Penny Blood's Black Book » Boutiques

Shop@172

Penny Blood — Sat, 25 Jul 2009 08:14:02 +0000

I’ve said it before but I’ll say it again, the current climate and by climate I mean the eco-bender we’re all on not the recession (I don’t have any money now but I didn’t have any before either) means I feel not on justified but holier than thou buying one-off creations from London and Tokyo’s finest young designers. Don’t be distracted or put off for that matter by all the Kanye West Jewellery as Shop @172 is the kind of place that has one of a kind pieces which don’t cost the earth. I’ve just noticed a ‘White Trumpet’ silver jumper it’s £60 but I’ve spent too much money I don’t have this week already. If I’m still thinking about it in a week then I’ll buy it. Well I was but they’d sold it….boo.

http://www.shop172.com/

172 Brick lane, London E1 6RU
020 7650 8873
Monday – Friday 12.30pm-7pm Saturday – Sunday 1am-7pm

Labour of Love

Klaxons Magik

Penny Blood — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 10:05:07 +0000

I love this little shop, it’s full of weird, colourful stuff, it could be the official outfitters for Central Saint Martins fashion students as most of the stock is totally over the top but makes the shop look good. Of course the only way to atone for being a little overdressed is by being always absolutely undereducated hence it’s popularity with fashion students. If I’m honest I don’t ever think I’ve bought a single thing here, I just wander around and get ideas then attempt to make it at home, then again it’s my version of an art gallery. I come once a week just to check out what new things they have (I do the same thing with Beyond the Valley by Carnaby Street) as they range from custom made cycling helmets with sequined mohawk to ‘lightening-proof’ jewellery made of rubber.

Public Beware

Penny Blood — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 10:04:01 +0000

“To be well dressed is not to have expensive clothes or the right clothes. You can wear rags, so long as they suit you. Style is not elegance but consistency” this comes to mind every time a see a Japanese person, you know what I’m talking about. They are the only people that can wear clothes regardless of how they fit. Public Beware is run by Japanese people and they have a pretty good selection of stuff which is all surprisingly cheap and varied. They only make one or two of each thing and they always seem to have a sale as there is a quick turn over of stock.

The Old Truman Brewery, Shop 7, 91 Brick Lane, London E1 6QL
020 7053 2185

Labour of Love

Penny Blood — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 10:02:25 +0000

Oh good Lord, I’m having another total freakin’ break down, I just spent £100 on a t-shirt. Okay so the cotton feels like silk and the heavy studding weighs down like chainmail, actually no this is a bargain it’s so beautiful. I tried it on thinking I CAN NOT spend £100 on a t-shirt, I AM NOT one of those people. Well maybe they can put it aside for a couple of days and if I’m still thinking about it then it’s meant to be. Two minutes later having merely crossed the road, I decide it will after all make me seem like a more fun, creative and interesting person and I’ll have more friends, which I do now as I generally befriend everyone who sells me something over a certain price as I talk at them incessantly about how I can’t afford it until I think eventually they feel sorry for me. They sell lots of pricey jewellery, clothes and shoes you can’t live without and the name is apt as everything is lovingly picked out and displayed.

http://www.labour-of-love.co.uk/

193 Upper Street, London, N1 1RQ
020 7354 9333
Monday – Wednesday Thursday 11am-7pm Friday – Saturday 11am-6.30pm Sunday 12.30am-5pm

Labour and Wait

Apple Tree

Penny Blood — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 11:54:45 +0000

My secret spot for finding one-off pieces super cheap. Apple Tree may not stock the highest quality clothes but it’s a small compromise for handmade clothes at a snip. It has a collection of local designers who have stalls along Ladbroke Grove but at least here you don’t have to try on clothes in front of an audience (as the stalls on Portobello generally lack changing rooms). You may have to root through various floral-printed everything but once you find something you like they will inevitably have it in every different colour and pattern with slightly different cuts, as if the designer couldn’t quite decide so made them all. Another thing is that you can usually pick up a ‘classic’ in a fake version like a leather jacket actually made of a convincing plastic but that won’t cost more than £30 and which is good since otherwise, although I never really know how long I will like something, I am inclined to tell myself “it’s a classic and I’ll still be wearing this in 10 years” so that I justify the £150 price tag despite knowing deep down that it will be cast aside as soon as a better studded version comes out.

164 Portobello Road, London W11 2EB / 230 Portobello Road London W11 1LJ
020 7165 8849 / 020 7243 6424

Portobello Road / Golbourne Road

Hoxton Boutique

Penny Blood — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 11:54:05 +0000

Hoxton Boutique is great despite the odds stacked against it, that being located in Hoxton square (you’d presume all the price tags were sky-high) and having ‘Hoxton’ in the title. It’s not overly expensive and the staff are approachable and like to chat about the weather or anything for that matter as I don’t think they get many visitors. They stock various young and slightly obscure designers and lots of great jewellery and nailpolish.* They still cater to the PR girl with a budget, these people wear the worst clothes they all looked like striped cardboard. Don’t be too mislead it’s still expensive but you can buy jewelery that certainly looks more expensive than it is, if she knew you only spent £10 she wouldn’t thank you for that!
* There is a shop on Broome and Bowery in New York that stock every single colour and shade of Essie nailpolish, it’s true I’m not making it up.

http://www.hoxtonboutique.com

2 Hoxton Street, London, N1 6NG
Monday – Saturday 11pm – 7pm Sunday CLOSED

Hurwundeki

Penny Blood — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 11:52:54 +0000

I hate sales. The whole shop looks ugly, everything is rammed together, basically aesthetics go to hell, I’d rather pay full price than have to deal with that shit. When I shop I like the whole experience to be pleasurable. Korean owned Hurwundeki makes this so. They never over cram the rails, having only one size of each item so it makes you feel like everything is a one off. One would expect it to be expensive. Its not, everything seems to float around the £24 mark sometimes up to £50. They have a mixture of vintage and new, men and womens and both stores (Carnaby Street, Spitalfields) are stylish and designed with all kinds of ‘vintage clutter’. I have acquired many little fitted jackets here which people usually assume are Martin Margiella.
p.s I just bought a gold scarf there – a GOLD scarf!

http://www.hurwundeki.com/

98 Commercial Street, London E1 6LZ / 34, Marshall Street, Oxford Street, W1F 7EU
020 7734 1050 / 020 7392 9194

no-one

Penny Blood — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 11:52:23 +0000

If they gave out ‘Buyer’ awards then Che (the buyer here) would win it. God they have so much great, great stuff, it’s expensive but so worth it. They were the first stockists in London of Cheap Monday jeans, or so I hear from The Captain. Now The Captain is NOT one of the beautiful people but I just LOVE ugly but well dressed people. I don’t know why it should be, but the sight of an attractive but ill dressed person MADDENS me…! Needless to say The Captain buys from here. Che gets in everything just before it becomes super fashionable and before everywhere else stocks it and its all gone just as the wider public latches on to it, this girl totally has a CLUE! I love their jewelery and accessories and oh crap, crap crap, I just spent too much money on some gold printed tights which I don’t think I’m brave enough to wear. I’ve got the sweats now (which I get when I over spend) and my hand is shaking as I hand over my card.
NB. On publishing this post I have yet to wear said tights, they haven’t left their box.

http://www.no-one.co.uk/

1 Kingsland Road, London E2 8AA
020 7613 5314
Monday – Wednesday, Thursday 11am-8.30pm, Friday – Saturday 11am-7pm Sunday 12am-6pm

Kokon To Zai

Penny Blood — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 11:51:47 +0000

I can’t afford any of the clothes or actually anything here for that matter but I always end up buying something to fill a silence with the beautiful boy (but doesn’t he know it – oh bore!) that works here. When we run out of things to say and I can’t think of another compliment to pay him I buy another pair of earrings. They have a to-die-for range of jewelery most of which features skulls in some capacity, plus all kinds of amazing Marjan Pejoski* designer clothes in bright colours and prints (although you’re at a high risk of looking like an extra from Party Monster, you won’t be able to afford anything anyway though), in essence its a mini Dover Street Market. I’m being entertained by a pretty he/she trying to decide whether to get these boots (see below) or the Vivienne Westwood pirate boots which I tell him no one wears anymore, I don’t know which he went for in the end..

*He owns the shop and designed Bjorks Swan Dress, YES!

http://www.kokontozai.co.uk/

57 Greek Street, London W1D 3DX
020 7434 1316
Monday – Sunday 11am-7.30pm