AllSaints

I believe this is the site of the original All Saints store, or so folclore goes - hence the All Saints of Spitalfields rebranding. Oh well, I think the sign in the window says it all: pack 'em high, sell 'em if not cheap at least sell 'em.

All Saints has morphed from a cool fringe brand to a ubiquitous high street brand. And while they still stock the odd must-have for aging rock chicks, it's somehow lost its edge. Had a quick look around the store today and didn't spot anything exciting - many of the sale items looked like All Saints imposters dragged in from Pettycoat Lane market.

Not impressed, their sales used to be amongst the best.

When I saw that All Saints had curiously re-branded itself as 'All Saints Spitalfields' I almost spat my soya latte out in surprise. I feel the same way about All Saints as I do about those other so-called premium high street stores, Whistles and Reiss, their clothes are simply too ubiquitous to be interesting and not classic or well-made enough to justify the price.

This is a shop where you could conceivably spend £300 on a sequined party frock but without the knowledge that items are in any way limited. Ergo, you could presumably wear said party frock out to Carnaby Street/Shoreditch/Notting Hill - delete as necessary - and see every other self-consciously fashionable girl in the same overpriced frock.

It wasn't always this way. In the last year alone the cost of an All Saints jacket has risen £50, and while not being an economist I'm fairly certain inflation doesn't explain this evil. Cost aside, All Saints used to be quite interesting and, before it expanded to become the mother of all slightly quirky chains, actually kind of cool.

If you're in the market for a faux-gothic Vivienne Westwood light outfit, the kind of avant garde pulling outfit for girls too scared of looking ugly to wear anything truly avant garde, then All Saints is for you. If not, hit the high street for reasonably priced and comparably made clothes, or Liberty for some true designer gems.

Unfortunately I am not a big fan of the brand, but my friend was in search of a particular dress that she had borrowed and ripped by mistake! So she needed to replace it...

The staff were hideous to us! Seriously it was like the Pretty Woman scene where they tell her to leave the shop! Ok maybe a bit of an exaggeration but they were so rude to us. We searched everywhere and couldn't find the dress so we asked one of the staff members...big mistake! The shop assistant basically didn't want to talk to us and made it very clear!

Some of the clothing is quite nice although very expensive considering the quality. I feel that maybe considering the area the brand does not quite fit. The store is on a corner between Blondie and Absolute Vintage - two very popular vintage stores.

This is a store for those who know and like the clothes, but not a place where new customers will be drawn in!

I know the complaints about All Saints, I understand them too. The vibe is a bit pretentious, the prices are extremely high, the look is a little too contrived in its oh so cool London way, but oh, I do love the clothes!

I really do you know, and it's worrying, because as we all know, this stuff is expensive! I think I like the tailoring, I like the colours, the clothes all fit really well, and I occasionally purchase something that becomes a staple of my wardrobe. I picked up a soft grey cardigan here that was on sale, (half price), and I wear it all the time. At the moment I have my eye on a beautiful black dress which I tried on and looks as good on me as it does on the hanger - and that doesn't often happen. But it is £120.00, which is a bit steep.

If you do like All Saints, then this Spitalfields branch is the one to visit. It is one of the biggest branches, and well laid out. They seem to have the full range of clothes here, as well as all the accessories and bags.

All Saints and I have a love hate relationship. Actually, I have a love hate relationship with it, I'm not sure it is to fussed about me or at least this is the general impression I get when I walk round the store and have to suffer the oh so trendy staff. I get that they try to deliberately encourage a laid back cool vibe from these people but sometimes it just feels pretencious.

Nonetheless, the clothes are gorgeous. I know people dislike it because their range is so dark and there's very little variation but everything I've bought from here has worn really well and always been complemented. As far as the colour scheme goes, I have never gone to All Saints to buy a whole outfit so where it's lacking I add my own colour. Really it seems silly to moan about a shop for the colour of its clothing. If you don't like a black cardigan, don't buy a black cardigan. Simple!

I would agree that the shop is overpriced though. Some items carry tags you would usually only pay for bespoke and I think All Saint's forgets that we know their items are mass produced. Obviously this shop isn't for everyone but if you are willing to suffer a bit of staff snobbery then I would recommend it for the long-term investment items like bags and coats. My winter coat has lasted two years now and I still love it to bits.

I can't tell you how in love I am with All Saints. I never used to be, but somewhere along the way they've got themselves a hot-young-thing of a designer who is consistently producing jaw-dropping works of art.

If you like to stand out from the crowd while at the same time maintaining your edgy yet elegant poise, then this is the label for you. Everything looks tailored but somehow also superfly, always a difficult balance but this company appear to do it with ease.

Clothes for both men and women start upwards to £50 for most items, and typically are between £100-300, but you can always stick it on your credit card! If you want to be the envy of all your friends, I implore you to check out their website now..

I was recently walking down Commercial Street with my sister when she spotted All Saints which urged her to go on about how much she hates this store.

Personally, I don't necessarily hate this brand but something she said did stick with me: the whole store is grey. It's true.. the interior is grey, the clothes are grey and even the staff is grey since they tend to wear the clothes from the shop. You might like argue with me on that point and say that they sell some black, white and perhaps silver items as well, which is true, but mix them together and you get grey. Even their ads are grey. It's insane.

Now I like grey clothes, in fact my personal wardrobe is not very colourful and I must admit I wear too much black. But, I just find it strange that a 'superior' high street shop could not even afford to be a bit more creative with their colour hues.

Anyways, I have never felt attracted to this store. In fact, I think I have only ever entered it three times in my life, each time only to leave it feeling unexcited by the grey, often asymmetric, pricey designs.

This is one of the coolest clothing chains I've visited - cutting edge casual clothes, bags and belts with some smarter items thrown in.


Spitalfields is their flagship store and the interior hits just the right note (no pun intended). Great music and that refurbished warehouse look must have cost loads to put together.


Some items are pretty expensive - do you really want to pay £80 for a T-shirt? But there are some real signature pieces here. Best of all, the staff let you wander round as long as you like without hassling.

Definitely the best All Saint's around! The only problem is it's so well stocked there's almost TOO much to choose from. I only give it 4 stars as opposed to 5 stars because of how expensive it is. I'm not sure if it's overpriced for what it is necessarily, but it is definitely overpriced for my budget. I usually plan to buy one thing from there when I visit London though.

You take/make a simple westwood inspired jersey dress with a neckline wide as possible, stick some sequins and glitter, and a price tag with couple hundred quids. That is my view over All Saints.

The collections are very dark and what I would categories "street wear", they go for a bit more rough image but with a high street scale. The brand really tries to be over the average chains, originally (?) named as All Saints Spitalfields after their head office location above this flagship store.

The company is really pushing the label as original and different but from my point of view, with the designs and quality, it is all the same.