The Knowhere Guide

Shops and Hobbies in Colchester, Essex*

Colchester, Essex Clothes, Magazines, Art, Galleries, Hobbies

Clothes Shops, Shoe Shops, Fashion and Bargains

• A Twisted Fairytale - the best gothic/alternative shop in colchester, sells a wide range of different brands to satisfy the darkest tastes.
• Hi - Williams and Griffin on ther high street has just won 'the UK's best independant department store' by drapers fashion mag. They have a newly refurbished fashion floor, young ladies quest department with lots of new brands including Miss Sixty and Firetrap and a new young mens fashion department- Timberland, funky clothing. A top floor restaurant with panoramic views of colchester.
• We are new to Colchester www.demonxtreme.com, we sell all extreme sports especially inline skates agressive, rec, hockey ice and roller. We have just got a large stock of skateboards and decks. Loads of hardware for you to see. Visit our website, its updated every day. If you can't see it we will add for you as soon as we can. Phone 01026 576667 for more info. It is the best shop in Colchester. A47 Cowdray Centre opposite the skate park and Leisure World. Come and see us.
• You state Colchester has " plenty of shops, not much variety - have you tried an optician - Colchester has plenty of these !! Then you state "Could we please have a Clacton Common / Braintree Freeport - Clacton Common is the worst out of town shopping area I have ever been around - it took just 12 minutes to look at these borring shops - Braintree Freeport is not much better - don't forget your visit to the opticians
• Skeleton Coast extreme sports, for all your board gear
• Wild West is bloody expensive!!!!
• I luv goin to all shops like Jd, All sports,Westworld for all tha gangsta clothes and the same wiv leather world
• Skeleton Coast has some very cool T,s and stuff. Also hoodies. If you they don't have what you want then the dudes who work there will get you what ever man.
• THEY SELL A LARGE RANGE OF SKATE/GRUNGE CLOTHING AT BUBBA G IN OSBORNE STREET
• Hoax (+fluid), era, a twisted fairytale (amazing goth shop, octopuss (a clothes shop rather than the one that can be found in carnaby street). Raw is an excelent shoe shop, selling most things from converse to rocket dog. Also the new addition, foot candy, an amazing shop selling some great skater clothes, and loads of rare nikes
• My chick loves Skeleton Coast in Queen Street for reasonable prices and cool urban clothing. Recommended.
• this place is full of shops for grungers townys old bidis anything
• New Look - located next to Boots and opposite River Island - good for cheap fashion Also Bay Trading for similar but slightly more pricey clothing. QS is opposite Bay Trading - very cheap - generally fine if you're under 10 or over 60!
• quest in williams and griffins basement is great for miss sixty and other quirky designers!
• fluid, hoax, free spirit
• FCUK, Fluid, Kurt Geiger shoes, Quest (probably the best shops in colchester by far!)Accesorize is brill for accesories! All these shops definatly score with me!
• need more clothes shops, i'm a shopaholic!!!!!
• Obviously the usual, Topshop, etc. River Island and Oasis pricier but better clothes. Williams & Griffins good selection but still like Debenhams, especially now as they have Benefit make-up in store! Pricey but their Lola eyeshadow is amazing! (Tip try it with black eyeliner - changes colour!)
• look for yourself, lazy bastards.
• Fluid! its the greatest shop in colchester and nobody has mentioned it! its recently moved to just down the street of its original place. Its now even better! Shop there. its great.
• Turners..owned by twats..wont serve you if you look poor
• Topshop, Miss Selfridge, Debenhams, River Island etc r gd. Also, design & West Wear hav normally got sum cool stuff in there, but r goin down hill recently. Also, I found a rly nice Wallis jacket in the salvation army 4 a tenner! But it didnt fit me!
• Octopus Clothing always has some nice gothicy/cyber stuff. Not cheap though.
• Bubba G- has deks and alt clothing
• Lots...unless you happen not to want to be an essex girl/wideboy.
• quite a few duno which ones
• High street shops mainly. Some smaller more individual shops in the lanes, but really I haven't found anything special [i.e. not globally distributed] in the whole town.
• Ice opened recently behind virgin megastores , small but trendy definatly a step away from the townies and grungers
• octopus (goth)
• TOPMAN/shop(lion walk), RIVER ISLAND(opisite boots),NEXT,BURTONS(high street),all good for fashinable cloths for men and women
• hoax clothing has a range of t's hoodies and jeans while just down the road fluid is also pukka
• 'Red', which only opened a few weeks ago (today being the 15/4/02). It's kinda like the2nd Octopus which opened up (opposite the old Octopus). They sell alternative clothing, all female. Bubba G is still the best place to go in Colchester for alternative clothing, though. Male and female.
• just to let you all know, miss selfridge isn't there any more. there is a v cool shop down that little street @ the bottom of the high street, it has fancy dress stuff as well.
• Octopus has to be the coolest goth shop. Sells loadsa Raven stuff (my favvveee), Buba G- band tees, hoodies, cool clothes, looottsss of baggy trousers, collars..the list goes on..(although, I remind you....OCTOPUS IS THE BEST). Also.. there's Main Station. Here you can buy tights/fishnets, platforms, collars, weird and wonderful jewelry, wigs, cool clothes and also you can hire freaky costumes (Irecommend the black PVC dress which is like the one the cheerleaders wear in the Fight Song vid. by Marilyn Manson...verryyy cool) Believe it or not..TKmaxx is a cool place to shop, for al you goths and freaks out there. I bought a really cool fluffy black coat with red silk lining from there. You'll alwyas be able to find something in TKmaxx. So..okay..it's not Bondage or Raven etc stuff...but if you cut holes and stitch weird things here and there to a perfectly normal top....it looks col and individual..trust me...I did it...haha.
• ice round the back of tk macs in culvar squre the best place in town to get you're clubbing gear
• Burtons on the High Street is ok for cheap crap annd responsible for 90% of the jewellry sold in Colchester (yes thats tons and tons)
• Cornucopia had brilliant cheap old stuff i.e. top hats, ancient evening dresses etc. All gone now too trendy.
• Plenty of shops just not much variety. Could we please have a Clacton common/Freeport style designer village in Colchester?
• top shop for good copy's of catwalk stuff. salvation army charity shop for nearly new gear .
• No shortage of clothes shops in Colchester - well, at least there's something within everyones budget. Always get a pair of jeans for £10 or less if you hunt around.
• FLUID TWO SHOPS ON FROM HOAX
• Urm... 4 hoodies and tees u can try time records, but other wise Byrite and river island are my faviorites
• Topshop, Miss Selfidge, if you can get a space in the changing rooms!. ight your way through screaming BAckstreet Boy lovers, who are so intent with their big bums and fat stomachs, they fail to realease that they havent got a figure!. Morgan is the best place to go, or perhaps the Young Fashion in Williams and Griffins, nice staff, nice clothes, nice atmosphere!.
• Try Arana in Crouch Street when you're feeling really flush and want to treat yourself - labels include Betty Jackson, Ghost, Joseph and others.
• Traders of the East (Eld Lane, Head Street End) sells all that Indian hippy stuff for Colchester's resident grunge population, who always seem to remain, no matter what the changes in fashion may be. See it all modelled down The Cups/Twist of a Friday. Also sells other stuff but beware, the place is tiny and you may get stuck in there with a bloke who smells like a dope plantation. The bird who works in there has been there forever.
• Getting better - Williams & Griffin now sells Reiss and Full Circle (although it is a limited selection) IC2 and Innes Cole sell good stylish mid/upper price designerwear (ie - not CK t-shirts and Tommy jumpers), there is now a Kookai and French Connection and plans for a House of Fraser
• Oasis, Kookai, French Connection, Turners, Innes Cole
• ATOMIC - St Johns St, opposite precinct and Playhouse pub. Clubby, Student, Streetwear, Retro - good selection of clothes, something different for the weekend but at very reasonable prices........GO CHECK THIS ONE OUT........
• An abundance of charity shops in Colchester - unfortunately some are very tacky. However, SCOPE, High Street and British Heart Foundation, Scheregate Steps, both deserve a delve through the clothing rails.
• Best selection of shoes (Converse, Gazelles, Puma, etc) at SOLE TRADERS, just off Short Wyre St., near Dixons. Top Men Shoes (near BHS) sells Pumas and Gazelles.

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

• right..arts etc. well, the university of essex occasionally holds really cool galleries and exhibitions. went to a poetry one the other day..was really good! trinity art gallery is good..isnt really a art gallery but is actually an art/crats shop!across the road is a really cool dollshouse shop. there are a few haberdashery shops which are cool if youre into customising clothes like moi.cant think of anything else...
• Traish Crafts... The Newest Addition to the card making supplies area of art & craft in Colchester.! Find us at teh Colchester Market on Saturday near the Co-op & the back of JJB Sports.! The Cheapest In Town For Card Making Supplies.!
• i kno there is an art gallery but cant remember wat its called
• trinity galleries is great for art stuff the works is good for cheap oil paints/acrylics "the art shop" is a great gallery too, loads of great art for sale
• lil art shop places dotted around everywhere in the libary they are always having sum art show on
• Trinity Galleries in Trinity Street sells tons of craft stuff. Alternatively, The Range in Cowdray Avenue has a good range of paints. oil pastels etc. Franklins has tons of sewing stuff plus stuff for making things like Dolls Houses.
• The minories next to the Bus Station.
• Minories cafe usually has a good local artist on exhibition - and a good cup of coffee with free refil too. Teh new Live gallery / cafe in Culver street is seriously good.
• Trinity Galleries sells Zig markers. Es is sehr gut.
• The gallery at the Uni has some brilliant exhibitions, some curated by gallery studies students. Multimedia, and other contemporary weird stuff...
• loads and loads. you can miss em....the cusp...new dawn...igigi.....etc etc
• Mercurey Art gallery, Small Gallery near bottom of north hill always has good stuff in window
• The Craftsman, near The Cups pub and the library is excellent for birthday presents when you don't really know what to get and sells nice affordable earrings/jewellery.
• the remanant shop- cheap fabric. dont go to franklins..its a rip off. Oh oh....I've offended the owners son now...he's in my class at school..haha.
• the crafts shop next to laibary
• Culture Stir for ALL your smoking/cannabis related goodies, bongs, trippy music etc
• minories well worth a visit
• Don't make me laugh, this is Colchester, it's almost built on craft shops..., well them and pubs
• All those little shops - Craftsman, Traders of the East, Roundabout etc. It's an arty-fartys heaven. For those prepared to venture further afield theres always Dedham Arts Centre, home to numerous old ladies with purple rinses. Sorry, did you say trendy though? I don't think so...
• The Minories art gallery is worth a look for good local work
• L:akeside theatre at the University has touring companies and student shows (better than you'd think). Mercury theatre puts on excellent pantomimes every year, and good stuff the rest of the year.
• Trinity Galleries, just down from the Library in Trinity Square is a brilliant, if pricey, art shop.

Magazine and Comic Shops

• Planet Ace has amazing selection of collectables
• ACE is now forbidden planet and situated at the bottom of the high street. Still run by Biff though (which is a GOOD thing.)
• Ace is it? Opposite the Playhouse on Osbourne Street.
• The maximum length of time anyone I know has managed to spend in Smiths reading magazines without being chucked out is just over 50 minutes. Definately worth a look if you're feeling cheap.
• S'gotta be Ace, really.

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!

In most cases, the information in each section has been submitted by more than one contributor (the credits at the bottom of the page list some, but not all, of the contributors) and some of it dates back to the 1970s.

We make no claims as to the accuracy of the information in the Guide - our only purpose is to provide a forum for users to share their knowledge and opinions. So please keep a large bag of salt handy and be prepared to read between the lines!

If you disagree with a comment, or information is out of date, please submit an update! The contributors come from all walks of life, and their opinions are bound to be subjective, so if your view isn't represented, please speak up and contribute to the balance of the Guide. See below in the 'Have Your Say' section for how to add your voice.

If we have helped you out or made you laugh you can buy us a pint.

Have Your Say...

You can tell us more about Colchester. This is also the method to use if you want to correct some of the information already here. (But please remember you're not mailing the person who actually wrote whatever-it-is.)

You can use the add an event form to tell us about events happening in Colchester.

Or, if you'd just like to leave a message for other users of this site, take a look at The Knowhere Board (handy if you're just trying to get in touch with someone).

Credits

Last updated: 2007-09-19