That pile of dirty laundry in your hamper is growing larger by the day while the amount of… That pile of dirty laundry in your hamper is growing larger by the day while the amount of wearable clothing in your closet is growing smaller.

What can you do in order to solve such a conundrum?

You basically have two options.

You can dig deep into your jeans pockets or raid the bottom of your backpack to scrounge up enough quarters to do laundry ? at which point you will realize that the only unoccupied machines in the dorm laundry rooms are the ones that don’t work.

Or you could grab that cash your grandmother sent with you to college or the new credit card, and head over to one of the numerous shopping venues that Pittsburgh offers to help you restock your empty closet.

Perhaps the most convenient shopping area for Pitt students is the business district along Walnut Street in Shadyside. Just take a bus numbered 71 or 500 and tell the driver you want to go to the Walnut Street shopping area. She’ll tell you where to get off.

Along Walnut Street, you will find everything from Express to Banana Republic to some unique boutiques offering more expensive, designer-brand clothing.

After a long afternoon of shopping, you can relax at an outside table and enjoy a cappuccino or a plate of artichoke dip at one of the many cafes and restaurants interspersed between the retail shops along the street.

For those looking for a more traditional shopping venue, the Ross Park and Monroeville malls are a little farther away, but offer more stores, as well as the convenience of indoor shopping.

You can take a 67A bus to get to the Monroeville Mall. The Ross Park Mall is more difficult to get to by bus, so driving is your best option.

The Waterfront, located just outside of Homestead, offers shopping, dining and a movie theater. There is a Target, a Barnes and Noble and many clothing shops, such as Abercrombie’amp; Fitch.

If you are looking for new items to decorate your dorm room, IKEA is your best and cheapest bet. Located in the Robinson Town Center, you can just hop on a 28X bus as if you were going to the airport. Just be sure to tell the bus driver where you would like to get off ? before the airport.

Downtown Pittsburgh is home to department stores such as Kaufmann’s, Lazarus, Lord ‘amp; Taylor and Saks Fifth Avenue.

If you would like to stay in Oakland, Avalon, Bovvers, Rue 21 and Dave’s Music Mine are only a few of the places to check out. Both Avalon and Dave’s will buy and trade your old clothes and CDs, respectively. Bovvers sells great shoes, and Rue 21 sells cheaply priced, trendy clothing.

Whatever you are looking for to fill the void in your closet, you’ll be able to find it at one of the many Pittsburgh shopping areas.