The London "Heads up" thread

[Baron Kurtz]

Chaps,

There's often an awful lot of stuff I find in London vintage shops that I pass up because it doesn't fit and I don't think I can realise enough profit to make my while. So, i'm going to keep this thread going and let you know what's available and where to find it. If you're in London, I imagine this thread might be useful. I encourage other London vintage shoppers to add things to the thread, too! First off:

Rokit, Brick Lane. An old campaign-style or Boy Scout's hat. Ragged sweatband, but at £12 for a 7 1/4 hat (label under sweatband), it's probably a good deal.

Beyond Retro, Cheshire Street. £170 A WW1 US infantry tunic in fantastic condition and with a unit/squadron patch at the right shoulder.

Beyond Retro, Cheshire Street. £60 Early 1950s light blue with great flecking 2 piece sb notch lapel, 3 button Penney's suit. It fits like a 38-40 long. Not sure exactly as I didn't measure it; it's just too long and too big in the chest for me.

 

[maisie]

Sound like a great idea! Let me know if you see any cheap 1940s womens clothes

 

[Baron Kurtz]

Sorry, I don't check the women's stuff. Maybe some lady FLounger who checks the shops regularly can update on the women's clothes scene.

I should note that the campaign hat I mentioned earlier is certainly from the 1940s or earlier. The sweatband is marked "Mallory, Cravenette Processed".

bk

 

[kaosharper1]

Going to London week of June 12. Love to hear what's going on.

 

[billyspew]

Thought I'd use this as a heads up... there's a Ralph Lauren Purple Label double breasted suit in a tan/brown plaid that screams 40's to me in a shop in south east london, don't know the price yet it's in 46L and wonderful condition. PM me if anyone is interested and I can go investigate further (it's only 15 minutes bike ride from me).

 

[Zeropositive]

Where is this Double breasted RL suit? Cheers Jules

 

[billyspew]

Apologies, I've already hooked another London lounger up with it.

 

[Baron Kurtz]

The vintage store "Mint" has a ton - literally a ton - of 1920s-30s German suits, and separate jackets and trousers in right now. he's not the cheapest guy around, but he knows his stuff and sources some of the best European mainland vintage in London. The owner just got back from Berlin and is gushing about the amount of 1930s stuff he bought. I've seen a selection of it, and it is nice! Some really interesting fabrics. None of it sports clothing, sadly.

bk

 

[Baron Kurtz]

Oh boy, do I have stuff to add:

Levinson's on Cheshire Street has a wonderful 1957 dated Savile Row suit for £155. Also there's a suit made by a rather less quality maker in grey pinstripe for the same price. also some miscellaneous tweeds.

Right next door in the vintage basement, in the basement part - everything a tenner - is a 1940s full length German brown heavy bull leather trench coat. Yes, a TENNER. Amazing.

Along the street, Beyond Retro has hit the motherload of vintage Levi's gear. Type I (1930s-early 40s) and Type II (late 40s) jackets ago-go. If you've never handled the buggers, get yourself along to the Cheshire Street branch of Beyond Retro and school yourself in vintage denim. You won't be able to afford them (at £800 a pop, I certainly can't) but they're worth looking at/touching, just to get a feel of how hypnotic 1930s/40s denim really is.

Just around the corner on Brick Lane is one of those awful vintage shops staffed and frequented by bloody art students (sorry! hbk!!) but it has quite a few nice 1920s-30s German, French and Belgian jackets. At £10-£14 a pop, worth a visit.

 

[Two Types]

Which shop is it on Brick Lane with the 1920s/1930s jackets? If you don't know the name, just a location/description will do. i'm going to be up there next week.

Vintage Basement? Is that the shop on the corner (usually full of studenty rubbish)?

Did Levinsons still have the pile of old boating blazers they had in stock a few months back?

 

[Baron Kurtz]

Yes, Levinson's have the boating blazers. You might be interested in the astonishingly early one they have on the rack. It's a relic - totally destroyed - but it is very, very, very early. First glance you'd think it was 60s, because of the lapels, but it's Edwardian at latest. Light coloured with yellow and blue overchecks. SBPL.

The vintage basement is called literlly that, and is 2 doors down from Levinson's on Cheshire street.

The one with the 20s/30s jackets is on brick lane, about 3-4 shops up from the awful one on the corner. If you turn right into Brick Lane fro Cheshire Street, it's on the right side of the street. Another of those "everything a tenner downstairs" type places.

 

[herringbonekid]

...one of those awful vintage shops staffed and frequented by bloody art students (sorry! hbk!!)

don't get me all nostalgic about my art school days !

last time i was in the vintage showroom there was a brown checked norfolk jacket that had been there a while and i was amazed it hadn't sold as it's such a perfect example. could have been anything from 30s to 60s.
about £260 ish if i remember correctly. i almost considered buying it to put on ebay to see if any Japanese collectors went for it.

 

[Two Types]

The one with the 20s/30s jackets is on brick lane, about 3-4 shops up from the awful one on the corner. If you turn right into Brick Lane fro Cheshire Street, it's on the right side of the street. Another of those "everything a tenner downstairs" type places.

I have certainly not been in that one. Mind you, sometimes i get my daughter to go vintage shopping with me (not that she is interested in the clothes, but it's nice to wander the streets chatting about London etc). She sometimes refuses to let me go into shops that she thinks I'll hate. Maybe it's one of those shops? When we were in Berlin earlier this year, we walked for ages to find a vintage shop that Floey had mentioned. I went up to the door and she said 'That's crap. You'll hate in in there.' I looked at the 1980s ra-ra skirts and decided she was probably right!

Have you tried 'This shop rocks'? (just across the road from the shop you mentioned). I was shocked to find it even stocked mens clothes, everything about the window display suggested womens only. I found a splendid pair of dinner suit trousers in a very wide legged cut - most likely continental, from the 1930s. They were £5. And they had a rail of mens stuff hidden behind another display.

 

[Baron Kurtz]

I tried to go into "This Shop Rocks" but i'm afraid it's just the kind of shop I hate - jam packed full of sh*t, like the home of a hoarder with narrow passageways cut through the junk and display cases. There was another customer in there when I walked past and therefore it was too much trouble to move for me to bother trying to hunt.

 

[Two Types]

That's exactly why I couldn't see the rail of menswear! They really need to have a tidy up.

Did you check out 'Absolute Vintage' on Hanbury Street? Last time I was in there, they had a splendid double breasted German suit (one of those 'Nachmitte und Abend' black suits that have often left us wondering whether they were for waiters or band members, but were simply pre-war German day wear). It was in great condition, and well, priced but made for a 5ft tall man with a 40 inch chest.

 

[Baron Kurtz]

Black German suit

that suit's not there any more, though it was in that store for a wee while. It's a weird one, and I could never decide on its age. It was also very strange dimensions, and wore very oddly. It had a zipper on the back pocket, with no evidence that it had been added later, and of a relatively (50s/60s) vintage, which threw my judgement of date off.

 

[Two Types]

That sounds like the one! If i remember correctly, the fabric was very heavy and it buttoned quite high - as if from a much earlier period than one would expect with a zipped pocket. It certainly had the look of a uniform piece. The high buttoning double breast made me think it could almost be nautical.

If it's not there anymore, I can just picture the rather compact but large chested fellow who might be wearing it now.

 

[herringbonekid]

now you all know why Baron finds so much good stuff; he's searching London's vintage shops when he's supposed to be at work in a lab coat studying cells.

BK, could you let me know if the norfolk jacket mentioned above is still in the vintage showroom next time you're there please ?

 

[Baron Kurtz]

It was in there when I was in a couple weeks or so ago. Assuming it's the same one we're talking about … Very heavy, quite small, I had thought it might be a 1920s one.

bk

p.s. I'm on a holiday of sorts, cheeky bugger.

 

[herringbonekid]

It was in there when I was in a couple weeks or so ago. Assuming it's the same one we're talking about … Very heavy, quite small, I had thought it might be a 1920s one.

no, not small small... about a 39 chest. mid-dark brown with orange or green windowpane (or stripes, can't quite remember the pattern). full straps and belt.