I am often asked about my favorite high street brands, or which stores I like most for basic or more affordable pieces. I believe you can find great fashion everywhere and anywhere—it’s all about the edit. Shopping high street is sort of like antiquing for your home; it’s all about that feeling you get finding something perfect/quirky/weird for a steal. Here are some of my favorite high street brands—and what I tend to shop for at each:
H&M
This is probably my most favorite, or at least the one I check most for fun, affordable pieces. Sometimes the selection is absolutely great, sometimes it’s meh, but it’s definitely where I get most of my filler pieces—a cute top, a comfy sweatshirt, a fun T-shirt, a super affordable knit and amazing coats like this one, which was 10 dollars! I really like the kids’ stuff for Alexandra and I’m always checking out the home section.
Kids
Home
& OTHER STORIES
Lately, I really like & Other Stories, a lesser known brand owned by H&M that houses ateliers in Stockholm, Paris and Los Angeles. Each one has its own particular vibe and you can mix and match the pieces to build your own style.
TOPSHOP
I like Topshop for knits and jackets (I WANT the yellow faux fur). They also have some absolutely fantastic dresses (the sequin one below, gah! And the sequin kimono!!!) but they are usually around the $200-$370 mark and I find fit at Topshop to be very tricky so I try to go into the store and try things. You can’t go wrong with their sweatshirts and jumpers.
TARGET
The dress I’m wearing here is from the Who What Wear collection at Target and I love it. The collection caught my eye when it launched a while back but I never stopped to actually shop it until I spotted this dress, which I ended up wearing and over again this summer, both with the belt and without. I will be checking for clothes more often now. I like the Cat & Jack line for Alexandra. I bought her a couple of really cute pieces for summer that you’d never know were from Target and I just picked her up the ghost pajamas for Halloween.
MANGO
Mango has cute sweaters, pretty blouses, fantastic earrings and simple summer dresses.
Zara
I use Zara mostly for Alexandra, especially when we’re in Greece since they have separate kids stores over there. Otherwise, I find shopping in the U.S. stores maddening. The giant Michigan Avenue store in Chicago, for example, has a single cash register open most times and the queues are slow and painful. I also think too many items at Zara are a blatant copy of designer pieces. So I have pretty much given up on it for me but I do love the girls’ items, particularly for accessories (like this hat), shoes (I buy her flats like these for school) and outerwear (cutest coat, great puffer and cool denim jacket).
These are the ones I shop. What are your favorite high street brands?
Dress: Who What Wear
Belt: I bough this on eBay years and years ago, way before it become widely available in regular stores. I have rounded up a few of them below.
Shoes: Balenciaga (sale watch on the Balmain sandals below!)
Bag: Staud
Shop the look here:
Photos by Ashley of Sed Bona.