Beautifully-made leather shoes at reasonable prices draw fashion-conscious women to Elke Scherbaum's 39einhalb store in the Südstadt district, where the range extends from ballet pumps to clogs and winter boots (26 Merowingerstrasse, tel: 0221 304 9860).

Retro bags, brightly coloured original fashion and fun accessories in felt catch the eye at Ni-Ki (42 Merowinger Strasse; tel: 0221 1693 1880, ni-ki.com) in the funky Südstadt district. Much of what's sold here is fair trade.

Budget-conscious fashion fans and lovers of all things vintage flock to Zeit der Rosen (48 Merowinger Strasse, tel 0221 453 8060, zeit-der-rosen.de) for well-chosen second-hand clothes, accessories, art and kitsch at fair prices.

Small, quirky and cool, Greenwich Man Time (Engelbertstrasse 12, tel: 0221 1689 4861, facebook.com/GreenwichManTime) is a pocket-sized treasure chest for the fashion-conscious male, with covetable, irony-tinged threads by local label Peng Caesar.