Bargain-hunters in the buff to get free stuff

IT'S barely believable the lengths some shoppers will go to in pursuit of a bargain.

An Edinburgh clothes shop's offer of a free outfit to anyone who turned up in their underwear led to a stampede of scantily-clad customers.

Around 50 men and women queued outside the new Joy store in Princes Mall, with the first 25 through the door guaranteed free clothes. While some rather more conservative shoppers looked on aghast at the sight of flesh, others were clearly amused.

One of those in the queue was 21-year-old Lucy Cook, an archaeology student in Edinburgh.

She said: "If my dad saw me he'd probably disown me. I'm totally embarrassed standing here, but I had a look in the window yesterday and some of the clothes are really nice.

"We've had a lot of shocked looks, and few shifty looking men doing a couple of circuits of the stairwell to take a look."

Radio production students Ross Couttes, 18, from Livingston, and Chris McIntyre, 25, of Bathgate, joined the male contingent.

Ross said: "If anyone I knew walked by I'd be totally embarrassed, and if my mum saw me I'd probably get a good talking to.

"What the hell! We're students. We'd do anything to get something for nothing."

Others seemed less concerned with the promise of free clothes, and instead grasped the opportunity to show off their bodies.

Australian Rachel Haase, 23, a retail assistant living in Marchmont, said: "I came here to show that big is beautiful. I'm not a size 8 – but as you can see you don't have to be small to be sexy."

Store assistant Hazel Armstrong, 27, from Aberdour, took the short walk from her job at the Body Shop to display her own body to shoppers.

"I might take this up full time," she said, with her tongue planted firmly in her cheek.

"I'm thinking about becoming an amateur stripper, so today is good practice."

The event on Friday afternoon was the second underwear junket organised by Joy in the city in the last six months.

The fashion chain, favoured by the likes of Keira Knightley and Sienna Miller, opened its first outlet at Ocean Terminal in Leith in November.

Area manager Michelle Hanratty said: "We've done this kind of thing throughout the country and we're glad to bring it into Edinburgh.

"We have strict age policy where we only let people aged 16 and upwards take part.

"We have had a few underage people who came along wanting to join in, but we usually appease them by giving them a goody bag. Everyone takes it in the spirit in which it's intended. It's all a bit of fun."