Edinburgh locals have been reminiscing about a lost city centre sports shop that sold high end cricket, rugby and tennis clobber.
For a generation of local sports fans and budding capital athletes, Lillywhites sporting goods emporium at 129 Princes Street was practically a rites of passage.
The posh sport shop, which was founded back in 1863 in London, arrived in Edinburgh in the 1950s and enjoyed several decades on the city's principle shopping stretch.
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At Lillywhites you could get the highest quality goods and clothing for a variety of different sports. From football, golf and rugby, to tennis, squash, badminton and cricket, it had what you needed.
The store also stocked more niche and exotic leisure items, including skiing equipment, angling goods and even deep sea diving gear.
But, while there was the odd sale at Lillywhites, the goods didn't always come cheap: the London-established outlet was notorious for its eyewatering-high London-style prices. Some of Lillywhites' most frequent visitors, however, were not too concerned with what appeared on the price tags.
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In Edinburgh in the early 1980s, a new breed of football hooligan - the 'casual' - was on the rise and devotees of the phenomenon could often be found in the store on the hunt for Fred Perry polo shirts, Lacoste trainers and other high end sportswear brands.
And while the casuals would go to great lengths to raise the necessary dough to shop at the likes of Lillywhites, there was an alternative way to secure the gear. The shop's security guards were kept very busy during this era preventing shoplifters.
Members of the Lost Edinburgh Facebook group have been reminiscing about the glory days of Lillywhites when it was still on Princes Street.
Former Lillywhites employee, Jacqueline Moore, said: "I worked there for a year 78/79. Great bunch of people to work with.
"Rock groups liked to buy their sporty stage clothes there and I remember three members of Status Quo Coming in."
Alex Wright said: "I used to go get my football socks from there."
Colin Mclennan commented: "It was a great shop for sportswear, but not the cheapest."
Grant Paterson wrote: "Lillywhites was one of my favourite stores. It sold those tramline tennis rackets that Jimmy Connors used."
TC Gladioli said: "Ah yes! When only quality shops traded on Princes Street."
Keith Turnbull remembers Lillywhites as being quite affordable. He wrote: "I bought my first badminton and squash racquets there and my first pro golf bag: a red and white Macgregor one.
"Price was great - they undercut the Golf Centre in Dalry road by a healthy chunk and they also used to have a great bargain bucket of odd new clubs."
Lillywhites vanished from Princes Street in 1985 and was replaced by HMV, which occupied the site until 2016 when it was replaced by discount sportswear store Sports Direct.
Interestingly, Lillywhites is now a subsidiary of the Frasers Group, which also operates Sports Direct. It's almost as if it never went away.
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