Having just returned from a weekend break to Scotland's most beautiful city, I have much to consider. Aside from the wine, cheese, mussels and traditional Scottish pleasure's and leisure's that my girlfriend and I undertook with such ready enthusiasm, it was an obvious formality that we would want to seek out what the capital city might offer in terms of clothing and shopping...
Unfortunately, the answer wasn't very much.
Hailing from an area where a decent clothes shop is regarded as somewhere that stocks cheaply made garish travesties that are designed to get you a nosh in the local fun club toilet, I was a little disappointed that a city of Edinburgh's ilk was unable to muster up a feast of shopping opportunity to satisfy my gluttonous pallet.
However, although Edinburgh's distinct lack of retail prowess was a bit disappointing, one solitary saviour can indeed be found tucked away on Rose Street, a busy thoroughfare that runs parallel to the main shopping street.
I'd be telling lies if I said that I wasn't already aware of Goodstead's existence, having already been an online customer on numerous occasions. In fact it's always been one of my first ports of call when doing my rounds of prospective internet purchasing and the reason for this is pretty simple.
In the current climate of identikit online boutiques whose stock and offerings might as well all be on one web store, such is the lack of variety, Goodstead bucks the trend, offering a well curated brand list that balances street and contemporary perfectly, mixing up the likes of Margaret Howell with Norse, APC with Nike and adding perfect looking amenities such as Antiatoms beautifully crafted leather bags and classic time pieces from Uniform Wares.
To paraphrase in slight, Goodstead's a dope shop and it was nice to actually visit it in the flesh and the chaps from the store, both Graham and Ian were kind enough to let me take a few pictures and were only too happy to make conversation - a trait which sadly somewhat lacks in modern clothing establishments.
In their own words, Edinburgh is a little short coming when it comes to a healthy interest in both clothing and style and from my own experiences I would be inclined to agree with them, however, Goodstead provides a more than worthy bastion against such a dire lack of quality clothing outlets and provides the more discerning Edinburgh dresser a haven in a cataclysm of chain shops and tackiness.
Aside from the excellent selection of labels and the thoughtfully chosen variety of the garments from each respective collection, I also liked the fact that they cater for women as well, with an equally impressive and well put together brand list for the women in our life's. Indeed my girlfriend was more than made up to spend her time looking through some of her own favourite labels while I busied myself in my own exploits, which obviously makes for a more pleasant shopping experience.
Of course my own thirst for a purchase had to be sated, so I stumped up for the gorgeous grey heavy cotton tri colour button down from old favourite Folk - more of which will follow, but sticking to the subject in hand before I do, all in all Goodstead provided a healthy respite to the high street tat that the city seemed to be immersed with and is most definitely worth a stop off if your find yourself pacing the streets of Edinburgh in the not so distant future with your wallet burning a hole in your denims.
Hat's off to Goodstead, they've definitely got a good thing going on!
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