The London Traveler

Everybody knows Harrods. The post Christmas sale is world famous, and still attracts massive queues. The famed Egyptian food hall, the celebs who come to shop here (and are occasionally thrown out for wearing clothes considered too casual for the store), ridiculous luxuries… if there’s one department store you have to visit as a tourist, it’s this one. Go to gawp - you don’t have to buy anything.

But if it’s designer clothes you’re interested in, you’ll have a much better time at the other store on Knightsbridge, Harvey Nichols. ‘Harvey Nicks’ to its friends, it’s a serious fashionista store.  Not nearly so exuberant as Harrods - but a much better place to take the pulse of the latest fashions. And yes, Harvey Nicks has a sale too.

I think sometimes there are Harvey Nicks people and then there are Harrods people. It’s like ‘Madonna or Britney?’ or ‘Oxford or Cambridge?’, you can’t say ‘both’. So in a lighthearted way, here’s a rundown of the difference;

Harrods people

… eat roast beef for Sunday lunch

… have dogs

… drink Cristal

… wear Yves Saint Laurent

Harvey Nicks people

… eat sashimi for Sunday lunch

… have Abyssynian cats

… drink a special little champagne you can only get from the producer

… wear Yohji Yamamoto

Which are you? Perhaps not either - but you can go and have a look at them for free.

Where: Harrods - 87 Brompton Road; Harvey Nicks, 109-25 Knightsbridge, London SW1. (Knightsbridge tube)

When: Harrods 10-7 Mon-Sat, Sunday 12-6. Harvey Nicks 10-7 Mon-Sat with late opening (till 8) Weds and Friday, 112-6 Sunday.

Photo credit - Oliver Mallich on Flickr