Retro Clothing in Notting Hill: London’s Hidden Vintage Gem

by Lemon Tart

If you’re a member of the iGeneration, your shopping patterns will generally consist of a combination of choreographed high street experiences, online obsessing (asos, eBay…) and trips to retro stores. The latter always seems more appealing: a brief respite from the usual glut of new trends and identikit shop layouts.

However, the truth is that the average vintage shop in London is pretty frustrating. For starters, the staff tend to get their pick of the best items as they come in. The best stuff is often on display and impossible to buy (Absolute Vintage comes to mind here…). Plus, everything’s actually very over-priced, and you’re often just as likely to walk out with a cliched purchase as you are at any other store: once certain shops realise denim/plaid/velvet etc’s in fashion, they’ll source tens of these items just like bigger commercial counterparts.

Retro Clothing in Notting Hill is an exception to this rule. Unlike its costlier cousins down the street, everything’s reasonably priced. Very few people seem to know about it and people in the area have less adventurous tastes than other London boroughs, which means there are plenty of hidden gems to find. Oh and did I mention the stuff is AWESOME – no where else have I found a selection of such random brilliance.

Anyway, I had a quick trip there this weekend and found some pretty great stuff…

[If you want to visit Retro Clothing, you can find it at 56 Notting Hill Gate London W11 3HT, 020 7792 4805, Open Daily 10am-8pm, Nearest tube: Notting Hill Gate].