Crack

Crack Meets…Motel

A bastion for independent clothing outlets in Bristol, Motel is shimmering beacon on the already light Park St strip. In the Cabot Circus sponsored world of commercial fashion, the independent clothing store is a modern benchmark of enterprise and commercial resistance.

Immaculately presented, Motel is a ladies clothing store that encompasses more than a healthy nod to the mirage of style that goes into making the modern lady what she is.
Assistant Manager Hannah Parker explains: “We have a real cross section of girls that shop in here. You have the glamorous girls that go directly towards our collection of going out clothing and then the quirky, vintage, individual girls who like the alternative styles we have in here. Then you have the girl who likes to mix her styles up and mash it together with a bit of vintage.”

Motel’s style is hard to pin down, but a mix of cutting edge fashion with a unique personalised touch is the selling point that keeps girls coming back to the store again and again. Shop Assistant Hannah Rowe has nailed the Motel ethos: “There needs to be a shop that amalgamates everything. Everything about this shop is fun, it’s like one big dressing up box.”

It could definitely be argued the interior of Motel is as akin to a stylish girls’ bedroom or an Aladdin’s cave than a clothing shop. Immaculately fragile female specimens congregate with eyes on fashion and fun. Trying on clothes in an anticipatory manner, moving bodies, chatter and wandering eyes on the odd boy that pops their head through the door. It’s a hive of female activity.

Then there are The Motel Girls. Driving the style of the store forward not just in terms of fashion, the girls who run the store are snippets of Motel magic. Friendly, cordial and with a deep passion for their store’s identity and style, they wholly represent the ethos of the shop.

Hannah Parker explains: “There is a great community of individual girls who work here. We help put on nights together. We DJ together and we are always trying to get involved with other things that are going on in Bristol. We are not at all exclusive and that’s what we want to try and put across to our customers. Those who think it’s cool and exclusive have got the wrong idea. It’s the complete opposite.

Then there is the male relationship with the store. Boyfriends nervously enter the store. The trepidation of being in such a coarsely female environment would put off the majority of men from crossing that line, yet Motel works this in reverse. Playing on the feminine symbolism associated with love hearts, the pink and the plush, the usual misgivings are legitimised and guys step into another world. The friendly Motel girls have helped many a Crack man pick up a suitable garment for their fashion hungry girl. Magazines provide entertainment away from the clothing and the aesthetics of the recently refurbished store (including old record player) provide the eyes with a treat.
This unique approach to fashion is typical of a brand that continues to act as the pinnacle of female fashion in the city, but most importantly without the pretension associated with more common strands of the female fashion spectrum. Crack likes Motel.



http://www.motelrocks.com/shop/?

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