Category: london vintage

Hunt Down Your Vintage Treasures This Winter

Posted on by LBT cabbie in london vintage

Style never goes out of fashion. Well-crafted objects, bespoke garments and original jewellery have much more charm than uninspiring knock-offs at the sales; now is the time to hunt them down.

Winter is the perfect season for car boot sales and a trip to vintage clothes shops. It’s tempting to sit in bed and search for online vintage clothing but trust us, doing it in person is great!

You won’t have to fight the crowds to find the perfect piece and you can feel extra virtuous for getting up early – reward yourself with a hot chocolate in a cosy cafe whilst reviewing your bargains. You can’t do that with online vintage clothing.

If you’re in London, cheer up a boring weekend by having a day rummaging through some vintage clothes shops and cut-price vintage stalls.  Online vintage clothing is one thing, but vintage clothes shops, car boot sales and flea markets are one of the most fulfilling ways to spend a day browsing and picking up some thrifty finds.

Where to go, what to look for, you ask?

Battersea and Wimbledon are probably the best-known car boot sales in London:

  • Battersea [www.batterseaboot.com, every Sunday 1:30-5pm, entry 50p]
  • Wimbledon [Wimbledon Stadium, Plough Lane, SW17 0BL, entry 7am, £2 for the first hour, 50p after]

Equally great boot sales are:

  • Dulwich Hamlet Football Club in East Dulwich [Sundays, entry 11 am, 50p, Edgar Kail Way, SE22 8BD]
  • Old Kent Road [Sundays, entry 8am, 50p, Hornshay Street, SE15 1HB]
  • Hayes Street Farm [entry 6am, 50p, 239 Hayes Lane, BR2 7LB]
  • Princes May School in Stoke Newington [Every Saturday, Sunday and Bank Holiday from 9am-2pm, entry £3, N16 8DF]

Please check that your planned destination will be open before setting off! Even vintage clothes shops are sometimes closed unexpectedly, unlike the online vintage clothing option.

A dedicated bargain hunter will resort to researching online vintage clothing blogs for the best local vintage clothes shops or online vintage clothing specialists.

Ready to go? Print the map, get some cash, and loosely plan your target for the day. Car boot sales and vintage clothes shops are awash with ideas for interior designers, hipsters and smart fashion-savvy folk, but remain rigorous and informed with your selection.

If you’re looking for vintage fashion finds in vintage clothes shops or online vintage clothing stores, follow your instinct and style. It’s useful to know that you can get the musty smell out of fabric – be it a dress, cushion, or a lovely set of linen napkins – with some baking soda or cat litter. Most good vintage clothes shops or online vintage clothing shops will have dry cleaned their clothes already, but you never know! That old book smell, which most people find pleasing but some are allergic to, can be expelled by dusting the pages with cornstarch.

London Vintage Clothing

Posted on by LBT cabbie in london vintage

London is the epicentre of fashion in the UK and some would say the Holy Grail for visitors worldwide. London style is unique: creative, stylish and a little bit quirky, which is where shopping for vintage clothing comes in.

Many vintage stores have a website where you can browse vintage clothing online, and that’s a really helpful tool to get an idea of the kind of thing they have in stock – and if something catches your fancy you can always email and ask to reserve it until you can come in.

But there’s really nothing like visiting a real life shop and trying on vintage clothing in person. Vintage clothing shops are usually full of so many items that only a few of them manage to put all of their vintage clothing online – having a browse through the racks yourself can yield some real treasures.

The best places in London to hunt for vintage clothing depend on where you are staying.  In the East End, there’s nowhere better than Brick Lane. It’s fantastic on a Sunday, packed to the seams with visitors and there’s several markets up and down its length selling everything from vintage clothing to delicious food. As well as this, there are several vintage shops either on Brick Lane itself or just off it with different specializations – one sells antique hats while another is more the “pile it high sell it cheap variety”.  Spitalfields Market is also very near, again with a lot of options. Liverpool St Station is within walking distance for all these places.  Look up “east end vintage clothing” online for details.

If you’re in North London, of course, Camden is a great place to head for for all things quirky. Again, Camden is full of clothes stalls, including vintage clothing, food, handicrafts and all sorts of punkish and ethnic jewellery. A little bit further away is a massive vintage clothing store, Blue 17, which is near Holloway Road tube station. The search phrase here is “North London vintage clothing online“.

South Londoners will tell you that Greenwich is the place to head to for a very charming market with lots of vintage stalls which include vintage jewellery, vintage clothing, and homewares like lovely tea sets. Again, Sunday is the best day to go. Greenwich also has permanent shops around the edge of the market which include some tiny boutiques where you’ll find never before seen items. Check “Greenwich vintage clothing” online.

In West London, you must go straight to Portobello Road at the weekend. Again, it’s going to be heaving with people – this just guarantees a good atmosphere. The very, very long and wide street is lined with vintage stalls, and behind the vintage stalls are vintage clothing shops. It’s like vintage on vintage! There are also antique shops selling exquisite furniture, silver ware and glass ware. Search “West London vintage” online to get an idea of where to head first. There’s also loads of places to sit and eat as cafes and pubs abound, as well as street food stalls.