Brandy Melville

Having strolled down Kings Road several times I’ve stopped by Brandy Melville countless times. I love this store, they have so many cute details to decorate the place and to make it personal to the location it’s in unlike other international brands’ branches. The staff is always really friendly and willing to help but they don’t pressure you in the changing room area by letting you try on as much as you like and take your time. The decor plays on old and new, the stairs look run down in a rustic kind of way. They only do most of their clothes in one size, relying on their motto “one size fits most”. 

They also have a great selection of jewellery compared to other high street stores their items are thought out in relation to their brand and if you had the money you could just wear Brandy Melville clothes. They always play casual fun loving music to keep you in the store longer. All I need to keep me in the store is touching their clothes. Somehow they’ve found a way to make all their clothes super soft and lovely. I’ve been tempted to buy a sweater in every colour just because I know I’d look nice and feel like I’m wearing a blanket.

You can browse their collections online, but if you’re looking for some great basics for your closet that you want to last you a long time go take a look. They also have some fun and quirky items. This spring they had a top which said “you can’t sit with us” (like the line from Mean Girls). 

Here’s their website: http://www.brandymelvilleusa.com/

Pass Out Clothing

I got invited to a launch party back in April that I wasn't able to attend, but I still kept up with the progress of my friend's brand "Pass Out Clothing". They make sweaters, t-shirts, raincoats, lighters, and duffle bags. Their clothes are photographed by an amazing creative photographer who shows the brand well. The models are all really interactive and everything just looks like a lot of fun. 

I ordered a t-shirt for myself and a sweater for my sister. Not only are the clothes really well priced (12£ for a sweater, yes please) but they're really comfy. The t-shirt I chose was the perfect amount of girly and my sister's sweater really suited her. 

They do free global delivery too! The package took about 9 work days to get to my house in Luxembourg which is actually faster than my last ASOS order. And when I opened the package my shirt was wrapped in a cute little printed cloth which made me even happier. It felt like I was opening a present even if I had bought it for myself. 

I think their clothing line will continue expanding since they just came out with a new set of t-shirts. Check it out. Here's their webpage: http://www.passoutclothing.com/home.html

(Look them up on Facebook too!)

Anthropologie

The only thing I've ever bought from Anthropologie are books. But the inside of their stores make you wish you could afford all their other products. Every dress seems to have enough details to tell a story, and every cute little bowl has a print you've never seen before. I tend to go to Anthropologie with my friend Daniella because she buys the clothes. I've hunted through the their sales racks but still have never been able to buy anything.

However I do appreciate their selection of books a lot. They have slightly more interesting cooking books and their other books range from autobiographies to DIY books. Maybe I just like their books because of the pretty covers, but I've found that the books I've bought from there I actually read. Which is generally a good sign because I've had some books on my shelf since uni started and I still haven't looked through them once. 

Anthropologie is nice because the warm colours of their stores make you somewhat feel at home, and unlike most shops they tend to have nice seating areas where you can just soak you surroundings. In the shop on Regents Street they have a whole wall of plants, which I think is pretty cool. 

Here's their website: http://www.anthropologie.eu/uk/page/home

Dr. Denim Sample Sale

When stopping by my friend Daniella's house I saw a sign which said "Dr. Denim Sale" and "starts 22nd of May". So on the 22nd of May I came back. Because usually Dr. Denim clothes are really expensive and I never know if its worth spending a lot of money on jeans because I tend to damage them and rip them pretty easily. 

I walked in and I noticed it was also a Herschel sale too. The Herschel backpacks are beautiful, they have so many cute prints, but they're so expensive that I've never even thought of getting one. I'm not really a backpack person. I did look at a few of the backpacks and I was almost convinced but then I saw a box full of Dr. Denim leggings and I was fixated with finding the right ones. There were so many different colours I wanted to get 3 pairs. In the end I only got one pair, and a t-shirt.

Both the items I got I love. I've already worn both of them so many times. When I got home I looked the clothes up online and I couldn't find the t-shirt's original price, but the blue and bleached out jeggings were sold at 49 pounds and I had gotten them for 15. I'm going to keep my eyes peeled for more sample sales of brands I like and will let all of you know by twitter if I see something good!

Rokit

Rokit on Brick Lane takes up 3 shop windows. I've walked past it a lot because I went in there with my parents once and I didn't like it. With my flatmate Emily, I decided to try it out again. The first and last door lead to small vintage shops and the middle door has really modern clothes from small English clothing labels.

The vintage sections are really cheap, with the clothes divided really well by cut, length and type. All the cropped t-shirts are together, that way you don't have to spend ages in the shop looking for them. The women's wear spreads into the men's wear section a bit. There's at least one of everything in every colour you just have to be lucky enough for the colour you like to be your size but I guess that's always the case with vintage clothes.

The middle store is beautiful, its divided into mini boutiques where each small label has its specific section. All the clothes are hung in size and colour order. So you don't even have to sort through to find the thing you want. Everything has an interesting design or print. There was this one sweater I really wanted. But I think I'm going to try to survive without it because after all it does cost 40 pounds, and I don't really need it.

I thought it was really cool that the shop is divided because it helped me shop better in each individual one and I could focus more on what I needed to buy instead of what I thought I might wear. You can shop online at http://www.rokit.co.uk 

Frock Me!

On the 19th of May I went to the Frock Me! Vintage Fashion Fair in Chelsea Town Hall. When I was a kid I remembered going to this town hall to see many different things. I think there was one time I remember really well because I was surrounded by like pink and beige clothes, it was a Burberry sample sale. This time I recognized traits of the building but not much else. 

We paid our 2 pound entrance fee, and walked inside, astonished by the number of stands selling clothes from different eras. I'm very picky with vintage clothes, they need to actually be old and represent something from the past to me, instead of being something from a few years ago with a label I recognize. Both my friend and I were able to find something we liked that wasn't incredibly expensive. However there was this one princess chiffon dress which I would have loved to own but it was a little out of my price range (280 pounds). 

Everyone selling things was really friendly allowing us to try things on, and when we didn't have enough cash, to go to the machine across the street to get money for the item we wanted. We got to hold a phone-bag which was used in the film "An Education", and see clothes that could have been featured in the Marie Antoinette film. Overall, it was like a little fairy tale. The next Frock Me! event is on the 8th of September, but there is also one on the 20th of October too. 

Here's their website: http://www.frockmevintagefashion.com

Birthdays

Every first Saturday of the month the Dalston bar "Birthdays" hosts a "vintage sale". Its not really a vintage sale, its where individuals choose to sell their old clothes at a really really cheap price. I found a Zara top I wanted from 2 years ago there for 5 pounds. They have some designers stuff, some high street clothes, and some quirky individual make clothes. 

You walk into the bar and you can order coffee or food, and browse through the racks of clothing and accessories. Some people were selling clothes that were really summery and weather appropriate whereas others were selling clothes for all types of different weather. On the ground floor there are loads of different sellers lined up around the "edge" of the room. You then go down a set of stairs where the bar's dance floor usually is and there were more racks of clothes. The colours of the clothes were harder to see downstairs because the lights aren't very bright but there were more unique clothes in the downstairs section. 

Sadly, I didn't find anything, but hopefully I'll be going back on the 1st of June to see if they have anything better. I also want to go there at night cause my friend Daniella said that there was a really good vibe there the last time she went. Also, I really like the venue's logo, its so cute, I love that font! 

I heard of this event through Facebook, but you can also find it on the Birthdays website: http://birthdaysdalston.com/

Shoreditch Vintage Fair

On Saturday 27th of April in the Shoreditch Town Hall there was a vintage fair. It was really well set up, each seller had a little stand where their clothes were set up, and most of them had a rack with clothes of cheaper prices, such as a 10 pounds or 5 pounds rack. If you liked something you were able to take it downstairs to the huge bathrooms and try it on. I only bought one top, but its really cute, its jeans and polka dotted with white spots. There were mostly stands with women's wear, but there were  a few with men's wear as well as a few accessory stalls.

The hall in which the event took place was beautiful, it was an old concert hall, where the people of Shoreditch would go to see theatre productions and such. 

One thing I really enjoyed was how friendly everyone was, they were all willing to help you out, and several of the vendors gave me their cards. I'm looking forward to going by their stores sometime soon. 

The entrance charge for the fair is 2 pounds, and I didn't really mind paying those 2 pounds because they use that money to set up the next vintage fair. I think the event occurs every month on the last Saturday of the month. Here's their webpage: http://www.thevintagefair.com/

Vintage Tea-House

Its very common in English culture to be surrounded by tea. Originally I think people drank it to keep warm but now everyone is accustomed to it. Generally you drink tea with milk and sugar here, and I had never done that before arriving in the UK. Tea for me is to drink when you're sick, its supposed to warm you up to make you feel better. Here the tea culture is very different, and a great cup of tea some how always comes with a good dessert. 

At the Shoreditch Vintage Fair there was a tea room set up on the lower floor. The two rooms set up with ordinary cafeteria tables were covered in floral table cloths and decorated with vases of flowers as well as the occasional sugar bowl and milk jug. Everything was super cute, and all the cakes looked incredible. 

I chose to have a slice of the Banoffee Cake as well as my own cup of tea. Every tea cup had a different floral pattern and the cutlery given was traditional metal spoons with delicate engravings. It reminded me of being a little girl again. One of the other great things of this pop-up fair was that there were so many different types of people, families, bloggers, and several people just out on a walk wanting to come in for a cup of tea or a cute little cup cake. 

I'm really looking forward to the next time they have a Vintage Fair in the Shoreditch Town Hall just so I'll have the chance to try another slice of cake, or maybe a cupcake! If you fancy some tea, or cake go to: mabelsvintagetea.co.uk 

Holland Park

When I was a child I frequently went to Holland park, I have gone to that playground at least 50 times. There were always so many squirrels and there's a section with peacocks, but not only that, my childhood friend Zoe lived near there so we would walk her dog in the park every time I went to her house.

On Tuesday, it was sunny and I had planned on spending the day alone therefore I went to visit the park. Walking through i got so many flashbacks of my childhood, especially of me running through the park with my friends. 

I think I sat at a bench for an hour just soaking in the good weather and happy atmosphere.

It was so nice to see people enjoying the sun. Even though in my opinion the English get a bit too excited when they see a ray of sunlight.

Overall, going to the park is a great way to spend the day outside without spending a lot of money, grab some food and a blanket and you're set for the day. I really hope it stays sunny for a while longer, I have way too many summer clothes.

Broadway Market

In Hackney, near London Fields every Saturday there is a market called Broadway market.

You can buy clothes, food to eat on the spot and food to take home. 

There are stands with traditional French cheese, different types of organic olive oil stands, salami stands and fresh juice stands. One of the best things is that you get a sort of sense of community between you, the traders and the people in the crowd.

I have gone there two Saturdays in a row, the first time buying cheese and hams, the second time I bought a playsuit and organic olive oil. In the summer you can go to London Fields and sit in the park while enjoying your food. There are two coffee stands who make incredible freshly brewed coffee for a reasonable price unlike the chain coffee shops.

Overall I was really happy to be there, and nothing is too expensive, it's more price-y than your local Tesco but its worth it for the quality and difference in flavour. I can't wait to cook with my olive oil.