VISION : Old Benetton logo needs to come back

I was in a Benetton in Italy at the weekend when I had a vision!  The brand needs to bring back its logo and put it big and bright on t-shirts and bags.  Think this would be really cool and really now. 

                                    A mock up, ok it’s not great but you get the picture!

RETAIL : Thumbs down to the AmAp Returns Policy

I tried to take back a t-shirt to American Apparel today and was told that it was exchange or credit note only.  I’m sure I’ve taken stuff back before and got a full refund, and unless I’m dreaming it, I also remember being wowed by the very generous 90 day (or thereabouts) grace period too.  It must have been ages ago as I don’t often buy AmAp. 

I’m disappointed by this mean policy which goes against the company’s cool, people-centric image, and it really isn’t in line with other high street stores who target such a young audience.  I was given the impression that many angry parents vent their frustration about this issue too.

INSPIRATION : Teen bracelets

I was at Pure yesterday and spotted a teen girl wearing the cutest, eye-catching array of bracelets.  Thought they were quite inspiring. 

 

INSIGHT : 4 Random questions for my 26 year old intern

My name is Gail, I’m 26 and I live in West London. This week I am doing work experience for Jess at FashionBarn, and she has asked me to write a bit about my life.  She gave me a list of random lifestyle questions to choose from, and here are the four which I chose to answer.

What do I do in my spare time?

I work fulltime in a fairly stressful media environment so my spare time is very precious to me.  In my spare time in the evenings through the week, I like to come home to the house I share with my boyfriend and I like to cook a nice healthy dinner.  I find cooking extremely relaxing and rewarding and I like to treat my boyfriend to having dinner ready every evening when he comes home.  He works very hard also and he is a very grateful recipient!  This sounds old fashioned of me, but it’s not that I see it as ‘my role’ at all, it’s just that I love everything to do with cooking; the food shopping (I love supermarkets and food markets!), the recipe research and preparation and the cooking and sharing of the meal itself.

Through the week I also enjoy meeting my friends in town to go and see new bands (I have a lot of friends who do A&R for record labels which is fab!), or I will meet one of my girlfriends for a alcohol-free dinner in Itsu or somewhere similar to catch up after work.  I rarely drink through the week unless it’s a special occasion.

At the weekend I like having groups of friends around for lunch or dinner which I will cook and really enjoy preparing and researching interesting menus to try out on them.  On a Saturday my boyfriend and I have a routine where one of us will go to Starbucks to grab some coffees to bring back to the other in bed in the morning to kick start the day.  If we don’t have friends over to our house for dinner we will tend to meet friends in a restaurant and eat out in a group.  I used to go to lots more bars and nightclubs when I was younger but now I much prefer going out for a nice long dinner with friends and having a few cocktails somewhere locally after.  Alternatively we’ll go to our local cinema.

I really like escaping London and going for walks outdoors so on a Sunday I enjoy finding new countryside areas to explore (sometimes just nice London parks or if the weather is good we head as far out to countryside as we can commute to from London!)  We have a car so we plan a route to drive to places like Oxford or Kent and stop for lunch somewhere pretty on the way.  It’s nice to get out the city and breathe in fresh air and have some peace and quiet just the two of us.

I also like shopping and can spend a lot of time on weekends or days off on main shopping streets like Oxford Street browsing my favourite stores.  It’s also fun to go to large malls like the newly opened Westfield where you can lunch, see a film and shop all under one roof. I also enjoy visiting some of London’s oldest and finest luxury department stores like Harrods or Selfridges.  I find I go there more for the experiential enjoyment or browsing the food halls and enjoying the dramatic, lavish window displays and make-up counters – to browse and people watch rather than to buy.   My boyfriend is also quite up for shopping and interested in fashion which is great as we can browse around together and help pick out things for one-another.

I read a lot also, novels and fashion magazines like Vogue, Elle and Grazia.

Who do I admire and not admire?

I don’t feel that I have that many ‘hero’ icons anymore that I look up to like I did when I was younger with movie stars, etc.  I admire people’s style – ie Kate Moss as she is my style icon, but I do not necessarily admire the way she conducts her lifestyle (her childcare/love-life, etc).  I think I probably admire successful young fashion designers like Marc Jacobs and Stella McCartney for what they have achieved for themselves and for the beautiful products and brands that they create.

I do think however, that there is a difference between admiration and respect.  I admire stylish models and designers around the world and could list endless glamorous men and women whose style I wish I could emulate but I don’t necessarily respect them and I feel that’s much more important.

I respect musicians like Annie Lennox and Bob Geldof who are genuine, not manufactured artists, who have risen to fame through true hard work and real musical talent and now give back financially and personally, protesting and heightening public awareness around the world for hugely important causes and issues that a lot of us choose to ignore.  They can handle their fame in the public eye without disrespecting themselves or their family’s reputations. I think they are the kind of role models young people should look up to.

What brands do you like and desire?

A lot of the brands I like and desire are fashion brands.  I love Stella McCartney, Chloe, Marc Jacobs, Matthew Williamson, Miu Miu and Burberry.

I think these brands have incredibly beautiful products as well as gorgeous branding and advertising.  I also think the designers behind them have great reputations and all seem to be very intriguing and interesting people.

I like other design brands as well like Emeco (chairs by Philippe Starck) and Simple Human kitchen/household-wares.

If I gave you £100 to deck out your fridge, what would you fill it with?

Firstly I would head straight to Whole Foods on High Street Kensington (with a big grin on my face)!

I would buy some beautiful fresh fish and shellfish, mussels and langoustines and nice fish like monkfish or bream perhaps so I could make a yummy seafood feast.. these are pretty expensive products and not what I would normally afford myself to buy!

I would buy some of the nicest cheeses I could find, some strong Roquefort, Manchego, Camembert, Brie and Apple Smoked cheddars to create a cheeseboard to quaff with good red wine.

I would buy some lovely Italian Prosseco and some delicious cuts of meat cold cuts to create a Spanish charcuterie board from… some Parma ham, chorizo slices, morcilla and Serrano ham slithers which I would accompany with spicy chutneys and relishes … mmmmm!!!

I don’t have a particularly sweet tooth but if I had some money left over I would buy a big punnet of fresh organic strawberries and raspberries and some Cornish clotted cream… heaven!

This wouldn’t all be for one meal of course, but what a decadent fridge-full of food.

Oh, and I think I may also need to add one or two bottles of Pepto-Bismol too, for our tummies following our consumption of all of the above!

VISUAL MERCHANDISING – Knicker Bunting

I saw this bunting made out of knickers at an exhibition last December – and thought it was such a cute idea.  An adaptation of this concept would work really well for a brand like Jack Wills, and possibly Victoria’s Secret Pink if they were working with an English theme.

ps apologies for the poor-quality mobile phone photo! 

Bunting made out of knickers

CITY REPORT : Cape Town

I’ve been in Cape Town this last week and true to Jessie style I’ve been spending a lot of time in supermarkets, markets, stores and malls looking at product and design.  As for scene-soaking and people-watching, I made the most of the cafes, restaurants and bars of the city..it was a tough job.

My observations 

Design

Interior homes / restaurants / hotels / spas etc (excluding retail) – Super impressed by the good taste and quality of decor of nearly everywhere visited. ‘Cape Town Chic’ is kind of smart whites and neutrals with a beachy theme. 

Some examples of Cape Town Chic

Architecture – Jaw dropping in areas such as Camps Bay and Llandudno beach (think uber modern / glass/ concrete beach houses set into cliffs looking over a bay… the type of properties that you’ll never ever own).  I noticed that the whole city is under a lot of construction, with the new builds (flats or houses) all displaying a similar, very striking, very modern look.  

Fashion – I was warned not to get excited about clothes shopping in South Africa but I wasn’t put off since I love the challenge of discovering things that no-one else does.  But was I challenged!  The merchandise on offer reminded me of the stuff we used to buy pre-Top Shop going cool.  The stores are trying to be trendy but in a trashy and young way.  My only joy (and it was a real joy) was discovering Urban Degree (website not up and running yet as seems to be the case with a lot of business in SA).  This store is gorgeous – beautiful simple clothing for men and women offered in neutral and pastel colorways.  The interior is fresh and neutral and I loved the display for the shoes and jewellery – really girly and pretty.  I purchased some fab sandals for about £20 – if my boyfriend wasn’t looking quite so bored I would have bought the gold version too…plus I would have tried on the funky canvas ballet slippers which came in a range of pastel colours.  I really liked the floral print on them – nice design detail.

Nice display at Urban Degree

A special mention goes to Jenni Button – a higher-end store for women – which I visited whilst in the Canal Walk mall.  I really liked the wood detail on one side of the store : floor to ceiling reclaimed planks in a darkish grey colour which had been washed with what seemed like a very pale silver.  It doesn’t sound like much but the slightly shimmering effect of silver over the rough, old planks is really effective (unfortunately no piccs of this).

Food and drink

It appears that Capetonians are really health minded.  Seemingly popular chains such as Kauai  and Soma offer juices, smoothies, salads, wraps etc.  I was especially impressed with the drink offer at Kauai such as the ‘floo fighter’ drink which includes fresh ginger, lemon, mint tea, honey and cayenne pepper or how about ‘Appledesiac’ – which contains hot apple, honey and ginger.  On the food side, at Sumo you can choose anchovy or mozzarella as a spread for your morning toast along with more ‘normal’ choices such as jam, honey and marmite.

Other healthy fare I spotted on menus was butternut squash (roasted, and featuring heavily in salads), grilled line fish, sushi, chai, roobois (obviously), and lots of low fat Bulgarian yoghurt (must look up why Bulgarian).  I also noticed that supermarket milk is labelled as rBST-hormone free. 

Less healthy but equally yummy….I saw a lot of hot or iced chocolate on offer in cafes – nearly always made with Lindt chocolate. I wonder why Lindt has the monopoly in Cape Town?

My favourite supermarket had to be Woolworths.  It’s basically a South African M&S – smart, chic, high quality with loads of food and products you just want to coo over.  I did some research and discovered that Woolworths have or have had had a link with M&S for the last 6 decades -which explains a lot.  Despite some shameless similarities in both packaging and product I noticed that in the South African chain, the offer is far more health-related  with products displaying clear health benefits on packaging.  Take a look at the bread choice in the picture below, could you imagine seeing this in every M&S in the UK? What would us Brits would make of Selenium bread? The other functional breads in the range are more commercial and could be successful in our market. I’d certainly buy all of these…although I am a health nut!  Other notable ‘health’ categories include cereals (‘hi-energy variants’, sports imagery on packs), dried fruit (suphur dioxide free) and yoghurts (big on probiotics) etc.

Healthy bread choice at Woolworths

 

And despite the healthiness and some pioneering food offerings some quirks surprised me : At Vida e Caffe, the super funky coffee chain which is soon to be opening in London’s Regent Street (yay!), they don’t offer fat free milk.  In fact what they call ’skinny’ is our semi-skimmed milk.  This was the case pretty much everywhere.  I ended up buying my own carton of fat-free milk and asking the baristas to make me up latte with it – they found this hysterical and a completely alien concept!  I wonder if they will be offering skinny in their London branches.  A few extra details worth mentioning from this cool outpost….Firstly, the lattes were never luke warm as they can be with Starbucks sometimes.  The reason? They steam the inside of the cup with water before pouring in the milk.  I never once had to ask for my latte ‘extra hot’. On an eco note, I noticed they used milk bags instead of those giant plastic milk cartons commonly used in the coffee chains in this country. And finally, they serve alcohol! I’ve always longed to mix coffee and alcohol together – a concept which gets away from English pub-ing but still promotes ‘going for a drink’ ie. you can catch up with a girl-friend and one of you has a beer / cocktail and the other a coffee. Far more cosmopolitan I think.

And what about the food in Cape Town? Menus were strong on fish – a real bonus as it’s my favourite food but what’s with all the heavy sauces, or worst still  -Cajun spices?  I have Italian roots and I really believe that this kind of food is best served simply – olive oil, maybe lemon, rosemary, herbs etc.  I hate to be the difficult customer, but I found myself having to alter and hold everything with so many meals.  

The food and drinks scene is buzzing, and the choice is far superior to what we have in London. You get the sense that Capetonians are very proud of their produce and restaurants and I applaud that passion. Maybe I had bad luck with my restaurant choices, but what I would say is that if  the food was as good as the decor, location and vibe of their establishments, Cape Town would be up there with the best places in the world to eat.

On a final food note, I would like to give a special mention to a little bakery chain called ‘Knead’ – particularly the Muizenburg branch – which I felt was one of the most impressive eating concepts I experienced.  The menu is centred around their bakery bread which is completely yummy and wholesome. You can make your own breadboards or choose between sandwiches and salads but what stood out were the thin crust pizzas which come with crushed garlic and chilli sauces on the side.  So light and tasty. 

London could do with a place like this.

Knead pizza - check out the garlic and chili detail. Nice.

 

My final comments concern one of my favourite things in Cape Town – the Neighbourgoods Market which takes place every Saturday in the Woodstock area. It’s a complete foodies delight of beautiful farmer’s produce,  gourmand/ artisan and healthy goods such as shitake bread, olive oils, nut honeys, cupcakes, coffee,  smoothies etc  If you’re feeling extravagant feast on oysters and champagne from the chic little stalls or buy a creation from the award-winning chef from winelands restaurant, La Colombe .  There are also fashion areas, as well as several boutiques selling decor bits that you just so want to take home with you (notably Plush Bazaar). This is a truly awesome example of a farmers and food market and just what I’ve always visualized markets of this kind to be like – full of  passion and creativity.  I find our home grown affairs or even so called trendy markets such as Portobello generally disappointing.

A selection of images from the Neighbourgoods Market. Photos courtesy of the Neighbourgoods Market

RETAIL THOUGHT : What Amanda does next

I was shocked to read about Amanda Wakeley’s departure from her own label. Over the last couple of years the company have been repositioning : to attract a younger audience, and I guess, in part, to move on from the Princess Diana tag (it was one of the Princess’s favourite fashion brands).  If you’ve been following the catwalks of the last  few seasons you may have noticed how strong, commercial and desirable the collections have become.

I’m sure that Amanda will be inundated with work and project offers and will go on to do great things.  

My thoughts for what she should do?

I have always felt that her designs fit the style (or what should be the style) of the Marks and Spencer Autograph range.  If they are clever, they should take Amanda on as a consultant and turn their sub-brand into a more chic, feminine, classic yet contemporary version of their offer now.

INSPIRATION : Brand name

Phine – pronounced ‘feen’.

I was just wondering about the whereabouts of an old school friend called Josephine, although she was actually called Phine most of the time. In the course of my thinking I decided Phine would make a cool name for a fashion brand, or cafe maybe?

RETAIL THOUGHT : Westfield Shopping Centre, London

Just the very thought of shopping on Oxford Street brings me out in a migraine, so I was very excited when I first heard about the Westfield shopping centre – a new retail wonderland located in west london and handily for me, just a stones throw away from where I live.  Added to that already exciting thought was the fact that the Westfield company is Australian, and in my mind anything Australian – to do with building and architecture – equals well organized, great design and innovation (I lived in Sydney for a while a few years ago so I’ve seen it first hand).

I’ve now been there 4 times, so what’s the verdict?

If you don’t want to read the entire analysis I would summarize and say that yes, it’s a great mall with an overwhelming choice of stores all under one roof.  Apart from a few missing brands (for me that means American Apparel, Primark and Miss Selfridge) there shouldn’t be much need to go into Oxford street ever again.  Except, unfortunately, I disagree (for my purposes anyway) : the footage of the retail units are generally smaller than most of those found on nearby High Street Kensington and with that means there is less stock and it is less likely you will find what you are looking for.  I have found my time here in terms of end result (bought/ exchanged goods)- rather than shopping experience – frustrating.

Where it really works : 

General design 

* The top floor is the most impressive level where boundless light enters through an undulating glass ceiling – the effect is funky, a bit eden project-ey.

* There is a good choice of materials notably pale natural stone (floor tiles) and glass (store fronts) which looks really smart and stylish. 

* Some of the retail stores have impressive unit designs (Zara, Timberland, Hollister) which stand out against the homogenous (albeit stylish) glass fascia environment.  The All Saints store does a particularly good job of standing out from the rest and communicating its message as a leader not follower of fashion. Their outside wall which is in brick not glass is the first/ last thing you see from one of the exits to the centre – it has been painted and branded in that edgy, distressed All Saints way.  Very cool.

* I like the faux living wall outside opposite the second section of the Southern Terrace (real would have been nicer, although that would probably be too hard to sustain and keep green all year round).

* The food court area has been well thought out in terms of design – the low-level lit environment includes nice touches such as a funky wood ceiling, marble  high-eating benches and stylish lamps ; (plastic) foliage and illuminated green glass divide eating areas.  The food outlets boast equally stylish details – my favourite are ‘Croque Gascon’ which has a faux tree trunk counter design, and the ‘Birley Rotisserie’, a chicken joint with the smartest marble backdrop.

Conveniences

* Bathrooms are 5 star – natural stone walls and super slick design. Lovely.

Eatery strip – The Southern Terrace

The first half of the Southern Terrace will most certainly look better when all the eateries have opened – currently this corridor looks a bit bare and ‘cold’.  I was particularly impressed with the second half of the South Terrace – where the Real Greek restaurant is a standout in design and decor. 

Aspects which are hit and miss.

Store unit sizes

The promise of Westfield is that there is everything under one roof and therefore no reason to ever go to Oxford Street again.  This isn’t strictly true.  Yes, there are a lot of shops but has anyone noticed how small the units are? On my personal shopping hit-list, Top Shop at Westfield is bigger and better than the nearest High Street Kensington branch – which is great, but all the other stores I want to go to (H&M, Gap, Zara) are much smaller, so every time I’ve visited I’ve had to go elsewhere to find the products that weren’t stocked there.  IE. each trip to Westfield is followed by another trip to either High Street Kensington, Knightsbridge or Oxford Street (not fun).

Also – why do the homewares stores such as The White Company, Zara and Habitat have such small units too? Surely they should be capitalizing on the fact that customers can park at the centre and can easily take their goods away? (unlike say, Zara Home in Knightsbridge or Habitat on Regent Street?). 

I’m sure both the above points have something to do with costs, but however nice Westfield is, if you can’t find what you are looking for, it’s a complete waste of time.

Grabbing a coffee…

* Call me old fashioned but I quite like to ‘pop’ into a coffee shop whilst I am on the shopping circuit – it’s a necessary respite from too much thinking and wanting and a break does your legs no end of good.  I don’t want to have to schlep too far to get my coffee – and these days you don’t have to since there is a coffee chain on every corner.  At Westfield though, as far as I can see and ignoring Benugos on the lower floor,  the coffee outlets are kind of freestanding affairs in the middle of the walkways…but has anyone noticed how bare and uncozy these are? I don’t want to go to any of them.  Take Caffe Concerto, a normally richly decorated patisserie which oozes euro chic even if in quite an uncool, but cool way. At Westfield it’s a soulless venture where mediocre design merges into the surrounding floor space. It desperately needs some greenery / interesting detail to separate the drinking customers away from the frenzy of the shopping channel.  (Expensive) coffee is a treat – and the environment it’s sold in should make the customer feel good and special.  Also I know this is a bit un-pc, but then again we are talking about a mall, but where is Starbucks and Eat (my two fave coffee chains?). 

* I’ve noticed a general lack of charm with nearly all the other outposts (coffee or retail) in the freestanding middle units – a wasted opportunity I think.

The Village

* The Village was probably the most hyped-up and precious aspect of the Westfield fanfare. I’m not sure what I was expecting, but let’s just say that an exclusive and beautiful, separated-from-the-main shopping environment would have been a basic assumption. Added to that, I was secretly hopping for greenery of some kind, jaw dropping floral or artistic displays and ok, it’s a bit unrealistic, but I had dreamt about a bridge to take me from the mass to high end in elegant style.

Putting aside the fact that 70% of the stores hadn’t actually opened, the reality of The Village was a-quite-similar-to-the-rest-of-the-shopping-centre area, bar some bordering-on-trashy pink chandeliers, and a nice glass staircase joining the two levels.  A bland looking champagne bar in the middle of The Village did nothing to add luxe or exclusivity to this supposedly baited-breath experience. It has felt ‘cold’ in terms of actual temperature and aesthetic impression on all the occasions that I have visited.  And who on earth came up with the floral wall print design?  I hate to say it, but this element of the Westfield project altogether lacks innovation and true style and I can only feel feel disappointed by The Village experience.  

Navigation

* There are touch-screen, space-age looking pods dotted around the complex which help customers navigate their way around.  I quite like these, but I don’t like queueing to use one (there are always at least 2 or 3 couples waiting in line) and they get smeary really fast.  I heard someone comment that they didn’t like to touch it after so many others had too. Good point.

Seating

Mixed thoughts about this.  There is a lot of customer seating for weary shoppers and relieved men who’ve abandoned their partners to the retail frenzy. The seating by the food court looks nice and there’s quite a lot of it, but who chose the vile design and furniture for all the other seating areas? The moulded plant pots, the brown colour scheme, that furniture..it’s depressing.  I can imagine someone thought they were being groovy in putting all this together but actually it’s cheap and tacky…plus it counter-benefits the otherwise light environment they have tried to create. 

Other bits and bobs

For the sake of keeping this analysis brief (I had only planned on making a few points) I’ll leave out my thoughts on the outside furniture, outside seating and lower ground floor tiles.  The answers being quite good, good, and horrible if you want to know in a nutshell.

And finally, I can’t leave without mentioning the logo, a terrible oversight although one I may have made myself.  Since I am familiar with the Westfield brand, I am also familiar and used to their somewhat out-dated logo, and have therefore thought nothing of seeing it emblazoned across marketing literature and on the outside wall of the shopping centre.  However, friends without this prior knowledge, have all commented on the old-looking and less than stylish logo and have wondered who on earth would go with such strange branding to promote the new and contemporary.

Conclusions

Westfield is a great, shiny-new shopping centre with a vast range of shops and a good choice of eating should you also want to come back for dinner. 

However, it is marketed as a pioneering shopping (and leisure) destination, but I fail to see where it pioneers or where it breaks rules, boundaries or redefines the shopping experience any more than any other new mall I’ve been to.  

It’s very easy to criticize and I’m wondering what would I have done had I been given the reigns? A defined and ’separate’ Village area for sure – rarefied and awe-inspiring.  More consideration to traffic flow with tucked away but accessible cafes and eateries – creating zones of rest, discovery, privacy and fun. A living wall inside maybe, or generally more greenery or faux greenery to add some beauty and nature…

I’ll keep you posted if I come up with any ideas or come across any inspiring imagery.

 

 

RESEARCH SWATCH : 16-17 year olds talk about their lifestyle

Sample : 10

Age : 16-17 / female 

Profile : Boarding school 

Location : York

 

WHAT ARE YOUR TOP 3 FASHION BRANDS?

Although top of the list are high street names such as Zara, Top Shop and H&M, I was really surprised to see how many the high end and luxury labels were also referenced such as Chloe, YSL, Balenciaga, Gucci, Vivienne Westwood and even Alexandar Wang.  Although the latter are mainly ‘desire’ brands, my trustee intern confirmed that several of her schoolfriends actually owned pieces by these brands as well.  Not only is this age group really fashion savvy, but they are also entering the designer world at an execptionally young age.

TELL ME ABOUT YOUR BEAUTY ROUTINE?

Most of those interviewed had some kind of beauty routine going – notably cleanse, tone and moisturise. There seemed to be little interest  in using products with SPF – although some did mention that their moisturisers already had SPF in them.  They are not concerned with wrinkles and aging yet.  All girls wore make-up daily.

ARE THERE ANY BEAUTY PRODUCTS YOU CAN’T LIVE WITHOUT?

Everyone responded with makeup as the must-have beauty product (no mention of skincare or accessories such as a hair brush or hair straighteners).  Again, I was surprised by the grown up selection of brands : Mac was the unanimous winner for this group, and for the other choices, think premium department store beauty and you get the picture.  One girl considered Elemis her beauty essential – an interesting answer given this brand is targeted at an older market, plus it doesn’t have the glitz and glamour of a beautiful fashion brand and/or aspirational ad campaigns behind it – this is possibly a brand handed down from mother to daughter?  

DO YOU FEEL HAPPY WITH YOUR BODY IMAGE?

The girls were generally contented with their body image which was nice to discover (although how much anyone would reveal about this personal issue in a quick snapshot survey is hard to know!). 

SIZE 10 OR SIZE 0?

70% would rather be size 10, 10% would like to be size 0 and 20% were kind of in the middle ie not as small as size 0, but not as big as size 10.  

WHAT MAGAZINES DO YOU READ?

Grazia is where these girls turn to to get their fix of fashion and beauty.  Other popular publications include Elle, Heat, Closer and OK; older target media such as Vogue and Tatler were read by several.

WHAT ARE YOUR FAVOURITE TV PROGRAMMES?

The Hills, Gossip Girl, soaps such as Home&Away, Hollyoaks and Neighbours, plus re-runs of Friends and SATC.  Clearly everyone has SKY at home.

WHAT ARE YOUR THREE FAVOURITE MUSIC BANDS?

I have never felt so out of the music loop as I have after reading the responses to this question. Chris Brown was the clear winner, and brands mentioned twice or more included Avril Lavigne, The kooks and Rihanna. Less familiar to me, but seemingly popular amongst this set are Tegan&Sarah, Danity Kane, The Long Blondes, Sean Kingston, Sarah Bareilles, City and Colour and One Night Only.

WHAT 3 WEBSITES DO YOU LOOK AT MOST?

Top of the list is Facebook – it’s also the preferred social networking site amongst these girls – who’ve generally gone off MySpace.  They search using Google, but if they want to read the news they will go to MSN.  Other popular destinations include online fashion sites such as Net-a-Porter, ASOS, TopShop and Zara – these are more for browsing than purchasing, as buying online is considered risky by some, plus the fact that you can’t try before you buy is a put off.  Some are purchasing from Ebay. Hotmail is still the favourite email provider and apparently they don’t IM that much – texting and Facebook pretty much covers it.

HOW IMPORTANT IS YOUR MOBILE PHONE TO YOU?

No major surprises here but these girls can’t live without their mobile phones to keep in touch with their friends.  Functions used most are ringing, texting and sending photos.  Popular designs have been the Prada and Armani phones and new on the wish-list is the Samsung Tocco.  Apparently apple iphones were cool when they first launched but momentum hasn’t kept up and there was less interest with the new version which launched recently (the reason for this was unclear other than a general feeling that they did not live up to expectation).  Actually, when it comes to apple – the ipod is king to these teenage girls – followed by the apple macs and the iphone last.

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