For this week's Street Style, the ECHO visited the latest addition to Bold Street to chat to some well dressed shoppers. The new shop opened on Saturday, June 13 and promised to unleash "chaos".
Blue Banana: A New Addition to Bold Street
Blue Banana is an alternative and gothic fashion brand specialising in clothing, footwear, band merchandise and hair dye, as well as offering on-site piercing and jewellery. Operating since 1997, the brand has 17 sites across England and Wales, alongside an online store. Announcing its arrival, Blue Banana said: "We're coming for you Liverpool! New store. New chaos. New piercings. This isn't just a shop, its a takeover!"
We spoke to staff members and shoppers to find out where they buy their clothes, their style inspirations and what style advice they'd give to people who want to start experimenting more with fashion.
Shoppers Share Their Style Secrets
Toni Kinsella, 32, and from Maghull, said she "sometimes likes wearing black" but mainly loves wearing loud colours and patterns. She bought her jumpsuit from Lucy & Yak which she paired with a New York Rangers cap, pink Nike Cortez and frilly socks which she got from Primark's kids' section.
Toni said: "I don't have a particular style and for me it's more about how I'm feeling when I wake up every day, but I like a lot of colour and patterns. I love Vivienne Westwood and I get a lot of style inspiration from anime, especially Lost in Paradise and Nana. My style advice would be to wear what you're comfortable in and not limit yourself to one particular style or type of clothes. You should wear what you want and tell yourself you rock it no matter what."
Rose Picksley, 27, and from Manchester, said she doesn't like to dress in any particular style but enjoys dressing like a cartoon character. Rose's playsuit is from Daisy Street and her headband is from Blue Banana. She said: "I definitely don't have a style icon and I just wear whatever I feel like. I think the best way to describe my style is that I wear a lot of clothes that look like a kids cartoon character. My style tip would be just to wear whatever you want and ignore everyone else."
Ruby Holden, 20, and from Manchester, was shopping in Blue Banana with her friend Jorjj Crawford, 20, from Scarborough, when we spotted them. Ruby bought her top from Missguided, her shorts from Vinted and her shoes from New Rock. She told the ECHO: "I'd describe my style as mainstream alternative, but I do try to be more scene a lot of the time. I also really like Visual Kei styles and I want to get more into that."
Scene fashion is a subculture that emerged from the US emo and hardcore punk scenes in the early 2000s and incorporates colourful neon clothing, heavy eyeliner and teased hair. Visual Kei is a subculture and category of Japanese musicians that have a focus on extravagant stage costumes that originated in Japan during the early 1980s. The style is often elaborate and androgynous, including dramatic makeup and interesting, spiky hairstyles. Ruby added: "My advice to people would be to go to charity shops and look at second hand clothing because they are the best places to get clothes from."
Jorjj said she borrowed her whole outfit from her family. She said: "I got the top from my sister, my trousers are actually my mums and the shoes are my boyfriend's but they're from New Rock. I used to be more scene but now I'd describe my style as very alternative and gothic." Naming herself as her own style icon, her style advice to people is to "just be yourself".
Amber Lei Dahlia, 26, and from Wavertree described her style as alternative and said she just likes to wears all black. She wore a Knocked Loose t-shirt because she's a big fan of the band and she paired it with a skirt from Vinted and shoes from New Rock. Amber said: "I don't really have any style advice for people I think people should just wear whatever they want."
Dorian, 27, and Lydia, 25, are both from Liverpool and had just finished shopping when we saw them. Dorian bought his graphic t-shirt from Uniqlo, which he paired with trousers that he got in Italy and New Balance trainers. Naming Pedro Pascal and Harry Styles as his style icons, he described his style as "casual streetwear". He said: "My style advice is that even if something's a bit out of your comfort zone or you don't think you'll be able to pull it off give t a try anyway because everyone always look good if they're wearing something they want to."
Lydia got her skirt from Cow Vintage, her skirt from Vinted, her bag from TK Maxx and her shoes from Dr Martens. She told the ECHO: "I'd describe my style as whimsical vibes and I get a lot of fashion inspiration from Florence + The Machine, Stevie Nicks and the character Misty Day from American Horror Story. My advice is wear what you are comfortable in and it doesn't matter what other people think because as long as you feel comfortable you'll look good."
Alex Bryce-Turner, 19, and from Runcorn, said he doesn't have a specific approach to fashion and he "just wakes up in the morning and puts stuff on". He bought his shirt from a charity shop six years ago and he got his t-shirt from Amazon, his trousers from Asda, and his shoes from Dr Martens. Alex got his piercings from Blue Banana and he agreed with other people's advice that "people should wear whatever they want."
