The vintage clothing sector in London has moved way beyond the classic charity shop concept. These days, thrift stores offer a range of vintage products from clothing to furniture to books, housewares, and more. Since there’s so much variety, it’s become difficult to decide where exactly to go. Another thing to keep in mind, is that second-hand shopping contributes to sustainability and the environment. I’ve tried to narrow down the best options and give you some tips on how to go about it.
1. The East End Thrift Store – Stepney Green
This thrift store offers a wide range of vintage clothing at quite reasonable prices. The location is an old converted warehouse that isn’t very stylish or well decorated, but they have very affordable prices on their clothing. Their goal is to offer good value for vintage clothing at reasonable prices. The owners are from Topman stable with a knack for identifying current trends. Vintage denim shirts might be around £15 while jackets and skirts are about £25. You can also find inexpensive party dresses for around £10. It usually stays open until 6pm during the week and 7pm towards the weekend.
2. Beyond Retro – Brick Lane & Dalston & Oxford Street & Brighton & Bristol & Westfield
With over 10 years of experience and four stores across the city, you may recognize Beyond Retro thanks to the bright yellow bags they provide. The store offers the latest fashions for teens, twenty-year-old’s, and more.
3. Music & Goods Exchange – Notting Hill
This store has more than just clothes and furniture along with several locations across the city. You can buy music, clothing, books, and more. There’s a variety of things to discover for the intrepid shopper.
4. Oxfam Bethnal Green – East London
Customers of Bethnal Green range from fashionable teens to trendy twenty-year-olds and more mature fashion divas. Catering to men and woman for the last ten years, the East London branch offers retro clothing with a wide variety. They have over 20,000 handpicked items for sale. About half of their stock sells for about £1 which is a true bargain. Shoppers are often impressed by their rainbow rails in terms of decoration.
5. Rokit – Covent Garden, Camden & Brick Lane
The Covent Garden location has the widest inventory of vintage items. You can find ballet tutus, military gear, cowboy boots, scarves, belts, hats, and sunglasses. You may not find well-known brands, but it’s still worth a visit. The style for male shoppers is similar to American style clothing. Their location at 107 Brick Lane is more along the lines of a boutique.
Atika has been open for the last ten years and has provided serious competition for other vintage stores. It’s essentially a vintage department store housed in an old furniture factory that was renovated tastefully by the store. Buyers for the store search for inspiration from Brick Lane to offer a range of seersucker blazers, denim, silk kimonos, and shoes. The best part is their inventory is cleaned, steamed, and folded before its displayed.
Open for nearly the last 20 years, Reign Vintage has tow locations in London and one in Oxford. In addition to their brick-and-mortar locations, they have online shopping available as well. Much of their stock comes from across Europe. With a range of styles, you can find sweatshirts with logos, vintage dresses, Gucci shoes, and Versace jackets. For around £25 you can score yourself a nice vintage shirt, making the prices here relatively fair.
8. Annie’s Vintage Clothes – Islington Camden Passage
Annie’s is one of London’s oldest vintage shops since it’s been around for over forty years. They supposedly provided costumes for the 1974 and 2013 versions of The Great Gatsby. If you need a sexy 1920s flapper dress, vintage lace bridal wear, and all of the accessories including parasols, hats, gloves, and fans. Prices are a bit high but don’t cost more than modern bridal shops.
9. Pennies Vintage – North London
Pennies has been open for the last ten years. They have fancy dresses mostly from the pre-1960s era in the form of eveningwear, wedding gowns, and collectables. Their claim to fame is selling a delicate-beaded vintage wedding dress to Lily James’s character in Downton Abbey. To attract the maximum amount of attention you should shop here and even pick yourself up a vintage wedding gown for around £200.
10. Retromania – Victoria and Pimlico
This store is run by a charity called FARA. Their staff is very knowledgeable. Prices run from anywhere around £15 to £200 for a range of products like clothing, records, magazines, 1970s style clothing, and brightly colored sweatshirts.
11. Paper Dress Vintage – East London
With a huge variety of clothing ranging from 1900 to 1980, you never know what you might find at this shop. They do offer alterations as a convenience for their customers. The shop can also be rented out for events including comedy shows, burlesque shows, dance classes, and more. They even have their own bar which can definitely add to your shopping experience.
12. Boutique by Shelter (King's Cross) – Richmond
It’s definitely a fashionable place to shop with interior design by Hemingway Design. They have a fashionable student fanbase and staff that is very knowledgeable about fashion. From quality vintage to premium labels, there are definitely high-street finds available at this store at reasonable prices.
13. Absolute Vintage – Soho (Permanently Closed)
This store says they have the largest collection shoes and purses in the UK. They seem to be right given their amount of inventory. You can go through the heaps of clothing and easily find a vintage dress or scarf for very reasonable prices. They also have discount days like Student Tuesdays to give shoppers a break on higher prices.
14. Crazy Man Crazy – Crystal Palace (Permanently Closed)
Accompanied by 50s rock ‘n’ roll music, shoppers can look for men’s clothing from the 1940s-50s in American style. They have a wide selection of leather, bomber jackets, and jeans.
15. Leftovers – Brixton (Permanently Closed)
If you’re looking for 1950s style vintage dresses in an elegant environment with collectibles and other vintage items, then you’re in luck. Among other unique items, they have individual lace collars which are attachable to dresses to give them an original flavor. This store has limited hours, so don’t plan to visit after work.