When I attempted vintage shopping in Birmingham several years ago, it went moderately well. Actually, make it downhill real quickly. Well, I gave it another try. Once again, I ventured out to discover sustainable fashion and went shopping on an exclusive charity shops Kensington tour. The Indytute* offered me the chance to do this guided tour and discover some London gems.
The Indytute is an online platform that offers unusual gift experiences and fun day outs in London. Experiences include roller-skating, rope aerobics, afternoon crafting or bespoke charity shopping tours in Hampstead, Kensington or Dalston. I’ve known London now for more than 20 years and it never fails to impress me. Exploring never gets boring and even after all this time, I can always discover new sides and perspectives of my favourite city.
I went for the charity shop hopping tour in Central London, as I thought this would be an interesting area to explore fashion-wise. Kensington, in particular, is known for its high-end clientele, posh streets and impeccable houses. I assumed that the area would mainly have recycled designer brands and chances would be very high that I *may* have a lucky day and find a “true” vintage item.
My Charity Shops Kensington Tour Review
On a crisp and warm Autumn afternoon, I met up with tour guide Sanna. Our group consisted of five interested bargain hunters ready to explore the area and see Kensington High Street from a different fashion perspective. Sanna used to live in London and would regularly scan Kensington for special vintage finds. From clothes, to record stores and even furniture, Sanna knew all the cool places worth going to.
We started the two-hour charity shop hop tour directly on Kensington High Street where you can find the usual charity shops: Oxfam, Cancer Research – you name it they are all there. We went straight into Cancer UK and the familiar rummaging through the cloth rails began. Vintage or charity shopping is a bit like a box of chocolates. You never know what you may find.
After less than 10 minutes scanning the rails, amongst Primark and Warehouse dresses, I found a black Moschino skirt with a red heart print. It was reduced to £35, but unfortunately not in my size. After all not a bad start. The next shop on the tour was the Octavia Foundation which turned out to be a little treasure trove for nice second-hand finds.
The Story of The Vintage Dress
After diving into the rails of clothes and carefully sieving through the labels, I found a cute cotton skater dress from the brand Snow Traffic. The cotton dress had a lovely girly touch with its light colours and turquoise applications. The round neckline was an additional bonus. Usually, this would have come home with me, but since I’ve changed my style and want to shift away from skater dresses, I had to hang this one back onto the rail.
My next find was a very unusual and special piece. Attracted by its bold colour combination, I unearthed a brown cotton dress with mustard yellow circles. The pattern reminded me very much of Yayoi Kusama’s artwork. My first bet was that the dress must have been somehow linked to the Japanese artist in some way.
Turned out this dress was the centrepiece of Finish designer Mika Piirainen for label Marikmekko in 2009/2010. Known for its bold colours and standout patterns, the label only works with high-quality fabrics. Their dresses can easily retail at over £250. This one came only £12. It was a very interesting piece of clothing, as Sanna and I fell instantly in love with it. I went straight to Google and researched it straight away to evaluate its potential value.
I wanted to know where it came from and what story it had to tell. Once we’ve discovered that this was an actual piece of high-quality designer clothing, we’ve decided it had to come home with us. This was a great feeling. I had found a good piece. Not vintage, but still good value for money. Usually, I get very disheartened when I search through the rails of charity or vintage shops. Often you see cheap Primark or H&M dresses retail at the same price as if bought new.
Finding something, that was of high quality and sold at a bargain price, made me confident. I slowly, but surely developed an eye for those rare gems!
The Charity Shops Kensington Tour Continues…
Further down the road, we went into two more shops. Geranium was a random collection of literally everything and nothing: there were furniture, old jewellery and vintage crockery. The clothes were stacked onto each other with a distinctive smell of old, worn and used items in the air.
It was an unusual shop and after having a look through the coats, I found a brown Mulberry jacket at £40. Not as good as the Marimekko dress but still surprised to find that many designer names on Kensington High Street. The small red charity shop on the other side of the street next to watchmaker Henry Hallpike turned out to be disappointing. After having a look through the rails with nothing particular standing out, we decided it was time to take the bus and switch locations.
Gloucester Road Has Some Quirky Vintage Shops, Too
My vintage shopping in Kensington continues on Gloucester Road. After a short bus ride, one half of the group decided to check out the Oxfam shop, whilst Sanna and I were more intrigued by Fara and The Royal Trinity Hospice. Both shops were incredible and a vintage shoppers dream.
Small but very cute and stuffed from bottom to ceiling with mostly designer brands. Here you could truly find some unique and timeless clothes and literally spend your entire Sunday afternoon discovering one gem after another. I loved the shabby chic style with the wooden flooring, the English country style wallpaper, hidden rooms and all the treasures waiting to be discovered and unearthed from underneath the mountains of clothing.
An old fashioned standing mirror completed the cliché of a perfect vintage shop for me, so it took me quite a while to get out of there. I’ve not found or bought anything during the shop hop tour, I just wanted to be open to the experience and learn as much as possible about my own shopping behaviour – like I did when I went to Birmingham.
My Unusual Charity Shops Kensington Tour Comes to an End
The afternoon went over way too fast and Sanna had been an incredible guide, knowing a lot of labels and fabrics. She’s given me some great tips on how to spot a “true” vintage find amongst the usual clutter.
Because, if we’re honest, most of the shops have a lot of contemporary clothes donated and to find that typical 1950 Burberry teddy coat that was only available in a limited edition which is still in great condition today and at £40 a bargain or that LV handbag from the 1920s that has now developed a distinctive patina is very hard to find – especially if you don’t know the brands, the collections or in general the fabrics and how they’re supposed to age and change over time.
Especially if you’re like me a vintage virgin, it is super helpful to have a knowledgeable guide with you. Not only will you be able to be taken to “the hot spots” but also you have someone you can discuss your finds with. Sanna and I spent at least a good 15 minutes debating over the Marimekko dress and the material and its quality before we decided though it’s not vintage, it is still a very good bargain find and one of us will take it home and love it for the next 20 years.
On the tour, I’ve not only learnt how to sharpen my eye for what is a good find and what is junk but also about sustainability with our clothing. Charity shopping will always be a long process, as you have to go through the labels, assess the quality and at the end of the day, you may not come home having bought anything.
Whereas if you go to the High Street and you know exactly what you’re after, your shopping will be more straightforward and targeted. In the long term though, spending an afternoon in the shops and being more selective with your items can reduce the high amounts of throw-away/fast fashion plus don’t we all want to build that quality wardrobe in which each piece has character, will make you feel amazing and bring you long-term joy?
Thanks for reading. If you enjoy the blog and want to support my research you ca do so via Buy Me a Coffee.
Till next time,
Carolin
* I was gifted the experience by The Indytute in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
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1 Comment
Paul (Paul Passing Through)
8 February 2023 at 4:40 pmIt’s always interesting what you can find in shops like these. While I am as far from a fashionista as you can get and an article like this is frankly out of my wheelhouse, it’s similar to antique shops. I love going through them to see what you can find. Like your experience, most of it isn’t much to write home about, but every now and then you can find some real gems.