I was cutting through Wellington Street on my way to Upper Queens Street yesterday when I stumbled…read moreacross Octopus's Garden. Belfast used to be a wash with Vintage stores but over the years these have slowly become extinct so it's always good to see a new one rise from the bottom of the ocean - much like an Octopus. Octopus's Garden has many strands or arms/tentacles (may as well continue down pun street). It sells vintage clothing for both males and females, old school vinyl and various other retro artifacts. The main thing I liked about Octopus Garden was that their was a varied choice - the rails were jam packed with everything from flannel shirts, band T's to leather jackets and potentially bum cheek exposing denim hot pants. The prices were reasonable too - you often find that vintage stores inflate the prices of their stock but it seems that Octopus Garden have made a concerted effort not to extort their clientele. I was only going in for a browse but I ended up walking out with a loud shirt that has already proved a controversial choice - but that's the beauty of buying vintage items - they always divide opinion and create a talking point. I recommend popping in here for a wee duke round - you never know you might come out with your (not everyone's) new favourite shirt.

If I was trapped in the Garden of The Octo I would never have a time of misery or boredom. This is…read morethe slickest place so far and I would tell anyone who visits this city that loves music and old clothes to begin their journey here. I love this place!

Very cool shop with deep selection of new and used vinyl across genres. Several surprising original…read morereleases from someone's traded in punk collection. Super friendly shop owner. Prices are reasonable.

From the owner: Vinyl Records, CDs. Buy & Sell Records.read more

McBurney's is situated in Belfast's own red light district, at least that what I like to call it as…read moreyou are surrounded by unsavoury shops that your mammy would tell you never to go into! I used to be scared to go in here as I always found it intimidating, full of young muso's and older men discussing vinyl. Plus I no longer had my record player so I was always just browsing. Obviously, as Belfast's oldest music shop they stock a real mixture of genres and the vinyl is mixed in with CD's and other musical paraphernalia. Well worth a visit if you are a collector or you have a record player. The man who works here is really nice and the shop has been around since 1926 so it is obviously doing something right as all the other independent music shops have long since closed.

This is a strange little store and one of the few independently owned retailers still operating in…read morethe city. If anyone can remember the fantastic Hector's House located just on the end of North Street then you know what a travesty it was when the little gem of a music store closed its doors. If it was rare vinyl, odd singles and in general a more alternative less mainstream approach to music then it was your hub. A truly fantastic place. This store doesn't quite have the same level of expertise and panache but you will find some random LPs (do the kids still call them LPs or has that ship long sailed) and you're likely to find a few a discounted prices. It certainly makes a change from the big hitters such as HMV or the like but certainly worth a little trek around for that rare oddity.

I'm currently searching for a top notch indie record store in Belfast and decided to check this…read morelittle shop out. First impressions was ok, but not heart racing. Music selection was reasonable, but I wish it had more vinyl. The shop was also too dated and run down, but the owner was helpful and polite enough for me to give it a second chance! When I lived in Scotland I always used to go to a wee record store called Groucho's, which was fantastic and large enough to spend a good few hours in and the staff were very knowledgeble. This is the kind of indipendent record store that I am searching for in Belfast

I love Oxfam Books. It's so well laid out and stocked that on walking in you wouldn't even…read moreinitially realise it's a second hand bookstore. There's a huge selection of books spread over two large rooms and everything is shelved by theme e.g. art, history, cookery, fiction, graphic novels etc. I could spend a couple of hours looking through this shop and have picked up a quite a few great bargains over the years. Would definitely recommend to anyone who loves books.

As I have said in a number of different reviews, I am a big fan of charity shops. I always enjoy…read morethe laid back, chilled out atmosphere and you can usually get an absolute bargain if you have a good look around. I have called in here on a number of occassions and have picked up a few t-shirts and pairs of old jeans. The quality is always assured and you always know that you are doing a good thing and not giving your hard earned dollar to a big corporation. The staff in this particular store have always been helpful and friendly anytime I have called in. They're always willing to help you have a good look around and they'll hold stuff over for you if you need to pop out to get some money out or whatever. Well worth checking out.

Bang Boutique is at the higher end price range of vintage shopping in Belfast. In my opinion it's…read moredefinitely not as good as the other shops I've been to (Rusty Zip, Best & Vintage) They do sell some really funky clothing, stuff you really wouldn't see anywhere else. But in my eyes it's all second hand clothing, but here it's got the 'vintage so expensive' tag. One bonus though is the manager and staff who are awesome, you'll often find them in adjacent Muriel's (By the way, go here! It's great!) One thing that did disappoint me was a visit I made after going to buy a friend a Michael Jackson t-shirt I'd seen. (This was shortly after his death, she was devastated) we had a bit of banter together and then I enquired about it, he was asking £50! I mean, no way! Said friend was (is) his hugest fan, but even she would kill me for spending that amount of money. It was absolutely ridiculous. That's totally just cashing in on the mans death, I wasn't impressed.

Bang Boutique is a cool little vintage clothing store just across from Muriels bar…read more It has really cool and funky clothes but I fear it is one of those vintage shops where everything is great to look at but you never actually buy anything because it's all too pricey. There were some cool things to browse through on the counter like an old school telephone and a girl's annual from the 1960's called Boyfriend, which had some really cool drawings in it. I also spotted some cool leather handbags but at £20, they were a tad too expensive. The owners are really nice and friendly and will chat away to you as you browse. I could imagine the members of Belle and Sebastian doing all their shopping in a place like this.

Actually the window display in this charity shop was originally what caught my eye. Nestled in the…read moremorass of the usual books and clothes was a copy of Fleetwood Macs "Rumors" on vinyl...Judging by the look of it it was old and well thumbed but it piqued my curiosity enough to go in and check out the other stuff. There was a small but good book selection, plenty of contemporary fiction alside the usual celebrity biogs and the like. Trawling through the vinyl I found a nice little pocket of some classic 70's rock some kind soul had passed on. Peter Frampton, Reo Speedwagon even a Kiss album popped up. They were in pretty good nick vinyl-wise and the sleeves were too badly beaten up. They were priced at £2.50 each but the lady kindly gave me 6 of them for £10, maybe she was glad to see the back of them. As with any of these kind of shops, it's always a lucky dip requiring a bit of time and effort. My luck was certainly in that day. Pros: Friendly staff. Potential for hidden treasures. Cons: Cluttered.

Unlike the SVDP shop on the Antrim Road, the one on the Ormeau is small, cluttered and quite poky…read morelooking. Don't let that put you off though - I certainly don't. When charity shops are a bit pokier and messier than the shiny clean Oxfam type places, they're always cheaper too. This shop is a bit hit and miss clothes-wise, but there's a good selection of books and music, and when I was trying to kit out my new house a few months ago I was very pleased to find a massive framed Dali print here for just six quid - the frame alone would have cost at least £40 in a proper frame shop. Certainly worth a look - you might only get something here one time in ten visits, but oh my it will be a bargain.