Where to take a 17-year-old clothes shopping in central London?

[SeaToSki]

I live in the US and am visiting London in June with DD17. We are staying centrally and I would love some recommendations of where we could go clothes shopping for her. She is pretty mainstream in her tastes, not very brand conscious and I want to buy her a few new things, and have a fun afternoon browsing.

Soho or Covent Garden

I have teen nieces and they like the seven dials/covent garden area. Brandy melville is always the primary destination.

Although it’s crazy busy at weekends, you can’t beat Oxford Street for the high street brands - H&M, Zara, Urban Outfitters for a 17 year old is fab. Then down Carnaby Street, just off Oxford Street for slightly smaller brands - trainers, make up, pretty sure there’s a Brandy Melville down there too ❤️

Thanks, any other shops we should aim for as well as Brandy Melville and Zara? We will likely not bother so much with American brands as we can buy them less expensively at home

Primary
Oxford street
Good value
Latest trends
Lots of variety
Kids love it

Primary
Is wot I rote !

The teen girls I know love Urban Outfitters, Bershka and Primark all on Oxford Street or if you have a rainy day head to Westfields shopping centre but the Shepherds Bush one not Stratford

PrimarK
for the last time of trying...

Regent Street is also great for shopping - lots of good shops close together

The Inditex group includes Zara, Pull and Bear, Bershka, Stradivarius and Massimo Dutti. Pull and Bear, Bershka and Stradivarius are aimed at the teen and early 20s market.

&Other Stories could be good for a 17 year old too.

There is a Mango Teen shop on Foubart's Place at the back of Liberty off Regent Street. Subdued is another Italian brand aimed at teens, it's on the same street. Get there early otherwise the queues for the changing rooms are atrocious. Go to Liberty afterwards and have a good wander through the store and sample all the perfumes in the beauty hall.

These are all great suggestions, thanks. I would like to treat her to something nicer than Primark, but not designer brands, if that makes sense. We can buy Primark equivalents easily at home, I would love her to have a couple of items she loves, keeps and remembers buying on this trip. Thankfully she has finished growing.

www.regentstreetonline.com

Weekday
Urban (outfitters)
Brandy (Melville)
Agree with PPs Covent (Garden) is a good starting point. You can mooch from there to Oxford (St) if you have the energy. Just watch your phones and bags. Nothing on show.
Avoid Stratford/Westfield it’s wild out there.
Are you noticing the trend ….at least in my DD’s friend group everything had to be shortened to just one word.

My (slightly younger) daughter loved carnaby street last time we visited! Covent Garden/seven dials also good and fab to walk around, but if you are pushed for time and just want shops I’d go to Carnaby Street.

You could spend whole day in Covent there are also vintage stores lovely jewellery stores and get her to research what is popular on Insta food wise if you can be bothered to queue or pop over to china town for food. Enjoy!

Covent Garden is a nicer day out that Oxford St.

I would go to the Kings Road in Chelsea, a lot of "nicer" brands there and feels very London.

Area around Covent Garden or Kings Road. Oxford Street is largely the awful clothing retailing found elsewhere in the UK.

Paris would have been a better option, but understand if you cannot visit there.

Covent Garden/Seven Dials.
If you are going on the tube, use Leicester Square not CG, and there are great shops on the short distance between stations.
Floral Street for Paul Smith.
(good chips in Endell St. )

Kings Road
Regent Street
Bond St if you are fabulously rich.

Agree about King’s Road. It’s not as busy as Covent Garden, slightly less touristy. My daughter likes Subdued, Brandy Melville, Zara - which are in both locations!

Kings Road, Camden Market, Oxford Street/Carnaby Street, Covent Garden and Selfridge’s for shopping.
Also visit the huge Waterstones in Piccadilly Circus if she has any interest in books whatsoever, the massive Fortnum and Mason’s nearby, take her to China Town for Dim Sum if she likes that, Leicester Square for a show.
Mine also like Shoreditch and Borough Market for food.

Would second: Kings Road and Duke of York Square, Covent Garden & Carnaby Street. Also would suggest Battersea Power Station. Iconic London landmark, loads of great retailers plus some nice places to eat (especially outside by the river), plus you can go up the towers in a glass lift (££) and get some spectacular views.

I would say Oxford, Regent and Carnaby Street
If you're looking for a Mall experience Westfields Stratford or White City

As others say, Soho, Covent garden, Bond Street if posh.
There's two Westfields.
Camden probably.
Selfridges, Harrods, liberty, (smaller and less tacky) fortnums..For a department store experience.
Markets like Portobello but not been for years.
There used to be a great market in Kensington but it's gone now.

I Have 4 teenage granddaughters and quite often take them shopping - they like the Kings Road and Sloane Square. We recently booked a session at the Jo Malone store where they were shown all the different fragrances and I treated them to one each. They also love Covent Garden and Carnaby Street. Don’t bother with Oxford Street - tacky and crowded. The only shop there they like is Uniqlo and they have a nicer one in Covent Garden. One nice thing we’ve done is they’ve chosen a garment in Uniqlo - a sweatshirt or shirt, bag or whatever and you can get a customised embroidery on it either your own design or one you select from a book. There is also a nice little bar by the embroidery place upstairs where you can get a matcha or bubble tea while you wait.