Shopping

100 Red Cross, SW3 charity
The Chelsea location makes this one of the most richly stocked charity shops in London. An abundance of local wealthy ladies means a constant supply of great cashmere, vintage YSL, old Gucci belts and bags and vintage baby clothes. Other treasures recently spotted include a simple black velvet 1970s YSL bomber jacket and an old N Peal red cashmere sweater.
Best buy Christian Dior vintage bag, £55.
Red Cross, 67 Old Church St, SW3 (020 7351 3206) South Kensington tube. Feature continues

99 Aquatic Design Centre pets
Desperate to escape the rat race on Oxford Street? Then think fish and simply glide up Great Portland Street to the Aquatic Design Centre for more than 300 tanks filled with brightly hued marine life – some familiar and some more obviously the products of nature in psychedelic mode. Staff are super-knowledgeable and will give comprehensive advice. The Centre has clients including the BBC, Selfridges and Harrods. Once it even suspended Keith Allen in a tank. But failed to add piranhas.
Best buy cultured corals from £39 and bespoke tanks from £1,000.
Aquatic Design Centre, 109 Great Portland St (020 7636 6388) Oxford Circus tube.

98 Smythson stationery
Established in 1887 and holding four (count ’em!) royal warrants, Smythson of Bond Street is one of London’s poshest shops. Recently, it has contrived to be cool – apparently thanks (unlikely though it sounds) to David Cameron’s wife Samantha, who joined Smythson as head of product development in 1997. The shelves are lined with timeless travel goods as well as briefcases, stationery and (when you know you’ve made it) a ‘Brunches, Lunches, Suppers, Dinners’ book. But it’s the recent additions – mock croc, amethyst, pistachio and pale blue handbags, diaries and ‘Dreams and Thoughts’ books – that have West End lovelies drooling. No surprise, then, that Hollywood reportedly wants a branch of their own.
Best buy Classic leather travel wallet, £240.
Smythson, 40 New Bond St, W1 (020 7629 8558/www.smythson.com) Bond St tube.

97 Fettered Pleasures fetish
There are few proclivities this sexual superstore doesn’t cater for. Positioned on London’s kink-shop highway, Fettered Pleasures sells chain and rope by the metre, and whips and canes to keep the most fevered of fetishists satisfied.
Best buy Puimond corsets, £245-£500.
Fettered Pleasures, 90 Holloway Rd, N7(020 7619 9333) Holloway Rd tube.

96 Connolly accessories
Connolly used to produce leather goods for Aston Martins. It still turns out the kind of accessories millionaires keep in the boot, such as a dashboard lighter-fuelled espresso kit in a calfskin case (£650). Now under Joseph Ettedgui, it has a women’s boutique in the basement. The clothes – polka-dot silk sundresses (£265), cashmere sweaters and Charvet shirts (from £150) for men – exude vintage Riviera cool.
Best buy leatherbound ‘London A-Z’, £65.
Connolly, 41 Conduit St, W1 (020 7235 3883) Oxford Circus tube.

95 Radio Days retro
The choice of reconditioned retro radios at this vintage favourite is pretty good, but this is just one facet of a laid-back and reasonably priced vintage emporium. Old-fashioned phones are a highlight: with loads of Bakelite beauties dating from the 1930s-’70s. You can pick up vintage magazines and advertising too, and Radio Days is also great for clothing, ’40s glad rags in particular.
Best buy 1940s clothing, from £55.
Radio Days, 87 Lower Marsh, SE1 (020 7928 0800) Waterloo tube/rail.

94 Russell & Bromley shoes
A touch conventional? Not at all. This high-street stalwart turns out affordable, well-made interpretations of designer styles in expensive-looking materials. While the polished service can sometimes veer towards car-salesperson pushy, the stock (supplemented by solid offerings from Barker and Church’s for men and glitzy designs by Stuart Weitzman and Beverly Feldman for women) is impressively wide-ranging. The excellent – though pricey – on-site repair service is worth remembering.
Best buy Yvonne tan platform sandal, £185.
Russell & Bromley, 24-25 New Bond St, W1 (020 7629 6903) Bond St tube.

93 B-Store boutique
In 2001, Jose Neves opened B-Store on Conduit Street, showing graduate designer clothing, such as Peter Jensen and Roksanda, alongside his footwear brand, Buddhahood. Five years down the line, the shop is now considered one of the most influential of London’s fashion boutiques, with Alexander McQueen, David Bowie, Kate Moss, Kylie, Björk and Helena Christensen among its biggest fans. Newcomers this spring include menswear from Spastor of Barcelona. The staff are attentive and knowledgeable, which we like.
Best buy Buddahood Peter Jensen trainers, £45.
B-Store, 24a Savile Row, W1 (020 7734 6846) Oxford Circus tube.

92 Mallon & Taub opticians
This simple and airy award-winning independent optician stocks all the most desirable specs and sunglasses including Face a Face and Le Font. Owned by practising opticians Joan Mallon and Shanah Taub, the shop provides excellent one-to-one service and the 40-minute eye tests are thorough.
Best buy new sunglasses range Tom Ford, from £155.
Mallon & Taub, 35d Marylebone High St, W1 (020 7935 8200) Regent’s Park tube.

91 Steinberg & Tolkein vintage
A huge treasure trove of a shop and something of a legend, frequented by Vogue editors, models and designers alike. The clothes, spanning 1890 to 1990, are a mixed bag: you could find beautifully preserved Pucci, Westwood or Ossie Clark, but you need to sift to find the real gems.
Best buy Anything by Ossie Clark, especially dresses and blouses, going for £400-£1,200.
Steinberg & Tolkein, 193 King’s Rd, SW3 (020 7376 3660) Sloane Square tube.

90 Cycle Surgery, E1 sports
You could spend thousands here on customised frames and go-faster stripes. But if your budget is limited, you won’t be patronised by the staff at any of Cycle Surgery’s six branches around town (there are Runners Need concessions here and at Holborn, making them popular with triathletes). Mountain bikes, road bikes and hybrids are all stocked, plus a vast range of clothing and accessories, and you can take your wheels in for expert repair and adjustment.
Best buy Cateye EL 300 light set, £39.99.
Cycle Surgery, Brody House, Strype St, E1 (020 7375 3088/www.cyclesurgery.com) Liverpool St tube/rail.