River Island

I decided to browse the sale in River Island at the Manchester Arndale Centre. The sale wasn’t that great but i found a pair of shoes but took forever to get served as there was only one person serving on a sale day?

Well well well. Looks like poor RI hasn’t been looked at in a while.
During a recent facelift, coinciding well with the Rhianna release of her RI label, RI spent about 4 days out of action. I never realised how much I enjoyed browsing/​shopping at RI until this moment. The new look hasn’t changed the shop greatly, other than a sparkly new sign and dangly new displays (which I hate), but each to their own.
Clothing wise, RI is smack bang in the middle of the market. Pricing is arguably some of the best on the high street — cheaper than Toppers, better quality than New Look, and a great range of basic clothing. Understandably it’s not everyone’s cuppa; Rhi-​Rhi has filled the place with neon yellow and all-​in-​one utility jumpsuits and I for one will pass over this fashion trend. Chelsea Girl, RI’s own label, is always a bit forgotten in stores but, when they do realise that some girls enjoy baggy jumpers and floral dresses over leather bralets, this will take the world by storm. Shoes and bags are, as ever, gorgeous — sometimes they seem a tad overpriced but I remind myself of the quality and I can move on. I have a leopard print bag from my first year in uni (4 years ago now) and, despite being filled with books upon books (and the occasional overnight trip items) it’s still going strong.
In the current economy we can’t dismiss places like RI as we need them to keep the British high street strong. I can’t help how I feel against the children’s range of clothing here or the amount of cowl necks on their men’s tops BUT River Island treats me well on the whole and will always be there for me when I need a pick me up.

I find River Island to be overpriced and over rated. It tends to be more expensive than Topshop and it’s poorer in the quality department. I also find it to be tacky too in design. The best bits about River Island are the jeans if you pay a bit extra for them, but then you start to think «hang on i’m chuffin forking out 60 quid for a pair of River Island jeans and I could have a pair of Levi’s or summat ere» and so on and so forth as the prices escalate, this goes the same way for the shoes and the hand bags and such too. Plus you see that annoying trend where people of school age wear their River Island shopping bags as fashion accessories, which becomes an irritation for no apparent reason to do with the review itself it’s just irksome. The staff always seem to be either rushing around with no given purpose or looking at reflecting surfaces and playing at being all aloof. Meh. Seen better for less, and paid less for better quality.

River Island means a huge space and very flashy clothes which are definitely very deceptive from the distance. Think new style fashion but no real colours, either it will be beige and black and white or it will be a spalsh of neon!
Despite the clothing let down, I do love the accessories. The shoes and the bags and the scarfs are really really great and always up to the mark.
I typically love the shoes and the boots. They;re to die for! They look delicious. The staff is really freindly and they will advise you happily on any doubts circling you mind!

Yeah, I just really dislike River Island. When I was about 13 River Island seemed like a cool kind of place to come and get clothes. Now I can really see the folly of my ways. I was so misguided.
Now, whenever I even go near River Island I can see how awfully tacky and nasty their clothes are. Everything in here is kind of grey and cream and black and just a bit garish really. All this for prices that aren’t really any way near reasonable.
If you’re going out to Tiger Tiger at the weekend and like drinking in the Hog’s Head, then maybe River Island is for you. It’s certainly not for me.

You know how I said that Dotty P’s underwent something of a makeover during the past few years and now sells far more fashionable and interesting items than the sea of beige it used to drown in? Well, River Island has tried to do something similar, and… hmm. All I can say is if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.
River Island used to be one of my favourite shops back when I was a teenager and sported something of a hippyish style. I used to trek to the one in Southport all the time, modestly located at the end of a road barely any shoppers bothered with. I liked it for its simplicity, its stripy T-​shirts, its paisley blouses, its cute baggy jeans. I bought bags there, I bought earrings, scarves, hats, all of which seemed to adopt a cross between the wholesome Bay Trading style and the boho chic of Monsoon. But all that changed on the day when River Island came of age. It stomped down the stairs, huffing and moaning. It threw its schoolbag on the floor and said to its parents, ‘I hate you. I want to be Topshop.‘
River Island’s doting parents granted its wish and let it have a complete makeover. It got itself a gargantuan three floor branch next to Next (how odd does that sound?) in the posh end of the Arndale Centre, just a few shops down from its beloved idol Topshop. But I have to say, River Island deserves a place on that blogsite where all the pictures are posted with captions saying ‘Ur Doin It Wrong’. I just think it tries too hard. It doth protest too much.
Come on, even the name evokes Monsoon and Bay. River Island? It’s supposed to be peaceful, clean, preppy, boho. It conjures up images of beautiful water banks. Heck, it should be the shop that provides the entire Dawson’s Creek cast wardrobe. It should not have reams and reams of fluorescent bodycon dresses, gigantic platform heels and a sound system that could deafen even Lemmy from Motorhead. It should certainly not have sales assistants who wear headsets and clearly think they’re PR people on some kind of catwalk show. It’s like the Sugababes after they lost their founding member. If ‘Overload’ was River Island in its fresh-​faced minimal make-​up phase, ‘About a Girl’ (SO not a Nirvana cover, I can tell you, not that Courtney would have allowed it of course) is its current incarnation with its smoky eyeliner and leather dominatrix outfits. Shouldn’t the name… change?
It could be a really decent clothing shop if I could get my head round the fact that it just isn’t MY River Island. But perhaps not — the brunette testifies that everything in River Island is ill-​fitting and awkward. I have to say I haven’t bought anything there in a long time, but that’s not to say I won’t. I have friends who swear by its new demeanour, and if you’re going to visit a River Island, Manchester’s offering is certainly one of the biggest and best you’ll find.
I just miss my paisley. That’s all. *Sniff*.

Bleugh River Island. Is there a worst shop than this? No. Why is is so popular? No one knows.
The clothes are horrible! Really tacky, really badly made, really really really bad! And it’s really expensive too!
I just don’t undestand the appeal of a shop like this, you can buy bad clothes from market stalls much cheaper than this, hey, you can give an 8 year old child some paint, scissors and sequins and come out with something better than half the things you pick up in here!

Ok lets play spot the difference. I’m going give you three names and I want you to tell me if you can spot anything that separates them, ready? River Island, New Look and Next.
How did you do? It’s difficult isn’t it? All three make high street clothes that make you sad, all three like to over embellish the menswear to make your man look like he’s stood still too long around Banksy and all labour under the misapprehension that young people find them trendy– much in the way a youngish secondary school teacher might.
Now lets play a new game… it’s called Get Rid of the High Street Dead Weight.