A Topshop Retrospective: Kate Moss, THAT Tea Dress & My *Almost* Vintage Topshop Collection

This one goes out to all the millennials out there...

Topshop from 2006 to 2011-ish - there was simply nothing quite like it. Last week, Noemie posted in the chat asking for thoughts on Oxford Street, arguably the most notable shopping destination in London. The replies came thick and fast, with many unsurprisingly mourning the loss of the Topshop flagship, which closed in 2021. If you’re U.K.-based and in your mid-thirties, then there’s a high chance that you’d have a similar sentiment. Just like people say that New York is the fifth character in Sex and The City, Topshop played a supporting role in my girlhood to womanhood years. One minute, you were begging your parents for a pair of ludicrously flared black school trousers from Tammy Girl; the next, you were spending your hard-earned Saturday job wages at the tills of Topshop. You’d arrived.

So why was Tophop, ‘that girl’? I mean, where do you start? The denim collection and the black Jamie jeans that I’d replenish yearly once they reached a washed-out grey? The Freedom jewellery stand and OWL NECKLACES?! The Kate Moss collaboration that still induces hysteria in me 18 years later (we’ll get to that in a bit). Whilst it was Primark I headed to for my basics and breadth in my wardrobe, it was Topshop that made me feel like a real adult. The place I saved up my pennies for, and rarely shopped at alone. It was an occasion, and in a way, the beginning. Chapter one of all of this *gestures wildly*. My own experience with fashion and personal style feels so deeply entangled with those glory years, and I’m sure many of us feel the same.

A selfie in the Brighton Topshop changing rooms waaaay back in 2007. The top and super-long necklace, sadly, weren’t purchased. The Ashlee Simpson-inspired fringe thankfully grew out.

I was quite the fan of a Topshop floral top (with a neutral background, of course).

This was a Topshop cream and black lace-printed dress that I wore on my first day of university in 2008. Someone said that I looked like I worked in Topshop, and it was the best moment of my life to date.

I can guarantee that the photo on the left was a Facebook profile photo at some point, but the fringing? SO 2025!! And I wore those Topshop blue ballet flats until they fell apart.

Fisherman chic is BACK!? Better dig out my Freedom gold fish necklace. P.S) Rimmel Sunshimmer was my religion.

MY TOPSHOP ARCHIVE

Those were just the photos of my favourite Topshop pieces that I could share because friends could be easily cropped out, but there were a whole lot more where they came from. In fact, as the years progressed, Topshop made up more and more of my wardrobe, and the fact that I still remember where everything came from all these years later shows how special they were to me. To be fair, my wardrobe was far smaller back then - my outfit repetition game was strong. I was either wearing an outfit that heavily featured Topshop or sporting my University hoodie, leggings, and fake Uggs.

But three pieces still remain in my wardrobe. My mini, ‘soon to be vintage’ Topshop archive that I’ve never been able to bring myself to part with (and I don’t think I ever will). Let me talk you through…

A sweetheart neckline, bodice dress that I purchased in 2007 for my 18th birthday. It has pockets!

For my 21st birthday in 2010, I treated myself to this itty-bitty dress with beading details that felt very Cheryl Cole-esque.

When I graduated in 2011, I wore this and felt SO grown-up. If I had to pick a favourite out of the three, it would be this.

Fancy that in video format? I felt compelled to do a show-and-tell this morning for you in my gym clothes. This post has POSSESSED me since I thought of it…

KATE MOSS X TOPSHOP

…I couldn’t talk about Topshop without discussing the Kate Moss x Topshop collection, which in my humble opinion, is the best clothing/celeb collaboration I’ve ever seen. I’ll fight you on that one. Perhaps I was just the prime target market at the time, but even to this day, it still excites me. If I stumble across the keywords ‘Kate Moss Topshop’ in a secondhand listing, then I am clicking it immediately.

The first collection launched in 2007 and continued until 2010, with her final drop in 2014 (I am now DESPERATE to find this sequin jacket featured here). I remember visiting my local Brighton store on launch day, but leaving empty-handed as I arrived to empty rails. But thankfully, there’s a decent stock of pre-loved items available online, and it’s ripe pickings for a ‘Mother Mermaid’ or Chloé girl summer…

You can find everything linked here*

I’ve done the required scrolling for you, and I’d say eBay* is your best bet. There’s plenty available on Vinted too, but it gets mixed in with general Topshop stock. Sellers note that the collections come up small, so that’s something to keep in mind.

All these years later, and the floral tea dress from the OG collection - YOU KNOW THE ONE - still haunts me. I’ve found some in stock for you here - UK 8, UK 10, UK 12*, UK 14*. Vinted is a better option here as they run farrrr cheaper than they do on eBay, where the sellers have cottoned onto the fact that it’s still a very hot piece, all these years later.

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Those were the days, am I right!? I’ve spent the morning racking my brains for the 2025 equivalent, but nothing feels like it’s caught the zeitgeist in the same way as Topshop did in the early 2000s. Fifteen years later, the high-street fashion landscape has completely shifted in a way where it’s unlikely they’ll be another Topshop again. We’ve moved on, online shopping has exploded, and our personal style has evolved. However, it will always hold a special place in my heart for its role in chapter one. I’d love to hear about your Topshop memories. Your turn…

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