Gap, Zara and Top Shop. Do they complete your fashion shopping experience?

Not so long ago I remember sending my brother a very long wishlist of clothes that I wanted purchased from Gap on a trip to the US. Mainly kids’ stuff. And I remember being insanely jealous hearing of friends’ shopping hauls at Zara and Top Shop during European trips.

The attraction at the time was partly a case of lusting after that which I could not get my hands on. Partly about wondering if there was something missing from the Australian fashion retail scene.

With Zara opening in Sydney and Melbourne earlier this year; Gap arriving last year and Top Shop due to open next month in Melbourne, I wondered to myself (as I’m wont to do about the big things in life …) does this accessibility take away from the allure of the purchase?

Is the allure of the purchase caught up in the thrill of the chase? Even if that chase was once half way around the world?

Part of me says yes but part of me is a sucker for a bright yellow over-sized clutch (hello Zara, I’m looking at you) that I would otherwise have to fork out a gazillion dollars for in a store I’d be scared to even place my non-designer-shoe-clad-foot in the entrance way.

Then part of me wonders how the Australian fashion retail industry even begins to compete with these giants? These are stores that can have completely new and exciting, catwalk-inspired stock on their floor a every few weeks.

I think it’s that disposable idea of fashion that has me thinking twice about any fashion purchase. No matter how inexpensive the purchase is, I want everything I buy to be a wardrobe work horse. Every top, dress and pair of pants has to make me feel fully fabulous when I’m wearing it. Anything short of fully fabulous and it’s fully not allowed in.

Oh, and before the fully fabulous wardrobe appeal, I want the fully fab shopping experience (whether that’s online or offline) too. I want it to be memorable for all the right reasons. And I want it to be stress free.

Please don’t say I’m asking too much?

Thought you like might like to see this super short video I took the week that Zara opened in Sydney. I imagine the scenes will be similar at Top Shop. It takes a whole lot of fashion obsession determination to queue for entry, the change room and then the checkout.

Where do you spend your fashion shopping dollars? Are you an even bigger fan of Zara and Gap now that they are in Australia? Do you prefer boutique shopping?

Nikki Parkinson is a fashion and beauty blogger at award-winning Styling You. When she’s not writing, hanging out on Twitter or Facebook, she’s helping women spend their money on clothes that make them feel fabulous.