Shop of the Week: BS8

Walking into BS8 on Park Street, an atmosphere of familiarity envelops you. Vintage clothes climb the walls from floor to ceiling, and while mainstream brands are present, no two pieces are alike. Your eyes cannot help but dance across the room: from racks of whimsical patterned trousers, to branded windbreakers a Shaun the Sheep backpack hung on the wall near a portrait of the Virgin Mary. Variety and passion are at the heart of this clothes shop with a difference.

Established over two decades ago, BS8 has seen generations of fashion come and go, as encapsulated in owner and manager – known only as Pickles – and assistant manager Ellie Phillips, who couldn’t be more different.

Today, Ellie is dressed in a camouflage-print hoodie and equally cool trousers, both purchased from BS8, while Pickles rocks a Peppa Pig tee under a black shirt. Somehow, though, they both fit cohesively with their surroundings, as do all the staff. Everyone is intimidatingly cool, yet as you walk through the store, you get a smile from everyone you find.

“The fact that Pickles has been here for 25 years and is in his 60s, but is still passionate about all the clothes, just goes to show there’s a lot of love put into the shop,” Ellie says.

These yellow tartan trousers are the assistant manager’s current favourite piece of clothing

This is a place where two generations meet through clothing. BS8’s customers range from young kids still in school, trying to find their style, to the parents of these children, finding pieces of nostalgia from their adolescent years.

Supplied from America in bulk, or hand-picked pieces by Ellie herself, everything has been selected to fit the style of the shop. When asked what her favourite piece of clothing currently in the shop is, Ellie instantly heads towards a new rack of ‘funky’ trousers. She’s reserved several pairs for herself, she says. You may not have walked into BS8 wanting a pair of yellow tartan trousers, but hearing Ellie talk about them with such enthusiasm makes you want to buy half the rack.

90s shirts are just as popular with teens as those who remember the fashion from the first time around

Despite being in business for as long as it has, the shop is by no means stuck in the past, and Ellie is behind the new gender-neutral ethos of BS8: “Before we had the floors split between genders, so it was all menswear upstairs and the ladies’ clothes on the ground floor. But we realised that a lot of vintage clothes are unisex and the future is getting more and more gender neutral, and we want to be a part of that.”

“We decided to have one big unisex main floor where people can shop together and enjoy the experience together.”

Inclusion and diversity are the priority in BS8, and truly comes as a breath of fresh air from the mainstream market.

Some of the jumpers for sale in BS8

For Ellie, the best thing about the job is customers’ reactions: “What’s really amazing is because everything is a one-off, you get customers coming in and finding something that they actually love. Often you get people leaving with such happiness because that found something just like they had in the 80s, or  finding a similar denim jacket to one they once lost ten years ago.

“People find that little gem that’s unique and leaving feeling ecstatic. That’s the best thing about BS8.”

BS8, 34 Park Street, Bristol, BS1 5JG
@bs8_vintage
0117 930 4836