With the downturn making us keener than ever to find good value, head for London and New York. You'll find impeccable service in the UK, writes ORNA MULCAHY... and rock-bottom prices in the US, write MURIEL BOLGERand CHRISTINA HURLEY-SCOTT
Paul Smith
There’s everything but fashion in this quirky shop. A well- ordered Aladdin’s cave (below), the clothes designer’s Mayfair store sells art, antiques, jewellery and curiosities from around the world. Browsers are made to feel welcome by staff who make folding a scarf, or packing a present, look like an art form. Lots of quirky mid-20th-century lighting, and chairs, with paintings, books, glass and porcelain, sourced from all over the world.
9 Albemarle Street, W1, 00-44-20-74934565, paulsmith.co.uk
Charbonnel et Walker
There has been an explosion of fancy chocolate shops in London in recent years, but Charbonnel et Walker – a small shop in a perfect position on the corner of Bond Street – is one of the original and best. Step in and the scent of the pure chocolate is all-enveloping, while cheerful girls who are wearing dainty white gloves pack signature velvet boxes. Millionaires can buy a cartwheel of chocs, but even the smallest selection will be welcomed by chocoholics. These are small, restrained chocolates, for people who will eat just one or two a night over the Christmas season. Try the exquisite rose and violet creams or, for the discerning, nuggets of stem ginger dipped in dark chocolate.
1 the Royal Arcade, 28 Bond Street, W1, 00-44-20-74910939, charbonnel.co.uk
Selfridges
Tourists flock to Harrods, but ask Londoners which department store is best and they’ll probably say Selfridges. Established in 1909 by Gordon Selfridge, who had spent his career working for Chicago’s Marshall Field’s department store, the shop – now owned by the Galen family, which also owns Brown Thomas – bristles with style. The ground floor is given over to experimental art, as well as jewellery, cosmetics, handbags and more. (God Save the Queen cushion, anyone?) Downstairs you’ll find ultrasmart vintage furniture close by kitchenware. Serious shoppers will need several hours to browse its floors, but if you have to stay all day there are numerous cafes, a hairdresser’s and a corner where you can have a quick head and shoulder massage, to help with the decision-making.
400 Oxford Street, W1, 00-44-113-3698040, selfridges.com
Fortnum Mason
Yum. London’s grandest food hall, which has just launched its Christmas displays (above), sells lots more besides its smartly packaged biscuits, chocolates and gentleman’s relish. An entire department is given over to hampers, with huge baskets groaning with goodies for Christmas, while the meat counter looks as if it has been designed by Damien Hirst. Apart from food, there’s a floor of very posh gifts – leather writing cases, fountain pens, backgammon boards and the like – and an exquisite children’s department, with wooden toys and hand-smocked dresses. Staff are attentive and will gift-wrap even the most modest item, such as a Fortnum Mason tea scoop, very prettily.
181 Piccadilly, W1, 00-44-20- 77348040, fortnumandmason.com
Alfies Antique Market
Not a shop but a collection of vintage and antiques shops and stalls under one roof on a street with a great selection of antiques shops. This is the neighbourhood to come to if you want a perfect set of art-deco armchairs or a life-size bull cast in bronze. Inside Alfies you’ll find 1950s Italian light fittings, clothes from the Edwardian era up to the 1980s, lots of genteel china, silver and glassware and, on the first floor, a great little shop that sells vintage Christmas decorations. The top-floor cafe is good for a tea break and a think about that sputnik-style chandelier.
13-25 Church Street, Marylebone, NW8, 00-44-20- 77236066, alfiesantiques.com
Liberty
If you have time to visit just one store in London, then Liberty should be it. The rambling Tudor-style building on Regent Street has dark panelled walls and creaking staircases, with departments tucked off a central atrium. There’s a heavenly haberdashery department where knitting and stitching are taken seriously, large areas of cool bespoke furniture and a superb, and surprisingly good-value, collection of oriental rugs. Plus cosmetics, perfumes, books, scarves and some very good bargains on the sale rails and tables. The Christmas shop is generally one of the best in London.
Regent Street, W1, 00-44- 20-77341234, liberty.co.uk
Hatchards
A short stroll from Fortnum Mason, Hatchards is a wonderfully crusty old bookshop on several floors. Not that the stock isn’t right up to date – you can get Katie Price novels here, too – but it’s the atmosphere that is redolent of more leisurely days. An excellent place to browse an afternoon away, and to stock up on interesting biographies or on good-looking editions of the works of Agatha Christie, Dorothy L Sayers and, of course, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.
187 Piccadilly, W1, 00-44-20- 74399921, hatchards.co.uk
Divertimenti
Need a nutmeg grater, a toasting fork, a new set of soup dishes or an icing set to perfectly decorate your cupcakes? Then Divertimenti (right) it is. This is a kitchen shop for real cooks, with all the implements you could desire. The extremely helpful staff will track down obscurer items. There’s also a cookery school and a great cafe, plus all the latest cookery books, as well as out-of-print and antique books.
33-34 Marylebone High Street, W1, 00-44-20-79350689, divertimenti.co.uk
Geo F Trumper
This shop’s location is worth visiting even if you have no intention of buying a cake of shaving soap or a boar-bristle brush for your beloved. Curzon Street is in the heart of Mayfair and on the fringes of Shepherd Market (shepherdmarket.co.uk), with its quaint bistros and cafes. Inside, the shop has a majestic display of shaving paraphernalia, potions and pomades; down a set of antique stairs are private shaving cubicles where lessons are offered in the art of the traditional wet shave.
9 Curzon Street, W1, 00-44- 20-74991850, trumpers.com
James Smith Sons
London, you might think, would be a very good place to find a decent umbrella. It is. Look no further than James Smith Sons, on New Oxford Street, which has been selling umbrellas, canes and sticks from this shop since 1857, when the premises operated as a factory, too. Smith’s umbrellas are expected to last 20 years – if you can hold on to one, that is. An ideal present in the current climate.
53 New Oxford Street, WC1, 00-44-20-78364731, james-smith.co.uk
Anthropologie
Anthropologie, that US temple of boho chic, has just opened its first European store, on Regent Street. This is Urban Outfitters – its sister chain – all grown up and setting up home, so there are lots of cute fripperies, such as embellished shower curtains and tea sets, as well as gorgeous clothes and inspirational books. If you’re on a budget, seek out the strappy vests with a V-neck one side and a scoop neck the other, in seasonal colours. If you’re stuck for a gift, there are great little books.
158 Regent Street, W1, 00- 44-20-75299800, anthropologie.com
Where to Stay
The Kensington Hotel. 109-113 Queen’s Gate, South Kensington, SW7, 00-44-20- 75896300, doylecollection. com/london. Part of the Irish-owned Doyle Collection, the Kensington has had a major revamp with some definite five-star touches. A smart, comfortable interior features sumptuous George Smith sofas upholstered in velvet and cashmere, and bedrooms are designed so that you don’t want to leave, with big bathrooms, plumped-up pillows and a Nespresso machine, not to mention a flask of tea or hot chocolate waiting by your bed after a night on the town. Internet rates from about £150 (€170) per night.
The Marylebone. 47 Welbeck Street, W1, 00-44-20- 74866600, doylecollection. com/london. Another Doyle Collection hotel, previously known as the Clifton Ford, this is brilliantly located for shoppers, just around the corner from fashionable Marylebone High Street and a brisk walk from Oxford Street. Like the Kensington, it has had a major revamp in the past two years. The hotel has 170 rooms, many of them good-sized studios. There’s a fashionable cafe-restaurant called 108 Marylebone Lane, with a separate entrance from the street, so it doesn’t have a hotel feel. Rooms are very smart, with furnishings and lighting by Conran and BB Italia. Internet rates from about £110 (€125) per night.
Crowne Plaza. 100 Shoreditch High Street, E1, 00-44-20-76139800, crowneplaza.com. Another Irish-owned hotel, the Crowne Plaza is bang in the middle of fashionable Shoreditch, with its art galleries, boutiques, cafes and bars. It’s also convenient for Canary Wharf, London City Airport and the City of London business district. Though predominantly a business hotel, it has some good family rooms, and breakfast is served in a great rooftop restaurant with fantastic views. Internet rates from about £144 (€165) per night.
LONDON: Go there
Aer Lingus (aerlingus.com), Ryanair (ryanair.com), Aer Arann (aerarann.com), CityJet (cityjet.com), British Airways (ba.com), British Midland (flybmi.com) and easyJet (easyjet.com) fly, variously, from Dublin, Belfast, Cork, Derry, Galway, Kerry, Knock, Shannon and Waterford to London Heathrow, Gatwick, Stansted, Luton and City.
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The Big Apple still bites
YOU CAN spot them aisles away. You can hear them, too, with their excited chatter as they queue to check in for the Dublin flights. You’d never think there was a recession on. Not when you see the oversized bags being toted through JFK and Newark – and by women only. One could be forgiven for thinking there was an evacuation going on. But it’s just the Irish returning from what has become something of a pilgrimage, worshipping at the shrine of the gods of retail.
They may be returning home to a fiscally challenged Ireland, but instead of hair shirts they will spend the next months sporting their designer labels with pride. “This old thing? It only cost $49 – reduced from $1,500!” Or “I bought it in green, taupe, red, aubergine and champagne. Well, I couldn’t leave it behind for $79, now, could I?”
For several years such trips to New York have become must-dos for many Irishwomen, something of a family expedition, with mothers, cousins, sisters, nieces, aunts and a few friends heading off together.
Some are happy to explore the magic of New York at their own pace, and most will pay lip service to being in a different country, taking time off from bag carrying to enjoy a few good meals and a Broadway show, maybe even a trip up to the Top of the Rock, at Rockefeller Center, for a bird’s-eye view of the city. The rest of the time they will shop and shop and shop.
Practically all will make a trip or two to Woodbury Common outlet mall, an hour north of New York. If they did so in the past few weeks they would have enjoyed seeing the autumn foliage – or leaf looking, as some are calling it now – as they approached the forest-clad foothills of the Catskill Mountains.
It’s a seductive experience, made even more attractive by vouchers, discounts and additional perks if you go online before travelling. The canny and more dedicated often opt for a stay in one of the hotels nearby and avail of the shuttle service to and fro. Most take the bus from the Port Authority terminal to get them there and back.
If you thought Las Vegas was tops in the art of inducing visitors to part with their dollars, then it has stiff competition, from the marketeers at Woodbury.
When we arrived we went straight to the information centre to receive our “shopping tools”. At this point those in the know head for a coffee shop or the food court, to plot out their strategy, armed with a map of the complex. Those who have been there before take two, so they don’t have to keep turning a single map to check locations. They mark these on one, then tick the names of their targets on the other.
Other tools include a pencil, a size conversion chart and some coupons. Americans love coupons – and why not, when presenting them at a till gets you another 10 or 15 per cent off the ticketed price?
“The Irish are great shoppers, and although they are nowhere up there when it comes to numbers of other nationalities, they shop a lot and spend a lot,” says a delighted Jean Guinup, senior director of marketing.
The US is peppered with outlets, but what makes this one different is that it has names such as Jimmy Choo, Balenciaga, Dior, Oscar de la Renta, Chanel, Prada, Burberry, Giorgio Armani, Roberto Cavalli and the first Chloé.
There’s also a Nieman Marcus Last Call, but I was disappointed with this. It was more like TK Maxx after a busy weekend, and you’d need hours to forage before finding something that was untossed and current. Saks of Fifth Avenue off 5th was much better.
As you wander around the wooden-fronted shops on the various avenues, enormous posters in the windows shout 70 per cent off – buy one sweater and get two free. Two? Yes, two! Sure you couldn’t resist that, could you? Are there bargains? Definitely. And with the dollar at its lowest rate for quite a time, that makes spending even easier.
Would I do it all again? Maybe in a few years’ time, but not before then. I found loads of clothes for sizes 0, 2, 4, 6 and 8, but, above that, forget it. In a nation that has more obese people than any other, only six of the 200-plus shops stock large sizes and clothes suitable for older wearers.
If you want to go around sporting labels, then Guess handbags have large Gs hanging on their fronts, Juicy is emblazoned across bottoms and breasts and down the thighs of its casual wear, while Gap has clearly plugged its own space in the market.
Back in New York, for those avoiding outlets, there’s Macy’s, that bastion of commerce, to explore. At more than twice the size of Dundrum Town Centre, in Dublin, it’s the world’s second-largest department store; you can almost take up residence in it, travelling up and down to its eight floors on original wooden escalators.
Bloomingdale’s has just had New York’s biggest makeover, one that started in 2004. It’s a great favourite with the Irish, many of whom stay at the Fitzpatrick Manhattan hotel, that home from home a few blocks away, on Lexington.
Another favourite haunt has to be Lord Taylor, where the national anthem is still played every day before work starts, and which is famous for its Christmas window displays.
Others won’t let a trip to New York pass without a visit to Fifth Avenue for the Apple Store, Tiffany Co or Bergdorf Goodman, which is always transformed into a wonderland by its seasonal makeover.
How native New Yorkers get their dose of retail therapy
WHY NOT GO on a day-long shopping trip that opens up the real New York, that is cutting edge but not outrageously priced, that offers an experience that is not just a trip to a discount shopping mall? Best of all, it ends with a massage and some top nosh – just what the weary shopper ordered. Try this six-stop tour, starting in Brooklyn’s Williamsburg, one of the trendiest neighbourhoods in New York.
Artists Fleas:These year-round markets are where emerging artists, designers and vintage collectors come together to show their pieces. It's a dream destination for anyone who likes shopping. On a recent Saturday I got a stunning 1960s-inspired mod dress from a young French designer that looked ripped from the pages of Vogue magazine for $80 (€55). I recommend picking up pieces from a unique line of jewellery designed by sisters Liz and Kim Teich, who update vintage and antique pieces with a twist.
Artists Fleas, 129 North Sixth Street, Brooklyn, artistsandfleas.com, etcmodernvintage.com
Layla:This gem of a store, in the historic Boerum Hill area of Brooklyn, offers fine adornments for the home and body. Layla is exquisitely curated by former fashion stylist Elayne Patrick, who works with craftsmen in India to create luxurious, often one-of-a-kind clothing, housewares and bedding. Check out the private-label printed dresses and tunics; most exciting are the sheets and bedding, woven from high-quality cotton in fun, vibrant prints and colours.
Layla, 86 Hoyt Street, Brooklyn, 00-1-718-2221933, layla-bklyn.com
Le Labo Back in Manhattan:Le Labo is a stylish perfume boutique, designed like a laboratory, in Nolita – North of Little Italy – where you can create your own scent. Two Frenchmen started the perfumery as their antidote to "a world where perfumes are mass produced and sold in places that look like supermarkets". With the help of technicians who mix the essential oils (below), water and alcohol, you leavewith a bottle labelled with your name of choice and a fragrance that is one of a kind.
Le Labo, 233 Elizabeth Street, 00-1-212-2192230, lelabofragrances.com
Billy Reid:Just a five minute walk away, in NoHo – North of Houston – is a store steeped in southern gentility and hospitality. Billy Reid is named for its designer, a Louisiana native who opened it in 2008. Both the store and the clothing are inspired by the traditions and old-world elegance of the southern US, but with a modern twist. His line of sophisticated yet relaxed menswear contains heirloom-quality pieces that you will wear for years.
Billy Reid, 54 Bond Street (at Bowery), 00-1-212-5989355, billyreid.com
Eastern Health Connection:I've been to my share of upscale spas, and I've had everything from hot stone and shiatsu therapy to Swedish massages, but it's at this tiny no-frills parlour that I've had my best massage. Eastern Health Connection, on Manhattan's Upper West Side, specialises in Chinese qi gongand tui naacupressure and Thai yoga massage. If this is your first time, the massage can seem quite vigorous and intense, but the therapist will keep checking that you're okay. Best of all, an hour's massage costs just $55 (€35). They deserve a good tip.
Eastern Health Connection, West 72nd Street and Broadway, 2nd floor, 00-1-917-4419436
Ilili Restaurant:Now that you've shopped and been massaged, you need a cocktail. We New Yorkers love our cocktails, so let me take you to my current favourite spot. Ilili is a sexy, sophisticated Lebanese restaurant and lounge in midtown Manhattan. The loft-like space (below) is divided into four distinct areas. Head for the lounge, with its red velvet banquettes, sleek bar, soft amber lighting and candles. The impressive wine list features wine from all over the globe, with special selections from Lebanon and elsewhere in the Middle East. The best reason to come here, however, is for the wonderfully original cocktail list. The inviting concoctions have names such as From Beirut with passion, Phoenician lemonade and – my favourite – Not so bloody Mary. As you unwind, enjoy the world music coming from the DJ's booth and peruse the lounge menu, which features small dishes such as bay scallops ceviche and mini beef shawarma.
Ilili Restaurant, 236 Fifth Avenue, 00-1-212-6832929, ililinyc.com
Where to stay
Doubletree Metropolitan. 569 Lexington Avenue, 00-1-212-7527000, doubletree.com. Contemporary hotel in a central location.
Fitzpatrick Manhattan. 687 Lexington Avenue, 00-1-212- 3550100, fitzpatrickhotels.com. A home from home.
Hotel Beacon. 2130 Broadway at 75th Street, 00-1-212-7871100, beaconhotel. com. Family-friendly hotel close to Central Park.
Where to eat
Nikos Mediterranean Bistro. 2161 Broadway at 76th Street. 00-1-212-8737000, nikosgrillnyc.com. For amazing fish dishes and plank-roasted red snapper on the bone, you’ve got to try Nikos Mediterranean Bistro, opposite Hotel Beacon.
Del Friscos. 1221 Avenue of the Americas, 00-1-212-5755129, delfriscos.com. For the best steaks around and for pre-theatre dinners try Del Friscos. Not cheap, but you’re paying for the ambience as well as the good cuisine.
Torches on the Hudson. 120 Front Street, Newburgh, 00-1-845-5680100 torchesonthehudson.com. If you stay in the Woodbury Common area take a cab to Torches on the Hudson for a memorable dinner.
Where to go
Outlet Shopping. Woodbury Common is just one of 41 premium outlets centres across the US. Its next big sale is the post-Thanksgiving event called Midnight Madness. All centres will arrange shop-and-stay packages. Check out the Wow! package, which includes a Broadway show and transport (premiumoutlets.com). Get even more money-saving vouchers by joining the VIP club on the website.
The Christmas season officially starts when Santa Claus arrives on 34th Street during the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade, on November 26th (macysparade.com). Restaurants are about the only places open that day.
Now in its 77th year, the Radio City Christmas Spectacular (radiocity christmas.com) runs until December 30th. Tickets range from $42 (€28) to $250 (€166).
The WaMu Theater at Madison Square Garden features Wintuk, a Cirque du Soleil production. Tickets from $30 (€20) to $220 (€146). cirquedusoleil.com/wintuk.
Jim Norton is starring in the musical Finian's Rainbowat St James Theatre, 246 West 44th Street, between Broadway and 8th Avenue (finiansonbroadway.com). Tickets $25-$120 (€16-€80).
NYC Company
(nycgo.co) is the tourism organisation for New York city. Visitors are welcome to stop by the tourist office at 810 Seventh Avenue, between 52nd and 53rd Streets.
Go there New York
Aer Lingus (aerlingus. com) flies to Kennedy Airport, in New York, from Dublin and Shannon. Continental Airlines (continental.ie) flies to Newark Airport, in New Jersey, from Dublin, Shannon and Belfast. Delta Air Lines (delta.com/ie) flies from Dublin to Kennedy Airport.
Orna Mulcahy was a guest of the Doyle Collection
Muriel Bolger was a guest of Chelsea Premium Outlets and Torches on the Hudson