Sh! Women's Erotic Emporium

...love it?

Sh! Women’s Erotic Emporium is exactly what it suggests: a shop selling a range of sex related merchandise FOR Women.

On a recent visit to London, I decided to take the plunge and visit this little rarity. At last! I’d only lived in London for six years but never had the ‘bottle’ to take a trip to the shop (Coward!). So, here it goes. Are you sitting comfortably? Are the men in the audience ...
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Sh! is located in Coronet Street, London, N1. Th nearest tube station is Old Street. After emailing Sh!, I was given directions from the station. Men are allowed to visit the shop, but only if they attend with a woman.

On entering Coronet Street, I was struck by the rather run-down street I had entered. This isn’t a particularly pretty part of London, even though around the corner there’s a Holiday Inn. Unperturbed, ... more

There’s a little known shop in a run-down backstreet of London that provides an essential service to women of all persuasions, lifestyles and ages. A shop that promotes the liberation of sexual freedom: the non-repressive, non-Victorian values of a modern world that is obsessed by SEX, SEX and SEX!

And don’t we love it?

Sh! Women’s Erotic Emporium is exactly what it suggests: a shop selling a range of sex related merchandise FOR Women.

On a recent visit to London, I decided to take the plunge and visit this little rarity. At last! I’d only lived in London for six years but never had the ‘bottle’ to take a trip to the shop (Coward!). So, here it goes. Are you sitting comfortably? Are the men in the audience ready to be titillated? Very well, I’ll begin…

Sh! is located in Coronet Street, London, N1. Th nearest tube station is Old Street. After emailing Sh!, I was given directions from the station. Men are allowed to visit the shop, but only if they attend with a woman.

On entering Coronet Street, I was struck by the rather run-down street I had entered. This isn’t a particularly pretty part of London, even though around the corner there’s a Holiday Inn. Unperturbed, I continued down the street and immediately noticed the Sh! shop sign. The shop front, as with many ‘sex’ shops was blanked out with shutters at the windows. At the doorway to the shop, I entered only to be standing in a small inner hallway that was covered in shocking pink wallpaper! Yuk!! At this stage I was wondering whether I had the wrong shop and was entering an unsolicited premises where on my entry would discover a woman dressed in pink underwear brandishing a whip in one hand and a pair of handcuffs in the other. Swallowing hard (should I really be saying that?) and taking a puff of my asthma inhaler – just in case – I continued to stand in the hallway.

The inner door was shut tight, but a notice by a bell indicted that if I ring then someone would assist me (mmm, sounded promising). After I had rung, the door was opened and I was confronted by a smartly dressed young women who invited my partner-in-crime and myself in.

As soon as we’d walked in the young woman asked whether we’d like a coffee. Hang on, I’m sure this was a shop! My chest tightened slightly in my nervousness that she was about to strip off her ‘I work in Next’ outfit to reveal the aforementioned spangly pink naughty panty and bra set. I’d already noticed with a quick surveillance of the room that plenty of whips and handcuffs were readily available.

With a high-pitched ‘yes’, I and my more refined friend, accepted the offer of coffee, having already decided that if Mars Bars were offered I was getting straight out of there.

I surveyed the shop and was delighted to notice that this wasn’t the seedy establishment that I was expecting. It was light and airy and had a certain refinement. As I walked in, a blind in front was tastefully embellished with a large pink heart and on the wooden floor, next to the stairwell that led to a downstairs area was a small pink heart mat situated next to a small bistro-style table, two chairs and a bench.

I realised that with the welcoming offer of the coffee and the chairs, we weren’t expected to hastily rush around the shop in embarrassment and make an unnoticed retreat.

The ‘I work in Next’ dressed lady came back with our coffees and told us that if we needed any help then she’d be downstairs. I found this as a slight relief, as at the time we were the only customers in the shop. I certainly didn’t want to be seen to be picking up items with the a look of puzzlement on my face which suggested I didn’t have the faintest idea what it was, it’s use, or in fact where one would put it if used for it’s purpose. So we set about looking in detail at the products on offer.

The shop is very open-planned with everything stocked on shelves or rails on all walls – this makes it immediately apparent where everything is but doesn’t allow to hide behind anything if other customers were to enter the shop.

A lot of what Sh! stock are their own branded products. On a rail to one side of me were a selection of leather and PVC wear for the more fetish-orientated women – anything from bras, shorts/knickers, belts and thongs. Next to this were a variety of vibrators and similar ‘buzzing’ contraptions for vaginal pleasure.

On the opposite side there was an extensive range of dildos. I resisted the urge to do my elephant impression and browsed the vast array.

Sh! stock them in all shapes, dimensions, colours and materials. Apparently, silicone dildos are much more pleasurable than latex ones as they are slightly softer in sensation, naturally smooth and warm to body temperature quickly, they are also more expensive with prices ranging from £20 to £50. The latex dildos were cheaper but are only available in black and start at £16. What struck me, was the fact that none of them resembled the usual phallic monstrosity that other shops stock, such as Ann Summers. They are obviously designed for the optimum pleasure factor without looking pseudo-cock (please excuse the expression!). In fact much of Sh!’s success is that they not only cater for straight women but lesbians as well, even selling a wide range of harnesses to house your sturdy friend and dental dams (ha ha, answers in the comment section if you know what they are – I’ll put you out of your misery if you don’t – most dykes don’t even know!). Many of the things they sell are geared quite specifically towards this dual-market, with the realisation that most sex shops are either geared towards men or like Ann Summers, geared towards straight women.

There is no escaping however, the tacky element of the sex industry in Sh!. There are a number of shelves with Blackpool type naughty souvenirs of naked folk on lighters, mugs and keyrings etc to entice you to at least spend a couple of quid.

After we had perused upstairs we took a well-earned breather and sat and had our coffees. On the bench beside us were notices and requests from various people to take part in magazine interviews and television research. Some of you may actually recognise Sh! as they have actually appeared in a number of television programmes about women’s sexuality and most recently the Channel 4 programme on an insight into lesbian sex (don’t believe everything you watch). One invite we noticed whilst we were there was from a features editor of a women’s magazine inviting women to share their experiences of the sex lives. Intriguing stuff.

It is also interesting to note that Sh! have a serious side to women’s sexual health. On a stand in the corner of the shop there were leaflets about sexual health, breast cancer, along with advice and information on groups.

Once we’d recovered our equilibrium and my breathing was back to normal, myself and my daring woman, ventured downstairs. Here was a smaller area dedicated mainly to lingerie on one side and a book section on the other.

Not being particularly interested in lacy undies, I nosed through the books where I found a good few shelves of general interest lesbian and gay fiction and factual books. There was also a good range of women’s erotic fiction, particularly the Black Lace range of books.

We decided, that as a gesture of goodwill and the fact we’d had a free coffee, we’d buy a fridge magnet for £3.50.

Before we left a straight couple had come in to browse and as we were leaving, another two women came in. I decided to keep my knowing smiles to myself. But when we left, my companion and I both agreed that it was cheaper to use what we already had than pay £30 for a dildo, but it certainly gave us the impetus and an amusing start to that evenings proceedings…

Sh! Women’s Emporium is based at 39 Coronet Street, London, N1 (nearest tube Old Street).

Their site can be found at www.sh-womenstore.com where they offer advise on choosing the right type of dildo and sell a selection of items that are available in the store.
 

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