Claire's Accessories (Shop) > Reviews (101)

Did you know that Claire's is American? And yes, just like the other famous American exports, McDonalds and Gap, you can not escape! Nearly every high street has a Claire's accessories on now. London has to be the worst place as it is infected and over-run by the claire disease! I challenge anyone to spend a day in London without seeing at least 20 of them! So why are they so popular?

Before Claire's accessories, there was Bow Bangles, which was fairly similar to be honest. But apart from that and the expensive Accesorize, there was no shop that sold only accessories, especially for kids and teenagers. Top Shop and Miss Selfridge sell accessories, but only a limited selection which is also quite expensive. So along came Claire's to save the day..and to cause hell for parents of little and not so little girls everywhere!

I have no idea who the famous "Claire" is but she must be a very rich lady by now, even with the bargains on offer in her little shops.

Claire's is aimed at pre-teen and teenage girls but (shock horror) there are plenty of bits and bobs in there for the older customer. I feel old going in there myself (I'm 19) as it is usually packed out with younger girls. Spot the boyfriends lurking outside! My boyfriend usually tries to drag me past a Claire's shop, or else he will stand outside and have a fag whilst I browse inside. You can be guaranteed that I will always find something I want. Ok, so I don't *need* a fluffy tiara, but it won't stop me shelling out a few quid for one! Look, it will look great for a party, ok?

Most of the stuff for sale is under a fiver with a few things like cushions, t-shirts and bags for over a fiver. Placed strategically around the counter are plastic containers containing *special deals" which change every week, from perhaps hair clips for 99p to patterned tissues. The poor assistants have to ask every single customer if they would like to buy the special deals, which is where the Mcdonalds style influence comes in-"would you like fries with that?" You also get accosted the moment you walk in the door by an assistant who asks if you want a basket. Call me a cynic, but this is a clever marketing ploy as you can fit lots more accessories in a basket than in your hands!

All the staff that I have experienced have been friendly, and they are often decked out in their own accessories and glitter from the shop which looks fun and funky. Warning- the queues can be quite long, so take a book! I'm sure it's another ploy to try and get you to buy more of the stock which is displayed around the counter. There is a huge selection of key rings and cheap gifts such as notepads placed around and on the counter.

All of the staff seem to be young girls themselves which is understandable-I don't know many teenage boys who would want to work in a pink, fluffy environment! There is always fluffy pop music such as Britney Spears or S club 7 playing (or Christmas songs during the festive period) to entice the youngsters in like the Pied Piper.

All of the Claire's shops that I have been on (and that has been a fair few!) have been quite small, and they are all laid out in a similar way. All of the walls are covered with goods and there are also several stands with more goods on dotted around the floor. All of the shops seem quite crowded and difficult to get around, especially if you have a pushchair or are in a wheelchair. The sheer amount of goods also makes the shops seem quite cluttered, and there are often things on the floor that have fallen off the hooks.

The types of things sold are;

• jewellery
• hair accessories
• bags
• phone cases/glasses cases
• bedroom things like cushions, pillow cases, mirrors
• make up
• seasonal things such as Halloween masks, Christmas ear-rings, etc
• Hello Kitty products! (yay!)

In most stores, at the back of the shop there is a selection of goods for younger girls, including dressing up outfits such as a fairy, and jewellery designed for smaller wrists/heads. A lot of the stick there is fluffy and pink, and I imagine a lot of little girls would be in heaven if they discovered this section.

The make up is mostly the "miners" brand and is stuff like glitter, lip glosses and nail polishes. The prices are average and you can buy cheaper make up from Superdrug and the market!

Sometimes there are things like mini scooters and pogo sticks in store. Although I'm not sure what they have to do with accessories I am sure they sell well.

Claire's also has exclusive merchandise from a teeny band called All Stars, which includes things like cushions and note pads. Lovely, I'm sure. They also have Barbie goods and a cheap rip off of my beloved Hello Kitty, "Katie Kitten!". It may be cheap and nasty, but a kitten named after *me* can't be a bad thing.

Some Claire's stores have ear piercing licenses and do a good trade in piercing the ears of little girls. It says on the web site that all the staff are specially trained to do piercing and they operate a system which requires no needles- the earrings themselves are the only thing which penetrates the ears, making it more hygenic. This is usually done in the window (the sadists!) and for £7.99 (in my local shop it is that price) includes a pair of ear-rings. Personally I would not get my ears or any other part of me pierced in Claire's, not due to hygeine concerns, just because it is a bit sad for a 19 year old!

I have bought loads of stuff from Claire's, mostly hair accessories. The stock changes very often, and they get the latest trends such as jewellery tattoos or "cube" hair bobbles very quickly. I remember having a *beautiful* (not!) ankle bracelet from there when I was 14, which I used to wear over my *lovely* skin coloured tights (the shame).

Compared to the price of accessories in Top Shop or New Look, Claire's is a lot cheaper, with prices starting from 50p and most things priced at a few pounds.

The quality of the goods is not excellent, with most things made of plastic, but if you take care of them they can last as well as more expensive goods.

I have things from Claire's which I have had for years. The items may not be the classiest around, nor the most exclusive, but they are a lot of fun for kids or wannabe kids.

If you are present shopping for a younger neice/granddaughter/female relative and they are "girly", you are sure to find something for them. But if you are out shopping in town with a "little one" and don't want to spend lots of money, avoid Claire's at all costs!

Claire's have a web site for which the address is

www.claires.co.ukIt is very ORANGE, but you can change the colour to pink or blue if you desire. It has some very irritating music in the background, much like the shops themselves, but this can be turned off by clicking your mouse on the colour twice. It contains these sections:

• FAQ's
• Ear Piercing Info
• Style Guru
• Our Stuff
• Special Offers
• Claire's World
• Lost Kitten- find your nearest store
• Work Thing- vacancies at Claire's
• Ultimate Xmas List

There is a lot of flash on the site which means it takes ages to load everything. I don't think personally it is really worth looking at unless you are very bored.If you do want to work in Claire's they tend to advertise in the windows of the individual store, so go about it that way, if you are sure you want to spend your time asking people if they want to buy the special offer 100 times a day!

I am well and truly under the Claire spell. I just can not resist going in and rummaging, even if my boyfriend does get annoyed at me. It's my money, and if I want to spend it on fluffy hair bobbles, then I will! I may be at the age where I should be spending my money on suits for interviews, and three peice suites, but fluffy hair bobbles and Hello Kitty hair clips (yes, I do have some!) will do for now.

One thing that I have noticed about Claire's is that they don't have any security guards-they probably can't fit them in! They do have CCTV but I imagine they have quite a problem with shoplifting because most of the items they sell can fit into a pocket. For younger customers though, it is very offputting and annoying to have suspicious security guards following you around a shop, so for me this goes in their favour. Many shops (mentioning no names SUPERDRUG!!) have security that immediately presume anyone under 18 is a criminal and I hate that!

I thought I'd finish with a little quote from the Claire's website:
"Bet you didn't know Claire's was American, yes it's just like Coca Cola, Madonna and a Big Mac, only with more glitter, not as expensive and better for you"

Well..maybe, but at least a Big Mac might fill you up a bit, wheras the stuff in Claire's will only feed the appetite of the little girl inside of you! I don't know what I will do with all my fluffy accessories once I grow out of them, but I expect I will save it for my future kids!

If you are male you will probably hate this shop (not meaning to be stereotypical, but it's not many guys that are into fluff and glitter!). Girls, shop on!