I have waited patiently for the excitement at the opening of the new shopping centre to die down and the crowds to subside. On Friday, I finally managed to get over to Cabots Circus in Bristol for the whole day. A day completely to myself for doing what I love best- shopping. The new shopping centre at Cabots Circus in the centre of Bristol has been a long time coming, the building work seems to have gone on for ever but now it has arrived, us West Country people have the opportunity to enjoy some of the big name brands like Zara, Ted Baker and House of Fraser. The most exciting part of the whole development is the Harvey Nichols store.

I came home laden with shopping, mainly from House of Fraser, which was huge and seemed to have just about every label under the sun from Day Birger et Mikkelson to Miss Sixty and Jaeger. It had a huge jewellery and accessories department and a massive menswear department (which I didn’t have time to go anywhere near). Visiting Harvey Nichols was an experience in itself, usually I would have to travel up to London for such an experience and whilst the Bristol Harvey Nicholls is no where near as big as the London one, it has a really good selection of labels including my favourites Stella McCartney, Tempereley London, See by Chloe and Diane Von Furstenberg and all the designers you would expect inclusing D & G, Gucci, Balenciaga and Alexander McQueen. I couldn’t really afford anything but it was nice to see the clothes up close and soak up the atmosphere.

All in all it was a great but very exhausting day. A great opportunity to get some ideas and check out the trends and I can’t wait to plan my next visit but I think I will continue to do the majority of my clothes shopping online as it is so easy to find what I want and much easier to compare prices of clothes.

If you can’t get to Cabots Circus for some retail therapy, then try a spot of online shopping. You can get some great designer clothes like this Twenty8twelve shirt in grosgrain satin.