One of the Worlds Wonders (Primark)

Member Name: fabulous_girl

Product:	Primark
Date:	27/02/06 (9647 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: the cheap and cheerfulness of it all

Disadvantages: the queues

Primark is a store that I stumbled across when I started university in Birmingham in 2003. I now feel that I couldn't live without regular visits, and I am in fact scheduling one in this lunchtime. Primark was something that I had read about but had dismissed as an urban myth, surely clothing THAT cheap was too good to be true?! Surely?!

Well, No. Primark over the last couple of years has served me well. The Birmingham store was my first discovery, and it has been used for many essentials, and also for the creation of costumes for many uni themed nights. Stockings are £2- tres useful for School Daze!!

Primark was formed in 1969 as Penney's on Mary Street, Dublin. The company has now grown hugely and has seemingly a gazillion stores across the UK. Their clothing is aimed at the under-35s, and their mission statement is to provide them with high quality, fashion basics at value for money prices.

Primark is famous now amongst celebrities and civilians alike for providing fashion clothing at prices that are so cheap it's still hard for me to believe. Primark was snubbed at first as a glorified Quality Seconds, but as more and more celebs (a.k.a; those rich and famous for doing nothing) such as Colleen McLoughlin have been spotted, weighed down with Primark baggage, it is becoming more than only just socially acceptable to shop there. The store really hit the headlines when a number of must-have items such as THE velvet military jacket as worn by the likes of Kate Moss and Sienna Miller sold out in minutes across the country, and were selling at double on eBay. Tip to sellers: its worth keeping up with the trends, and popping into Primark and grabbing those up and coming items before anyone else does. You WILL make a profit.

Primark have a number of their own labels, including Denim co (Jeans, natch), Secret Possessions (Undies), Cedarwood State (Men's), and Atmosphere (ladie's fashion) to name a few. The women of my family are now Primark addicts, and I am sure that if my Daddy could force himself into the vicinity of a shopping centre, he would love the prices too.

Some examples of exceptional bargains at Primark include: The handbag I bought, 50p, for a gold party bag. It has now gone to Handbag Heaven but I am not exaggerating when I say I used this bag over 50 times before it died a death- it went with EVERYTHING!

Underwear: Knickers start at £1 in Primark. I did however do a count out the other day and have found that as a result, I now own over 45 pairs, because at that price, who can blame you? Also great for PJ's, I have bought a few pairs of PJ bottoms for £4 only.

Denim Co: My only experience of the denimwear section is of a black military style jacket, that I bought for £12, which has served me very well indeed. My sister also bought some skinny jeans recently for £12- which is a bargain (kicked myself as I bought some elsewhere for £30.)

Atmosphere: Atmosphere is the name you will find on the label of most of the clothing instore at Primark. It makes up the bulk of the fashion clothing, and also the essential bits, like vest tops (£2, as opposed to TopShop's £6 price tag).

Accessories: One of my favourite things to look at in Primark is the accessories. I have bought some FANTASTIC bags and belts. For example, a mock-croc look bag for £5, and a slouchy one for £4. Belts are great too, I have bought some fantastic ones for 50p-£4, when they would easily cost £15 in high street stores like Dorothy Perkins.

Menswear: An area I am far less familiar with, although I did have a quick look before Christmas. My then-boyfriend told me not to ever buy him clothes because he's fussy and he'd more than likely hate the,, but after hearing that t-shirts started at £3, I had to have a look, and succumb. We have split up since, and so he never got his t-shirt, and so it went to my dad instead (at that price, who cares who wears it?!)

Kidswear and Homewear- a couple more areas I don't know much about, because I don't have kids mainly, and I am too self-obsessed to jazz up my surroundings, when I could well be jazzing up myself. Sorry

Downfalls: The main downfall is that the queues are extremely extremely long, and you could be left queuing for up to 30 minutes. My tip: just point blank avoid on a Saturday. There is no point in even trying to shop there. Go on a weekday and don't take the kids, they will run riot and the buggy will be a hindrance. (Plus you can buy them goodies and pretend they were really expensive).

Primark is fantastic, for essentials and fashion items. Why spend £40 on a new trend when you can spend £10, these things go out of fashion so quickly, its not worth spending anymore. Primark do do a lot of classic wear, but I have not really looked at it, and I think the quality is slightly dubious, so I think I would rather fork out more elsewhere for suits and coats.

Try it, you might like it.

Primark have stores all over the country, one seems to open every day. There has been a recent opening at Lakeside, Thurrock. There are loads in the south east (my domain), although only one branch in central London, in Hammersmith, but I expect this will change over time. My mum and sister take regular trips to Chatham in Kent (despite it being over an hours drive) just to go to Primark. My sister actually says she prefers that there is no store locally to us, as she doesn't want her school friends to have the same clothes as her!

There are nine branches in Scotland, 34 in Ireland and N. Ireland, and five in Wales. Visit http://www.primark.co.uk/locator1.shtml to find your local branch. There is even one opening in Madrid this year

Summary: Cheap affordable fashionwear!