Taz Accessories

Since the last review was written for this business, Taz Accessories has moved to a smaller, tidier premises just up the road from its previous location. We had never been in the old shop, quite simply because it never looked from the outside like the kind of place we would have bought something from. The new shop took our attention, (well my attention and I dragged my girlfriend in), because I’m looking for something cool to hang on the living room walls and I thought it looked a likely shop to check out. At the moment I’m trying to convince her to let me paint the living room red, gold and green, with a lion of Juddah on a black ceiling and a portrait of Haile Selassie on the one wall. Either that or bright orange, the number 01 painted on the two long walls with the words ‘General Lee’ written above in blue and a confederate flag on the ceiling… ya know, I’m easy but bitch isn’t budging on either!
This shop seems to have upped its pricing a little from what I can gather from reading the reviews of the old shop… Granted, I make that statement based purely on the ‘head-​shop’ section, slutty Halloween outfits and the small selection of lingerie available. I can honestly say that my interest or my girlfriends for that matter was not taken by the large range of bags, cock shaped deely boppers, tracksuit tops, socks, boxers or wool. Sooo, if you’re interested in prices of any of that stuff, I got nothing for ya here I’m afraid. It seems that no matter where you go nowadays, newsagents, discount shops, offies or mini marts, everywhere seems to have a ‘smoking’ section. I can usually say without even looking whats going to be there — cheap tiny plastic bongs, tobacco tins, nasty plastic grinders, a small selection of kingsize slims, a couple of cones and horrible little one-​hitters. Sometimes poppers can be found in these shops, most commonly Buzz, Purple Haze and Liquid Gold, all of which are Isopropyl Nitrate as opposed to Amyl Nitrate, (Jungle Juice), which can usually be found ‘under the counter’ in smut shops.
The smoking section in Taz Accessories is a little different, it actually contains quality items! The trouble is this is reflected in the prices, a small metal rolling tray that I found elsewhere for £4 was being sold for £7. Packs of Raw papers that can literally be found across the road for 50p were sold at a pound a pack. Bongs of varying quality, (some very good — others less so), were all being sold at way over inflated prices. 5ml bottles of poppers were being sold for £4 each, go a few doors down to the markets and you can pick up two 25ml bottles of English, one of the stronger isopropyls, for a fiver, (more bang for your buck… so to speak!). There is a large range of E-​liquid of varying flavours available, I have no idea if they were over priced or not, (…lets just assume they were!), as vaping is not something I’m in too… well, not E-​liquid anyway. There were a few genuine Zippo lighters, about an equal number of knock off Chinese Zippo fakes and Clippers, (good bong lighters… but not as good as Torjet). I won’t bore you with the prices, mainly because I think you can guess and because by this time I had stopped paying attention and had wondered over to the outfits and lingerie…
The outfits were not anything special quality wise, fine for a Halloween or fancy dress party… but those tend not to be the reasons why we would purchase such outfits in the first place. Just to give you some idea of how our minds work when we’re out shopping, either on our own or with each other. A couple of weeks ago unexpectedly, my girlfriend came home with a new collar and chain lead from the pet shop. I won’t insult your intelligence by assuming you haven’t already worked out, we don’t own a dog, (she had originally left the flat to buy cranberry juice and shampoo*). So as you may imagine, being presented with a small selection of things our minds would generally gravitate towards anyway when out ‘n’ about, is bound to get our attention. We noticed straight away that some of the ‘sexy’ outfits were surprisingly, quite sexy. Not wishing to sound a snob about this, but usually you wouldn’t get my girlfriend, (or me for that matter), in any ‘sexy’ outfit that didn’t come from Ann Summers. Mainly because of the punishment Ann Summers outfits can withstand, rough pulls and tugs do nothing to mis-​shape them and after a 30 degree cycle they come up as good and unstained as new. The low quality of the outfits you would expect to be reflected in the price, but this is not the case. The small selection of lingerie can at best be described as Primark quality at Victoria’s Secrets prices.
On the way out of the shop the guy behind the counter tried really hard to get my girlfriends interest in some knock off Ed Hardy bags… this sadly, fell on deaf ears. She remembers Ed Hardy for his tats, not his name being a rhinestone fashion label worn by chavs.
*She did remember the cranberry juice and shampoo

This shop is a treasure trove of fancy dress outfits (and more you can order from a catalogue), hen do accessories, wigs, costume jewellery, bright hair dyes, hair accessories, tutus, braces, festival-​type wellies and umbrellas. There are even waterproof coats, high vis jackets, socks, boxers and much more.
The rear of the shop is packed with more bags than you can shake a stick at! Everything from handbags, luggage to school bags including some cute Cath Kidson-​esque bags I’ve got my eye on!
It’s one of those shops that once you step inside you find all sorts of things you never knew you needed! It seems to sell a bit of everything and each season the owner brings in more lines at the moment woolly hats and gloves are arriving.
It’s a shame the shabby exterior with goods sprawling all over the pavement — belies what actually lies inside. It’s difficult to describe the weird and wonderful array of goods this shop stocks, so you’ll just have to visit to see for yourself!
It would be a great place to try if you’re trying to track down a fancy dress outfit, back-​to-​school things or ‘alternative’ fashion accessories.

Shops like this make your local high street the place to check out on a saturday morning. The floor to ceiling jam packed-​ness of fun always amazes me.
If you are in need of some cheap tat as a present, for a project or require something for a fancy dress outfit then you will no doubt find it here.
Who needs expensive fancy dress shops or paying for shipping off a website when you can buy inflatable props from here? Love it, a great little shop full of things to mooch in and to spend money on stuff you either didn’t know you needed or had forgotten you needed as you never spot it in the supermarket.

I really like this store and have popped in a few times. It is the perfect places to pick up accessories for fancy dress costumes, or merely for accessories alone. I have purchased a few scarves and bags for various fancy dress outfits that I have worn to parties. The staff are quite friendly inside and have been helpful when I have been looking for something in particular. The store is in a bit of a jumble and I have found it hard to locate items on some occasions, however I always eventually find what I need. They also keep quite a lot of stock in boxes outside the front of the store, so I have often spent time rooting around trying to find stuff. I do not like this aspect of the store; I would prefer it all to be easy to find and well organised. It is a great store, but it is a bit disorganised.