Forever 21 is heading up north

The US retailer will open its first store in Manchester’s Trafford Centre this weekend.

When Forever 21 opened its Oxford Street store last year, shoppers in London got pretty darn excited. I know that for certain because the amount of hits Helen’s blog post about the opening got – the traffic stats don’t lie people! A year later and business is still booming, with three London stores now trading and the sixth jewel in Forever 21′s UK crown (in addition to Birmingham and Dublin locations) due to open in Manchester this week. The 20,000 square foot retail behemoth will open it’s doors on Saturday 21st July at 10am, but listen up Mancunians, I’d get there earlier if I were you – the first 300 customers in line will receive free gift cards to spend in store or online.

To celebrate the new store up north, the lovely folks at Forever 21 took a group of five Manchester-based fashion bloggers and I to visit the Oxford Street flagship last Saturday for a taste of what’s in store for the Trafford Centre. Having not ventured into Forever 21 since I did my Christmas shopping last year I was pleasantly surprised by how calm and collected an experience I had in comparison. But then Oxford Street in December is basically like the apocalypse isn’t it?

Anyway, I picked up some great items: a cream fitted blazer (I’ve wanted one for aaages); a very authentic looking distressed denim shirt (‘Are you going to the rodeo?’ asked my bitchiest gay friend when I wore it the next day); and an adorable white jumper with a moustache on it (I’m hoping that by wearing it I can attract a man with a moustache. I’m all about the facial hair you see.) But probably the very favourite thing I took home was a little gold whistle pendant necklace. The great thing is, it actually works when you blow it. Do you know how much fun you can have on a night out with a whistle? After Saturday night I can tell you the answer is: a lot.

I’m sure I’ll be showing you some of my Forever 21 finds in subsequent #TodayImWearing blog posts. Stay tuned as well for a style post featuring my fellow bloggers Penny, Katie, Sarah and Emma and their outfits – as you can imagine, they were a super stylish lot.

Forever 21 opens at the Trafford Centre, Manchester on Saturday 21st July 2012. Visit the Forever 21 UK website.

About these ads