Soraya’s

Aimed at the teens and teeny-​waisted twenties market of goodtime girls you see staggering in heels down Chip Alley all the time, Soraya’s sells skimpy, clingy outfits to reveal all your best assets at once, or your worst. The clothes are cheap and cheaply made, but you aren’t shopping here for something that’ll last. You are shopping for something luridly bright and ‘sexy’ that’ll catch that bloke’s eye, or at least get him to buy you and your mates a few drinks. An outfit to get you a bit of attention and a confidence boost on a Girls Night Out after that horrible boy dumped you. An outfit that won’t dent your wages too much. An outfit that isn’t from Primark so isn’t what 80% of your friends will be wearing. An outfit your children can laugh at when looking through the photo albums in years to come. A bit of fun.

Soraya’s sells ladies clothes, some of which, it has to be said, of questionable taste, that are generally not very well made. But they don’t make any apology for it, nor do they try and package their product so that they can charge you over the odds. Their prices are generally rock bottom, and the shop is done out in a ‘back to basics’ style, allowing them to optimise shop floor space so that they can cram the garments in… It’s not my kind of shop, but then again, they are not targeting their business at me. That’s not to say I don’t go in there, I’ve been in a few times, and would have bought more than one item over time if they had had the items in question in my size, (I’m not petite, which seems to be a prerequisite of shopping here). I’m no snob, nor am I a slave to labels. As I see it Soraya’s is providing an alternative to the High Street chains addressing the low end spectrum of the market… and that’s fine by me.

The most worrying things about this shop is that it’s still in business. And there are two of them in Cardiff. Obviously someone somewhere is buying this tat.
Soraya’s is a very cheap shop, in more than one sense of the word. All of the clothes on sale here are the kind made of stretchy man-​made fabrics. Often you’ll find luminous colours, sequins and spandex. You wouldn’t be too far wrong in imagining all the Playboy Bunny clothes. Tacky, old-​fashioned and extremely slutty is the name of the game here.
So I really have no idea as to how this shop has remained open throughout the years. Every time I pass it, with its rails of nastiness sprawling out onto the street, I almost have to restrain myself from going in and giving the management a good talking to.
Mainly, I take issue with this place because I really don’t think they’re providing a good message to the young girls in the area, who, I guess, are pretty much their only target audience. Here girls, have cloths that are too short, badly made and revealing; that’s how you’ll get the boys. With clothes advertised with luminous star prices.
I urge everyone to avoid. I even suggest crossing the road.