Into the Wilds... of Primark

My at-home uniform of jeans from the 1990s, tattered track bottoms and faded jumpers was sorely in need of a revamp before it all fell to pieces. Since I'm not exactly pulling in big money (rather, I'm making no money) I had to limit my extravagance to the cheapest clothing retailer in UK existence: Primark.

You need to steel yourself for shopping at Oxford Street Primark. It's two floors of bargain-hunting madness, with women going crazy over £3 shoes and £2 jumpers. Sometimes, you can barely push through the aisles. Forget about trying anything on unless you want to wait for at least thirty minutes. And the one cardinal rule to abide by: Never, ever, go on the weekend.

Even this morning -- a rainy, cold Thursday -- the place was jammed. Sales assistants were frantically trying to tidy rails of clothing, a futile pursuit as the racks were only torn apart a minute later by the next wave of shoppers. I rammed my headphones in a little bit further, turned up my music in an effort to disassociate myself from the chaos, and plunged in.

Thirty minutes later (my limit for Primark), I emerged relatively unscathed and £30 lighter. The most expensive item I bought was a pair of indigo jeans for £7. I also managed to pick up a polo-neck jumper for £1, along with tons of black socks and various other comfy, warm items (my only real criteria for at-home wear).

Surprisingly, most of the items I've bought at Primark actually last. One of my favourite pair of jeans is from almost a year go, and still going strong! And all of the my Primark t-shirts still have their seams intact.

It's not glamorous by any stretch of the imagination, but if you can stomach the Primark-madness the low prices seem to induce, it's worth it -- if you can't afford anything more, anyway.