You can't wear this skirt. It's made out of plates and cups.
We do want Domestic Slut Alex to buy this flowery hat (fab earrings model's own).
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These penguin books are lovely. Really stunning design.
The little bows around these bottles are very pretty.
And these soaps are very lovely indeed.
Yes, Anthropologie is pretty, but it's confusing as well. The prices are all over the shop. One minute you're looking at a lovely cup that's under a tenner, the next you're looking at a bird ornament that's over £200. Everything is one great big mish-mash together and there's no way to navigate around it.
The quality differs from item to item as well. I'm not sure I want to spend £98 on a robe that was made from polyester, no matter how pretty the print is. The one dress I fell in love with was £358. Ouch. For that price I'd want nothing but silk.
Everything looks great from a distance, but close up it loses its charm. The little details on everything are lovely - sparkly buttons, discreet embroidery and unique embellishments make Anthropologie special, but it's just not cutting it for me. It's great to look around, but you really have to search for something affordable.
I wanted to love everything, but instead it was all bells and whistles without very much else. When you have Liberty doing the same thing, with antiques and vintage charm, it's hard to see the value here - the price in Anthropologie creep up into the hundreds. I can see why the shop is so popular in America, but really, it doesn't shout out to me. Some pieces are fab, but over three floors from such an iconic shop, I was expecting to be wowed.
Still if you want to check it our for yourself, head down to the branch on Regent Street (jump off the tube at Piccadilly rather than Oxford Circus). Make sure you tell us what you think!
*le sigh* Anthro makes me want to spend all my money on things I don't need... Yet that's the laziness talking. Because you can find just a fab stuff rummaging around flea markets and the like. Still, it's pretty to look at :)
ReplyDeleteI went to the London store opening day (as an American living in London, I'd been waiting for this!), however was incredibly disappointed. The coat that I had been eyeing on the website for the past several weeks was £70 over what it had been listed on the website. I went back home to double check that I wasn't mistaken, and there it was, listed for £190 (as apposed to £260 in the store).
ReplyDeleteI checked the prices for several other items, and it was the exact same case.
Disappointing. I'll be waiting for my visits back to America to do my Anthropologie shopping!
I've been doing some digging into their prices and the website, more tomorrow after I've spoken to them!
ReplyDeleteOh golly - I just started a saturday job at Waterstones and those beautiful Penguins classics are calling to me to spend my pay check... They're so pretty - and there's a Hans Christian Anderson book of fairytales that is just crying out for a spot on my shelves...
ReplyDeleteMeanwhile, the crockery skirt caught my eye - I'm sure used to eat my cereal out of those blue and white floral bowls and my toast off the side plates!
The prices at Anthropologie seem to be much higher than when I worked there back in 2001. And working there, I got to see the startling variety in quality you mention--straightening the same rack a few times a day, I noticed how the frequent handling took its toll on the fabric/buttons/seams way more than it should have, for the price. And yet other items are really well made and have lasted me for years.
ReplyDeleteStill, even though I rarely buy anything from them anymore, the style is always inspirational!
As another American living in London, I was actually kind of sad to see Anthro opening up here..it felt like another thing that closed the differences between cities. I know its a chain store and that right there is a problem, but I just don't want to shop in London and feel like I could be in New York and vice versa. I'm anti Topshop in the USA as well.
ReplyDeleteHaving said that, I love the inspiration I feel after an Anthro visit, even if quite often the items don't come home with me. I also feel that the price differentials are inevitable as they carry independent designers and bigger labels and collate a vast variety of products. I'm much happier seeing a high end store that sells affordable bits and bobs than exclusively staying high end!
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