The Conran Shop

Shop smart in London

LONDON—Shopping in this city can break your spirit.

Not financially — it’s packed with bargains and the exchange rate is good — but physically from the sheer size and diversity of its inner villages and the exhausting Tube. This will happen even if you have a map, a plan and a birthday gift in mind. You can see these people arriving in Heathrow, all fresh and hopeful.

After a day or two, most shoppers give up and go to Harrods. Where they wander in search of the “ladies toilets” on the First Floor until they actually contemplate finding a quiet private carpeted corner in one of its endless small rooms for use as same. It’s not like anyone would notice. The place is a madhouse full of pushers and shovers. The washroom situation is Harrods’ exquisite revenge.

But hope springs eternal. Rather than collapse in Harrods on every single trip (you could always cross the street to Harvey Nichols which is expensive but presumably has washrooms), scale down your ambitions. Order a survey-style shopping guide online — TimeOut London’s “London’s Best Shops” is good because it explains what it likes, leaving you free to disagree — and cherry-pick districts you can reach from your hotel.

TimeOut maps the city according to goods — fashion, home, leisure etc. — but I think you’d need a helicopter to do that kind of shopping. I prefer districts, which is more manageable and lets you browse for surprises, the thing that makes shopping actual fun. Street markets are great, but open only erratically.

1. Oxford Street is a massive shopping highway that divides into its own districts. I’d start at Selfridges and move toward John Lewis — if you start to see big crap tech shops, you’re going the wrong way — because I like what the Brits call “high street” shops. These are affordable clothing stores that are better, say, than Banana Republic but not as original as Club Monaco. They dot London. Try places like Whistles, Uniqlo, Reiss (no refunds) and Warehouse. Kate Middleton buys dresses here, enough said. Try sturdy Russell & Bromley and Kurt Geiger for shoes. I did not like Selfridges’ much-praised new shoe floor — l oud and nothing special — but I’m picky. We feminists want well-made high-heeled shoes we can walk miles in. Keep reading.

2. Cross Oxford Street and turn south down New Bond Street, where you will begin to find attractive smaller shops like Zadig & Voltaire, which sells Spanish things, Browns for dressy stuff, and endless shoe shops that have nothing in your size. If you walk long enough, you’ll hit various beauties, including Fenwicks of Bond Street, a small classic department store with a huge scarf section, French brands and many oddities — purses made out of lacquered Italian magazines — normally found only online.

The Conran Shop

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