The research for this book must have been a joy - all that shopping! Did you manage to visit every shop?
I didn't visit any of them for a very good reason because we'd based this book on service and I get good service wherever I go and I wanted to make sure that people who didn't work in the fashion industry, ordinary consumers, got good service also. I worked with my researcher who took with her my criteria and visited every shop and then from her reports we compiled the book.

I thought, wouldn't it be lovely if everybody could feel that could get someone to talk them through the clothes passionately and knowledgeably and talk about what they think might suit them and then help them with choices? Talking about things they already have in their wardrobes and even make sure that a garment fits beautifully by then providing an on-hand alteration service. So that's what I looked for because that's what I wanted to be able to tell everyone else about. It is out there for you.

What are the benefits of shopping at an independent retailer rather than at a chain store?
I'd say, use both. The high street is a fantastic resource and certainly if you're buying something like an extreme design, maybe it's really quite directional or seasonally oriented, you think right, this is very now so I don't want to pay too much money for it.

But actually what I also want is a suit that I can get out for ten years that is going to fit me beautifully, that will suit a variety of occasions and I can dress it up depending on what accessories I've got. Where do I go for that suit? Or where do I go for advice about what is a good garment to spend money on? What's a good colour for me? What's a good shape for me? That's when you go to an independent retailer.

How do you think the internet has changed the way we shop for clothes?
I think the internet provides a certain type of service for people perhaps who are wanting to get something that they can't access normally, so something that is very specialist that's in another country. For fairly standard items, we do a lot of catalogue shopping so it makes sense that that could all be translated onto the internet format. But when we're talking about clothes that have a real emotional value, items that are going to be in our wardrobes for 10-20 years, that are our friends in the wardrobe that when they come out they make us feel great, they can't be got from anywhere else but an independent retailer.