Asha

One of the best places to shop for clothes in Ireland. There are very few places around the sell the stuff you can find here at Asha. Spikey, leather, alternative clothing is just one reason to shop there. You can also find hair colours, piercing jewellery, and a nice selection of other alternative wear that you can’t find anywhere else in Ireland. An added bonus — they sell smoke gear. Iocteach!

This place is quite good to get band clothes, they only seem to stock small and medium t shirts however (im not big in the slightlest i take both a small and medium so this has no effect on me but for larger people) it has a great stock of hoodies t shirts belts and shoes, bit pricey however but were isn’t haha, great staff, helped me out and when i bought the wrong sized belt (and came back an hour later) they took it back and gave me a bigger one which was great of them .So if your in dublin and are into rock goth or emo check this place out, you wont regret it

When I was about fourteen Asha was the coolest place in the world, with the highest concentration of black clothing in the Western Hemisphere. Alas, to my mind, only the latter is true now.
Asha also sells legal highs and paraphernalia, if you’re so disposed. Though store policy insists that you be over 18, so expect the occasional group of kids fishing outside.
Goths, rockers, metalheads, hammerheads, emos, punks and any other subdivisions you can think of; this is your home. Enjoy.

Calling all rockers, emos, rockabillies and goths… if Asha wasn’t your first introduction to the world of alternative attire, then you’ve obviously not grown up in Dublin. The shop of choice for many teenage ‘alternative’ types, it’s just down from Celestial Ring, so the obligatory lip piercing is sorted too (because, let’s be fair — no matter how ‘individual’ you are, you must still have the marks of your tribe clearly displayed).
Asha sells the usual stuff you’d expect of this kind of place — band t-​shirts (think Nirvana, Sex Pistols etc), flags, lots of velvet, corsets and baggy pants. Everything you need to keep those credentials nice and high with your peers. Neon eye shadow? Check. Band patches? Check. Badges? Check. OK, good to go then!

Sure, you’re probably thinking that I’m the type of urban sophisto who writes reviews on Unilocal,and you’re probably also thinking about how cool I am and possibly wondering was I always this cool, or did it take me lots of practice?
Alas, no, I was not always this cool. If you could only have seen me circa 2000/​2001, when I used to go around in my Slipknot hoodie, no doubt listening to a Korn CD on my new-​fangled discman. O, halcyon days.
My relationship with thrash metal did not last terribly long (I just couldn’t relate to all of the angst, for then as I now I was possessed of a sunny dispostion), but for the duration of that particular affectation, you could be sure to find me most Saturdays in Asha in Stephen’s Green Shopping Centre.
Asha is the only shop in Dublin dedicated exclusively to moper nonsense (and I’m not forgetting about St George’s St arcade; that is for when the goths graduate to emo-​dom).
Asha is full of t-​shirts, posters, stickers, badges, bracelets and teenagers going through their ‘awkward’ phase, essentially everything that you need to be cock-​of-​the-​walk when you’re hanging around outside the Central Bank, giving out about how awful your parents are because they won’t let you get a Jim Morrison tattoo.
Going into Asha was always an insructive experience, because apart from selling goth accessories, they also sell cannabis paraphernalia. And pot, beloved not only of mopers, is also enjoyed by scobes, so Asha is the only place in Dublin where these two disparate cultures are likely to interact on a regular basis. Go to Asha one day, sidle up to one of the stripy-​jumper-​sovereign ring-​kids and tell him «I just heard that hippy over there slagging Bob Marley».
Oh, what fun.

I loved Sasha as the odd time I could find some clothes (they carry size 10 and higher so I was out of luck for most things), but I was in love with the shoes. The shoes were adorable, priced well enough I could buy them on the spot without thinking and suffer minimal guilt for impulse shopping later.

Sasha cater for both old and young, as they have many different styles and collections, from glittery tops to full length dresses. I always go to find boots and heels in sasha, as the prices are low but the quality is very high, and their styles are unique. I love the wonderful coctail dresses, and the shiny jewellery, which are perfect for any night out. Sasha really does have something for everyone, and a great price to match.

To get an idea of Asha all I need do is describe what it sells — Band Hoodies, Tshirts, Posters, Flags, Badges, Patches, Leather, PVC, Lace, Fishnet, Cloaks, Velvet, Hair Dye, Nail Polish, Pipes, Cigarette papers, Lighters, Jewelry… need I go on.
If you’ve got this far, you probably get the idea. Okay so it’s not as revolutionary as it seemed eight years ago when I bought my first dog collar and Marilyn Manson tshirt there, but it’s still worth a look if you want to pick up a tshirt or a a badge. The shoppers have majorly diversified too and to be honest it’s never going to be a cool outpost of alternative again — but it does what it says on the tin and there will always be a place for it.
The shop itself is cosy and it smells lovely and still retains a certain cool factor that is sorely missing from your overseas (see UK) faux alternative market stall tat. At least so far, it’s still the only place in town to go for band merchandise on a large scale.
Plus, if it’s vaguely gothy clothing your after and don’t want the hassle of internet shopping, it’s a nice introduction before you brave «Miss Fantasias» on South William Street and the rudest staff members in the history of the world.
So go forth my friends and buy some glittery varnish.