To consider NYC shopping trip if I can't afford designer clothes?

[NeverYouMind123]

When (if!) the pandemic ends and we're allowed to travel again I'd love to (hopefully / if I can) finally visit New York. I love shopping and I hear this is the ultimate city break, I'd do some sightseeing and visit museums and Central Park etc too. But when I Google it, I get the feeling most of the shops are Chanel, Louis Vuitton etc and I'm more "normal" high street, markets and department stores etc. Can anyone who has been before advise me please? I'll be going alone...

@HeddaGarbled, I totally agree but whilst I had one colleague sat to the left of me struggling to pay her bills , another colleague sat opposite me telling us that good facials should cost £100 and upwards, so Priorities .

I"m with Llyn as well.

I think you should factor in your overall budget as well as the cost of clothes. Every time I've been to NYC it's been extremely expensive. (Quality) food is not cheap, but I guess you could make savings if you are fine to eat at places like Macdonalds. Accomodation is not cheap either - having done a few Airbnbs, I personally wouldn't scrimp and go for anything at the lower end of the market again - you just get something really small, dirty, in a dubious area and still expensive. Tourist attractions generally cost money - museums, towers etc aren't generally free. In summary, I wouldn't go to NYC if money was tight, it would be too stressful to enjoy. If you do go, wait for the exchange rate to improve so at least you get some good clothes bargains.

DH and I have been several times, pretty much once a year between 2013 and 2019. We got engaged there in 2014 and went back to get married in Central Park in 2016.

The last time we went we both noticed a massive hike in prices, even compared to a year earlier. The exchange rate wasn’t that much worse but regardless of where we went, even a bottle of water was extortionate. We’re quite savvy about eating cheaply over there, too; we are more into pizza and burgers than a sit-down meal with silverware!

It put a huge dampener on the holiday. We’re not tight-fisted while on holiday, we work all year to go away and enjoy ourselves, but the prices were so crazy we just couldn’t bring ourselves to part with the cash.

So many hotels have also brought in resort fees in the last couple of years too, which can be $30 plus tax per room per night, on top of the already steep rates and city tax.

I love New York so much and I miss it, but DH and I have agreed not to go back for a while due to all of the above.

I went a good few years ago and I enjoyed the shopping in department stores etc but I wouldn't say that experience is dramatically different to say London.

If shopping is what you love I'd save the £££ on flights/accommodation and go spend in designer stores in the UK. The price tags on clothes in NY also don't include tax so always more expensive at the till - baffling.

Eating out (as others have said) is extremely expensive, again, save the money and hit Bicester Village 👗

Depends what you want.

I now go for business a fair bit the first time I went I took a lot of cash to treat myself.
I was so surprised and disappointed, i could barely find a thing I liked...!

I thought a lot of their clothes are awful quality.
High end LV, CD and high street H&M zara etc was a waste of time as it is more expensive vs uk
American stuff was either not my style or if I liked it overpriced and made of poly something.
The outlet you get a bus out to was fine, but insanely busy

Honestly if you want to shop and have a nice time I'd stay in one of the plushy spa hotels in Cheshire/Outside Manchester then go to Cheshire oaks.
I get crazy good deals there and it's a nice shopping experience and the staff are generally pretty nice.

That said in NYC I loved the Met and the restaurants were amazing (But expensive!). The hotels cost a bloody fortune though.

I'm from NY but not a big fan of shopping in the city. Although there are a few flea markets with designer stuff, it's just overly crowded and expensive. Most of us go up to the malls outside the city anyway, the Westchester or the Palisades or up to the outlets at Woodbury Commons.

@mynameiscalypso I forgot about Express, I always used to come back with some amazing work clothes from there and I love old navy too.
Oh how I wish I had the money to spoil myself with a trip over!
I love that you can sight see and shop together.