Hidden clothes shopping gems in London

Known as one of the fashion capitals of the world, London spawns hundreds of impeccably dressed waifs and effortlessly beautiful fashionistas.

London Focus

Universally known as one of the fashion capitals of the world, London spawns hundreds of impeccably dressed waifs and effortlessly beautiful fashionistas daily. Along with Paris and Milan, London defines the notion of fashion, so much so that our designers like Stella McCartney and Julien MacDonald are the choice of any A-lister in line for the red carpet.

But the beauty of London is that it serves fashion to the masses, with countless out-of-the-way boutiques and secret shops selling ridiculously cheap ultra-trendy clothes, so that even us “normal” people without the movie star bank balance can afford to look fashionable.

Notting Hill

Notting Hill is fast becoming one of London’s hippest (and in some parts most expensive) places to be, and as a result it is a powerful fashion hotspot. With crowds of teenagers who look like runway models walking the streets in head-to-toe vintage exuding the kind of cool Jimmy Dean did a generation ago Notting Hill is fashion heaven.

However, look past the obvious fashion outlets and established clothes chains and there are hidden gems down these wily west London streets. Retro Clothing on Notting Hill Gate is sandwiched between eateries and bookshops and unless you knew what it was you’d probably walk past it wondering, "What is a warehouse doing in the middle of a street?"

Retro Clothing

Retro Clothing is a two-floored boutique with women’s wear upstairs and men’s fashions downstairs. Both are laid out with thin metal racks stocked with clothes in rows of colour. Their main sale is T-shirts, and they hundreds of them, all at £5. There’s 80s Bermuda-style shirts and tourist board shirts and shirts so distorted they hang off at the shoulders. Liquor-store cabinets filled with old sneakers at £20 each – the originals of the kind we’re seeing in Burtons and Topshop – are sporadically placed. Women’s wear is filled with flats (like the kind Sienna Miller has surgically attached to her feet) and glam-rock style lame dresses and flared cord trousers. It’s a real unpredictable dress-up box of discount fashion.\n\nThe Charity Shop

Just down the road near Uxbridge Street there’s a cosy little boutique called The Charity Shop that mixes second-hand fashions with shelves of homewear and stationery. This is a real jumble sale of fashions, but rummage for long enough through the rails of leather satchels at £5 a piece and floor-length winter warmer jackets, wool-lined and belted around the middle at £20 each, and you’ll find a pure piece of fashion heaven that’ll make your knees weak but your wallet happy. Chunky knit 70s cardigans and retro Pucci-esque silks are from £10-20 and customers frantically grab at what they can find.

Retro Woman

Just down the road is Retro Woman, which features a 50p sales rack out front with faded T-shirts and 80s gym shorts. And once inside 30ft walls are filled with cabinets of Wizard-of-Oz glitter shoes at £30 and velvet court shoes at £25. Clothes are a mixed bag of retro print dresses and 50s prom skirts all at £20. This is the kind of shop hell-bent celebrities send their PAs to, to throw together a one-off outfit.

Just down the road on Kensington Church Street is a spin-off simply called Retro that is hidden down a dark seemingly empty pathway. But once you’ve found it you’re in fashion heaven because everything’s £2, from army-style Parkas to Ted Baker business trousers.

Portobello Market

Then there’s always Portobello Market, though not strictly a secret find it remains to date one of the cheapest and coolest places to buy clothes. Stretching the length of Portobello Road this table-top sale sees Indian scarves at £2 mixed with Paul’s Boutique skirts for £15, and sellers range from one of screen printed T-shirt stalls at £15-20 to vintage shell sports jackets with team emblems stitched on the back for £25.
\n\nCamden

Or there’s always Camden. Famed for its goth and punk culture, Camden scares off many of the timid fashion hunters. But walk past the main streets of Camden into the side roads and you’re in vintage heaven.

Episode

Episode, situated at the far end of Camden past the outdoor market is one of the best hidden finds you’ll ever come across. Filled with beautiful staff and even more beautiful customers Episode brings the catwalk to the public. This year’s dapper gentleman style which has usurped the fashion shows, is on sale here for cheap-as-chips prices. Silk gentleman scarves are £2 each, leather 50s shoes are £20, pin stripe suits and velvet blazers are £20 a piece. The women’s wear is just as much a steal with simple city dresses and feminine blouses for £15.

Lowely Vintage

Then there’s Lowely Vintage, which is found at the end of an intricate maze through the outdoor market and past the river. The shop, which looks like a converted barn, proudly boasts “Nearly everything £10” on its front door, and once inside it keeps to its promise. The inside is a well laid out, structured shop. Rows of shelves and streamlined rails are filled with blazers and floor length herring bone jackets, the walls are stacked with leather shoes of every kind from cowboy boots (the real deal too) to court shoes to business shoes.

Funky Thea Vintage

Then there’s Funky Thea Vintage, which is easily lost between hundreds of Thai and Chinese food vendors on the edge of the river. Tweed double-breasted suits for £50 are mixed with illuminous Ray Ban’s for a £5 a piece. This is fashion for the eyes with every colour from the orange undersized 80s Adidas track suits at £30 to electric yellow flower print dresses at £25 exploding in a marriage of colour.

Camden Market

And there’s always Camden outdoor market, which is much more fashion conscious than the inferior indoor market and filled with stalls and tiny shops selling second-hand clothes from Twiggy dresses to Austin Powers suits.

Wherever you go, London is a veritable source of fashion and one that doesn’t have to come at too hefty a price tag.

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