Shopping

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North
Cloud Cuckoo Land
This compact but charming shop just off Islington’s Camden Passage has been keeping local Islington ladies stylishly clad in vintage frocks since 1982. With a range spanning from Victorian times to the 1980s, it’s a good place to find pretty day dresses, skirts, capes and cardigans – the 1950s cotton-print frocks (£35-£65) are currently best-sellers. There’s always a strong selection of accessories, now including exquisite 1950s floral cocktail hats.
Best buy 1980s polka-dot tea dress, £35.
6 Charlton Place, Camden Passage, N1 (020 7354 3141) Angel tube. Open Tue-Sat 11am-5.30pm.
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Thea Vintage
Located in the stables area of Camden market are several brilliant vintage shops. Thea Vintage is a small but on-trend unit with seasonally appropriate stock. You’ll find colourful skinny jeans for £20 and polka-dot PVC cropped macs that’ll weather spring showers for £15. A word of advice (and this is true for several other ‘vintage’ shops): some of the stock is new but ‘vintage inspired’. This can be a false economy, so it’s worth being a savvy shopper and digging around for the designer labels to ensure quality. We unearthed a pair of Jacques Vert coral pumps for £27.
Best buy Dolce & Gabbana vest, £15.
Unit 16, Camden Stables Market, NW1 (020 7482 5002) Camden Town tube. Open Mon-Fri 11am-7pm, Sat, Sun 9.30am-7pm.

Best for 1950s Americana
Lost ’N’ Found
Arguably the best vintage shop in Camden market is this two-floor den of sartorial pleasure. Much of the stock is 1950s Americana with cotton dresses around £40, college sweats £30-£50, and T-Bird-esque leather jackets from £80. There are also 1930s floor-length gowns around £70 and ladylike 1940s frocks. Upstairs, and looking like an amalgamation of Calamity Jane's and Imelda Marcos’s dressing rooms, is a wall devoted to cowboy boots and heels. Got a wedding in the diary? Brides should have a look at the stunning wedding dresses (we saw a lace and tulle confection for £85), the groom could steal the spotlight in a black satin tailcoat (£75), and for the ladies attending, a plethora of divine feather fascinators and hats priced around £18.
Best buy 1950s cheerleader jackets, £40.
Camden Stables Market, NW1 (020 7482 2848) Camden Town tube. Open Mon-Fri 11am-6pm, Sat, Sun 10am-7pm.

Marie Curie
This large, friendly charity shop serves a mix of local Highbury residents from the down-at-heel to the well-to-do. There are always a few gaudy ballgowns and opulent polyester wedding dresses alongside a vast range of high-street labels – think Dorothy Perkins, Burton and New Look. You do get the odd gem though, such as a new Thomas Pink shirt or Fortnum & Mason hamper. The eclectic mix of bric-a-brac at the back of the shop is also worth a snoop – many a kitsch candlestick to be found here. Turnover is fast so it’s worth checking frequently.
Best buy A Little Bo Peep-style satin wedding gown, £25.
Marie Curie, 318-320 St Paul’s Rd, N1 (020 7226 0565) Highbury & Islington tube/rail. Open Mon-Sat 9am-5.20pm.

What Goes Around Comes Around
Once only specialising in rare vintage trainers, this shop now also sells a good range of 1940s-1980s clothing and accessories including a 50-strong collection of vintage Vivienne Westwood. But it’s still a sure-fire bet for limited-edition and rare kicks, many in their original boxes. We spotted a pair of Reebok Insta Pumps for around £100.
Best buy Customised 1980s rock T-shirts, £22.
Camden Stables Market, Arch 47, NW1 (020 7424 9621) Camden Town tube. Open Mon-Fri 12noon-6pm, Sat, Sun 10.30am-6.30pm.


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East
Absolute Vintage
As Patsy Stone from ‘Absolutely Fabulous’ once told us, ‘You can never have enough hats, gloves and shoes.’ With that in mind, a visit to Absolute Vintage is essential. Although you will find the de rigueur clothes rails rammed with colourful bargains, it’s the great choice of accessories that really makes this shop stand out. There are more than 1,000 pairs of shoes, and armfuls of must-have clutch bags from as little as £8. On a recent trip we picked up a 1950s black-and-white net-and-feather fascinator for £25, cream satin gloves for £6 and a pair of adorable cream 1940s kitten-heel pumps for a bargain £15.
Best buy Women’s sailor shirt, £15.
15 Hanbury St, E1 (020 7247 3883/www.absolutevintage.co.uk) Liverpool St tube/rail. Mon-Sat 12noon-7pm, Sun 11am-7pm.

Beyond Retro (image © Anthony Webb)

Biggest selection
Beyond Retro
Beloved by fashion students, stylists and indie kids, Beyond Retro tags itself humorously as ‘selling dead people’s clothes to meet the sartorial challenges of east London’s beautiful people’. It’s not wrong – this vast warehouse is packed with an estimated 10,000 items, everything from silk scarves for a mere £1, to spangly evening dresses from around £50. So long as you’re not colour-shy, this place is a jumble-junkie’s paradise. And to keep you amused while you rummage, the organisers even put bands on on most Saturdays. This weekend check out Kasms who will be playing from 3pm.
Best buy Floral cotton tea dress, £14.
112 Cheshire St, E2 (020 7613 3636/www.beyondretro.com) Liverpool St tube/rail. Open Mon-Sun 10am-6pm.

The East End Thrift Store
How we ever lived without The East End Thrift Store is a mystery. The clue’s in the name – ‘thrift’ rather than ‘vintage’, which means you get essentially all the fab gear of yesteryear at prices that would get Del Boy all a-quiver. Most of the stock is around the £7-£10 mark, but if you splash out £15 you could get the one-of-a-kind turquoise evening dress with marabou trim on its hem, which we spotted on our last excursion. It might not be as pretty as some of the other vintage shops, but the stripped warehouse space has a certain functional charm all of its own.
Best buy Gloria Vanderbilt silk bomber jacket, £15.
Unit 1a Watermans Building Assembly Passage, E1 (020 7423 9700/ www.theeastendthriftstore.com) Stepney Green tube. Open Mon-Sun 11am-6pm.

Best for crazy bargains
Oxfam
Wily thrift shoppers flock to the legendary Dalston Oxfam shop early in the morning, rummaging through tubs of headless dolls and foreign language board games for a hidden gem. With men’s and women’s clothing, homewares, children’s toys, books, records and a few framed prints, the average garment is a satisfying £2.29. Although pickings were a little slim on our visit, we spied a 1988 copy of ‘David Hockney A Retrospective’ for £4.99, Spice Girl figurines at £1.99 each, (locked away like antiques in a glass case), and we’ve heard reports of an Alexander McQueen suit bought recently for £50. The shop will relocate a few doors away in June to Oxfam’s nearby book and music store at 514 Kingsland Road where The Kooks, Jarvis Cocker and Fatboy Slim performed for last year’s Oxjam festival and where all fiction paperbacks are currently 49p.
Best buy ‘Full Up’ by Molly Parkin, 49p.
Oxfam, 570 Kingsland Rd, E8 (020 7923 1532/www.oxfam.co.uk) Dalston Kingsland rail. Open Mon-Fri 9.30am-5.20pm, Sat 9.30am-6pm, Sun 12noon-4pm.


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South
British Red Cross
Located a few minutes’ walk from Victoria station in a salubrious street, this branch of the British Red Cross – always stuffed with expensive labels – has a comically conservative vibe. Navy blazers? Check. Padded Barbour-style jackets? Indeed. Big, old, opulent ballgowns, no doubt bought for that charity auction circa 1985? In plentiful supplies. Men are well catered for here too, with a fine selection of quality suits along the back wall by labels like Hugo Boss, Crombie and Reiss at just £40 each.
Best buy Emma Hope shoes, £50.
85 Ebury St, SW1 (020 7730 2235) Victoria tube/rail. Open Mon-Fri 10am-5.30pm, Sat 10am-4pm.

Cornucopia (image © Rob Greig)

CLOSING DOWN: Best for vintage designer bargains
Cornucopia
After 40 years in the business, owner 72-year-old Jerry Richards is closing down this wonderful old vintage emporium later this year (he’s yet to confirm a date). The only silver lining to this cloudy news is that Richards is in the process of clearing stock, which means he’s selling things off at crazy prices – jackets are currently £10, coats £15 and skirts a meagre £5. Rammed with a staggering volume of clothing spanning about 100 years from the Victorian era, it’s the kind of place you can spend hours unearthing star finds like the dazzling 1920s sequin jacket in gold and black, £60. As always, there’s a vast stock of designer labels including Yves Saint Laurent, Jean Paul Gaultier, Christian Lacroix and Giorgio Armani as well as a mighty array of shoes and handbags. Visit while you still can.
Best buy 1930s floor-length black velvet coat, £40.
12 Upper Tachbrook St, SW1 (020 7828 5752) Pimlico tube. Open Mon-Sat 11am-6pm.

Best atmosphere
Crusaid
With its Shirley Bassey soundtrack and dedicated gay section, this charmingly eccentric charity shop was recently coined ‘the Harvey Nichols of charity shops’, by comedian and regular shopper Alan Carr. Happily, the prices are somewhat more purse-friendly than the Knightsbridge department store. There are lots of cheap jeans (from £8) hanging neatly next to bargain cotton shirts and rock T-shirts (£4), as well as more opulent designer creations, donated regularly by top brands including Hackett, Nicole Farhi and Ralph Lauren. We spotted a floor-length woollen camel Givenchy coat for just £30 and a divine Yves Saint Laurent peacoat for £60. The bric-a-brac is interesting too – on our visit we found genuine antique watercolours next to gaudy 1950s dressing-table accessories and a pop-up ‘Kama Sutra’, £4.
Best buy Nicole Farhi leather boots, £50.
19 Churton St, SW1 (020 7233 8736/www.crusaidshop.com) Victoria tube/rail. Open Mon-Sat 10am-6pm, Sun 11am-3pm.

What The Butler Wore
Half the fun of thrift shopping is meeting the characters who own the shops. At What The Butler Wore you’ll find owner Bridget Duffy and Binky the resident feline selling reasonably priced clothing and accessories that are always in good condition and immaculately clean. Recent finds include a ‘Barbarella’-style 1960s Kitty Copeland space-age shift dress.
Best buy 1980s prom dress, £40.
131 Lower Marsh, SE1 (020 7621 1353/ www.whatthebutlerwore.co.uk)Lambeth North tube. Open Mon-Sat 11am-6pm.


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West
Three Pound Shop
When things hit rock bottom money-wise, there’s always this bargain branch of the Notting Hill Retro Man/Retro Woman vintage emporium. Prices start at £2 and as the name suggests many things are £3 – though you’ll have to sift through rails of undesirable clobber to uncover the treasures. On a recent visit we found a gorgeous baby blue Max Mara cashmere sweater for just £2.
Best buy Nearly new Nike Rifts, £15.
28 Pembridge Rd, W11 (020 7792 1715/www.mveshops.co.uk) Notting Hill Gate tube. Open daily 10am-8pm.

Traid
Unlike some charity shops in the area where all you find is tatty high-street cast-offs, Traid (which stands for Textile Recycling for Aid and International Development) has a huge mix of good vintage, high-street and designer. While rummaging, we found a woman’s wool Aquascutum coat for £17.99. For men Traid has created Traidremade, which gives used blazers, £45, a new lease of life by printing fun slogans on them, such as ‘Let’s get lost tonight’ and ‘I am whatever you say I am’. There’s also a fine range of accessories for both men and women.
Best buy Vintage gold Escada coat, £39.99.
61 Westbourne Grove, W2 (020 7221 2421/www.traid.org.uk) Royal Oak or Bayswater tube. Open Mon-Sat 10am-6pm, Sun 11am-5pm.

Trinity Hospice, Kensington
Renowned for its smart ladies’ clothing and accessories, this is a great charity shop where you’re bound to unearth designer pieces. We recently found an Armani suede jacket in good condition for £100. There’s always a top selection of handbags and shoes, including Prada evening shoes and DKNY bags.
Best buy Cropped Mulberry jacket, £25.
Trinity Hospice, 31 Kensington Church St, W8 (020 7376 1098) High St Kensington tube. Open Mon-Sat 10am-4.45pm, Sun 11am-5pm.


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Central
Barnado’s
Tucked away on George Street, just off Thayer Street, this branch of Barnado’s has (until now) been a well-kept secret among West End professionals. On a recent scouting mission we found an array of workwear, including a smart pinstripe business suit for £29.95. There’s also a selection of lovely children’s clothes.
Best buy Kurt Geiger brogues, £8.15.
7 George St, W1 (020 7935 2946/www.barnados.org.uk) Marylebone tube/rail. Open Mon-Sat 9.30am-5.30am.

Cancer Research UK
The recent celebrity dress auction by hairstylist James Brown (who tragically lost two sisters to the disease) means this Marylebone branch of Cancer Research has been the subject of much recent press, and as a result a higher-than-average amount of designer gear has been winging its way onto the rails. We spied a pair of avant-garde Miu Miu boots for £70, and a pale gold satin Versace body-con dress for £40.
Best buy Several new Philip Treacy hats (donated by the milliner himself), £100.
24 Marylebone High St, W1(020 7487 4986) Baker St tube. Open Mon-Fri 10am-6pm, Sat, Sun 11am-5pm.

Salvation Army
One street back from the chain stores and bustle of Oxford Street is this two-floor thrifty oasis of calm. On our last visit we found a red-and-navy wool military jacket for £22, rails of men’s suits around the £30 mark, a new leather tote for £12.75, and a great pair of 1970s silver platforms for £22. It’s a favourite with students from the nearby London College of Fashion and employees from Vogue, so if you want to bag the designer bargains, you’ll need to get there early.
Best buy Chanel black suede heels, £45.
9 Princes St, W1 (020 7495 3958) Oxford Circus tube. Open Mon-Sat 10am-6pm.

Best for menswear
Wow Retro
Occupying two sites on Mercer Street for men and women (and another at 179 Drury Lane, WC2), the vast stock is well ordered and displayed per era (from the 1920s to the present day). This isn’t expensive collectors’ vintage, but cute worn-out classics including 1960s shifts, western shirts (from £10), cowboy boots and the odd bit of homeware mixed in with a few great contemporary finds.
Best buy Men’s black APC jeans, £25.
Wow Retro, 10-14 Mercer St, WC2 (020 7379 5334/www.wowretro.co.uk) Covent Garden tube. Open Mon-Fri 11.30am-6.30pm, Sat 11am-7pm, Sun 12.30-5.30pm.

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