Bristol and Bath are stocked with enough indie emporia to ensure you don’t actually have to get all your retail therapy in Cabot Circus or the local supermarket. Mike White offers some shopping alternatives.

We buy too much. Things are too cheap. Except (of course) they aren’t really cheap – we just don’t pay enough for them. If a brand new T-shirt costs £2, then at every stage of its production someone gets dicked over – from extraction of raw materials to manufacture, transportation and ultimate disposal, corners are cut, people are exploited and the environment takes a battering. All this stuff costs somewhere along the line – just not at the till in Primarni.* And so we buy loads of it – endlessly throwing away and updating and throwing away again, feeding a big ugly profit machine and stuffing mountains of unwanted shit into landfill. Oh yadda yadda yadda. You know the story by now. If you don’t, you’re an idiot. So, time to think harder, buy better.

This isn’t a big preach about ethical fashion, fair-trade yoga pants or ‘happy’ chickens. Just a few suggestions for places where you can find something truly original, that doesn’t fuck people over across several continents, and which might last you a while longer than a jacket that costs less than a pint. Plus a few foodish places where you can cut out the whole tawdry ‘buying’ stage altogether and grow your own.

Our esteemed Guest Ed suggested we “write the Venue guide to spending better and buying less, where to shop, how to shop and bargains to be had”. Places where you get real service from a caring, knowledgeable person rather than the idiot bleep of an un-manned auto-till. It’s never going to be exhaustive – but hey, it’s a start. And half the fun with finding a funny little independenty shop is the finding of it. Happy finding!

* LEARN MORE ABOUT THIS AS THE GUARDIAN’S SASSY ETHICAL COLUMNIST LUCY SIEGLE COUNTS ‘THE REAL COST OF FAST FASHION’ AT FESTIVAL OF IDEAS (WED 18 MAY). FFI: IDEASFESTIVAL.CO.UK

CLOTHEY STUFF

Stick it to the man with secondhand clobber.

Classic’s Free Shop In this long-derelict building (see Emporium, below), tireless volunteers have made the ground floor a free shop (yup, they really aren’t interested in your money) offering everything from electrical goods to clothing, whilst upstairs there are carpentry workshops, art studios, a homeless/housing office, a ‘community gym’, a garden and residential rooms. Amazing what a bit of determination and elbow grease can accomplish. Classics Free Shop 35 Stokes Croft, Bristol, BS1 3PY. Ffi: via www.emporium37.wordpress.com

Retrolex A retro flea market that pops up every now and then (next one’s 8 May). From bolero jackets to bowler hats, everything’s pre-loved: vintage fashions, jewellery and 20th-century collectables. Trinity Centre, Trinity Rd, Bristol, BS2 0NW. Ffi: 0117 904 2262 or www.retrolex.co.uk/ 

Gimme Shelter Vintage Fashion Fair A regular congregation of the best vintage shops and traders in the region, flogging fine fashion, jewellery and accessories from 1930s to the 1980s. Once you’re all togged up, sink a pint and go bowling (without leaving the building). Nice.The Lanes, Nelson S, Bristol, BS1. Ffi: http://gimmesheltervintageboutique.co.uk

La Freak Boutique Tiny vintage emporium for fans of the flamboyant and retro – particularly good for hats and accessories. 47 Picton St, Montpelier, Bristol, BS6 5PZ. Ffi: 07973 854965.

Cox and Baloney Relatively new on the scene, C&B sell pre-loved togs, accessories and homey stuff, alongside customised and vintage-inspired pieces by local designers. 182 Cheltenham Rd, Bristol. Ffi: 0117 944 3100 or www.coxandbaloney.com

Shop Dutty Sassy, street-friendly boutique peddling men’s and women’s wear with a penchant for new designs incorporating vintage clothes, much of it by makers from round these parts. Also a nice range of spray paint, if you like that kind of thing. 116 Cheltenham Rd, Bristol, BS6 5RW. Ffi: 0117 924 9990 or www.shopdutty.com

Recession A shop named for our times – source of stylish stuff from the last 50-odd years, with a sideline in recycled jewellery. NB Only open Thur-Sat. 8 Jacob’s Wells Rd, Bristol, BS8 1EA. Ffi: 07817 175450 or www.recessionshop.webs.com 

Yellow Shop Cracking collection of new and secondhand retro/indie garb – Levis, leather jackets and what have you. Have a rummage in the basement for the real bargains. 72 Walcot St, Bath, BA1 5BD. Ffi: 01225 404001 or www.myspace.com/yellowshop

ARTY STUFF

Carboot Circus Yeah, you read that right. Two ‘o’s. A skewed alternative market spectacular: stalls of oddness and goodness with added live music and circus thrills, plus a bunch of live bands in the evening. And cakes. And ale. The Old Firestation, Silver St, Bristol, BS1, Sun 24 Apr. 

Harbourside Market A new local-friendly market weekender by the docks, which launches over the May Bank Holiday with food, art and craft on Saturdays and books, art, records and plants on Sundays. Ffi: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Made in Bristol: Spring Fuck shops! Yeah! Buy direct from the region's finest designers and crafts people as Colston Hall’s mighty foyer bulges with crafty gubbins including ceramics, glass, textiles, jewellery and furniture. Colston Hall, Bristol, Sat 16 & Sun 17 Apr. See Events Diary from p.85 for details. Ffi: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Emporium Having been neglected and empty for 25 years, this fine Croftian building has taken on a new lease of life as a free-thinking autonomous art gallery. Not always open, but always worth a look, just in case. 37 Stokes Croft, Bristol, BS1 3PY. Ffi: http://emporium37.wordpress.com/ 

FOODY STUFF

Don’t fill a supermarket trolley with chemical-pumped, plastic-wrapped, mass-produced shit. Get stuff from thoughtful providers. Ideally with mud on.

Herbert’s The family Herbert have been up at the crack of dawn for four decades or so, lovingly crafting their comestibles which draw inspiration from all over the world: Scandinavian rye, Irish soda, Tuscan olive, Grecian olive, Italian tomato, Jewish challah, American bagels, Swiss rye… but patriots fear not – Herbie’s famous overnight dough is made to a traditional English recipe. Wellington Ave, Montpelier, Bristol, BS6 5HP. Ffi: 0117 924 7713 or www.herbertsbakery.co.uk

Farmers’ Markets Mmmm – eggs with shit and feathers on. Much parodied of late (check this: tinyurl.com/farmersm) but still a good place to get grub that’s been grown, reared, caught, brewed, pickled, baked or smoked locally, with a minimum of agri-business/lorries/polystyrene involved. Bristol: Corn St & Wine St, BS1, Wed 9.30am-2.30pm. Ffi: 0117 922 4016 or www.stnicholasmarketbristol.co.uk Bath: Green Park Station, BA1, Sat 8.30am-1.30pm. Ffi: 01225 787910, www.bathfarmersmarket.co.uk 

The Community Farm A not-for-profit project linking local people with the farm where their food is produced – and you can be a part of it! Buy a share in the farm, go along and help out, or just order a seasonal veg box for weekly delivery to your door. Denny Lane, Chew Magna, Bristol, BS40 8SZ. Ffi: 0845 617 1174 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Sims Hill Shared Harvest A member-owned group working to reclaim Bristol’s historic (and fertile) agricultural land and using it to provide naturally farmed food, education, recreation and a stronger community. They meet fortnightly on Saturdays. Frenchay Holdings, Stoke Lane, Frenchay, Bristol, BS16 1QG. Ffi: http://simshillsharedharvest.wordpress.com

Dry Arch Growers A Community Supported Agriculture scheme beavering away to bring forth food from the disused Dry Arch nursery in Bathampton. The project’s still in its early stages, but hopes to be filling the plates of its members within a few months. Even the local primary school will have its own garden on the site – get involved now and help make it happen. For work dates, check with the Land Group every Thur 6.15–8.30pm, the Love Lounge, the Bell, Walcot St, Bath. Ffi: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it  or www.bathamptoncsa.wordpress.com

THERE ARE LOADS OF OTHER LOCAL GROUPS YOU CAN JOIN TO GET INVOLVED WITH PRODUCING YOUR OWN FOOD – CHECK WWW.BRISTOLLOCALFOOD.CO.UK OR WWW.TRANSITIONBATH.ORG/ TO FIND ONE NEAR YOU.
 

Copyright Mike White 2011

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