The Knowhere Guide

Shops and Hobbies in Cardiff, Glamorgan*

Cardiff, Glamorgan Clothes, Magazines, Art, Galleries, Hobbies

Clothes Shops, Shoe Shops, Fashion and Bargains

• Clothes?? I miss the days of Man at C&A
• Hobos, in castle arcade (just up from the Hayes, where it means Queen Street) sells loads of funky 60s and 70s gear! Also try Eccentrix (first shop in the same arcade for a good range of crazy shoes!
• For 70s nights out, check out the Hobo's shop in one of the little arcades... weird stuff in there!
• H & M is a great shop.Clothes are cheap but quality and they range in all sizes from XXsmall to about a size 16 ish.
• renagade near the hayes opposite habbitat, pro-line down an arcade down the other end of the hayes on the david morgans side,city surf in and arcade off st.marys street, freespirit the castle end of queens street opposite burger king. there are loads more down and around town just takes a little lookin.
• Route One,City Surf,(also skate shops)u could try (darn i forgot the name buts its near city surf
• Cardiff has such a plethora of clothes shops you could spend a whole weekend without visiting the same place twice!!!
• Don't go in Howells it's all expensive and for skinny people and wide boys... Try Barkers, West World, I Claudius etc etc
• Drooghi for exceptionally expensive but very cool garb, the Road shop for understated skate fashions, Barker if you haven't got two pennies to rub together, Oriental Arts if you love black and have 'issues'.
• Charity shops rule!
• New one....Freespirit by Slug & Lettuce.....has all the special things of Westworld without the stinking attitude when you finger the Bench hoodies. Staff in Westworld unebelievably gitty. On same level as Toni & Guy staff. Less attitude.
• Cardiff is a brilliant place for shopping.If you have the cash that is and have not just lost/had knicked the £60 you just got out of the cash point. Aswell as all the big High street stores has plenty of smaller shops selling funky clothes @ cheap prices! Smashin!
• All the usual big chains down Queen Street - try Castle Arcade for the less mainstream / more scabby / student-hoodie wear.
• Mambo in the Royal Arcade is pretty funky.
• If you are a mosher you are in heaven! We have a HandM full of mosher and urban clothes City surf and skate some wicked stuff for boarders JJB sports wear Soccer sports if you are on a budget and want rubbish Donnay clothes go here
• Pontcanna has a couple of upmarket designer shops although hard-core trendies will be a little out on the limb - "designer" gear still centres around having the name plastered across the chest.
• I Claudius - you see a pair of trousers you like, but they're in the wrong colour and not your size? They'll make them up for you. Plus everyone who works in there is nuts, especially the little Italian guy who's always on something. Downstairs they have a huge 2nd hand bit with loads of shirts etc.
• Depends what you like. Usual array of trendy clothes shops, and a few sparse alt.clothing shops. Oriental Arts is gettin slightly better, as they're getting in better quality shirts. Prices have risen though.
• HoBos in Castle (I think!) Arcade is undoubtedly the best retro clothing shop in the city. Owned by Nick, Ben and Lou -the nicest, most out of date people you can hope to meet- it is the place to come for your funky togs and retro rags. Known big spenders here are Kelly Stereophonic and Oasis' Noel.
• Westworld, Barkers, Chessmen for male and female 'middleweight' designer labels (Peter Werth, Ben Sherman etc.) Woodies and Howles for you more 'heavyweight' designers (D&G, YSL etc.)
• West World-cool shop baggy labels!
• Royal Arcarde: Hobo (retro) Exentrics Castle Arcade: Fab clothing I Cladius Hustler Empoirum upstairs
• Arcades are the best place to find cheap 'n' groovy clothes shops. Try castle arcade, where there are many 2nd hand clothes shops. Explore up the stairs too - there's more...
• Woodies Emproium (arcade off St Mary Street) - take the gold card !! (Armani, Ralph Lauren, Tommy H, Soviet etc) Capital Exchange - shopping arcade on Queen Street, opposite end to Cardiff Castle. Lots of "boutiques" - Austin Reed, Mondi, etc St Davids Centre - Loads of high street shops undercover, Debenhams, Burtons, etc - huge main arcade Queens Arcade - joins St David Centre to Queen Street - not many clothes shops, but Disney Store, Candle shops, Cookie Jar (Hagen Daas or however its spealt), La Senza lingerie etc
• City Surf.

Arts, crafts and such (Anything from pukka art galleries to craft shops. Trendy and twee both welcome.)

• Cole and Co. fab cards, ceramics, clothes AND an art gallery as well as a bespoke framing service. 41 Lochaber Street, off Albany Road.
• capsule gallery charles street cardiff. a must visit, even has a beautiful cafe bar
• The market has stalls which sell good stuff. Feathers, ribbon, buttons and the like.
• AJ's Cafe on City Road has exhibition of local photographers and artists.
• Try the Museum and the Chapter Arts centre.
• g39 is one of the few places to see contemporary art in the city centre. Its laid back approach means it isnt intimidating and it focuses on new work from Wales and interesting contemporary work from the rest of Europe and further afield. They often do offsite projects too, from billboards to info screens etc
• Very good bead shop on Wyndham Crescent (out of town along Cowbridge Road East second right past the Kings Castle pub and on the right).
• K2: really nice stuff from candles to prints and unusal silver jewellry. Cathays end of Albany Road
• The Art Gallery at Chapter Arts Centre. Really avant garde installation art. Not to everyone's taste.
• Try Jules Gems on Windsor Crescent for beads and stuff.
• Mysteries in Stone, c/o Future Computers, 498 Cowbridge Road East, Canton, Cardiff. Lots of Egyptian Stuff and Incense. Wicked PLace
• Oriental Arts for all your "smoking" needs.
• One World Trading is great for strange little artifacts such as African heads and the such.They also sell cool clothes that are imported from Nepal.
• The CVA never got off the ground - charging 4 quid to get in probably didn't help...
• Cardiff is shite when it comes to culture. There was the Centre for Visual Arts which lasted about six months because no-one visited it and it was rubbish. There are a couple of galleries (ffotogallery in Charles Street or g39 gallery in Mill Lane), but that's about it.
• K2 on Albany Road/City Road is brill - really unusual cards. Jackdaw in Royal Arcade is fab too - hippy dresses and crystals
• Cardiff art gallery - top banana!!
• K2 on Albany Road....stuff you can't afford or really need but very nice and lovely staff. All those shops in the Arcades in Town (nice etc.) c'mon lose the attitude...you're just selling fripperies, do it with a smile at least.
• If you are interested in the more obscure stuff (ie live arts), have a look at www.timebased.org.uk (web-site by students at Cardiff art college)- not a lame plug, it has a list of events on it that will have information on live arts that you are not so likely to find in other sources. Apart from that, look in a copy of Buzz.
• Theres the museum full of paintings. Crafty so and so and games workshop
• "nice" in the arcade opposite Castle Arcade sells some fun,kitsch items but quite pricey.
• Go to St. Fagans museum of Welsh Life. The old rebuilt bakery sells the best gingerbread in the world ever (or so I recall from the age of 10).
• Don't know, don't particularly care
• Around christmas in the Hayes there is a convention of craft type stores and a bizarre number of bratwurst sellers.
• The Museum Cardiff Castle has georgus celings Castell Coch is just stunning.
• Chaper is about of a 'luvvy' 'darling' place now, but it's always got cool obscure films and thatre pieces and the visual arts are free to have a squizz at!
• Explore the arcades - so many shops, too many to list !

Magazine and Comic Shops

• Forbidden Planet - cool line of toys too
• If you're desperate for action figures, the Forbidden Planet has a nice bargain bin upstairs full of stuff nobody wants. Their poster selection, surprisingly, sucks, consisting of far too many Buffy and ANgel things you can get at fucking HMV anyway.
• forbidden planet
• Forbidin Planet oppiste the castle
• Forbidden Planet Castle St
• Forbidden Planet. Plus there are a few 'select' shops which specialise in Swedish glamour pamphlets.
• Forbidden Planet rocks.
• Forbidden planet is full of comics from action man to x-men and theres cardiff games in the old arcade
• Only a few in the arcades, and Forbidden Planet which is still there, and still expensive as ever. A few comic marts appear every few months, but the last one i went to smelt of puke. Which was fun.
• forbiden planet, opposite the castle, the only god place to get comics
• Down stirs in Emporium (Castle Arcade)
• Troutmark in Castle Arcade.
• Forbidden Planet and also Games Workshop for role playing fans.

The Knowhere Guide started out as a list of places to skateboard in the UK. It is a compilation of (unedited) information and views supplied by users like yourself. It is not a conventional tourist guide!

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Last updated: 2007-06-15