Vintage shops on Brick Lane: where to dig and when
The best vintage on Brick Lane is under it: Brick Lane Vintage Market, in the basement of the Truman Brewery at 85 Brick Lane, E1, with more than 100 sellers and open every day from 11am (10am on Sundays). From there the lane gives you two Rokit shops, a two-floor warehouse on Hanbury Street, workwear on Cheshire Street and a shop of 1940s to 1970s clothes at 226 Brick Lane. Go on a weekday for space to try things on; go on Sunday for the full market around them.
Brick Lane Vintage Market, Truman Brewery
Brick Lane Vintage Market is the one to start with. It sits underground in F Block of the Truman Brewery and the brewery describes it as the largest vintage market in the UK, with over 100 shops. Sellers come from across the UK and Europe, and the rails run from the 1920s to Y2K: fur coats, feather capes, men's suits, vintage bridal wear and a lot of accessories. Hours are 11am to 6.30pm Monday to Friday, 11am to 6pm on Saturday and 10am to 6pm on Sunday. Because each unit is a separate dealer, prices and quality vary a lot from one rail to the next. Walk the whole floor before you buy.
Rokit, 101 and 107 Brick Lane
Rokit started in Camden in 1986 and now has two shops on Brick Lane: the main store at 101 and Rokit Accessories at 107. Both open 11am to 7pm every day. It is the dependable option when you want a big, easy-to-browse shop rather than a dig.
ATIKA, Hanbury Street
Turn off Brick Lane into Hanbury Street for ATIKA at 55-59 Hanbury Street. It fills two floors of a converted warehouse with more than 20,000 pieces, heavy on 1990s streetwear, Y2K, denim and outerwear, with new stock out daily. It opens 11am to 7pm Monday to Saturday and noon to 6pm on Sunday, so it is the last of the big ones to open on a Sunday morning.
Levisons, Cheshire Street
Off Brick Lane, Cheshire Street has Levisons at 1 Cheshire Street, E2. It opens 11am to 6.30pm Monday to Saturday and 10.30am to 5.30pm on Sunday. It is a smaller shop than the warehouses, and a calmer one to browse.
Hunky Dory, 226 Brick Lane
Further up, Hunky Dory Vintage at 226 Brick Lane has been run since 2008 by Ian Bodenham and Ian Johns, who spent 20 years before that running a similar shop in Greenwich. They stock men's and womenswear and accessories from the 1940s to the 1970s, sourced mainly in France, Italy and the UK, and say they choose for style over trend and good fabric over novelty. Open every day, 11.30am to 6.30pm.
Weekends only: the Tea Rooms and Backyard Market
On Saturdays and Sundays two more Truman spaces open next to 146 Brick Lane. The Tea Rooms is the one for objects rather than clothes: antiques, homeware, rare books, vinyl and retro furniture, with Mada Mada, a small French cafe, inside. The Backyard Market alongside has independent stalls of fashion, jewellery and art. Both run 11am to 6pm on Saturday and 10am to 6pm on Sunday.
Sunday is also when Brick Lane's street market is out, and the streets fill with sellers of second-hand goods: furniture, clothes and bric-a-brac. It is the day for luck rather than for a quiet fitting room.
A note on Beyond Retro
Older guides still send people to Beyond Retro on Cheshire Street. Its own UK store list now names London shops in Dalston and at Coal Drops Yard in King's Cross, and no Brick Lane branch, so do not plan your route around it.
How to shop it
Vintage sizing is a guess, so wear something you can change over easily and try everything on. Check zips, linings, underarms and cuffs before you pay, because a bargain coat with a torn lining is a repair bill. In the multi-dealer spaces, each stall sets its own prices and policies, so ask before assuming you can return anything. And if you see the thing, buy the thing: with one-off stock, it will not be there next Sunday.
A route
- Start at 11am at the Vintage Market, 85 Brick Lane, before the basement fills.
- Walk up to Rokit at 101 and 107.
- Double back to Hanbury Street for ATIKA.
- Carry on to Cheshire Street for Levisons, then finish at Hunky Dory, 226 Brick Lane.
- On a weekend, add the Tea Rooms next to 146 Brick Lane on the way.
