Style File - Mall brats

Its four o’clock on a Saturday afternoon and after an hour of trying on everything in your wardrobe, you’re still struggling to find an outfit to wear to dinner with the girls / your work colleague’s birthday party / romantic date night with your man. Still clad in Saturday morning’s requisite “doing the housework” track pants, you decry your fashion taste for the past five years and moan “I’ve got nothing to wear!” – at which point you jump into your car, armed with your credit card and head to the mall.

Malls have saved my skin a number of times – when I forgot to buy that special someone a birthday present, when I needed the perfect earrings to match my outfit and mostly (lets be honest here shall we?) when I had the urge to go shopping just to cheer myself up. In the words of Cher from the movie Clueless – “I had to find sanctuary in a place where I could gather my thoughts and regain my strength... a place like the mall”.

Malls get a lot of bad press – accused of being “the height of consumerism”. But true to our creative identity, I believe our region is unique in its malls. Richmond Mall and Fashion Island have both maintained a respectable amount of locally owned boutique stores, while keeping a good balance of chain stores without which Nelson would be relegated to the backwaters of shopping. Both malls have good indoor/outdoor flow, so stores on main streets also benefit from the influx of visitors.

Furthermore (and crucially), these malls enable fashionistas like me to shop efficiently, scoping the stores for items to purchase like lions circling their prey, performing the natural selection of the modern world. Looking for the latest styles? Simply walk through a mall, do some window shopping and exit enlightened. Searching for the perfect outfit? Start at one end of the mall and walk out top to toe with everything from underwear to outerwear – wear it right then and there if you need an immediate pick me up!

So what are the top picks in our region’s malls for shopping without that ‘chain store’ feeling? Start locally-made with Stacey in the Richmond Mall – their sales are phenomenal and they make local fashion affordable. While you’re there, pop into Faith (conveniently sharing the same space as Stacey) and salivate over top New Zealand and international labels vying for space with delicious scarves and handbags. Sassys of Richmond also have a fabulous range of unique New Zealand clothing. Accessorise your look depending on your taste with costume jewellery from Silver Moon or beads from The Bead Gallery.

In Fashion Island, head to Kimberley’s and get fashion advice from their ever helpful sales girls, who can get you looking good even on a fat day. Witchery is also a good bet, particularly for office wear and little black dresses (note to self: send message out to all friends advising them of your Witchery purchase in order to avoid “friendship outfit matching syndrome”).

Most of all, never forget that no matter where you pick up your fashion pieces (the mall, high end design stores or SaveMart) its how you wear them and how they make you feel that matters the most. And if you are in desperate need of cheering up – hit the mall, even if it is for a free facial from Farmer’s.