No. 20 Frances Street has changed hands a great deal the past couple of years, and has a nice new…read morepaint job each time to go with it. Black, white, and now a lovely zingy blue. No prizes for guessing why that is... Lulu Blu is not my kinda shop, and I mean that in the nicest way possible. The clothes are electic, quirky and, well, interesting. Not the kind of thing I could carry off whatsoever. That, however, is not to its detriment, and these kinds of clothes shop are growing ever popular. You never know, maybe one day I'll deck that flowery coat with the colourful, yet random, buttons. Well, maybe not. With distinctive garments from the likes of Desigual and Custo, you know you'll be dishing out the dosh, but these designs are certainly unique. Plus, there's a fab sale on at the moment, up to 70% off! One final comment, this time on the customer service. The sales assistant was happily conversing with a customer (who was really into the clothes, might I add), when she noticed my sister and I making for the door, empty handed. She abruptly stopped mid convo with this other enthused customer, and dashed towards us, asking "Are you girls ok there?". Bless her cotton socks. Four stars for the lovely sales assistant alone.

Yeah, not really my kind of shop. It looks good from the outside and that is what always gets me in…read morethrough the doors. They have a sale on so I wanted to look and see if I could pick up some bargain jeans - as it turns out the sizes in jeans are all very small - something to do with the designer brand names. They sell a big range of Desigual clothing - mostly coats, skirts and tops - this is a brand I have never liked and actually find hard to wear. My friend got her now ex boyfriend to buy her one for a few hundred pounds and while it is nice on her retro body i would just look like I was trying to hard. The mismatch of colours and designs is not my thing at all and the price tag is phenomenal - £300+ for a coat! I've been to a shop in Italy stocking this brand for way way cheaper but I still didn't buy anything. Go buy something if you want something different looking and expensive. The staff are nice but the sale wasn't great and the sizes are smaller and the clothes are too expensive. Not for me.

I think I'm a little bit in love with Koko. It's Ok, the husband knows how I feel…read more Koko is just to die for. It's a newish little boutique which sells the most funky and gorgeous ladies clothes. It's definitely upmarket with really well made, quality pieces, but it's not scarily expensive. To give you an idea, a tunic top/dress will cost about £60-£70 but will be individual and will look more like £150 worth. Everything is fresh and colourful and a little bit different but still on trend for the season. There are lots of nude shades at the moment which is bang on trend. What makes this little gem even better is that the owner and her staff are down to earth and friendly. No condescending glares here, quite the opposite. And no hard sell either which is refreshing. I'm going to a wedding in a few months and Koko will be my first port of call to look for an outfit.

Blimey, Wardens should be renamed "The Never-Ending Store That Has Just About Everything"…read more Seriously. I have many fond (ahem) memories of being dragged, I mean brought, down to Wardens with my parents. Usually the visit was a long and tiresome, er, lengthy and informative one, consisting of mum and dad dandering round the furniture department, the decorating department, the gardening department, and the kitchenware / appliances department. Every ten year old's dream really. These days, I definitely appreciate Wardens much more than I used to. You could literally spend all day in the place, browsing the various departments. If you come in off High Street, you are greeted by a beautiful gift section, filled with ornamental goods, china, glassware and the like. You can find everything from Alice in Wonderland figurines to Goebel cats to Denby pottery to Tyrone Crystal. Seriously good stuff. Following on from this is the gardening / pets / kitchenware / decorating department (they sort of merge into one), in which I found a little jar of Jellybeans (considered purchased). Really goes to show the variety of goods Wardens has. The furniture etc department (you know what I mean...pictures / frames / carpets / rugs and all that jazz) lies beyond this, leading out towards the car park which is located off South Street. Parking here is advisable - Ards is an absolute madhouse when it comes to trying to find yourself a space. You just never know what you'll find in Wardens...there truly is something for everyone.

Warden's is, for me, the best bits and bobs shop in Newtownards. It's one of those huge big…read moredepartment stores with lots of different areas and slops and upstairs and downstairs areas and parts where tall people have to duck and fat people have to squeeze. It stocks everything from bespoke wedding hair pieces to hose pipes. It's a general store not unlike the department store on the popular BBC comedy of yesteryear 'Are You Being Served?' There is a section for wallpaper and paint, cookware, furniture, artwork, jewellery, screws and garden accessories to name only a small fraction. The only thing I will say is that it can be expensive and parking out the front is impossible. Go out the back to park, you will have to pay and display even if you are only nipping in as there is a traffic warden lingering somewhere all the time - don't risk it. Although the store is expensive it does stock a lot of bits and bobs and the sales are pretty good.

This is an offshoot of the success of the Bangor Focus Menswear but it still offers the same…read morequality and service. I would not tend to buy clothes from this shop but I have hired formal wear from this outlet. They are pretty lenient with the rules. I brought my suit back a day late covered in booze and god knows what else and they did not charge me an extra penny. I think they even uttered the phrase, "it happens!" It is refreshing to have a company being reasonable and human with it's customers. The price is really good too staring from £30 for formal wear hire.

I honestly didn't know there was a Focus Menswear store in Ards but after seeing a Facebook ad I…read moreheaded over. They are currently selling suits from £25,.good quality stuff too, to make room for a refurbishment. And it's in need of one too. Only one changing room, and the store - downstairs at least is quite cramped and coed with stock (although that could be because of the sale). The two sales staff were very helpful and attentive, as you would expect from a suit retailer). All in all I had a pleasant experience shopping here. They did try to upsell me more items, but that is also to be expected and they weren't pushy about it. I got a very nice, good quality grey suit for £31 (I'm paying the extra £6 to have the trousers altered) and I will definitely be back there to shop again!

I called in here basically because I wanted to have a nosy at the stock. I have no gala events or…read morepremiers coming up so I didn't need to hire a dress or a bag or a hat but it was nice to look at what was on offer in case I ever do. The outfits are very revealing and very glitzy - the kind of thing young girls wear to their formals now-a-days - there really wasn't much that I would choose to wear myself as a lot are very low cut at the front. The lady who works there is very nice and she told me that they will be getting new stock in in a few weeks and that I could try anything I wanted. The hire prices range from about £35 to £55 depending on whether you choose a ball gown or a formal dress. I fell sorry for the owners as I don't think this shop will do well purely because of its location - it is at the back of the arcade mall which is a very old office block part of Newtownards and I don't think it would get much passing trade. Dress hire is a good idea but it might do better in a busier, younger town or in Belfast itself.

There are only one or two decent seamstresses in Newtownards and as far as I'm concerned the lady…read morewho owns Stitch-in Time is the best. A friend's mum recommended her to me, she advised me to take my slightly torn and ripped clothes here for mending. In these hard times it's better to repair than chuck away I find. The downstairs area of the shop seems to be quite massive with two ornate sofas below the window. Upon these sofas sit her two glorious little dogs. There seems to be no need for all the space downstairs as the lady takes your stuff upstairs or out the back. The prices are reasonable and the speed of mending is fast, just a couple of days or quicker if you are in a hurry. I bought a top, which I really loved, from Primark. I successfully caught it on a nail and it needed mending and it cost £5.00, which was the same price as the top in the first place - might seem silly but I loved that top. The rip she mended was quite big but it was totally invisible when I collected the top - she does a really good job!