Clothes recycling North London and What’s so Great About Islington
December 17, 2024There are a huge selection of solutions for clothes recycling in North London. Online, Ebay and Gumtree are excellent places to sell clothes. There are clothes bank, textile recycling bank and textile banks dotted all over North London and textile recyclers will take reused or recycled unwanted clothing in good condition, and make them into cleaning cloths. Charity shops will take clothes textiles as well.
North London is full of great charity shops. You may end up coming home with just as many items as you donate! But that’s fine, because the clothes all get an extra lifecycle. A fantastic area of North London is Islington. There are a lot of designers who have studios in or near Islington. They often donate their samples to charity shops in the area. This means that you will get totally unique clothes at a very low price. Often they are quite small, but not always. Designers also produce clothes in all sizes as they scale their initial idea to fit everyone.
They will usually make a sample for their “Fit Models” to try on. They then alter that if necessary and make a completely new version. So you might find several different versions of an item in a charity shop. They also change trims, colours, and fabrics. Sometimes it goes in an archive, but designers often have limited space, and so they don’t keep everything they make or think about. You can get very lucky in the charity shops in the area sometimes!
Clothes Recycling North London – What to do in Islington
A statue in Islington. Image via Wikipedia, Royalty free. Tarquin Binary, CC BY-SA 2.5 , via Wikimedia Commons
I love Islington just to go and wander around and have a mooch. It is very pretty and well-presented, so wandering down the streets is fun, even if you don’t buy anything or stop for a coffee and a bite to eat.
Other great things about Islington are the sheer amount of cool cafes there. There is a Japanese cafe, Scandinavian, Hungarian, Italian and many others. There are bakeries and delis. And lots of interesting clothes shops, design boutiques, and a very pretty toyshop that’s quite large and sells traditional kinds of toys. If you have finished shopping and eating, you can go for a walk by the canal that is right next to Islington. Then come back for an evening meal, and perhaps a drink in a traditional pub. It’s really very lively. The pubs also host pub quizzes, so check the times and get your thinking hats on!
On weekends there is an antiques and vintage market in the area. They sell jewellery, clothes, cutlery, china and other items. It is usually good quality. The stallholders are usually experts. This means that you get good things, and they will often tell you all about their history, if you stop to chat. They are also often willing to bargain a bit, so that’s fun.
Culture in North London
North London also has lots of theatres. Some of them are in the back rooms of pubs or upstairs. Others are dedicated spaces like the Almeida Theatre or Sadler’s Wells, which hosts ballet performances. Sadler’s Wells is a really stunning space for a special night out. There is also a very sweet cinema which only has a couple of screens, and it shows art house films alongside more populist choices. If you like books there are several good bookshops. This includes a well-known chain, but one which always has lovely premises. There are also a couple of interesting independents.
In the middle of Islington is a tiny green triangle. It’s like the Village Green, and probably was at one point. This is small, but well upkept, and has flower beds and a statue. It’s a nice place to sit down for a bit.
There is a modern shopping centre which has a large, multi screen cinema as well as some nice shops. You’ll also find a large supermarket nearby for more practical purposes. On the weekends there is a very large, bustling market as well. It has a large choice of cheap fabrics, clothing, haberdashery and food. Along that street there is an Indian restaurant which has been there for a very long time, and serves an all-you-can-eat vegan and vegetarian buffet. It’s not fancy, but it is delicious.
Clothes Recycling North London – Walks around the area
Walk along Regent’s Canal and you can get all the way to King’s Cross in one direction and down through East London as far as Victoria Park and onwards in the other. I really recommend trying it in both directions, as the walk itself is very interesting. There’s something great about walking alongside water. Canals are a bit different to rivers. You’ll still see plenty of wildlife, like moorhens, swans, ducks, geese and pigeons. You will also see voles and mice on the towpath. There are plenty of pretty flowers, grasses and reeds along the sides and in the water. As well as that, you will see unique boats, especially canal boats. Many people live on these year-round and they are homely and decorative.
Getting to Islington
Islington has two main tube stations and loads of buses. Depending on what you want to do there, it’s worth checking which tube station is closest. Angel Islington is on the Northern Line, and it’s very close to Camden Passage with the antique shops, and lots of cafes and pubs. It’s also the nearest stop for Sadler’s Wells. If you want the Almeida, or other specific shops, you might find it better to get to Highbury and Islington. The station is served by the Underground’s Victoria line, the Overground’s East and North London Lines and Great Northern’s Northern City Line. This means it gives you more choice for journeys. But you will have to walk for a bit to get into the really charming heart of Islington, and see what all the fuss is about. It’s definitely worth it!
