-
Reckless Records
New and second-hand records/CDs at these two great stores run the gamut from punk, soul, dance and independent to mainstream. One store specialises in rock, indie and rarities and the other majors in dance and soul, this place is a music buff's heaven. There are other smaller branches located all over London.
-
Rigby & Peller
This old-fashioned place makes the Queen's bras, but Rigby & Peller's fitting and alteration service - open to us plebs - is equally legendary. Get yourself measured - many a customer has been surprised to discover they've been wearing the wrong size for years. Off-the-peg underwear and swimwear is also available. There's also a Knightsbridge branch (3 Hans Rd; Knightsbridge).
-
Rococo
Rococo is synonymous with real chocolate that comes in glorious moulds and flavours. There are truffles, Swiss chocolates, organic bars, surprising vegan varieties and bags of assorted 'broken chocolate' so you can taste different varieties.
-
Rosslyn Delicatessen
This enchanting store has been voted the best local delicatessen in London by radio station LBC and the Independent newspaper, and we wholeheartedly agree with the verdict. There is a fantastic meat counter, with the most aromatic pancetta you'll ever try, the jarred chutneys, terrines and marinated vegetables are a wonder and you'll find unusual flavours like caramelised onions, damson jam and mulberry salad dressing. The cakes, chocolates and Union Roasters coffee are delicious, too.
-
Selfridges
Selfridges is so confident in its consumer appeal that its 2006 winter sale advertising featured the subversive anticonsumerist slogan 'I Shop Therefore I Am' by New York artist Barbara Kruger, as if to poke fun at its shoppers and turn rebellion on its head. Selfridges loves innovation - it's famed for its inventive window displays by international artists, gala shows promoting countries/products, and above all an amazing range of products. It's the funkiest and most vital of London's one-stop shops, with labels such as Boudicca, Luella Bartley, Emma Cook, Chloé and Missoni, an unparalleled food hall, and Europe's largest cosmetics department.
-
Shoon
With its eclectic, upmarket mix of active sportswear, African knick-knacks, travel books and shoes, this spacious store has broad appeal.
-
Space Nk
It's always a bit intimidating to face the glowing skin of SPACE NK's shop assistants/skin-care experts, but it's what gives so many people the confidence in the products - the shop stocks Dr Hauschka, Eve Lom, Chantecaille, Kiehl's or Phyto, and anti-ageing ranges like 24/7 and Dr Sebagh. Men's products range from Anthony to Kiehl's for men. There are Space NK branches across the city.
-
Stanford's
As a 150-year-old seller of maps, guides and literature, the granddaddy of travel bookstores is a destination in its own right. Ernest Shackleton, David Livingstone, Michael Palin and even Brad Pitt have all popped in here.
-
Start
Punk rock and fashion meet in a boutique by Brix Smith, a cult rocker who loves girly clothes. (Smith is former guitarist with the Fall, one-time paramour of wild-child violinist Nigel Kennedy and now part of Start's husband-and-wife management.) Designer labels like Miu Miu and Helmut Lang dominate and Smith prides herself on her selection of flattering jeans. A menswear store (59 Rivington St) is over the road.
-
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.
-
Advertisement
-
Tatty Devine
Brilliant duo Harriet Vine and Rosie Wolfenden make hip and witty jewellery that's become the favourite of many young Londoners. Their original designs feature record earrings and plectrum bracelets (that high-street stores have ripped off since), pea necklaces, knitted stilettos, and key rings that look like crinkle-cut crisps. Perspex name necklaces (made to order; around £25 ) are also a treat. There's a Soho shop.
-
Taylor Of Old Bond Street
This shop has been plying its trade since the mid-19th century and has much contributed to the expression 'well-groomed gentleman'. It stocks every sort of razor, shaving brush and flavour of shaving soap imaginable.
-
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. Owner Philip Green famously (and controversially) paid Kate Moss around £3 m for a signature clothing line in 2007, a venture which proved so popular the crowds were queuing outside the Oxford Circus store at dawn on the day of the launch.
-
Tracey Neuls
A great-looking shoe shop - with bookshelves full of knick-knacks, and boots, shoes and sandals hanging on strings from the ceiling - this is the place to come for unique footwear. Canadian designer Neuls doesn't really follow the latest fashions, and yet her output is somehow perfectly timely.
-
Travel Bookshop
Still known as the bookshop on which Hugh Grant's was modelled in the movie Notting Hill, this is crammed with guidebooks, travel literature and antiquarian gems.
-
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, Hussain Chalayan, See by Chloé, among others), 'renewed' secondhand pieces, saucy underwear, silly homewares and quirky gadgets. There are also a Covent Garden branch and a Kensington branch.
-
Verde's
It's all about slow food and quality ingredients these days, and novelist Jeanette Winterson joined the ranks some years ago with this stylish, olde-worlde deli on the ground floor of her listed London home. The atmosphere is rustic and broody and the food delicious. Don't expect to find her serving behind the counter, though.
-
Vintage House
A whisky connoisseur's paradise, this shop stocks more than 1000 single-malt Scotches, from smooth Macallan to peaty Lagavulin.
-
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.
-
Waterstone's
The chain's megastore is the biggest bookshop in Europe, boasting knowledgeable staff and regular author readings. This is London's biggest Waterstones, with four floors of titles, a café in the basement and a nice rooftop bar.
-
Advertisement
-
Wright & Teague
The Wright & Teague gold charm bracelets are absolutely ravishing, as are their elegant silver and gold bangles, long necklaces and rings for men and women. What's more, many are very affordable. The couple met while studying at St Martin's School of Art more than 20 years ago and have been together ever since.
