The kind of 19 yo who wants to look nice and interesting, but doesn't have a trust fund and hasn't nailed down a summer job yet?

Any suggestions? We'll be in central London.

Primark on Oxford Street is the chosen destination for all 19 year olds with not a lot of money but a desire for fashion

Thanks, london!

Primark is good if you don't need to wear the clothes longer than a season or two. It's often dirt cheap but there's a reason for that. If you don't have an H&M at home, I highly recommend it - still fairly inexpensive, but clothes of better quality than Primark, in my experience. Other UK chains are Topshop, Next, and Monsoon (and I'm sure there are more I'm missing). You can find branches of most, if not all of these, either on Oxford Street or around Covent Garden.

I like Dorothy Perkins for work (business casual) clothes, but that may not be what the 19-year-old is looking for.

Missing from the above list: New Look, Oasis and above all Zara (cheaper in the UK than in the US). Next is a bit long in the tooth for most 19 yos

The Westfield mall, (Shepherd's Bush tube, a few stops west of Oxford St on the Central Line) has a number of clothes shops, including a few in the Inditex group (those wonderful people who bought you Zara, and the largest clothing retailer in the world after WalMart) not trading anywhere else in Britain.

I wouldn't consider Primark to offer much that is nice and even less that is interesting. H&M, Topshop, or Zara would probably be more likely to offer something relatively fashionable, but again, you are sacrificing quality. Indeed, I can't see much need to bother with any of those shops when in Europe. Even if you don't have them in your hometown, I don't feel they offer that much that you can't piece together from the usual suspects in the US.

jent and flanner, thank you. Very helpful.

I don't think durability is especially valued in that age group, at least not around our house.

Travelg, shopping is about the last thing I'd want to do there, but my daughter wants to spend some recreational time in the changing rooms of London.

The other option is a market like Camden Market or Portobello Market. They're a good source of cheap clothes. I'm not an expert on London clothes markets. Maybe somebody such will chime in.

And for great window-shopping and people-watching, as opposed to buying, King's Road has designer shops. A fashionista's paradise.

Thanks, Mimar. Do you know whether Portobello is any good for that sort of thing midweek?

I could go for the window-shopping part myself.

When my neice was living in London a few years ago, she loved Top Shop. She just wished she had more money.

<i>Travelg, shopping is about the last thing I'd want to do there, but my daughter wants to spend some recreational time in the changing rooms of London.</i>

I'm not saying she shouldn't go shopping, just that I would be more interested in finding one cool piece, as opposed to multiple okay pieces from someplace like Primark.

Thanks, all. It's good to know what the range is and where to look.

Topshop at Oxford Circus is where she'll want to be. That's where I wanted to be when I was 19 and I still go (I'm on the wrong side of 40!)