London / Notting Hill
Portobello Road antiques — the facade with hanging signs, vintage jewellery, and the spirit of Notting Hill since the 1960s.
Best for Vintage jewellery, facade, Portobello Road.
Craft guide
The Vintage & Antiques in London Issue
ORBISVINTAGE & ANTIQUES IN LONDON4 shops in the atlas.Illustration
Vintage & Antiques in London
4 stores · curated ORBIS register
London, UK
Ghost London launched four decades ago and makes women's contemporary clothing with a vintage feel. Its viscose fabrics are woven exclusively for the label, and its prints are designed in-house each season. Almost every garment is garment dyed, cut oversize in greige cloth and boiled so it shrinks and takes a deeper colour. The finished pieces can be machine washed at 30 degrees.
Best for Garment-dyed viscose dresses and separates with a vintage feel
Ghost London launched four decades ago and now works as an established house for women's contemporary clothing. Its collections keep a contemporary vintage feel, with feminine lines and modern silhouettes alongside signature garment dyed pieces. Every fabric is produced and woven exclusively for the label from viscose yarns, and every print is designed in-house each season in the same vintage-inspired spirit. The garment dye process defines the house. Each piece is first constructed in raw greige cloth and cut several sizes larger than its finished size. The made-up garment is then boiled at high temperature, shrinking as it takes the dye, which gives the viscose a softer, more fluid hand and a deeper colour than piece dyeing. The same process makes the clothes practical to own. Almost every garment, bridal wear included, can be machine washed at 30 degrees or washed by hand, then reshaped while damp and steamed on the reverse if needed. The range runs from tea dresses and slip dresses to separates and knitwear, together with a wedding collection that includes bridesmaid dresses, all sold from the label's own online shop.
Visit official site ↗John Simons
Hidden GemChiltern Street / Marylebone, London
John Simons opened the Ivy Shop in Richmond in 1964 and first labelled the Baracuta G9 a Harrington jacket in 1965. The shop moved to 46 Chiltern Street in Marylebone in 2011 and sells its own collections alongside Baracuta and Paraboot, with Jamieson's of Shetland. Vintage pieces sit with the new stock, as they did at the Covent Garden shop from 1982.
Best for Ivy League menswear, Harrington jackets and Baracuta G9s from the man who named them
John Simons began in 1955 as a window dresser for Cecil Gee, then a prominent name in British menswear. After selling from a market stall in Hackney he opened Clothesville on Mare Street in 1963, a shop that dressed the mod scene. The Ivy Shop followed in Richmond in the summer of 1964. In 1965 Simons recognised the Baracuta G9 as the jacket worn by the character Rodney Harrington, and his shop's label became the first documented use of the term Harrington jacket. The Squire Shop opened on King's Road in 1967 with co-founder Stuart Malloy, and in 1982 J. Simons opened on Russell Street in Covent Garden, early in its approach to selling vintage goods. The storefront moved to No. 46 Chiltern Street in Marylebone in 2011. The rails today mix the house's own collections with Baracuta and J. Press, with G.H. Bass and Paraboot and Jamieson's of Shetland alongside. The shop presents itself as the reference for Ivy League style in Britain, filtered through a mid-century American and European eye, and vintage pieces still hang beside the new stock.
Visit official site ↗Portobello Road Market
Worth a DetourLondon / Notting Hill
The world's largest antique market — Saturdays on Portobello Road, vintage jewellery, silver, bric-a-brac, and the carnival energy of Notting Hill.
Best for Antiques, vintage jewellery, Saturday market, carnival energy.
Portobello Road Market is a London street market whose appeal comes from the contrast between its sections rather than one category. The official market history stretches back 160 years and describes hundreds of traders dealing in old and new goods. Antiques and bric-a-brac remain central while fashion and food widen the mix and crafts appear beside books and music. On Fridays and Saturdays, stalls extend along Portobello Road and around the corner into Golborne Road. The antiques section includes temporary pitches and shops while arcades add individual dealer booths. Published categories begin with textiles and ceramics, then extend to fine art and jewellery. Silver and china are represented alongside antiquarian books. Saturday brings a dense concentration of UK trader stalls, while Friday also supports a defined antiques trade. Other parts of the market serve produce and prepared food while new goods share space with second-hand fashion. Portobello is therefore a long, varied market street rather than solely an antiques destination. Different merchandise and trading formats occupy distinct stretches of the route, with permanent shops and open-air stalls both part of the operation.
Visit official site ↗