DON'T MISS A THING

Best Streets to Shop after London Fashion Week 2013
London Fashion Week isn’t reserved just for beautiful people on the front row. From fashion-themed cocktails at The May Fair to cool vintage fairs, there is plenty to do and see around the capital for non-glossy editors. We have planned for you, a shopping retreat, along with all the most enticing streets in London.
Ready to check in at your shopping spa treatment? Let’s go!

The West End
Oxford Street is undeniably the West End’s main shopping attraction and Topshop remains an Oxford Street must-visit, on our days. Notice that this is the busiest shop street in London, so you must be wiser and visit it on weekday mornings. Although nothing like lose your sanity, and really feel the shop fever at this point of the city during the weekend. After all, you will really need to relax on a fashionista bar, to really absorb and complete the experience. Good luck!
Oxford Street is also a great starting point for hitting the more interesting shopping areas, such as affluent Marylebone. The street’s chocolate shops and interiors brands ooze luxury. Visit Rococo, 45 Marylebone High St. and indulge yourself on a rich chocolate experience.
 

 
Regent Street shopping is more toward the high end of “high street”, typified by the affordable mead luxury of chain shops such as Mango and French Connection. Head south from Oxford Circus and visit the world famous Liberty department store. In here you are also close to Carnaby Street,  and in here you will find Kingly Court, a gorgeous little piazza of independent shops and vintage boutiques, in here you must enjoy the gorgeous ambiance and seat in one of the adorable cafes, enjoying your shopping experience.
Parallel to Regent Street, the Bond Street area connects Piccadilly with Oxford Street and is synonymous with the luxury rag trade. It’s not just one street, but a whole area, mainly comprising New Bond Street and Old Bond Street. It’s the hot address for international designers, Donna Karan has two shops here, and Tiffany is quite at home nestled among designer jewelry shops. A slew of international hotshots, from Chanel to Versace, have stores nearby. Make sure you stop off at Dover Street Market that is not a market at all, but actually a designer shop housing all sorts of fashionable folk under one roof.
Burlington Arcade is a glass-roofed Regency passage leading off Piccadilly, looks like a period exhibition, and is lined with 35 mahogany-fronted intriguing shops and boutiques. Lit by wrought-iron lamps and decorated with clusters of ferns and flowers, its small, upscale stores specialize in fashion, gold jewelry, Irish linen, and cashmere. If you linger there until 5:30pm, you can watch the beadles, in their black-and-yellow livery and top hats, ceremoniously place the iron grills that block off the arcade until 9am, at which time they remove them to start a new business day.
The West End theatre district borders two more shopping areas, the Soho and Covent Garden, a shopping masterpiece stocked with fashion, food, books, and everything else. The original Covent Garden marketplace has overflowed its boundaries and eaten up the surrounding neighborhood, it’s so much fun to shop on this narrow streets.
 
West London
If you’re heading west, the first place you should find yourself in is Notting Hill. Of course, one of the main draws for shopping in West London is Portobello Market. Every Sunday, the whole of Portobello Road turns into a sea of antiques, cool clothing (and even cooler shoppers), and maybe even a celebrity or three.
Some of the best boutiques in London are also here. The independent shopping scene thrives; this is an area where people want to be unique, but still look expensive and groomed. Stick to Portobello for antiques, but head to Westbourne Grove and Ledbury Road for boutiques.
 

 
Southwest London
The home of Harrods, Knightsbridge is probably the second-most famous London retail district. Sloane Street is traditionally regarded as a designer area, but these days it’s more “upscale high-street,” and nowhere near as luxurious as Bond Street. This is where you can grab some aromatherapy from Jo Malone, a haven for bespoke perfumes.
Brompton Cross, another hip area for designer shops made popular when Michelin House was rehabbed by Sir Terence Conran, becoming the Conran Shop. Seek out Walton Street, a tiny snake of a street running from Brompton Cross back toward the museums. Most of the shops here specialize in nonessential luxury products.
King’s Road once a beacon of Sixties cool, this is now a haven for designer clothes and homewares. About a third of King’s Road is devoted to independent fashion shops, another third houses design-trade showrooms and stores for household wares, and the remaining third a mix of dress shops and shoe boutiques.
 Kensington High Street is a place where most of the stores feature items that can be described as modern classics with a twist. Think black, well cut, and tailored, with a fun edge. From Kensington High Street, you can walk up Kensington Church Street. Like Portobello Road, this is one of the city’s main shopping avenues for antiques, offering everything from antique furniture to Impressionist paintings.
 
The City & East London
Shoreditch is where you’ll find the best vintage shops in the city. They’re on almost every corner, and new ones seem to appear every day, alongside pop-up stores just here for the weekend. Make sure you hit Absolute Vintage and the smaller Blondie around the corner, on the way to the antique market in Spitalfields.
Columbia Road is more than just a flower market in many ways, the main attractions are the artist studios that line the street. Head up every single one of those staircases you see, if the door is open, you’re allowed in. You’ll find artists at work and shops such as Jessica Chorley, selling handmade notebooks and jewelry also Ryan Town sells fabulous papercuts.
 
North London
Camden and Primrose Hill its surrounds has perfect little streets full of local finds. The two could not be more different, but that doesn’t mean either is less enticing.
Camden could never be dull. Even if the bustling high street with its black leather-clad crowds isn’t your thing, it’s worth a stroll just for the spectacle. Street-food stalls and Goths in full make-up at lunchtime against a backdrop of Camden Lock and the canal. Camden Market itself has changed somewhat since a fire in 2008. The refurbishment has tidied things up a little, although many would argue that some of the charm has gone with it. The stalls are back, the Stables area is more exciting, and everything is just perhaps a little more refined, it still has some rough Camden charm, but also a wider appeal, whether you’re looking for neon industrial clubwear or handmade jewelry.
Primrose Hill is Camden’s northern neighbor, and the Cinderella to North London’s ugly sister. Everything is pretty, perfect, and rather posh. The original cupcake Primrose Bakery, is here, and the area is popular with fashion celebs such as Kate Moss and Sadie Frost. Designer stores, chi-chi art galleries, and high fashion clothes are what you’ll find in this part of town.
 

 
Greenwich
Greenwich Market is bursting with art and crafts, both global and local. The shops around the outside of the market are also worth a look, and make sure to walk through the food market when you’re done.
 
From north to south, and east to west, you have plenty to see and embrace after London Design week. So take your most comfortable shoes, yet stylish ones please, and grab and experience everything, that this singular London, has to offer you!
Share with us your stylish adventures!
 
With all our love, Love Happens Blog.