Travel

Tony Clayton-Lea gives us the inside track on Christmas shopping in New York.

Now that christmas is mere weeks away, the mind tends to drift rather too quickly to presents and the buying and distributing of gifts. With the US dollar all but crumbling in the face of the mighty Euro, there's no doubt at all that America as a destination is a highly attractive proposition. But what to do when you get there? Easy, use this article as a guide.

Top three department stores
Macy's, 151 West 34th Street
Claiming to be the world's largest store, from tip to toe the selection of things to buy at Macy's is amazing. If you don't find what you're looking for here, then perhaps you don't know what you're looking for.

Bloomingdale's, 1000 Lexington
Avenue at 59th Street
NYC's best known department store after Macy's, but beware – this is more expensive. Best to check it out at the end-of-season sales, where items by the likes of Yves Saint- Laurent, Chanel and Stella McCartney are sold at half-price.

Henri Bendels,
712 Fifth Avenue at 55th Street
Yes, it's a large department store, but no it doesn't sell kitchen equipment or duvet covers. Rather, Bendels, as New Yorkers call it, is a series of boutiques set up across split level floors and winding staircases. Oh – the sales staff are particularly helpful.

Top three high fashion stores
INA, 21 Prince Street
If you want high-end clothes at reasonably low prices, then you've got to check out this place – the clothes are brand new, but come with the faint aroma of supermodel perspiration (because most of the items are straight from the catwalks).

Miu Miu, 100 Prince Street
This Prada-owned establishment matches off-beat style with blatantly flirty design; this is definitely a girly store, with soft materials and underwear so sexy it should have a health warning.

Costume National,
108 Wooster Street
The brainchild of Italian designer Ennio Capasa, this elegant store features sleek, streamlined clothes for men and women – Capasa's tailored jackets, in particular, are a talking point from Central Park to Inchydoney.

Top three bargains
Century 21, 22 Cortlandt Street
Designer men's and women's clothes are discounted here, while each week there are cast-off shipments by the likes of Marc Jacobs and Dolce & Gabbana. In other words – prepare to fight for your right to bargain hunt!

Housing Works Thrift Shop,
306 Columbus Avenue
A thrift shop with a poignant history (it's a not-for-profit shop that assists homeless AIDS sufferers) and one that benefits from NYC's most stylish natives as they donate everything from rare furniture and brand label clothes to collectable art.

Macy's, 151 West 34th Street
We hate repeating ourselves, but every clothes section here (and there are far too many brands to mention) has a not-to-be-missed Clearance Rack area.