Shopping in London
-
A
Topshop & Topman
Topshop is the it-store when it comes to high-street shopping. Encapsulating London’s supreme skill at bringing catwalk fashion to the youth market affordably and quickly, it constantly innovates by working with young designers and celebrities. It’s the store that famously runs the popular Kate Moss collection. It also does manicure/pedicure and hair-styling sessions, and you can have a consultation with a personal stylist and get tips from a shopping guru.
reviewed
-
B
Primark
Despite some recent bad press about its manufacturing methods, the flagship store of Primark is still crammed to the rafters with women hunting for bargain fashions that look like haute couture. They don’t call it ‘Primani’ for nothing.
reviewed
-
C
Camden Market
Although this market remains a top attraction, its heyday is a distant memory. Commercial tat has long taken over from the truly inventive, although you might find some good retro pieces. The place is busiest at weekends, especially Sunday, when the crowds elbow each other all the way north from Camden Town tube station to Chalk Farm Rd. It’s composed of several separate markets, which tend to merge.
reviewed
-
D
Coco Ribbon
Coco Ribbon is so girly, even Barbie might feel a tad butch when walking into this award-winning boutique. There are chiffon dresses and faux-fur gilets, Calypso Rose's customisable Clippy Kit handbags, light-hearted words of wisdom for newlyweds or new parents and, for your broken-hearted gal pals, 'boyfriend replacement' kits (sugar pills and chocolate, of course).
reviewed
-
E
Absolute Vintage
If you don’t mind shoes that have been worn by other feet, enter this huge barn full of stilettos, peep-toes, ankle-/knee-high boots and glittery vintage Manolos. Men’s shoes are stocked, too, and there are frocks and suits at the back. It’s handily close to Spitalfields Market.
reviewed
-
F
Abercrombie & Fitch
It’s hard to know if Abercrombie & Fitch is a clothing store or a disco – music blasts out at 90 decibels, and staff are handpicked for their chiselled good looks. Prices are pretty steep for what is essentially casual jeanswear but it’s certainly a novel retail experience.
reviewed
-
G
Agent Provocateur
For women’s lingerie that is to be worn and seen, and certainly not hidden, pull up to Joseph (son of Vivienne Westwood) Corre’s wonderful Agent Provocateur. Its sexy and saucy corsets, bras and nighties for all shapes and sizes exude confident and positive sexuality.
reviewed
-
H
Books for Cooks
All the recipe books from celeb and non-celeb chefs you can imagine are sold here. Perfect for some of the more adventurous cooks among you, or those looking for ‘exotic’ cookbooks. The cafe has a test kitchen where you can sample recipes at lunch and teatime.
reviewed
-
I
Cabbages & Frocks Market
Although it’s nothing to rival Camden Market or Borough Market, Marylebone’s Cabbages & Frocks Market does sell some particularly fine designer frocks, along with arts and crafts and gourmet foodstuffs.
reviewed
-
J
Columbia Road Flower Market
London’s most fragrant market shouldn’t be missed. Merchants lay out their blooms, from everyday geraniums to rare pelargoniums, between Gosset St and the Royal Oak pub.
reviewed
Advertisement
-
K
Ridley Road Market
Massively enjoyed by the Afro-Caribbean community it serves, this market is best for its exotic fruit and vegetables, as well as specialist cuts of meat.
reviewed
-
L
Meet Bernard
Who is Bernard? We’re not sure. But his shop in Nelson Rd is crammed full of carefully selected designer clothes for hip, young men about town.
reviewed
-
M
Algerian Coffee Stores
Stop and have a shot of espresso made in-store, while you select your fresh-ground coffee beans. Choose among dozens of varieties of coffees and teas.
reviewed
-
N
Forbidden Planet
A massive trove of comics, sci-fi, horror and fantasy literature, this is an absolute dream for anyone into manga comics or off-beat genre titles.
reviewed
-
O
Hamleys
Reportedly the largest toy store in the world and certainly the most famous, Hamleys is a layer cake of playthings. Computer games are in the basement, the latest playground trends at ground level. Science kits are on the 1st floor, preschool toys on the 2nd, girls’ playthings on the 3rd and model cars on the 4th, while the whole confection is topped off with Lego world and its cafe on the 5th.
reviewed
-
P
Portobello Road Market
Perhaps because it’s less crowded and littered than Camden, Londoners generally prefer this market. Though shops and stalls open daily, the busiest days are Friday, Saturday and Sunday. There’s an antiques market on Saturday, and a flea market on Portobello Green on Sunday morning. Fruit and veg are sold all week at the Ladbroke Grove end, with an organic market on Thursday. Antiques, jewellery, paintings and ethnic stuff are concentrated at the Notting Hill Gate end of Portobello Rd. Stalls move downmarket as you move north. Beneath the Westway a vast tent covers more stalls selling cheap clothes, shoes and CDs, while the Portobello Green Arcade is home to some cutting…
reviewed
-
Q
Aram
Despite the fact that most of the furniture stocked by Aram is unaffordable to ordinary mortals, admiring the designer pieces in this fantastic shop is an experience to be cherished. Originally opened by Zeev Aram on King’s Rd in 1964, the shop was a key player in the Conran-led furniture design revolution that saw the end of a chintz-laden Britain. The shop grew and eventually moved to this four-floor, free-standing luminous building, where the furniture is given the space it deserves, as if in a museum. Among the many accomplished designers, Aram stocks pieces by Alvar Aalto, Eileen Grey, Eames, Le Corbusier and Arne Jacobsen. The top floor is an exhibition space, where…
reviewed
-
R
Spitalfields Market
This market was originally the place to snaffle the latest street wear at good prices, with young fashion designers joined by jewellers, furniture makers and a variety of fresh-produce stalls. Unfortunately, with big businesses wanting a piece of the action, part of the old market was converted into a new restaurant and shopping complex in 2006. The old market still stands, thankfully, and much of the young designer stalls have moved up the road to the Old Truman Brewery’s Sunday UpMarket, basically a Spitalfields extension. The space is a car park during the week, but on Sunday it’s filled with excellent clothes, delicious international cuisine, jewellery and music sta…
reviewed
-
S
Harrods
It’s garish and stylish at the same time, and sure to leave you reeling with a consumer-rush after you’ve spent a few hours within its walls. Harrods is an obligatory stop for many of London’s tourists, always crowded and with more rules than an army barracks. And despite the tacky elements (a wax figure of proprietor Mohammad Al Fayed and a memorial fountain to Dodi and Di), you’re bound to swoon over the spectacular food hall and impeccable 5th-floor perfumery. Harrods 102, across the street, contains a luxury food shop and several casual restaurants.
reviewed
-
T
Stella McCartney
Does Stella McCartney need introducing? Her floaty designs send many-a-girl’s heart aflutter (as do her prices), Kate Moss makes her jeans the most covetable in the UK and her ‘ethical’ approach to fashion is very of the moment. This three-storey terraced Victorian home is a temple to all things Stella – a ritzy glasshouse garden, an olde-worlde ‘apothecary’ selling perfume, vegetarian shoes and not-leather bags, plus bespoke tailoring. Depending on your devotion and wallet, you’ll feel right at ease or like an intruder.
reviewed
Advertisement
-
U
Start
‘Where fashion meets rock n roll’ is the appropriate tagline to this group of three boutiques brought to you by former Fall guitarist Brix Smith, a cult rocker who loves girly clothes. Designer labels such as Miu Miu and Helmut Lang dominate and Smith prides herself on her selection of flattering jeans. A similarly excellent store, Start Menswear, is over the road, and there is a third location, Start Made to Measure, showcasing formal wear.
reviewed
-
V
Louis Patisserie
One of London's oldest coffee and cake shops, Louis Patisserie was started by Hungarian immigrant Louis Permayer in 1963 and it hasn't changed a bit since. Eclairs, almond pretzels, marzipan cookies, cream slices and macaroons wink at you from the window, and they're packed in a pretty striped box for you to take away. You can also sit down in the breathtaking little tearoom, best on Sundays when Hampstead's old-skool Eastern European ladies and gentlemen come here for coffee and cake.
reviewed
-
W
Vivienne Westwood
The ex-punk who dressed the punks and created the punk look now says that ‘fashion is boring’ and that she disagrees with everything she used to say. Always a controversial character with a reputation for being a bit barmy (she flashed her privates to the paparazzi after receiving her OBE), Ms Westwood is, thankfully, still designing clothes as bold, innovative and provocative as ever, featuring 19th-century-inspired bustiers, wedge shoes and loads of tartan.
reviewed
-
X
Urban Outfitters
Probably the trendiest of all chains, this cool American store serves both men and women and has the best young designer T-shirts, an excellent designer area (stocking Paul & Joe Sister, Vivienne Westwood’s Red Label, Hussain Chalayan and See by Chloé, among others), ‘renewed’ second-hand pieces, saucy underwear, silly homewares and quirky gadgets. There is also a Covent Garden branch and a Kensington branch.
reviewed
-
Y
Silver Vaults
The shops that work out of these incredibly secure subterranean vaults make up collectively the largest collection of silver under one roof in the world. The different businesses tend to specialise in different types of silverware – from cutlery sets to picture frames and lots of jewellery. The quality of the goods here is guaranteed, although even if you’re not buying it’s well worth visiting just to have a look round this extraordinary place.
reviewed
