I decided to go shopping in Camden today, to get some clothes to wear to Absolution this evening, and I thought I'd write a quick mini-review / ramble about the trip.

For anyone within a comfortable journey of London, Camden has got to be the top port of call for a fetish shopping mission - it's positively hazardous to your finances (I spent just short of £300 without even trying) - if you can't find what you want at Camden, it's quite possible it doesn't exist!

The first place to give an honourable mention to, although I didn't buy anything from there today, is Breathless. Their stock is enough to leave you just that, with outfits from loads of major fetish fashion companies. What really impressed me however was the great attitude in the shop... the staff are happy to chat if you want to, leave you alone if you don't, and best of all they threw out a pair of loud-mouthed trendy black girls who were yapping on their mobile phones about being 'in that pervert shop', just in case they were making the real customers feel uncomfortable. Nice place, and when I'm next shopping for rubber it will definitely be high on my list of places to check out...

My friend got a nice corset from a stall in the market area (alongside all the rabid oriental food stalls, do those women ever shut up?!). The guy running the stall was happy to chat about the different types of corset he had and picked out one that he thought would suit my friend's shape better than the one she'd picked... he was dead right, and she bought it as soon as she'd tried it on. They need a new stereo though one of the speakers had blown and my ears were nearly bleeding by the time we left!

Most of my shopping ended up being done on the main road today, which is unusual for Camden expeditions. I got a cool pair of boots from a shop whose name I unfortunately forgot to note down... not that far from the bridge, next door to a tattoo place - if anyone can identify them from that and post the name, that would be helpful! They had a good range and the prices were good too, generally a bit lower than most of the other places I'd been looking at (which was a lot, as the boots were my main 'want' for the day).

I tried on loads of stuff and eventually bought a really nice shirt (goth/highwayman sort of style) from a place called Dark Side - the staff in here win the friendly and helpful award for the day, with me and my friend trying on half their shop before settling on the bits we took away with us! I got a mesh top with a PVC logo on it from here too, but didn't look at it properly before buying it - turns out it's only mesh on the front with the back being pretty much like a normal t-shirt - which doesn't look right to me at all, so back of the drawer for that one The shirt is cool though

The last place I have to mention is GLB leather. I couldn't find any leather trousers with lace-up sides in the fetish market area, I guess they're too mainstream these days... but this shop on the main road had loads of them, and dug around for me until they found some that fit my skinny arse The leather is really nice, soft and pliable without being weak, and they're lined down the inside so they don't get too hot when you're out. Last time I bought leathers they cost £70 so the price this time did take me slightly by surprise at £110 - but they're really nice and I don't object to paying for the quality. As the guy said as he handed me the bag: 'Fetish... and class'.

As a general round-up, as I said at the start - if you want to go shopping for an outfit or three, and you live within reach of Camden (I'm an hour or so away), then get yourself down there and you won't be sorry. Just don't take more money than you can afford to spend, because you will spend it!!