Ginza

Ginza is what its more-​famous peer up the road ought to be. Petrol — just a few steps away from Ginza — was once considered the funkiest clothing in not just Paddington but amongst the best of inner-​city Brisbane. Then Petrol succumbed to a sort of stagnation, with the high-​end label clothing failing to move off shelves (with the GFC, even Paddington regulars are now refusing to pay ridiculous prices). As such, quite a few dated items of clothing remain, and one half of the store is inexplicably stocked with flouncy, high school-​formal type dresses.
Ginza has therefore become what Petrol was at the start. It has designer clothing, but the prices aren’t ridiculous, the clothing is not dated and there’s not a whiff of high-​school formal here. Even when Petrol is having a sale, Ginza’s clothing is still cheaper — and of better quality.
At the moment, I’d say Ginza is the best of the Paddington boutique shops — if not the best, then certainly in the top three.
It also boasts a rare treasure amongst Paddington’s high-​end clothing stores: the discount racks out the front actually feature cheaply-​priced clothing that is hip, cool and of good quality. Zazzy, a boutique located at Paddington Central, also boasts an always-​interesting outdoor discount rack, but is more hit-​and-​miss than Ginza.
Six months ago I walked into this store and thought, «Well, this is promising.» Yesterday I walked in and saw the growth in the quantity and quality of clothes and decided it was becoming a major player. Half of the store boasts swimwear, but as I’m not in the market for togs at the moment I merely quickly browsed this area. There was a lot of bright colours, and I was reminded of the swimwear chain store Sunburn. However, there was more than enough non-​swimwear to look at in the other half of the store and out the front.
Now that it’s gaining momentum, let’s just hope Ginza doesn’t go the way of Petrol.
Tip for men: I noted that the boyfriends and husbands dragged around the Paddington boutiques by their female partners seemed less disgruntled than usual at Ginza. This seemed to be not necessarily the result of the male clothing selection, but because of the airy openness of the store and the fact that the sales assistants don’t attack customers with hyperactive small talk.

This is the type of place you go to stock up on clothes before your expensive resort holiday; the kind where you do nothing but laze around the resort in your kaftan, play golf with your financial accountant husband and go to dinner in loose fitting dresses so as not to exacerbate that newly acquired sunburn. The store is full of flowy pieces perfect for those that want to cover up even in hot summer weather.
There’s plenty of stuff for men and women, as well as swimwear and quite a collection of Havaianas. One quirky little touch in the design that I loved is the feature of an analogue clock above the store name on the outside of the building. There’s a strong possibility I found this desirable in the way a hungry person thinks even plain bread is the most delicious thing ever, as my phone battery was dead and I had no way of knowing the time. But still, charming.

Ginza is another gem for women’s clothing along famous Latrobe Terrace in Paddington. Latrobe Terrace is renowned for its vintage clothing, cafes, and stylish fashion and Ginza falls into the last category brilliantly.
The first rack you see when you walk in is the sale rack, brilliant! They have a great range of brands like Mink Pink, One Way, and Imprint at reduced prices; which, being a very poor uni student, I very much appreciate.
I walked in thinking a gorgeous skirt I picked up was going to cost about $ 200 and was pleasantly surprised when I saw it was only $ 60. These are the types of great prices for really adorable clothing at Ginza.
They also have very nice seasonal shoes that are also as tempting as they are low in price.
A gorgeous range of accessories also encourages unwanted excessive spending in here so watch your wallets. I was weak, I couldn’t resist.
Definitely make it a pit stop along a shopping walk through Paddington.