I love House of Leather, I really do. House of Leather is located on both sides of Wynyard station,…read moreas two separate shops, and they're both great. For such a small space, House of Leather has an impressive variety of shoes. They also sell handbags, but the variety there is not quite as large. The shoes, the shoes are where the action is. You can find almost any style you're looking for, whether it's flats, boots, kitten heels, stilettos, or sandals, and you can find them all in a range of colours and patterns. Plus, they have some hefty sales on now and again (there's one right now, 30% off), and their prices are fairly reasonable even without the sales. Have a look!

House of Leather sells more than just leather handbags. Although the name suggests otherwise, the…read morestore actually sells gorgeous shoes at heavily discounted prices. Situated within Wynyard Station, House of Leather has plenty of traffic thanks to the thousands of commuters who pass by. I was attracted to the store because of the very reasonable prices and the many shoes displayed in the window. Despite being a reasonably small store, the shop has plenty of stock and a range of sizes. The shoes are beautiful and are made even more attractive by their pricing. If you work in the city and love shoes, House of Leather is definitely a place to drop by for a quick window shop!

Fantastic finds that fall on the "bold and brash" side of the spectrum - this is not the place for…read moreunderstated pieces...but why would you want those anyway, when you could have an orange faux fur crop coat and a black leather blazer that's been structured to within an inch of its life (in all the best ways? Also a white lace minidress with lovely bell sleeves that was by a local fashion designer...and yes, these all came home with me. Shout-out to Natalie and Hazel who were both extremely friendly, welcoming, and helpful. One big gripe that may sound silly but it's a legit issue: they pack WAY too many items onto each rack. They are so tightly packed together that you honestly can't slide them apart to see a garment. I mean there is truly not even a tiny gap between the hangers; the hooks are hard-pressed together on the clothing rack bar. I've never seen this many garments shoved so tightly, even at a down-market thrift store. It made it so difficult to browse that I ended up skipping past big swaths of racks that I really wanted to look at but simply could not access. It was bizarre and extremely off-putting, which is a shame.. If I could have actually SEEN the clothes properly this place would get a full 5 stars. Dear shop owner: if you absolutely must put out this many items, just buy longer racks. There's space in your store to put in more racks, especially upstairs. You will sell MORE clothes when people can actually browse through them. Stop buying hangers and start buying racks!

In what can only be described as a mini recycled clothing hot spot, lies, amidst two charity shops,…read moreU-Turn Recycled Clothing. A slightly upmarket opportunity shop. Where as shops like St Vincent De Pauls, or Vinnies, as it is known, stock large amounts of everything, clothes thrown onto racks and boxes and boxes yet to be unpacked waiting patiently out the back. U-Turns is more sparing with the clothes that it sells. It's as though the clothes must first pass a series of tests before they are displayed in the shop and sold to the masses. Are they stylish? All the clothes available on the U-Turn Recycled Clothing racks are very hip and very apt, some faux fur formal wear for your first foray into furry fashion. Bold and brash cowboy boots with buckles and buffed leather finishes. A hat made of a mink that makes you think about the stink it would have caused to hunt said mink and taylor him into a hat. The prices reflect the classier appeal and display of the clothing and, while cheaper than most first hand clothing, is a little pricier than the shops next door. You could find, mixed amongst the trash and bland clothing in most thrift shops, a piece of treasure that would look so bold in your wardrobe, but to find that you would have to be lucky. Likewise it would be quite unlucky to find some trash in all the treasure at U-Turn.

I always expect Vinnies in Newtown to be already pillaged by the hordes of op-shoppers that come…read moreespecially to Newtown for the shabby chic. But I am always surprised, because there is always loads of cool stuff in there, if you have the capacity and heart to sift through. It's open relatively late so if you have nothing to do after a dinner out and need some amusement, then go and find something shiny and spandex from another decade in Vinnies and get a giggle from your mates. I found an awesome beaded necklace here that people comment on... I don't tell them it was from Vinnies! Okay, actually I do after a while because I think it's pretty cool. When I'm in there I often think, okay, when I need a particular item of clothing for a particular one use occasion I am going to come here and find it for next to nix. Somehow I always forget though. Anyway, if you are on a budget, then get to vinnies to get some rad clothes and support a charity.

I normally don't leave reviews like this, but this really needed to be said. Monday afternoon, I…read morewas shopping with a friend since I was in serious need of some retail therapy. I love to thrift shop since I'm only a casual on a budget and there's some really good finds in the Vinnies that I've visited before. While that still stands true, the customer service was a mess. To put it bluntly, my friend and I were racially profiled. I was in line with my purchases when a girl at the counter looked at me up and down and rudely told me to go to the girl next to her instead. I didn't want to cause a scene, so I said nothing and moved along even though I was already insulted. And the thing is, it didn't end there. My friend is a little darker than me, and she was purchasing something to. We were both in the line at the other girl's aisle, and my friend was only looking at something on the display when the first girl had the audacity to accuse her of stealing something. When we were in line. With our money at hand. Really? The lady serving us apologised for her coworker and my friend overheard a conversation between her and the manager about how it was that girl's second day. Still, that was utterly unacceptable. Good products. But maybe Vinnies should screen their volunteers better.

The holy grail of Australian clothing brands if you ask me. Zimmerman's clothing is romantic and…read morewhimsical and very hard on the wallet. When I found out there was an outlet in Sydney, I knew I had to go. Located in Rosebery, the area is what I would describe as industrial chic. Parking in the area seemed limited so I would recommend Uber or public transportation. The bottom floor is swim & resort while the 2nd level is ready to wear. I was impressed by the selection. They had a ton of different past styles. Mostly solid pieces and not a ton of print left but nevertheless an impressive selection. My only gripe was they had a lot of size 3. I needed a smaller size and although it's discounted, the price is still a decent amount to buy clothes that are too big just because you love it. If you're visiting and are a fan of the line, I would definitely recommend you check it out!

Tilkah is a store I first saw when I was scouring Chapel street in Melbourne for all the boutiques…read morethat everyone in Sydney raves about. Filled with gorgeous pieces of jewellery, hand bags and other accessories, Tilkah was the kind of store I could easily find myself in all the time. Unfortunately, a combination of my terrible memory and leaving Melbourne meant I forgot what the name of the store. I only recently discovered that they had a Tilkah store here in Sydney, and I recognised the name and from the style of the pieces they had available. They deal with soft leather, vintage style bags and a whole allotment of different jewellery. But warning, you pay a pretty penny for these pieces! Their shop in the Pitt street Westfield is set up exactly as it was in Melbourne. All their jewellery pieces are glittery in the bright lights of the store. I have my eye on one of their sling bags, made of their really soft leather. I just have to wait until the next time I'm allowed to treat myself.

My backpack I bought last year spit on the seam (I use it every day for gym and uni) . I took it…read moreback to this store and originally was told it would take 2-3 weeks to get fixed. I explained that I use it every day and the manager(s) - 2 of them stepped in - gave me a replacement on the spot. They informed me that this problem happened to a small batch of them. They replaced my bag with the same colour and updated model of my backpack. Excellent customer service, good range and knowledgeable staff ! I'd recommend them to anyone !

What's that you said? You've got money to burn? A credit card that doesn't look worn out enough?…read moreThen get thee down to Westfield Sydney, a couple of swipes of that card and flash a couple hundo's around; and you'll be as good as new! And chances are, you'll have some fancy new threads to show off. There's always so much happening at Westfield Sydney. Buskers in the mall, a sale at Zara, a new line of watches at Tag Heuer, or a new pair of Connies has come out at Hype. Either way, you'll never be short of something to buy, or something to look at. It doesn't matter which end or side of town you work in, you're never far away from Westfield Sydney; even if it's just to join the stampeding herds in the food court under Myer. Being a shopaholic, I could burn up a fortnights pay here in one go; and just keep rambling around until my bank card ran away screaming, or the bank just gave me the big thumbs down. Some may find the way the interior's decorated a tad too shiny, but I think that adds to the opulent atmosphere that you should expect from a shopping centre towards the upper-end of the spectrum. Be warned that you may spend sometime finding what you're after; but once you have, all will be right with the world... that's while your left trying to work out which arm to carry that extra bag on.

On my recent trip out to Sydney, I stopped in here to check out this shopping mall and to eat…read morelunch. It was located near the north end of Hyde Park at the NW intersection of Market St and Castlereagh St. It was easy to spot from far away with the Sydney Tower Eye. The mall was huge where you can easily get lost inside. Thankfully, they had good signage at the escalators. Just from a little bit of window-shopping, there were plenty of high-end stores. You can go up the Sydney Tower Eye from the 5th floor. There were restaurants on several floors. I ate at Yayoi up on the 6th floor.

I've just bought another watch from Karl. Thats number four including my grandfathers Seamaster…read morethat he restored. Karl has Austrian Master Watchmaking qualifications and is as honest as he is expert. Its now over 30 years that I first met him and he is still the pre eminent watchmaker in Sydney. For genuine new and collectable Swiss Watches there is only one place, here.

While on a recent month long work trip all over Australia, I was noticing the strong US dollar to…read morethe Australian and got to thinking about something I was interested in that this savings could really take advantage of. Being a watch junky with far more Swiss watches than I need but not near as many as I want, I thought of a somewhat obscure brand called NOMOS that is a small hand made, in house movement timepiece manufacturer located in Glashütte, Germany. So doing a little research I discover that the only authorized NOMOS dealer in Australia is this one in Sydney. After getting to Sydney my girlfriend and I go visit this shop which is small and on the 10th floor of a office building downtown. They mostly specialize in high end watch repair and selling some used vintage pieces. But they also feature the full NOMOS line. I was only there to look and check prices but the saving was far too tempting and we ended up getting the classic Bauhaus design his and hers NOMOS Tangente hand winders. The experience was excellent and the woman helping us was very knowledgeable and had us try on anything we liked and ask lots of questions. Truly an enjoyable experience and now we have some memorable souvenirs from the trip. Totally worth a visit if you are into vintage time pieces or the NOMOS brand.

Heading overseas? Stop by DFS Galleria in the city up to a month before leaving and stock up on…read moreyour luxe goods! From brands like Tiffany, Versace, Ferragamo, Coach, Tumi, Dior, Elizabeth Arden, Burberry you get the drift.. It's 3 whole floors of retail shopping at duty free prices! Hate it when the queues at the airport take forever and leave virtually no time for shopping? Or worse, hearing your name announced in the terminal with a sinking feeling you're going to miss your flight because the TRS booth line has not budged! With DFS in the city, you can shop at leisure, come back the next day if you're not sure and browse around all different brands for the perfect handbag before making a purchase. Once you've ordered and paid for the item, you can collect it from the DFS counter at the airport on the day of travel. No need to claim refund as it's already tax-free, very convenient! Remember to bring along your ticket. Not travelling? No worries, you can still shop there, only catch is you will be paying retail.

DFS Galleria is one duty free department store that delivers the goods - and not just any other…read moretype of goods, mind you - but luxury retail goods. If you're a fashion aficionado with the hots for the all the latest around then this is one must-stop shop. Their extensive variety of goods will sweep you off your feet due to the sheer number of choices. The fragrance collection is quite good, although they mainly sell LVMH products because DFS is wholly owned by LVMH. The staff are also accommodating with the right know-how to guide you through the right purchase that fits you exactly how you want it to. With heaps of designer boutique store-in-stores, DFS Galleria gives you a shopping experience like no other. As this is a duty free store, the vast majority of the boutiques require you to have a travel itinerary or flight confirmation.

First time visiting a lululemon store outside of the US and this one was run horribly inefficient…read moreand lack of customer service was sad, hoping to give them the benefit of the doubt and dismiss their poor performance with the large influx of visitors they aren't use to. Visiting for the Sydney marathon, with their attempt to profit off the race and offer a print shop popup to only turn away customers due to them being ineffective in servicing everyone in a timely manner, I was turned away 3 separate times due to "lines being too long" and they even had security enforcing nobody else being able to join the queue even hours before closing. Please do not falsely advertise these services to customers and then waste their time, what a let down. It would be hard for me to believe anyone actually prepared and planned the logistics of their operations for this event, major flop for Sydney lululemon. Good news is that they did set the bar low for themselves with lots of room for improvement!

Their service is really good. Bubbly staff and always helpful. Even easy for refund and repurchase.read more