Find Amazing Recycled Clothing Boutiques North London
January 20, 2024Want to discover the best recycled clothing boutiques North London? Or in fact all of London? Who does not love to wander the shops in London, burrowing in the treasure trove of Broadway Market for pies and pre loved vintage clothing? Portobello Road, Covent Garden and Brick Lane are famous havens for vintage shopping, but you’ll also find high street charity shops selling designer clothes like Vivienne Westwood and Louis Vuitton in West London and many other stores in London. London living at its best!
In North London, you have districts like King’s Cross, and Islington. Here’s a few suggestions for what to do in this very busy, very cool area. Hint: it involves coffee, cocktails, amazing buildings, and shopping!
King’s Cross is Pretty Exciting!
King’s Cross has lately become unrecognisable. Although it was always well-connected, with the major train stations King’s Cross and St Pancras running trains to many destinations, once you got there you probably would want to travel onwards to somewhere nicer. But now, there are many chic new boutiques and places to eat just moments away in Coal Drop’s Yard. It is a converted coal storage yard, and was really dingy offices and a nightclub that was a bit scary to approach before the redesign.
This new overhaul was designed by the renowned architect Thomas Heatherwick. He has made many other amazing projects. These include the Olympic Torch and the innovative bridge at Paddington Basin, which is made from overlapping plates and curls up like a woodlouse when it is raised. I mean, I love woodlice, I think they are amazing, but I probably should have said armadillo. It curls up like a cute little armadillo. In any case, the concept and engineering are top notch. Thomas Heatherwick also designed the sleek new double decker London buses.
Recycled Clothing Boutiques North London – Shopping in Coal Drops Yard
Coal Drops Yard really popular all year around, but especially in the summer when lots of little stalls selling drinks pop up and people love to lounge outdoors in the sunshine in one of the many well-designed seating areas. You can get snacks and food from the stalls too, or from one of the restaurants in the complex. There is a fountain in the middle, designed to shoot jets of water to different heights to the accompaniment of lights. Young children and playful dogs love it – as do slightly tipsy adults, who challenge each other to run through it without getting caught by the jets. Usually they end up soaked – and don’t care! There are plenty of toilets and a big supermarket too. Definitely a cool place to hang out.
What a Fun Station!
What else is in King’s Cross? Well, I don’t spend much time in that station, though it is perfectly nice. My trains always go from St Pancras, which is amazing. The station itself is huge, because it is where Eurostar goes from. There are lots of nice little shops to while away the time. A bookshop, several makeup shops, patisserie and coffee shops. Also a big Boots chemist at the back, for practical necessities. There are a couple of pianos, too, for anyone to play, though the standard of playing always seems to be awfully high. It always seems like they secretly paid a professional pianist!
Upstairs it’s very airy, with the original Victorian roof fully on display and several interesting and moving sculptures dotted around. There’s also a champagne bar, to head off to Paris in style. The station had a big clean up and the St Pancras Hotel, a massive Gothic red brick structure, also had an overhaul. It was built in 1873, and though magnificent and very busy in its time, it also looked pretty grim for quite a while. I think it was also closed. It reopened in 2011.
Recycled Clothing Boutiques North London – The St Pancras Renaissance Hotel
But now, if you are lucky enough to stay in the hotel, you’re in for a big treat. If you can’t stay, just go in and have a coffee or drink in the stunning reception area, which used to be the booking office and has a glass roof. It is now a restaurant and bar as well. There is a big sweep of driveway outside, which is very popular with all kinds of amazing cars, although they are happy for you to wait in the porch for your Uber as well. The door staff are always super polite and will take your case for you, whether you’ve been staying at the hotel or not.
The decoration inside… I don’t know if they are following the original interior design but it seems likely. There are hand stencilled murals of peacocks and gilded mouldings in an art nouveau and arts and crafts style. They are incredibly well finished. It’s truly grand. Visit if you can.
Cool Vintage Islington
Camden Passage in Islington. Recycled clothing boutiques North london. Image Royalty free via Flickr. Author: It’s No Game. licensed under CC 40-BY.
Just up the road is Islington. It’s one of my favourite places in London. I would go at the weekend, and head straight for Camden Passage. That’s full of vintage treasures. There are small stalls with vintage traders. You will find some very good quality vintage items here. I’ve found vintage headstock earrings, never worn, in perfect condition. In fact, they were a pair from the 1980s that I had been searching for and I was quite surprised. I wore them for a film costume and longed for them ever since. They were Christian Lacroix style big baroque pearl clip ons with bold gilding. But it just goes to show that it’s worth keeping your eyes open. In fact, the stall holder had two pairs!
You too might find what you wish for there. The stalls are only there at weekends (but check) and there are some vintage shops too. They sell china and crystal, again, generally very good quality. It’s not a flea market, but lovingly collected. There are also some nice pubs here, as well as, of course, cafés and tea shops. On Islington High Street there are plenty of other shops too. There’s a market that has fruit and veg, cheap clothes, fabrics and herbs and spices. There’s also a supermarket within easy reach. As well as that are artensenal knitting shops, bookshops and a lovely toy shop. You can spend the whole day here and come home very happy.
