Shopping in London
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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 has an entire floor dedicated to accessories (hair clips, tights, sunglasses, you name it). And if the store’s five floors intimidate you, you can book an appointment with a personal shopper.
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Camden Market
Although – or perhaps because – it stopped being cutting-edge several thousand cheap leather jackets ago, Camden market gets a whopping 10 million visitors each year and is one of London's most popular attractions.
What started out as a collection of attractive craft stalls by Camden Lock on the Regent's Canal now extends in various shape or form most of the way from Camden Town tube station to Chalk Farm tube station. There are four main market areas, Buck Street Market, Lock Market, Canal Market and Stables Market, although they seem to blend into one with the crowds snaking along and the 'normal' shops lining the streets. You'll find a bit of everything: clothes (of…
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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.
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Harrods
Both garish and stylish at the same time, perennially crowded Harrods is an obligatory stop for London’s tourists, from the cash strapped to the big, big spenders. High on kitsch, the ‘Egyptian Elevator’ with its ex-owner Mohammed Al Fayed sphinxes, resembles something hauled in from an Indiana Jones epic, while the memorial fountain to Dodi and Di merely adds surrealism. Piped opera will be thrown at you as you recoil from the price tags: after an hour of browsing, you may just want to lie down on one of the doubles in the 2nd-floor bedroom department. But the stock is astonishing and you’ll swoon over the spectacular food hall.
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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.
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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).
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Lesley Craze Gallery
Considered one of Europe’s leading centres for arty, contemporary jewellery, this gallery has exquisitely understated and sometimes pricey designs.
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Absolute Vintage
Check out the mammoth vintage shoe collection here – there are colours and sizes for all, with footwear ranging from designer vintage to something out of your grandma’s storage. Clothes for men and women line the back of the shop.
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Abercrombie & Fitch
Abercrombie’s signature wholesome look (denims, jersey tops, cosy knitwear, perfectly tailored cotton shirts) doesn’t seem to wane in popularity, despite the relatively high price tag. This shop is busy from the minute it opens its doors, and at weekends queues for the till snake through the ground floor. The store itself is more nightclub than classic retail: loud dance music, dark, moody lighting, overpowering perfume and topless hunks greet you at the entrance.
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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.
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Books for Cooks
All the recipe books from celeb and non-celeb chefs you can imagine are sold here – perfect for more adventurous cooks or for those looking for ‘exotic’ cookbooks. The cafe has a test kitchen where you can sample recipes at lunch and teatime.
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Dover Street Market
Showcasing the colourful creations of Tokyo fashion-darlings Comme des Garçons, among other labels, Dover Street Market is the place to come for that shirt you only wear on special occasions. There are four floors of clothing for men and women, all artfully displayed.
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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.
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Columbia Road Flower Market
A real explosion of colour and life, this weekly market sells a beautiful array of flowers, pot plants, bulbs, seeds and everything you might need for the garden. A lot of fun, even if you don’t buy anything, the market gets really packed so go as early as you can, or later on, when the vendors sell off the cut flowers cheaply. It stretches from Gossett St to the Royal Oak pub.
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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.
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Algerian Coffee Stores
Stop and have a shot of espresso made in-store while you select your freshly ground coffee beans. Choose among dozens of varieties of coffees and teas.
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Forbidden Planet
A trove of comics, sci-fi, horror and fantasy literature, this is an absolute dream for anyone into manga comics or off-beat genre titles.
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Roman Road Market
This market along Roman Rd between St Stephen’s and Parnell Rds has pretty standard fare on offer, though some people rave about the low prices.
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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 and the latest playground trends are at ground level. But that’s just the start. 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.
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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…
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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…
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Spitalfields Market
One of London’s best markets, with traders hawking their wares here since the early 17th century. The covered market that you see today was built in the late 19th century, with the more modern development added in 2006. The market is open six days a week, with a particular focus on each day, but the best days to come are Thursdays (for antiques), Fridays (fashion) and Sundays, when the market is at its bustling best and filled with fashion, jewellery, food and music stalls.
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Stella McCartney
Her sharp tailoring, floaty designs and accessible style and ‘ethical’ approach to fashion (no leather or fur) is very of-the-moment. This three-storey terraced Victorian home is a minimalist showcase for the designer’s current collections. Depending on your devotion and wallet, you’ll feel right at ease or like an intruder.
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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 Mulberry and Helmut Lang dominate, and Smith prides herself on her selection of flattering jeans, for which the store offers a fitting service. A similarly excellent store,Start Menswear, is over the road, and there’s a third location, Mr Start, which is a men’s tailoring shop.
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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, tartan and sharp tailoring.
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