3 Vintage Shops

Vintage clothing has become somewhat of a cultural phenomenon; idolised by celebrities, praised by environmentalists and scoured by bargain huntresses. However, if you don’t know where to find these treasures, things can go horribly wrong and you will end up on the tube sweating right through your polyester dress down to your heinous moon boots. Poor taste aside, even good vintage can be disastrous. Remember Kate Moss’s 1930s Dior silk gown? By the end of the night Kate’s dress had ripped at her thigh and again near the arm pit; a result of the fatal combination of buying a size with a slightly odd fit and being remotely near Courtney Love. To avoid meeting a similar fate, buy virgin vintage or at least vintage that is in pristine condition and fits well. On that note, if one approaches vintage clothing with a discerning eye, it can be fabulously right. The place to start is at the right shop and luckily, London is vintage Mecca.

Begin at “One of a Kind” on Portobello Road. The shop, rumored to be a favorite of Sienna Miller, reflects the tastes of its eclectic Rastafarian owner. It stocks labels such as YSL, Dior and Gucci from the 1920s to the 1980s. The shop seems small but stretches far back and is so packed from floor to ceiling with fabulous treasures that you are sure to find something you love. On the downside, the clothes are so unorganised that one would have to spend a whole day here to see the thousands of pieces of inventory. Instead, ask someone at the store to help you find your size and pieces to suit you. They know the shop well and will help you find something you love. Ironic for its name, “One of a Kind” has a sister shop around the corner that is by appointment only - it is said that one holds the real treasures. I fell in love with a brown embroidered leather jacket lined in sheep’s wool that looked exactly like the one Kate Hudson wore in Almost Famous. To my dismay, with the £400 price tag, I chose to pass it up. 253 Portobello Road