NES Has Second Thoughts About... River Island

River Island has always been one of those stores I've not 'got' since I was about 14. Yet it continually wins awards in magazines for best high street store or some such. I've never understood and to be honest, on the rare occasions when I ventured in to check what all the fuss was about, I still didn't get it.

The lovely Gemma at Catwalk Queen has marked it as one to watch for Spring/Summer and I must admit, I am again intrigued.

So it was with some trepidation that I ventured into my local store hoping to find at least three things I liked.

It did not start well.

The first thing I saw when I entered? Sequinned leggings. Leggings. Made of sequins. Trasharama. The horror continued. It was a whole table, the opening gambit in their visual merch, full of leggings.

You know my thoughts on leggings. A reminder in case you don't - NO, Never, Not Under ANY Circumstances. Just No.

So I went round clockwise and got increasingly more depressed. It was full of the shiny tack that I associate with the place. Neon? Check. Glittery chemical faded jeans? Check. Cheap looking shiny material? Check. Horror upon horror.

Then, a miracle. I spotted something I liked. Except it was in a nasty colour.

In the end I found a dress that I would wear (cute faded navy with white polka dots and a cute bow detail on the back hem) but would need the belt removing and a shirt (white, pink polka dots). That was it.

Given that on their website they have a section for tops specifically named 'Bar Tops', suggests that I'm not exactly their target consumer. But now that I've faced my fear, I'll not discount it completely when I want something new to wear.

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