fashion

The black director's chair became free and my tummy started doing somersaults. My turn had arrived. Standing next to my best friend, mum encouraged me to step forward so I could choose a little pair of diamonte studs. The day had come after months of begging: I was about to get my ears pierced and 10-year-old me couldn't have been prouder to be experiencing this milestone in Claire's Accessories. The US retailer was a beacon of my childhood and that's why it made me sad to hear it will file for administration, putting 281 stores and over 2000 jobs at risk in the UK. While there's no denying the retail landscape has struggled in recent years and the cost of living crisis continues to wreak havoc with our disposable income, it still pains me to think of a high street without Claire's Access...