Bank

Bank is somewhere I always completely forget about, but every time I pop in I’m always taken by surprise at how many items catch my eye. This branch is very well organised and all the different collections are separated making it easy to browse.
I am always drawn to the Lipsy and Rare range as they offer affordable dresses that are a little bit different and especially good for party season!
In addition to cute dresses they also stock bags, belts and other accessories and I noticed some amazingly comfy looking joggy bottoms from a range called «Voi Jeans», I’ve never seen this range before but loved the look of the clothes and could picture myself lazing in front of the TV sporting a pair of these bad boys.
As well as girls clothes they also have a whole section dedicated to the guys including an extensive Superdry range.

Although Bank does lean over to the high, high fashion side of things, which I’m not greatly into, if you filter your hot garment hunting vision between the racks of often very brightly coloured attire, you should be able to find a diamond in the… not rough, because it’s not rough, but you know what I mean, you’re sure to find at least one pretty decent item.
There are a lot of brands here, in the sense of brands to be noticed by everyone, and if you’re not the type to emblazon brands all over yourself, then a lot of Bank might not be your cup of tea. However, they do stock Lipsy and Rare, both of which do really pretty frocks. I always find something at Lipsy to go partying in. They also have Superdry, which I’m definitely keen on, and Converse, which does the trick every time. Some of the clothes can border on being a bit too pricey, but Bank actually usually have some pretty good sales on, which can result in bargains. I’m always a bit tempted to buy some of the really neon and glitzy Paul’s Boutique stuff in here, but just don’t know if I’d get away with it. They have men’s clothing too, although I can’t really comment properly on the merits of the garments, obviously.

There’s actually some alright stuff in here (que pelting of rotten tomatoes). If you blinker yourself to the unholy tacky interior you can find things that mimic Topshop or American Apparel (longline jumper and jumper dress are the exact same thing it turns out). If they scrapped all the branded nonsense that is somewhere between teen-​fashion and chav tastic they’d make a killing from the cheap-​than-​the-​real-​thing knock offs. What annoys me is when people brand young people’s fashion as the bad side of this.

I’ve got to say I’m with Emma on this one — I was so surprised at how much I liked Bank.
Being a mistress of charity and vintage shops, I don’t usually go for low-​band designers. But some of the clothing they had in here was sweet! I had a wee look at the lovely Lipsy tea dresses and lingered at the Rare ranges. For guys, it was very much a Superdry/​Adidas/​Firetrap kind of gig but I like that urban, sports but not actually sports look. It’s still a bit hip hop, and even as time progresses away form these late 80s fads they are brought back time and again.
I have been longing for an Adidas hoodie for ages, but when I was gazingly lovingly at one in here my boyfriend huckled me out the shop. He’s not really into trends like that so I run the risk of being disowned. But I’ll raise the roof until I get one because I like them! And Bank’s sales rack was too good to resist.

I really do get the feeling that I should not be shopping in here, but the inner chav in me gets pulled in by the brightly coloured window displays and banging dance tunes time and time again. Chastise me if you want, but I think Bank actually has some tasty wee items of clothing. I can’t think of anywhere else in Edinburgh’s city centre that stocks those shiny Adidas hoodies (beloved of Ian Brown and me) in a variety of colours and for a reasonable enough price. This place also saved my bacon last summer when I was scouring the town for a cheap pair of wellies, unwilling to pay £60 for a pair of Hunters my options were severely limited, Bank had two pairs left in stock and so I became the proud owner of a pink leopard print pair.