My Favourite Places to Thrift in London

I live in London and absolutely love thrifting clothes. Not only is this an eco-friendly way to buy clothes, but it exposes you to fashion from different decades that otherwise you might never see in high street shops.

Going into and shopping from thrift stores is a great way to develop a style of clothing that no one else has as the majority of clothes are all unique. Another great thing about thrifting is that you can get your hands on some really expensive brands for incredible discounts. As high-end brands usually create very durable and long-lasting clothes this will mean the clothes will remain in good condition even after they have been thrifted.

Thrifting is a great way to increase your sustainable shopping. Every item you buy from thrift, vintage or charity shops are reducing your carbon footprint simply because the clothes you are buying are essentially being recycled. Buying clothes second-hand is also less likely to end up in landfill. This is because they are generally more durable than fast-fashion products, that are made in the cheapest ways possible which are contrarily likely to be thrown away when they break or rip.

London, like many other cities across the UK, has a huge market for thrift stores. After living in London I have found a few areas that are particularly good places to find really trendy, vintage pieces.

Brick Lane, Shoreditch, E1 6QL

- accessed via Aldgate East, Liverpool Street and Shoreditch High Street stations

Brick Lane is probably my favourite location to go thrift shopping. Practically the entire street is packed with thrift shops selling the coolest clothes around. I think here is one of the coolest places to explore around London, also because of the incredible graffiti artwork covering most of the walls down the street. As well as this, there are incredible places to eat down Brick Lane too (my favourite places being Dark Sugars to get hot chocolate, Beigal Bake bagel bakery, the Sunday Upmarket which is a huge food court in the Old Truman Brewery.

The Brick Lane Vintage Market is the no.1 place to go thrifting here. It’s open every day and has a rich history of boutique stalls selling clothes which dates back to the 1920s. In a massive basement, here you can buy anything from silk shirts, fur coats, embroidered denim jackets to vinyls and Levi jeans.

Rockit is another great vintage store, and down Brick Lane they have two locations. Rockit is a company founded in Camden in 1986 and has grown into the UKs leading Vintage Clothing business. Again Rockit stocks a huge range of vintage clothes, and even up-cycles old clothes to give them a modern twist before selling them again. There you can again shop all of your favourite brands and discover quirky clothes not sold anywhere else.

ATIKA is my final recommendation for Brick Lane thrift stores. Just off Brick Lane, on Hanbury Street, ATIKA is spread over two floors and five different rooms so it would be impossible not to find something you liked here. ATIKA don’t only sell clothes, but also books, magazines, jewellery and art. It is always a go-to shop when I’m down Brick Lane.

Seven Dials, London, WC2H 9HD

- accessed via Covent Garden, Leister Square and Holborn stations

There are lots of things I love about Seven Dials, as not only are there a huge range of vintage shops all dotted about the famous seven forked road junction, but there are also other places to visit around this area. It’s right in the centre of London, being only a short walk away from Leicester Square, and two minutes down the road from Covent Garden. There are plenty of high-street shops to browse in, as well as incredible places to ear (I personally recommend taking a look around Neal’s Yard, and the Seven Dials Market)

Pop Boutique was founded in 1985, with its first location in Manchester. I know Pop Boutique as a dinky store in Seven Dials filled with vintage clothes which range from the 1950s era to the 1990s. They also sell their own original up-cycled clothes too. Each week they process 10,000 vintage garments, with none going to waste.

PICKNWEIGHT - VINTAGE KILO STORE is a relatively new vintage store to open up in Seven Dials. If you already know the area, PICKNWEIGHT is the new shop where Nike used to be. PICKNWEIGHT is special because the premise of the shop is based around selling thrifted clothes by the kilo. The mantra of the shop is based not only around sustainability but also around individuality as they believe high street shops are causing individuality to become increasingly rare. If you are looking to find you individual style PICKNWEIGHT is definitely the place to go, although admittedly the shop is more expensive than most other thrift stores.

There is another Rockit store in Seven Dials. For the exact same reasons I wrote about for the stores in Brick lane, the Rocket in Seven Dials is equally worth a look inside.

Camden Market, Camden Lock Place, London, NW1 8AF

- accessed via Camden Town, Chalk Farm and Camden Road stations

Camden is an incredibly fun place to shop around if you’re in the area. This area is famous for its beautiful art work and sculpture with coats the front of practically every shop. While I’ve only been to Camden a handful of times it is an area of London that I love and always remember for being wildly colourful and atmospheric.

Camden Market offers a plethora of different retro stores to explore. Anyone could spend hours wandering around eclectic range of boutique shops they have to offer there. These shops sell everything from classic vinyls, vintage jewellery to cuban cigars and tarot cards.

Some of my favourite vintage shops there include:

Time Tunnel Vintage, which has a strong focus on motorcycle jackets, denim and military pieces.

Dote UK, where you can find baroque inspired unique shirts and dresses unlike anything you would see in high street shops today.

Camden Vintage, which specialises in designer labels such as Burberry trench coats, Barbour jackets, and Hermes silk scarfs. These are sold in perfect condition and at a fraction of the original price. What more could you ask for?