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!

My mis-spent youth is filled with happy memories of spending Saturday afternoons pottering round…read morerecord shops, browsing and finding new stuff. With the rise of digital the fun of flicking through the racks has changed but Sick is here to bring the fun back, hurrah! Opened last year in a tiny unit round the corner from Aether and Echo, Sick is a proper record shop selling proper records. We are talking the joy of vinyl here people, and boy is it a joy. There is no CDs here, just wall to wall plastic, and there's no One direction either. Sick specialises in new independent and Alternative music and Archive Re-issues on vinyl, if you are looking rare, this is where to go. Also special mention must go to the owner Kenny, looking dapper with his silver quiff, and the guys, who have such passion for music and they want to share it, always willing to advise or recommend something new. Yes, I still love being able to get music instantly online, but nothing beats buying the physical product, and you can't hold a download. If you feel like me, you'll love Sick.

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.

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.

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

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.

I'm actually in Waterstones a lot without every buying a book. You see Waterstones houses one of my…read morefavourite coffee shops in the city, Ground Espresso Bar. The bookshop itself is always busy but don't worry there's also plenty of staff although sometimes I find it hard to distinguish between staff and browsers as they don't appear to have a clear uniform. The shop displays are always excellent - they often have featured books highlighted on a table and then related works nearby. I really like this concept as it makes it a really easy shopping experience. Waterstones has a really nice relaxed feeling about it - you won't get told off for having a good rummage and likewise if you want to contemplate your next novel choice the upstairs coffee shop is the perfect place to do that. I know this review wasn't exactly a thriller but hopefully it's a good non-fiction.

Waterstones does not strike me as 'mainstream' as Easons or WH Smith. There is more of a homely,…read moresort of old fashioned atmosphere at Waterstones which takes the shabby bookshop feel but invests lots of money and time into it to make it into a great store. It is a great mix of old and new. The shop gives you a feel of being a bit like going to your gran's house, but instead of old photo albums, you have the latest bestsellers dotted around instead. They have some great offers, particularly on children's books. I went in with a friend to buy books for primary school teaching and they had some great ones for very cheap. The shop also has some travel guides, a great section on irish history, and is a perfect stop if you need to get someone a Christmas present and you've already exhausted the CD and DVD route one too many times. The staff are really nice and smile and do everything you want from a bookshop member of staff. Remarkable how some shops not too far away have the most ignorant members of staff you can find, yet a quaint little bookshop has the most polite and pleasent people you will ever find. Although I don't like buying books and not ever getting round to reading them, I do like to browse bookshops and Waterstones is one of my favourite in all of Belfast.