The 100 best shops in London – top ten best shops

Selfridges

400 Oxford Street, London, W1A 1AB

Now well past its centenary, Selfridges manages to be both stately and very contemporary at the same time. A real shopper’s shop, Selfridges is in many ways the perfect department store, with a considered area designed to suit the needs of every family member. Its approachable, noisy ground floor fashion department for teenagers handpicks the best bits from Topshop, H&M et al, and sits them alongside pop-up stalls selling anything from body art to hair straighteners. Meanwhile, the nearby beauty and food halls strike just the right balance between pedestrian and luxurious – you can spend £200 on a facial, or a jar of truffles, or you can buy a straightforward bottle of Clarins or a sandwich. As you get higher up the premises, the stock gets its serious swank on – with the newly re-christened 3rd Central housing designer wares from the likes of Alexander Wang and Stella McCartney. While the store is an enduringly popular mecca for fashion, homewares and accessories of all varieties, it never rests on its laurels. The large windows are an inspiring and frequently changing backdrop to Oxford Street shopping, while the basement is often home to quirky guest services and free activities – such as treasure hunts, The Museum Of Everything’s fabulous pop up shop and, naturally, an imaginative Christmas grotto. Service is brilliant – founder Gordon Selfridge is often cited to be the coiner of the phrase ‘The Customer Is Always Right’ – and when our tester lost her wallet in-store, staff gave her the money for a taxi home, no questions asked.

Read more about Selfridges