# Shopping for a young girl



## maxima (Jan 8, 2014)

I am going to meet my daughter in Madrid next week (we live in different countries). She is 25 but quite petit. I want to get her shopping. Something for young people. Something in central location. Could anyone please recommend a proper shopping centre?


----------



## BMC77 (Aug 15, 2009)

While there obviously are shopping centres in Madrid, they're not particularly central, although most are accessible by metro. I don't know whether you'd class them as "proper" though. Furthermore, they all tend to house the same shops you can find on the high street - H&M, Zara, Mango, Stradivarius, Bershka, etc.

Here's a link listing seven such centres - 7 Centros Comerciales de Madrid accesibles en metro | Viviendo Madrid. It's in Spanish, but it tells you which metro lines you need to reach the shopping centres. You can then Google the names of the centres to find out what shops they contain.


----------



## maxima (Jan 8, 2014)

By proper I mean in the context of young people preferences. Thanks for the list..

Perhaps this might narrow it: is there a centre built a year or two ago?


----------



## maxima (Jan 8, 2014)

P.S. sorry I just want to clarify - I know how to spell google. I was hoping for a personal recommendation - where would you go with your daughter.


----------



## Rabbitcat (Aug 31, 2014)

When I noticed the title of this thread I thought I would throw my hat in the ring for a brunette, about 28 but I haven't much money, so if possible could I pay like Kay's Catalogue- 67p a week for 800 weeks?


----------



## kalohi (May 6, 2012)

The fact that she is quite petite is in her favor when it comes to buying clothes for the younger set. Here there is no size inflation, and in the shops listed above (Mango, Stradivarius, Bershka, etc) the clothes go down to ridiculously small sizes. In fact a Spanish size 42 (UK size 10) is usually considered a plus size. Your daughter will have no trouble finding clothes to fit.


----------



## Pesky Wesky (May 10, 2009)

maxima said:


> P.S. sorry I just want to clarify - I know how to spell google. I was hoping for a personal recommendation - where would you go with your daughter.


Hi,
I live in the province of Madrid and I go shopping with my 21 year old (size 34/ 36) to La Vaguada (metro Barrio del Pilar, Peñagrande, Avenida de la Illustación) or Gran Plaza 2, Majadahonda because I live around there.
In Madrid you can go around Sol and Gran Via (heaving with people and traffic) or take Calle Princesa from Moncloa bus station to the Corte Ingles in Argüelles.
Generally you'll just get the same shops you see anywhere, but at 21 and with that size that's pretty much all there is. There is a good variety in all of these places. There is Principe Pio too, but we never seem to have much luck there.
Have fun!


----------



## Pesky Wesky (May 10, 2009)

kalohi said:


> The fact that she is quite petite is in her favor when it comes to buying clothes for the younger set. Here there is no size inflation, and in the shops listed above (Mango, Stradivarius, Bershka, etc) the clothes go down to ridiculously small sizes. In fact a Spanish size 42 (UK size 10) is usually considered a plus size. Your daughter will have no trouble finding clothes to fit.


36 is size 8
38 is size 10
40 is size 12
42 is size 14

When the sizes are accurate.


----------



## Lynn R (Feb 21, 2014)

Depends on how much you want to spend, but for me the best shops in Madrid aren't the chain stores (which as Pesky Wesky says are the same ones you find everywhere) but the quirky small boutiques which you won't find on the main streets but in areas like Chueca.

The best place to be able to find lots of brands in one location so you don't need to spend ages traipsing about is El Corte Ingles, though, there's a large one just off Puerta del Sol, one of the entrances is on Calle Preciados. They have a "young" fashion floor and will stock brands which are a bit more unusual than the ubiquitous Zara, Mango, Bershka etc. - in the Madrid store it's on the 5th floor.

https://www.elcorteingles.es/centroscomerciales/es/eci/centros/centro-comercial-preciados-callao


----------



## maxima (Jan 8, 2014)

thank you guys.


----------



## Chopera (Apr 22, 2013)

Lynn R said:


> Depends on how much you want to spend, but for me the best shops in Madrid aren't the chain stores (which as Pesky Wesky says are the same ones you find everywhere) but the quirky small boutiques which you won't find on the main streets but in areas like Chueca.
> 
> The best place to be able to find lots of brands in one location so you don't need to spend ages traipsing about is El Corte Ingles, though, there's a large one just off Puerta del Sol, one of the entrances is on Calle Preciados. They have a "young" fashion floor and will stock brands which are a bit more unusual than the ubiquitous Zara, Mango, Bershka etc. - in the Madrid store it's on the 5th floor.
> 
> https://www.elcorteingles.es/centroscomerciales/es/eci/centros/centro-comercial-preciados-callao


This.

Also if the weather is nice then I would just walk along Calle Serrano between Calle Jose Ortega y Gasset and Puerta de Alcala. You'll find all the expensive shops along there, similar to Bond Street I guess, but also there's an El Corte Inglés and a huge Zara, and maybe a huge Mango along the way as well. You can also go down Goya where there are more shops and a large El Corte Inglés that will have all the brands.


----------



## BMC77 (Aug 15, 2009)

maxima said:


> By proper I mean in the context of young people preferences. Thanks for the list..
> 
> Perhaps this might narrow it: is there a centre built a year or two ago?


They haven't built any shopping centres in Madrid for more than a decade. I believe they are in the process of building one now, but it's not due to open until 2017.

I'm afraid I don't have any idea about "young people's preferences". To my admittedly untrained eye, it looks as though my students shop in the usual suspects - the aforementioned H&M, Zara, Bershka, Stradivarius, Pull and Bear, etc. And since those can be found everywhere, I wouldn't make a special effort to go to one of the shopping centres. You could just as easily walk down Gran Via and Fuencarral and find exactly the same stuff.


----------



## The Skipper (Nov 26, 2014)

Lynn R said:


> Depends on how much you want to spend, but for me the best shops in Madrid aren't the chain stores (which as Pesky Wesky says are the same ones you find everywhere) but the quirky small boutiques which you won't find on the main streets but in areas like Chueca.
> 
> The best place to be able to find lots of brands in one location so you don't need to spend ages traipsing about is El Corte Ingles, though, there's a large one just off Puerta del Sol, one of the entrances is on Calle Preciados. They have a "young" fashion floor and will stock brands which are a bit more unusual than the ubiquitous Zara, Mango, Bershka etc. - in the Madrid store it's on the 5th floor.
> 
> https://www.elcorteingles.es/centroscomerciales/es/eci/centros/centro-comercial-preciados-callao


Make sure you have at least €5,000 of credit available on your bank card before going to El Corte Ingles!


----------



## Lynn R (Feb 21, 2014)

The Skipper said:


> Make sure you have at least €5,000 of credit available on your bank card before going to El Corte Ingles!


Al contrario, they sell plenty of more reasonably priced brands (not as cheap as Zara, etc. to be sure but then again the quality is better). I have bought one item of clothing from Zara in my life and it put me off for ever - a mini trenchcoat which wrinkled horribly within minutes of putting it on, couldn't be pressed properly because the lining was sewn in twisted, and all the buttons were loose and had to be removed and sewn back on which I don't expect to have to do with a new garment.

Maxima can check out what's available and the prices on their online shopping site

http://www.elcorteingles.es/moda/joven-ella/


----------



## The Skipper (Nov 26, 2014)

Lynn R said:


> Al contrario, they sell plenty of more reasonably priced brands (not as cheap as Zara, etc. to be sure but then again the quality is better). I have bought one item of clothing from Zara in my life and it put me off for ever - a mini trenchcoat which wrinkled horribly within minutes of putting it on, couldn't be pressed properly because the lining was sewn in twisted, and all the buttons were loose and had to be removed and sewn back on which I don't expect to have to do with a new garment.
> 
> Maxima can check out what's available and the prices on their online shopping site
> 
> Joven ella · Moda · El Corte Inglés


Just as I thought .... €129,95 for a pair of jeans that are full of holes! I can buy jeans in mint condition at Carrefour for only €9! And €29,95 for a t-shirt that I can buy for €5 in Primark! You won't catch me shopping in El Corte Ingles!


----------



## Lynn R (Feb 21, 2014)

The Skipper said:


> Just as I thought .... €129,95 for a pair of jeans that are full of holes! I can buy jeans in mint condition at Carrefour for only €9! And €29,95 for a t-shirt that I can buy for €5 in Primark! You won't catch me shopping in El Corte Ingles!


You sound like my husband. He can buy his entire season's wardrobe from Dunnes for about €50.


----------



## The Skipper (Nov 26, 2014)

Lynn R said:


> You sound like my husband. He can buy his entire season's wardrobe from Dunnes for about €50.


Thankfully, Mrs Skipper shares my point of view!


----------



## Lynn R (Feb 21, 2014)

The Skipper said:


> Thankfully, Mrs Skipper shares my point of view!


Well, at the end of the day the thread isn't about where you or I choose to buy our clothes, is it? Maxima wanted to know where she could take her daughter to buy her a nice present - I doubt if she had Carrefour or Primark in mind!


----------



## maxima (Jan 8, 2014)

not Primark no.. thanks


----------



## Rabbitcat (Aug 31, 2014)

Lynn R said:


> You sound like my husband. He can buy his entire season's wardrobe from Dunnes for about €50.


€50 sounds quite excessive

I get my basic outer clothes and my " combinations"-complete with trapdoor - for about £30


----------



## Lynn R (Feb 21, 2014)

Rabbitcat said:


> €50 sounds quite excessive
> 
> I get my basic outer clothes and my " combinations"-complete with trapdoor - for about £30


Well, as I used to say to my OH when he blanched at what I'd paid for clothes "when I start spending your money, then you can start complaining".


----------



## maxima (Jan 8, 2014)

Chopera said:


> Also if the weather is nice then I would just walk along Calle Serrano between Calle Jose Ortega y Gasset and Puerta de Alcala..


these shops - smaller, not Zara/Mango things.. what time they close normally?


----------

