Vintage London

I know it’s been a few weeks since I’ve been back in the states but I’ve been meaning to do this post but have just been overly lazy about it.

While in London I had the great pleasure of finally meeting a woman who I’ve been internet friends with for a couple years, Esther over at Villian School Dropout, she’s also married to Gus from Rooster Teeth Productions, which is the website that I met Jonathan on. She and Gus were in London for the MCM Expo, when I found out I was in fact going to be in London the same time they were I messaged her and we started planning out what we were going to do. Once the “OMG, your kidding” and “no really, I’ll be there” messages were gotten out of the way I asked what she wanted to see/do while there she messaged back “can we go vintage shopping??” Gotta say I fell in love a bit.

I love vintage. I know it’s all the rage right now and everyone’s wearing all these faux vintage accessories, and well I’ll admit I have my fair share, but I’ve really enjoyed vintage stylings for a while and it’s kinda become my look. I do this weird mix of vintage, edgy, academia type of look. So blazers, cardigans, silk shirts, short skirts, platform heels/boots and my great aunt’s pearls and hand bag. And let’s not forget the plastic faux tortoise shell framed glasses.

I had a vague idea of where to go for vintage shopping which was confirmed by my friend, Carly, when she came over during the week. I was also happy to hear that she would be vintage shopping the friday as well, which meant that the market would be open. The thing about most London markets is that they’re only open on the weekends, there might be a few days during the week that they’re open but they won’t have all the wares as on the weekend. I was a bit nervous but if Carly, who lives in greater London was going during the week it must be fine.

I first took Esther to Camden Town, not really vintage there, just a really big awesome market. I felt she should experience and it’s really pretty down by the locks. Camden Town is thankfully open everyday of the week. It might be a bit bigger on weekends but if you go on a Tuesday, you won’t be disappointed.

We then headed to Portobello road. We evidently started on the wrong end though. We took central line to Notting Hill Gate and walked up the road from that end. Which is fine and all, lots of shops, but if you want the market bit of it you need to take the Circle or Hammersmith & city lines to Ladbroke Grove. Ah well live and learn. Next time I go I’ll make sure to start on the far end because I think I could have found better deals in the market itself than in the actual shops.

Starting at Notting Hill we ended up going through a lot of the store fronts. There are a lot of vintage and antique stores up and down the road. There’s also a lot of great pubs. We stopped and had lunch in once called The Sun and Splendor, which had really really nicely done fish and chips. After that we wandered the road popping in and out of little shops. The first few shops closer to Notting Hill Gate were really expensive and only carried designer stuff. As you walk down the road though things get a little less pricey. We went into a store called Alice’s which was packed full of all sorts of antiques. We also found a nicely priced vintage shop where I found this blazer.

It’s just a just barely a touch too big, but it’s very warm and gorgeous. It was made in 1933 and the price was awesome (£40) so I had to get it. I also love it because it reminds me very much of this blazer which I saw on Jack Wills. Preppy site I know, I had no idea what it was the first time I went to the site, I heard about it from a blog I follow and checked it out. Most the stuff was way too preppy for me but their blazers are awesome though very out of my price range. Even on sale this one was over $150. 😦

But that just makes my find that much sweeter 🙂

We did make it all the way to the other end of the road to the market, but by the time we got there it about 4:30, the venders were closing up, and we were both exhausted and our feet were very sore. We just barely poked our head into it and decided we’d rather have tea and cupcakes. For that we walked back down the road to Hummingbird bakery, which has the best cupcakes I’ve ever tasted. They  kick Magnolia Bakery in NYC’s ass.

All in all it was a day well spent. We had fun, though I dare say I walked Esther to death. I feel bad about it cause she was still very very jet lagged. Sorry, sweetie!

Oh and here’s the full run down on the outfit I’m wearing in the picture above.

Blazer – vintage shop in London

Scarf – thrift store in Lincoln, UK

Top – really a slip dress from All Saints

Skirt – Forever 21

Belt – Forever 21

Necklace – Forever 21

Tights – Target

Also here’s a music video I’ve been meaning to post and it just kinda fits with this blog, hope you enjoy it.