The other day I had a girlfriend come down from Sydney and wanted to go on a shopping marathon. I had told her previously that shopping wise Melbourne was better than Sydney so you can understand the pressure I was under. Still I was up for the challenge and plotted my way to impress-ville

So anyway, I thought I might share my “Ultimate Melbourne Shopping Guide” with you all. Melbourne is Australia’s shopping capital city. There’s no better way to find out shopping in Melbourne than from a local who is  shopaholic :)!

Melbourne Central - Shopping Centre

Melbourne Central - corner La Trobe St and Swanston St

Melbourne Central is a must go destination for all those those wanting to satisfy their shopping fix. It has over 300 stores ranging from lifestyle, clothes, cafes, restaurant & bars. All the chain stores are located here with the ground floor specialising in jeans and street wear. The big brands include CK Jeans, Tommy Hilfiger, General Pants Co (which sells Nudie Jeans), and G Star Raw will guarantee that you’ll find the right pair of jeans.

The second level provides you with mid class store such as Portmans, Witchery, Cue, Ninewest while the top level is for more tailored chain stores such as Country Road, Satch, Saba, Arthur Galan, Caliber, Veronika Maine, De Cjuba, Alannah Hill. Some of the hidden alleyways also host International Street wear designer such as Diesel and Miss Sixty.

My favourite stores in Melbourne Central:

• Fashion Incubator - which sells upcoming Australian designer
• RM Williams - Quality Australian fashion and footwear. I love RM Williams Boots as they are really high quality and if you buy a pair you get to re-sole them for free.
• Rosemin - Rosemin is THE place to find your favouite Alex & Alex Shoes and uniquely designed party dresses.

At Menzies place you can enjoy a great gourmet pizza, cold wine/beer at one of the many cafes with seatings in the alleys. If you want coffee then you must try the rich hot chocolate by Max Brenner.

Alternatively for sushi lovers, there is sushi sushi and O’Bento Sushi

For more on the best sushis Top 5 Melbourne Best Sushi Rolls.

QV (Queen Victoria) - boutique retailers

QV (Queen Victoria) - corner Lonsdale St and Swanston St

Queen Victoria (QV) is a mix of boutique Australian designers (mostly Sydney designers) and International (Boss Orange). Australian designers such as Wayne Cooper, Zimmerman, TL Wood has set up their shops here. My favourite shops are Christensen Copenhagen and Cactus Jam which stocks brands such as Missoni, Paul and Joe, etc. All these boutiques are located at Albert Coates Lane.

On the ground floor, you can find the market place where you can enjoy International cuisine food court. My favourite is Breadtop which sells contemporary cakes, savoury rolls, danishes, asian styles bread in fusion style. Try to dig in a chinese egg tart or BBQ pork bun. My favourite has to be taro cheese cake and danishes.

The QV building is located next to office buildings therefore the local bars such as Three Degrees, Jwow Wine Bar and Match Bar are popular for afterwork drinks.

Bourke St Mall - Department stores

Bourke St Mall - Bourke St (Between Swanston St and Elizabeth St)

Bourke St Mall is a pedestrian only street full of more shops. However, the star of the mall is 2 of Australian’s biggest department stores, Myer and David Jones. Myer’s window always seem to have exciting and elaborate Christmas displays which attracts lines of people during the holiday season. David Jones is my favourite department store. Here you could get great Australian designers such as Sass and Bide, Collete Dinigan to International designers such as Christian Loboutin, Chloe, Sonia Rykiel, Paul Smith, Bally, Givenchy, Giorgio Armani and more.

The Royal Arcade

Alternatively, I enjoy shopping at The Royal Arcade. This arcade is an interesting building. They house some unique stores such as one selling Babushka Dolls, French perfumes and accessories and handmade lollies store called Suga. Here you can see demonstrations of the lollies being made right before you r eyes. You can also get your fortune read by a tarot reader here too if you’re up for it.

Had enough shopping?, there is no better place to stop for a rest than at Koko Black! I highly recommend you stop here and try their famous hot chocolate. Koko Black has a nice and peaceful ambient and my favourite seat is on the second floor where you can people watch and enjoy the beautiful Royal arcade building decorations.

GPO - Luxury fashions

GPO - corner Bourke St and Elizabeth St (Next to Myer Department Store)

GPO building used to be Melbourne General Post Office until it was converted into a shopping centre. The shops in GPO are very contemporary. You can get chain brand from Britain such as Ben Sherman and Karen Millen as well as european brands such as Max and Co, Campers and Mandarina Duck. I enjoy coming to the high end Australian designer boutiques and brands such as Akira Isogawa, Easton Pearson, Lisa Ho and Metallicus.

My favourite shops at GPO is Gorman which has a very minimalist but cute cut and design. If I have the urge of getting hold of brands such as Miu Miu, Marni, I head to Belinda. For jewellery and tablewares I would of course opt to find it at Scandanavian design shop of Georg Jensen.

Make sure you visit Kenzan sushi which made it to my Top 5 Melbourne Best Sushi Rolls.

Chinatown - shopping asian styles

Melbourne Chinatown - Little Bourke St (Between Swanston St and Exhibition St)

I love to go to Chinatown to find cute hair pins like the same ones I found while travelling in Asia. Some of the items are really cute and here they sell lots of Hello Kitty stuff. It is also the best place to buy inexpensive cute birthday gifts for girlfriends. I could get a little chinese embroidory style coin purse for a mere AU$6.

Little Collins St - Australian designers boutiques

Little Collins St - between Elizabeth St and Exhibition St

Only true fashionistas and shopaholic would stroll here to find their fashion items. This streets here is what differentiate Melbourne and Sydney. Lots of the stores here hidden so unless you are reading this blog or someone tells you about it, you are going to miss stores that either hidden in alleyways or underground. One great store is Chiodo which sells really good mens wears (Shirts, t-shirts), jeans and more.

For limited edition and unique runners & street wear stores like Chiodo, Anna Thomas, Kenzo, Sarti, head to Hero Building which is located in the corner of Russel St and Little Collins St - walk towards Exhibition St.

In between Swanston St and Russel St, you can find great jeans by Australian designer from shop like the Extinct which is located next to Nudie Jeans store.

If you are a  jewellery type of gal then you need to head off to Keshett Jewellry (located at Little Collins St in between Swanston St and Elizabeth St, it is closer towards Elizabeth St).

Along the same section of the street are my favourite shops such as Scanlan and Theodore and Pierucci which makes beautiful Italian style dresses. For shoes heaven, head to Zomp, Giallo or Dolci Firme. Just off this section of Little Collins St, there is a little alleyways called Howey Place which are home to Bettina Liano and Alannah Hill.

Collins St - International and world’s luxury designers

Collins St - Elizabeth St and Exhibition St

This part of the street is lined with trees and it is well known to be the Paris End of Melbourne. Fine watch stores are located here and you are right, I am getting my Rolex from 2 of the authorised dealers here. You can work your credit card hard purchasing brands such as Tiffany and Co, Hugo Boss, Hermes, Bally, Max Mara, Louis Vuitton, Ralph Lauren, Bvlgari,Chanel, Gucci, Salvatore Ferragamo to name a few.

My favourite shoes store here has to be Miss Louise where I could stock up on my Jimmy Choos, Sergio Rossis, Manolo Blahnik, etc.

Flinders Lane - quirky and cutting edge fashions

Flinders Lane - between Elizabeth St and Russell St

Flinders Lane is the place to find quirky and eccentric style. Here you can find shops such as Zambesi, Miss Lau, Alice Euphemia, etal and Fluid.

My favorite would have to be Green with Envy. Everytime I need a new going out or party dresses, I can always rely on Australian designer stocks such as Natasha, Valerie Tolousa, and Fleur Wood. I like to stock up some accessories and cute sweaters/tshirts from Genki or Kinki Gerlinki which stock cute and eccentric fashion and accessories import. For cool sunglasses and watches, head to Fokus.

For a more mature women, I would suggest to shop near Degraves st such as Brown Sugar.

Nearby is the famous Degraves St where you can enjoy coffee and lunch outdoor under the umbrellas. You have vast choices of cafes. Right opposite Degraves St is Centre Place which is popular to get a quick bite of lunch and coffee.

Southbank and Crown Casino - Shopping by the river

Southbank - Along the bank of Yarra River between Swanston St to Clarendon St

Along the Yarra River, you can go shopping in 2 major places. The first is the Southgate Complex. Here you can find lots of art galleries. Art pieces by artists such as Australian’s own Ken Duncan Galler.

My favourite store here would have to be Made in Japan where I usually purchase good quality thick Japanese style plates, bowls or teapots to authentic Kimonos.

Southgate Complex are full of bars, cafes and restaurants. Perfect for coffee/lunch during the day or romantic dinner in the evening with the view of Yarra River.  Make sure you visit one of the bars such as Bears Bras or The Boulevard for mixed spirits, cocktails, beer or wine chill out. If pub is more of your scene, I enjoy coming to PJ O’Brien located on the ground floor of Southgate Complex. One of my favourite Italian restaurant Scusami is also located in the complex. For casual dining, try Blue Train Cafe.

Then there’s Crown Casino Hotel, Casino and Entertainment Complex. In here, you can splurge on world’s leading designers such as Louis Vuitton, Prada, Versace, Giorgio Armani, Burberry to name a few. Crown Casino is also home to International and World’s high quality dining such as Nobu, Rockpool (Sydney chef Neil Perry) and Bistro Giullame (Sydney chef Giullame) which all happens to be my favourite :).

DFO - Discount Fashions

DFO (Direct Factory Outlet) - located at Southern Cross Station at Spencer St between Bourke St and Lonsdale St)

Having recently opened, this warehouse offers discount shopping. There are over 120 shops for fashion, food and homewares including Country Road, Sheridan, Polo Ralph Lauren and Simone Perele.

Markets

Queen Victoria Market (Corner Franklin St and Elizabeth St)

Queen Victoria is the best place to get fresh produce such as cheese, fruits/vegetables, meats and fish. It is also the best place to get Australian souvenirs, make sure you haggle and get yourself the best deals. If you want to get a good leather (wallets, handbags, jackets), you are also in the right place. They open early morning until late afternoon except Tuesday and Thursday.

Sunday Market at Melbourne Arts Centre (Swanston St next to Yarra River)

Every Sunday, you can find over 150 stalls of the finest arts and crafts from around Victoria. You can find one of a kind gifts from local handicraft, timber wares and Aboriginal artifacts as well as homemade jams and organic teas.

SHOPPING OUTSIDE MELBOURNE CITY

Need more shopping? Within a tram or train ride away, here are some of the most popular shopping places outside Melbourne City.

Lygon St

Catch Trams number 1 or 8 towards Carlton from Swanston St, and within 15 minutes you will reach Lygon St, Melbourne’s “Little Italy”. Other than trying one of the many Italian restaurants and gelatis, you can find interesting shops such as INK, Diana Ferrari and To The Max which sells nice women clothes. The Country Road Men concept store is also a hit with the boys. The unisex shop such as FCUK and ESPRIT are also popular shops to stock up on fashion and accessories items.  My favourite place to have coffee and dinner has to be Tiamo and Tiamo 2 at 303 Lygon St, Carlton.

Chapel St

Paris Hilton loves this street as you can find nice boutiques for shopping. My favourite is Dakota 901 selling jeans as well as Zimmerman and Collete Dinigan store. The Boutique is the nightclub you should visit when you are in town. This is where all the footballer and celebrities (Yes, including Paris) come to Party when they are in Melbourne.

Bridge Road

If you catch a tram along Flinders St towards Richmond, you’ll arrive at heaps of discount style shops at Bridge Road. You can get discounts shopping from brands such as Portmans and Esprits. I like to have my weekend brunch and breakfast in the many cafes of Bridge Rd.

Chadstone Shopping Centre

Experience the biggest shopping centre Melbourne has to offer by catching a free shuttle bus from Melbourne CBD every Wednesday and Sunday at 10am (return 3pm) or 11 am Thursday until Saturday (return 4:30pm). Bookings are essential at 1300 558 686.

A quick 30 minutes bus ride will expose you to shopping experience of hundreds of Australian and International brands store from Max and Co, Ralph Lauren, Cue, Review, Seduce, Marcs and David Jones Department Store. The best shopping is yet to come with your 30% visitors discount card which can be picked up at Chadstone Information Desk.

St Kilda Sunday Market

Catch a tram number 16 from Swanston St towards St Kilda Beach or tram number 96 towards St Kilda Beach from Bourke St. Within 20 minutes, you will enjoy Melbourne popular beach - St Kilda Beach. Every Sunday, they have arts and crafts stall next to the beach. You can also visit the famous Luna Park, The Prince of Wales Theatre and many famous St Kilda Cafes.

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