The Knowhere Guide

Shops and Hobbies in Southend, Essex*

Southend, Essex Clothes, Magazines, Art, Galleries, Hobbies

Clothes Shops, Shoe Shops, Fashion and Bargains

• internet or lakeside
• Zu - Southchurch Road near Tesco Extra/Blockbuster and close to Southend East Station- Many people think that this is just a kids shop as they sell really funky stuff like Oilily and cakewalk but they also do Birkenstocks and Converse for adults as well as Religion. Always unusual stuff - some higher end price tags but don't be scared lots of bargains - Used to be Saffron/Robes de Ville in Market Place, Southend
• C&A has sadly gone. but Herbert Wiltshire on Leigh Road sells Farah and Gabbicci
• ahh! Limit hs taken over from Oh Yeah for the alternative clothing shop in shouthend high street me thinks, they have a wide selection of baggy and tight trousers for skaters, punks, grungers, even metalers kind find stuff in there. I wouldnt streach as far as saying goths can find sumthing in there, but then again not many shops in southend high street sell corsets and long flowing dresses.
• Topman, Envy and Burtons for the guys. Envy is the best one for Lambretta clothes. Burtons is better for those posher moments in life. Topmans the best as it has it all, posh, trendy, casual and a few fit girls at the till(not forgetting the womens store down stairs which you can have a look at.
• tk max!!!!!!
• most essex boys and girls go to lakeside and bluewater or if they dont want to look like everyone else they go into london for some decent variety...shopping in leigh is better than southend
• CHECK OUT http://www.dnaformulawear.com.The best T shirts in the world...probably
• *Penny Lanes* in Southend is an Fab Vintage Clothing Shop. Cheap as chips - you cant go wrong.
• Oh Yeah! along Southchurch Road (up the road from Paul's Discount).
• if u want alternative the only place to go really is oh yeah, but it can be expensive. cool stuff tho. lots of trendy shops, u dont even need to look to find em.
• T.K.Maxx, even though it sucks, nowhere else is better.
• in leigh is v. funky place called 'gum'. duz vintage stuff. dats what we like to see! other than that go to the charity shops. get original like.
• Excile surf shack in the Royals or any of the hundreds of charity shops in hamlet court road (not)
• In Southend's High street there are plenty of clothes shops. I would suggest the best place for the girls to shop is the Famous Fashion Factory it has all the up to date fashion accessories and quite cheap. Another shop i would suggest going to is a shop called Looks (not New look)it is a great shop for the young girls and tarts i love this shop and recommend it to all.
• The best Clothes shops down the highstreet are, bay, topshop, river island, miss selfridge, and loads more
• purple turtle, kinda new, @ da end of the road by hmv. sells loadza stuff, cheeper than oh yeah! and saffron, sells strippy socks! lol behind all da pubs by the realy old cinema!
• X-isle is for skateboarders, surfers and stuff, abit lame and small really. Jellymumbos is for skateboarders, sadly it sucks BADLY. And "Oh Yeah" is for all the "alternatives" and dope heads.
• 'A Touch Too Wild' is a wicked shop!its by the southend central station(off highstreet) and sells some really funky clothes, gone a bit designerish tho unfortunately and is also expensive but its a great shop and the blokes who work there are really friendly and will give u money off/make clothes/fit/alter etc etc
• Xisle is kool!
• Oh Yeah! need I say more? just get down there
• A touch 2 wild in leigh is great as are most of the clothes shops in leigh (brown sugar and intrigue) bit expensive but u wont see noone else wearing them! xx Loobie
• once again gumbis AND oh yeah. oh yeah is down the road frankie and bennies quite a way down, and gumbies is near the depot opposite king fisher fish and chips.both of these sell hoodies, music shirts, but oh yeah s[ecialises in alternative clothing.
• i think there should be more grunger and goth shops in southend theres only 2 good ones gumbies n oh yeah sort it out southend we need more
• For clothes, i'll go in T.K Maxx and Topman for Jeans n t-shirts, or X-Isle is wicked! Make ur own too... buy t-shirts for £2 at peacocks n do ur stuff in em!
• Gran Moda, Rectory Grove, Leigh. V. trendy and outrageously snotty staff.
• 's gotta be 'oh yeah' down past frankie n bennies!
• There are a couple of good clothes shops in southend but the one that comes to mind is X-ISLE! its the best shop around they've got great clothes and Alex the guy that works there is cool ive been in there for hours at a time just talkin and havin a laugh and Andy A.K.A Puddsey he is cool aswell you cant go wrong, The reason why X-Isle is the has lasted so long unlike speed factory and dreamland is coz of the service. Alex likes good jokes so go in with some good ones. P.S. PMT GUYS YOU ARE ASSHOLES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
• what has happened to miss selfridge???? Full of utter bollocks. i suppose its ok if your a 13 year old slapper from essex with no money going down southend high street in your gold backless strappy top with your tits out trying to find your next car shag.
• Primark
• Mixing and matching up the highstreet can work. Topshop is good for hosiery and interesting detailed tops. Depends on whatevers in fashion as whether the general content is shit or not. Oh Yeah sells some nice jewelery and grand spanky belts. I hate the fake alternative scene and will embrace any highstreet shop with open arms and use it for my own sick purposes.
• Why is it that Top shop clothes are smaller than anywhere else! Get a size 8 anywhere and it fits, get a size 8 in Top Shop and its too small? Some Nice clothes though
• none of thwe high street shops are any good
• Gumbis n Novacrafts both in york road are the best places to get really kool t.shirts n dat
• best for cloths in either tk max now they selling fubu and skate cloths! saves the trip to london! this is located in the royals where the cafe use to be! or x-isle the owner alex is as kewl as u will ever get u can sit there whilst everyone at school and just chat and look at skate boarding stuff and dream about some oakleys!
• Hennes, X-isle, cant think wot its called, but there is a shop down by the central train station, but it sells really funky clothes mainly for girls.... u can get corsets and huge flairs there!
• Make youre own.
• Numerous down the High street.
• Try Hennies - great for cassual clothes, cheap and fashionable
• The new gap shop is really good i got a jumper from there.
• X-isle Speed factory Gumbies
• Gap, GBs, Mad House, and lots of sports shops, your better off going to Rochford or even London.
• Don't go to Torso, you'll get ripped off by a ponce with bleached hair called Giles who's stock is 'unique and very scarce in the fashion scene' Yeah right mate, you've got a truck load out back. Go to X-isle for some groovy skateboard/surfing gear. Tiny shop but excellent stock and the bloke who runs it is one of the nicest guys you'll ever meet, a real gem.
• Oxfam for a real bargain and you'll fit right in with the usual crowd
• Oh, it has to be Hennes
• Well I'm a bit of a Topman, River Island sort of guy. I suppose you get those everywhere!
• Southend is crap for clothes go to Lakeside or Blue water.
• I cannot believe that no one even thought to mention A Touch too Wild when composing their lists of clothes shops. This is a really good place to go and buy original designs and wicked second hand clothes. If you are looking for anything in particular in the way of clothing just ask and they will keep an eye out for you.
• Speed Factory, X-isle (cool blole in there who surfs and shit and gives reductions if your nice!!), Jelly Mumbos - all sell some good baggy clothes and some smart skater gear!!
• paul's discount clothing is the best 'cause you can get combats, dickies and stuff like that really cheap. and also gumbies for heavy metal/ punk t-shirts
• Call me sad but primark
• well in rayleigh there are mainly second hand shops and NO not the sort of decent shop where u can get funky 70's shirts because of the huge amount of elderly people living in rayligh they are all full of grey polester bodysuits and stuff....well theres EGO a shop thats a bit 'rood' but has the biggest tosser in the world serving in it, one false move and he goes mad a you, DONT TRY ANYTHING ON!!!! , advice to piss him off go in there in a group of about 10 of you, cause loads of trouble and as he throws u out, show him the £99999 you were going to spend in there..well EON in the front of a market is ok for day wear but nothing special really....
• The first designer shop EVER to appear in Southend is Torso which is next to the bottom entrance of the Last Post pub. Specialises in Urban Stone gear and was mentioned in FHM. Ask for a discount if paying in cash, usually works.
• Hillstreet is no longer there - It's been replaced by some cheesy girlies accessory shop.
• the speed factory s-o-s
• There's a really cool mens shop called Hillstreet, (near railway bridge High Street). It's a small but very friendly shop that sells mens clothes that You Can Afford! (Not crap.)
• Don't even bother unless you want to fight your way though the 12 year olds in Mad House for a crap cheap pair of jeans. To be honest, the clothes in Southend are shit, and the shops that are bearable seem to be placed at either end of the high street, so my advice: go to Lakeside.
• Southend isn't bad for shopping. There's all the usual Top-Man and Next shops. A lot of the big names have gone to the Lakeside shopping centre in Thurrock but there's been a revival of late.
• Paul's Discount Store. Army and Navy. Hard Times retro clothes shop.

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

• 'AmDram' is big in Southend. there are plenty of Saturday workshops for budding thespians. Being homless, pikey, a chav/terry or just a nob seems most popular..
• Strand Gallery on Southchurch road. They're really helpful, have loads of art and craft stuff and give STUDENT DISCOUNT!!! Much cheaper than the one in town.
• one opposite hmv
• That bleedin place down southchurch road (oh yeah)
• errr boring...witchcraft???
• in southend library theres always artists work scattered about, specially near the entrance. u can pay to put your own work there too.
• Never really been an art lover myself and as for craft shops, reminds me too much of st Mary's church fetes!
• Theres a mental shop for arty stuff in West Road, Southend, and they do unsigned band promos too!
• Leigh Broadway is full of 'Wooden Cat' shops and doubtful charities.
• Laurie Matthews
• africa, queens road
• Lawrence Matthews, good to stock up before art exams
• that matthews art shop is a good craft shop
• Beecroft art gallery is near the seafront somewhere?
• It has to be my mum's shop, Character Ceramics, Westborough Road ;-)
• There were some really decent Graffiti hall of fames over on Southchurch road but that is being knocked down, but look around and you will see some cool pieces by residents graffiti artists Kabs, Veks, Nato etc.
• a little art shop in berrys arcade thats about it......
• I will let you in on a little secret. If you're into collecting old out of production model car kits or hard to get American kits, this is the place for you. CARKITS INTERNATIONAL they have the best mail order catalog I've seen in years. yUou can ring Bob @(702)615397 if you're in the area call and make an appointment to stop by and see all the old stock model kits.
• Beacroft Art Gallery, Westcliff - impressive displays of local and regional artists paintings and sculptures.
• Oh Yeah! (that is the name) located on Southchurch Road near Paul's Discount Store and Apache Rising in Alexandra Street. Both owned by the same people they sell a selection of hippy and new wave fashions as well as ethnic ornaments and candles. Great if you are stuck for a gift.

Magazine and Comic Shops

• Viz and Womans Weekly. WH Smiths
• INTO THE VOID!!! best comic shop in southend! although they still dont have the 3rd Ororon the demon manga comic in stock yet! GRRRR!
• wh smiths probably
• aaahhhh the one up Victoria plaza like
• In The Void and The Time Tunnel, next door to each other on the top floor of Victoria Plaza (as you head towards Southend Victoria Station)
• best place for mags i have to say is in the top of town in whsmith. theres a comic shop at the top of the plaza which has every comic imaginable. above the train station (victoria). go there if u need a comic. if u have no money just go to the library to get your comics. on the bottom floor.
• WHSmith's has always been there, they sell everything!, for old comics try 'Time Tunnel'
• Into the Void (hey thats twice now Lee I want Royalties !!)
• kerrang is the best magazine eva including metal hammer n rock sound keep it up
• Good porn selection in Mr Patels just of the High Street. He also does some under the counter stuff. Just say the password is snatch151hooters and he'll sort you out.
• Theres some in the Victoria Plaza
• time tunnel, victoria plaza
• over priced and arrogant
• oNLY LOSERS ONCE AGAIN.
• the comis shop opposite timetunnel at the plaza is really good
• cartoon shop Time tunnel(cool T-shirts)
• We have two right near my college, they are called Into The Void and Time Tunnel, they sell Manga, Magic: The Gathering, Figures, etc. Into The Void has lots of videos and mags.
• There's a good one in the precinct 1st floor but I've forgotten the name sorry!
• ermm....the corner shop on fairfax drive?
• The Void in Vic Circus seems to be the top comic shop about.
• Top floor of Victoria Plaza. Need I say more!!
• The Void in victoria plaza, has literally thousands of comics.
• One up at the top of Victoria circus
• Into the Void (the new name for the Cartoon Shop) on the top level of the precinct. Time Tunnel in Victoria Lanes Market.
• The Comic Shop on top floor of Victoria Circus shopping precinct. Very well stocked.

  Sources for Magic cards (and other CCGs): Comic shop (not such a good stock) Southend/Leigh - "Warlord/Caliver Books" on the A13 - good supplies but tendency to high prices.

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Last updated: 2007-09-19