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Believe it or not, people that live on the Gold Coast sometimes like to do things other than walk along the beach in their sun visors. They are normal people - they have jobs, go on holidays and shop. Granted, the fashion shopping experience isn't that great if your looking for something more fashionable than a stuffed koala or "I Love Surfers Paradise!" t-shirt. However, having lived there all my life, I happen to know of one or two places the tourists don't. Here are five places to shop on the Gold Coast!

I Hate My Skirt

Originially opened in Burleigh Heads as an arcade stall with a dirty roller door, I Hate My Skirt has evolved into a boutique that could rival some of Melbourne's finest. When you walk inside, it feels like you're showing up for a tea party with your girlfriends. The walls are lined with girlie wallpaper and bookshelves are stuffed with toys, photo books, hats and cutsie-pie baby clothes. There are tables throughout the store adorned with unique jewellery, sunglasses, gum boots and scarves. The fashion is from local, emerging designers, which the Gold Coast seems to be offering more of each season, and can vary from feminine paisley print skirts to paint-splashed harem pants. The window shopping alone can often be enough - they've always got mannequins dressed in new get-up, surrounded by vintage dressers and other antique homewares. You can even buy beautiful home art. And if you can buy art, it must be cool.

Go online at www.ihatemyskirt.com.au or visit the store at Shop 2, 2247 Gold Coast Highway, Nobby Beach.

Love From Lucy

OK, this is possibly my favourite store. I don't know if it's because it conjures up memories of cruising my bike down the block to meet my best friend for turkey baguettes and then shopping here, but this boutique just seems to have it. My favourite part about it is it's ever-changing decor. Each season, the store will be completely overhauled to match the weather. In summer, they fill the store with a foot of sand and toss buckets and spades around the place so you literally have to take your thongs off to look around. In autumn, persian rugs lay on the floor and crunchy red and green autumn leaves hang from the roof. At one point, they had a pond in the middle of the floor complete with a school of goldfish. I guarantee you've never seen anything like it. As for the stock, unique pieces of jewellery hang from walls, hand-crafted journals are stacked on shelves and the racks are filled with one-off pieces from local emerging designers, such as Arnhem, Lilla Stezz and Birds of a Feather. Every now and then they hold fashion shows to showcase new fashion desginers in the area and hire local musicians as entertainment to get their name out. If that's not enough, when you buy something, they give you a free love-heart lollipop. Sweet.

Visit the store at Shop 3, 1726 Gold Coast Highway, Burleigh Heads.

Dot Wears A Dress

On the eve of a Very Important Party or festival, this was my final destination to look for an outfit. I was with Dot Wears A Dress when they first opened, and I was with them when they underwent major cosmetic surgery to install a coffee bar. So now you can actually take a seat, order a double-shot latte and flick through the latest Shop Til You Drop in between changeroom visits. Tucked in between a surf shop and a Centrelink, Dot Wears A Dress also loves to show off local designers, but also carries popular labels like Mink Pink, Ladakh, Mermaid Sister, Something, Milk and Honey, Le Specs, Monster Baby, Wish and Nookie Beach. They often have some crazy sale on, too. Once I picked up a Who Am Eye drawstring dress for $20 down from $150. Suddenly, Vinnies didn't seem so worth it.

Go online at www.dotwearsadress.com.au or visit the store at Shop 2, 1156 Gold Coast Highway, Palm Beach. 'Shop Like A Celebrity' nights are also available, where staff will close the store and wait hand and foot on you and your girlfriends while you sip champagne and try on fashion clothes. Bookings essential.

Burleigh Vintage Markets

When I was in grade seven, I never predicted I'd be blogging about my primary school as the next place to shop for spectacular vintage finds. Every first Sunday of the month, local designers rock up to Burleigh Heads State School, pitch a market stall and wait for the traffic. If you love vintage and one-off clothing and a relaxed environment, this should be marked in your diary with bright red permanent marker. It's unlikely you'll find anywhere else on the Gold Coast with these offerings. Make sure you check out Debris Blanc's stall:

Visit the markets at Burleigh Heads State School, 1750 Lower Gold Coast Highway, Burleigh Heads.

The 'Joy' Sisters

I'm going to be a little sneaky here, because by the 'Joy' sisters, I am actually referring to two stores: Joy Electric and Joy Hysteric. For the more "finanically-equipped" tourist looking for an upmarket shopping experience outside of Jupiters Casino, Joy Electric stocks plenty of international labels including Anna Sui, Eley Kishimoto, Betsey Johnson (yay!), Givenchy and Marc Jacobs. The counter is even made of 18k gold tiles! It's sister store, Joy Hysteric is definately more my (cheaper) style. They stock some of my all-time favourite labels: Lover, Life With Bird, Camilla and Marc, Something Else and Maise, plus lots more like Alice McCall, Nicola Finetti and Marnie Skillings. The Joy sister stores remain to be an exclusive, one-and-only stockist for many of these labels on the Gold Coast.

Visit Joy Electric at Shop 33-34 Circle on Cavill, 55 Cavill Ave, Surfers Paradise. Shop online for Joy Hysteric at http://www.thejoystores.com/ecommerce.php?action=search&stk_group=&stk_category or visit the store at Shop 14, The Phoenician building, 24-26 Queensland Ave, Broadbeach.  

 Have you been shopping at any of these places? What do you think of Gold Coast fashion shopping?

Photos: www.facebook.com

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