a store instead of Bloomingdales?

[dragonyphoenix]

A question for my British friends. Giles' PoV describing a woman. She's a secretary but she buys upscale clothes. I'm thinking Bloomingdale's discount rack. But I don't know if a British guy would know Bloomies.

Comments

[velvetwhip.livejournal.com]

Umm... I know that Harrod's is a very upscale British department store. Not sure if they have a discount rack.


Gabrielle

[gillo]

Harrods is very expensive, but used way more by foreign tourists than Brits.

Harvey Nick's, as S2C says, is a better equivalent, or chains like Jaeger. But would a man even know that much?

Incidentally, our shops (not stores) have discount or, more usually "Reduced" areas, not racks. And they are often full of crap. There are small upmarket chains that cater to the demographic - Hobbs, Jaeger, Country Casuals, for example.

[dragonyphoenix.livejournal.com]

Hmm, perhaps I need to take a trip to London ... for research purposes of course! Thanks.

[gillo]

It's what we recommend. We Brits are always ready to advise, but the real experience is best.

;-)

[dragonyphoenix.livejournal.com]

Right, I'm on my way. ;-)

[gillo]

There's always a warm welcome and a bed here, though it's a dull little town* in the Midlands, not London. ;-)


*We do have quite a pretty castle, though - see icon.

[dragonyphoenix.livejournal.com]

Oooh, castle cool. The only castle we have is the Smithsonian building and I'm not sure that counts.

[gillo]

Ours is a very pretty pink castle, started around 850 years ago. Some of it is more modern, though - the bit John of Gaunt built in the 1370s and the bit Robert Dudley built to show off to Queen Elizabeth in the 1570s. Since then, not a lot apart from Cromwell's pals blowing bits up.

We do history big time in Warwickshire. ;-)

[gillo]

Harrods does have a sale which people fight to get into.

No Bloomingdales here. Giles would probably not recognise a particular shop style (he's a man. Duh) but he might think she looks as if she shops in Mayfair, say. Then correct himself to 2whatever the equivalent is amongst these bloody Colonials." ;-)

[dragonyphoenix.livejournal.com]

I like that very much. Thank you.

And what I should have mentioned in my post, my Giles is a sharp dresser himself so I think he would be, at least somewhat, aware of where a woman would shop.

[gillo]

S2C is a typical British bloke who wouldn't recognise a Versace suit if it hit him between the eyes. (*g, d & r*)

If Giles is a snappy dresser he would probably get his suits made to measure in Mayfair himself - Savile Row is the top place for outstanding gentlemen's wear. He'd know about other places in the area and would certainly know about Bond Street, where all the big name designers have shops. They also often have shops at Designer Outlet Villages - notoriously there's one in Bicester, less than an hour by train from Marylebone Station in London. It's full of really upmarket designer wear I consider still massively inflated in price, like Mulberry handbags and the like, but it's where a smart but budget-aware lady might actually buy her posh clothes.

[dragonyphoenix.livejournal.com]

That's very helpful. Thank you.

[gillo]

This is Bicester Village. I use that line to London a lot and the trains are always packed with tourists going there to shop. Lots of Chinese people in particular, for some reason.

[dragonyphoenix.livejournal.com]

I do not get modern fashion, especially what the younger set likes to wear. It honestly looks ugly to me. Sounds like I'm getting old, doesn't it? ;-)

[gillo]

We all do. Though, to be fair, my daughters dress nicely and are only 23 and 26.

[dragonyphoenix.livejournal.com]

Somebody has to be wearing the ugly clothes I see being sold at the mall. Happily they don't tend to hang out where I do.

[speakr2customrs.livejournal.com]

I doubt if Giles would be aware of Bloomingdales - I vaguely recollect hearing of it in some books and movies but exclusively in ones set in New York, not elsewhere in America. The British equivalent would be Harvey Nichols - not Harrods.

However Giles is a British bloke almost exactly the same age as me and, honestly, he wouldn't be able to tell the difference between 'up-scale' (that would be 'up-market' to a Brit, we'd interpret 'up-scale' as meaning 'plus size') clothes and ordinary ones.

[gillo]

My thoughts, pretty much. But he might think in terms of shopping in Mayfair, say. He'd be more likely to think she had a certain indefinable elegance unusual in somebody with a job like hers.

It would take a Cordelia or Harmony to put him right on the actual shop brands, though.

[speakr2customrs.livejournal.com]

Knightsbridge rather than Mayfair, surely?

[gillo]

Knightsbridge is for tourists. Mayfair is where the really upmarket little shops are. According to F, who works there. Sloane Square possibly - but Bond Street trumps that.

[speakr2customrs.livejournal.com]

That's knowledge I would think only a woman would have. A bloke would be aware, as I am, that Harrods and Harvey Nicks are in Knightsbridge but not know about the little shops. To me Mayfair is a square on the Monopoly board and a fairly up-market adult magazine.

[gillo]

Yeah, but you don't live in London. Ripper's accent suggests he comes from Camden, like Tony Head. Londoners know areas a bit more. If only so they know where to avoid.

[dragonyphoenix.livejournal.com]

If only so they know where to avoid. *laughs*

[dragonyphoenix.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the up-market correction.

My Giles is a sharper dresser than canon Giles, which is why I'm thinking he would be more aware of what a woman is wearing. But yeah, if he were canon Giles, or more like me, he certainly wouldn't know these things.