Sassy

There are a few shops like this scattered throughout North Laine selling a mix of fairly cheap and slightly overpriced clothing that’s decent, but not brilliant quality. Sassy, however, is one of the best. Some of their bits are Gothic-​style, covered in skulls ‘n’ roses and tattoo-​style designs whereas others are, dare I say it, a little chav-​tastic.
Occasionally though, you’ll find an absolute gem in here, particularly on their almost permanent buy-​one-​get-​one-​free sale rail. At the moment (alas, not in the sale), they have some cutesy little wool-​mix dresses in deep purples, emerald greens, burgundies and mustard-​yellows with cartoony/​animal images on them which I think are great.
Their bags are pretty cool too particularly the big black ones shaped like 80s/​90s-​style ghetto blasters. This place is definitely worth a look once in a while, but overall it’s a bit hit-​and-​miss.

This cheap and cheerful boutique sells a lot of bright/​colourful/​patterned clothes. The stock is quite mixed with super short jumper dresses alongside gothicy dresses. Some items look naff, but as always with this kinda place there’s the odd bargain to be had.

There are some surprisingly nice clothes available from this little North Laine shop.
One of many independent, fairly cheap boutique type places in the area, this is I think one of the better ones.
They tend to stock more unusual clothes, with skull-​patterned dresses, brightly coloured jumpers and unusual t-​shirts. I bought one of my favourite t-​shirts here, which depicts two giraffes kissing. Aaah. They also seem to have a constant sale rail, which does often include a lot of duff items, but occassional gems can be found here — I bought a couple of lovely £5 dresses here over the summer.

When I walked into Sassy’s, I assumed I’d do a once around and walk out. The front of the shop is very goth-​centric, with black ballerina dresses and skull-​themed accessories.
But it’s a bit of a mix and match shop really, and I was surprised to find a long, grey sweater that I liked enough to try on. Unfortunately, it was one of those styles that looks much nicer hanging on the rack.
So, I’d consider this a clothing shop with a twist, if that category were an option.

The name ‘Sassy’ implies that this shop has a confident, coherent sense of self and sells hip, sexy clothes aimed at young, stylish women. The reality, however, is something quite different. Upon walking in you are confronted with a shop clearly in the midst of a serious identity crisis. It looks kind of like the owner has barrelled around a wholesale trade fair blindfolded! On one side, a selection of the usual run of the mill trendy, brightly coloured clothing, some of which is nice (they currently have some floral body con dresses that are really lovely), but a lot of which is frankly, a bit random. On the other side of the shop you’ll find a startling amount of imitation punk, emo and goth clothing and accessories, which are completely at odds with the girly dresses that fill the rest of the shop. Do tops that come pre-​ripped with safety pins included really make the same statement as the ‘70s originals? No. And are the majority of teenagers wise enough to recognise this? Yes. So who are Sassy’s target market? I certainly never see anyone wearing this embarrassingly uncool goth gear.
What I will say for this shop is that it is inexpensive. And in addition to the confusing array of clothing, they also sell printed tights and leggings and sequined hats (if that’s your thing).