give us something better to work with...nope, not a chance. Pizza Hut it was! It was pretty ritzy for what it being a Pizza Hut and it seems that here, buffet style can be anyway you like. The couple next to us took their same plates back everytime so...being American tourists, we asked the waiter if that was common practice. He kind of chuckled and explained that everyone does it differently, it doesn't really matter. You can take one plate or twenty. Thank you Mr. Waiter man for your friendly explanation. We ate our fill and began again on this shopping extravaganza, which it definetly was.
Primark was said to be affordably cheap yet incredibly busy. So that is where we went. I'm beginning to actually trust everything that is said because this place was a mad house. The line for the dressing room was so long that girls and woman alike were trying things on in the isles. It seems that you dress to go to this place, camisoles are a must and preferably tights as to not waste time in this shopping hunt. Compared to all the other shops that we glided through such as, Forever 21, H&M and a huge department store, it was cheap. I've learned now that cheap here is pretty expensive for my taste. When you first glance at the price you think "oh Wow! That isn't so bad" then you take a second, remember you are in London, and have to almost double it due to our dollar situation. We ran into some other girls from our program and then got lost and seperated from everyone continuely, until we left the building.
I can proudly say, I didn't buy anything even in the pressure to grab the not-so-much sale.
As it began to get dark, which starts around 4:30, we made our way back down the other side of the street. Randomly entering shoe stores and then running out because of the prices. But, here is where the adventurous side of me comes out!
So there I am, walking down the street and BAM! There are these adorable 50's style dresses with petticoats included! Can you imagine? I insisted that we must go in and off we went. The store was run by some Indian men and was two stores crammed into this little area. There were shoes, bags, I love London stuff, leather coats, coffee mugs, luggage, and in the back were a whole section devoted to these dresses. I was pretty much going crazy over how attractive they were and how adorable I would look in them. With hope in my eyes and a desire to re-live one of my past lives of a 50's housewive, I looked at the price. 49.99 Pounds. My heart sank and I just adored them for a bit longer before I knew I had to leave them behind in this tiny little shop with loud foreign music. Anna insisted that I haggle. Growing up with my family, traveling Mexico and being as frugal as I am, you would think I would be great at this. Well, you are wrong! I slowly asked him how much and he said in broken english, " you try it on and I make better price." Sounds pratical. See if I like it, maybe I will love it and can never take it off, so I agree! He announces for me to follow him and the girls follow as well until we begin going behind the counter and down the stairs to the basement. Sounds a bit off, right? The other girls weren't behind me anymore and I decended into the basement that was filled from bottom to top with boxes and two other Indian men standing around drinking coffee...now that I think about it, I bet it was tea. The man led me through the jungle of mess, pardoning ever so often and showed me the three, very hidden, changing rooms. Who wouldn't be uncomfortable in this situation? A young, American girl in a basement, changing with three other men just waiting outside the door? It was a little awkward. Despite that, I tried the dress on, it was as adorable as I had hoped...fit perfectly, no problems with the zipper but the situation completely through me off and all I could do was hurry to get out of the basement. Nothing happened, I probably was safer down there with those men who had been working this shop all day for years then on the streets of London. But it was just strange, to say the least. The man who took me down stayed there, waiting against a couple of boxes and asked if it fit, did I like it and for us to go back up stairs. Anna met me and we had made a plan early to make it seem as if we had seen this dress before, LOADS cheaper. It seemed like it would work. We got him down to 35.00 pounds, which was "a price just for you" but I couldn't do it. Somewhere, there is the perfect dress that I won't be able to let it go but this was not it. Next time!
We made it back with no problems besides an occasional checking of the tube map to see if we are going the right way, usually we arent, but we always catch it before its too late and with team work and someone carrying a teeny tiny map in their purse, we made it safely home.
By the way,I lied. No pictures today. I'm trying this "fitting in" business and having a huge camera around my neck and having to hand it off to someone else everytime I try something on, just wouldn't do.
However! Next time! I swear!
Toodles,
Hope