Billabong is arguable the ultimate surfing brand, and Manly is definitely the ultimate location for…read moresuch a shop. Located on the sunny and surfy Corso, Billabong is a rad shop. The staff are way cute and friendly, offering suggestions and alternatives. Their cute accents don't hurt, either! The shop itself is nice - spacious, a baby ramp and blonde wood that suits the location to a tee. The best thing about it - about any store, really - is the clothes. Of course there are surfboards and wetsuits and all those things, but i REALLY like the clothes. The stock has an undeniable surfy bent to it - brightly coloured dresses feature heavily in the women's section, as does crochet. The stock here manages to toe the fine line between being surfy "themed" and being overly, annoyingly kitsch - certainly no Hawaiian prints here. If you're into trendy but not try hard, casual but not crap clothes, then Billabong is great spot.

As Crows Nest shopping goes, I'd say this is one of the slightly younger clothes shops around…read more Staffed by Marilu herself and the odd moody shop assistant (one actually ran away from me when I tried to engage her in conversation), there's a constant through-flow of customers on the look out for dance-floor numbers. Although some pieces err on the vulgar side, think cut-outs in all the wrong places, there are some really pretty, feminine pieces amongst the racks. The majority of the stuff is at a fairly high price, though there's often a rack of clothes outside the shop at much nicer discount prices. The thing that worried me was that I overheard Marilu telling one customer how doesn't have a daughter, only a son who she buys all his clothes for. I can only imagine what sort of get-up he's traipsed around in, neons, lycra and sequins perhaps? I've definitely got a fixed image of him as a figure-skater now.

A little boutique on King Street, Elvis 4 Cleo is a mix between pricier well-known brands and cheap…read moreno-name brands. You will find Wildfox tees, House of Harlow 1980 jewellery, Mavi jeans and Leona Edmiston hosiery, right alongside unbranded tops and dresses that range from $20-$100. Swimming costumes and lingerie can also be found here, as well as a consistent sales rack where you can grab yourself a serious bargain. The sales assistants are really friendly and were once kind enough to hold onto my friend's iPhone for a few hours after she accidentally left it in the change room after trying on clothes. That's true customer service. Whether you are after a particular brand or just keen for a browse, Elvis 4 Cleo is a great place to stop into. You might find yourself walking out with something you never knew you needed.

New town has many boutiques with a variety of styles. Elvis4Cleo is one boutique which has…read morefashionable clothing includes beautiful floral print dresses and tops. It has a collection consisting of clothes by various Australian designers catering to both Men and Women. This shop offers opportunity to the underground up and coming designers to showcase their designs. They also keep very different pieces of jewellery, accessories, sunglasses and swimwear. The lady in the store is very friendly and kind. In the half hour I was in the store I saw her help every customer that came in. I had a really nice experience with her when I went to buy a present for my sister. She always finds it hard to get her sizes. It was only because of the persistent of this lady that she ended up buying her dress. She r5eally made an effort to find all dresses that could fit her and really look good on her, also choosing different accessories to with the dress. She did have a very good sense of style. Ultimately when she found out that this was a dress for her birthday, she even offered us a 105 discount . We were both very happy customers and will definitely go to Elvis4Cleo again.

The Local Store in Newtown is very different from the local store in TV show "The League of…read moreGentlemen" ("this is a local store for local people"), I was able to leave this Local Store alive. Local Store is a trendy urban fashion store, which based on the number of skateboards on dale is aiming at a skater market, I am not a skater but I would buy clothes there. I just bought an awesome t-shirt from Insight's Garage Artist's range, designed by Japanese artist Yaki Allen a white shirt featuring a black hole design, very cool. They also have the coolest headphones and ear-plugs, I have seen on sale in Sydney, I particularly like a pair of 80's style smaller wire headphones but with a ultra-modern design and in blue, red and yellow colour (that's three colours in one pair, not three separate colours, bit out of my price range, but everyone needs a dream.

An outlet with all the ultra cool labes. Wrangler, Diesel and Lee to name a few. It was fantastic…read moreto see all the new summer range of the Wrangler singlets that go with jeans. And inspiring that all this great stuff is in the one shop. The change rooms are up the back and the staff are ready to help you try on something in an encouraging way. I don't think they have any problems selling stuff from this shop, as everything is very cool. It's all urban street wear, even the shoes available are for the everyday urbanite.

This is an everyday clothes store for the middle aged well to do woman. This lady does her best at…read moremaintaining herself and keeping busy with charity's and high society family functions. It is based on a very French theme and the grace and comfort that accepts life readily in the styles that are found in this shop. A woman who has prepared herself for the happenings of the middle years would indulge in this store. There were nice sun hats and shoes. Lovely bright coloured blouses and skirts. The price was not too over the top, tailored t-shirt blouse with feature ruffles and diamantes $79. I think that's pretty good, considering. There was also some jewellery although limited and sales lady seemed very interested in helping customers and took pride in the service she offered.

Their shop name is absolutely spot on. I bought a nice, solid pair of thongs for $6. $6! Where…read moreacross the road at Billabong, it would've cost me $25! They have LOADS of miscellaneous, mostly beach-related items, like thongs, beach umbrellas, sunglasses, towels, sunscreen, and lots of unrelated items like t-shirts, postcards, and the like. I'm pretty sure I also saw a few massive floating horses, the kind that kids ride in pools. Not sure how well they'd fare in the waves, though... And it's ALL fantastically cheap. So cheap, that I actually fear for the quality of it all... but so far my new thongs have served me well, so we're probably okay on that front.

Groovy dresses on the rack for $25. That's what got me in the door, there are many shoes and boots…read morein Monambi, the emphasis is on day time street wear for the fashion conscious urbanite. I like outlets where the stock is different and doesn't seem mass produced, I know it keeps the price down but it takes the integrity out of the act of creating apparel. The clothes at Monambi last, you can tell that they have been made well and when not on sale up around the $70-$100 region. The shop is a little dark if anything, it would be nice with a couple of extra downlights, but otherwise I liked the ambiance - rather hip. And there is a luxe wall of sunglasses.

Mud Mee had some very pretty dresses within a simple and elegant small shop…read more They sell a small range of quality stock as opposed to the overwhelming racks of colour in some of its neighbouring Newtown women's fashion stores. They lured us inside with "Sale! 60% off" signs, although we failed to find any sale stock inside. Not that this mattered too much, as the prices here are still reasonably cheap, with most of the re-designed vintage dresses selling for $59. The only problem here? The shop across the road has similarly pretty dresses for $20 cheaper.

Clothes from Thailand imported to King Street Australia, I love to hear about thriving industries…read morein other countries. It's so easy to put the blinkers on and think that the world revolves around Australia. But actually noticing where items are made and where their inspiration comes from can be a real eye-opener. Mud Mee is on a corner on King Street, it is very close to the Newtown train station and even about 300m from Erskineville station. I am drawn to the glitzy silver and sequenced dresses they have here. We don't get a lot of that designed locally, so this shop can often be good for a piece that is quite striking. Their stock does change quite a bit and they often have sales racks which can be worthwhile going through. I saw some leather look jodpur leggings for only $25 - they were heavily discounted and yes they came home with me. Worth poking your head in through the door at Mud Mee.