The Blondie Vintage store is one of my favourite boutiques to visit when I'm sourcing new fabrics in London. It's very well know across the country and regularly updates it's stock so there is always lots of new vintage stock to delve into.
Located on the Commercial Road between Shoreditch, Brick Lace and Old Street, it is incredibly well positioned and I always seem to be 'in-the-area' making rather frequent trips to see what's new in store.
I will always take a look at shoes first. As you enter located on the back wall, there is quite literally a mountain to climb of shoes for women. And what I like in particular is they stock the smaller sizes. Readers will be shocked to learn that Marie V has really rather small feet, child size feet, which makes it a real struggle to source to shoes fit! But Blondie Vintage have a wonderful selection of shoes, broken in and wonderfully comfortable.
Just like Cinderella, I seep into one of their worn leather chairs and start trying on a multitude of shoe potentials.
Only then, after trying every shoe in sight, will I begin to focus on the task at hand; sourcing new fabrics. Blondie have a rather fantastic men's silk scarf section. These vary from silk to wool and always hold some unique gem, such as this 15th century print which I felt was ideal for a draft excluder.
Blondie have buckets of women's scarves. I've seen the girls drag suitcases of scarves in and dump them at my feet leaving me to trawl through and pick out a select few. These buckets and suitcases hold a mass of fabric potentials and usually I struggle to reach the end, a bottomless pit of fabrics.
The Blondie boutique is rather large and has high windows allowing plenty of natural light. The cloth racks are so tall and full in vintage boutiques you always find the light oppressive, but here they offer plenty of light to truly see potential purchases.
Blondie are rich in jumpers, cardigans and 80's fluff balls to keep you warm through the winter. This is also another section to rummage through as I enjoy working with felted fabrics to use as backs or fronts of cushions, but beware of the bobbled jumpers as they are over whelmed with bobble victims.
Personally I find that Blondie lack a variety of printed dresses that are popular with vintage fashion enthusiasts and fashionistas alike. If this is what you are seeking I would head elsewhere.
However be sure to take a peek at their accessories section, distributed across the store there are some great finds. From old camera boxes transformed into ladies handbags to leather gloves, purses, jewellery, sunglasses and more! A real treasure trove of finds.
Aside from the men's silk scarf section I don't often wonder into the men's section. There is a wonderful selection of 70's printed shirts which caught my eye last time I was there and some great leather man-bags which I considered for Mr M. I've also seen some oddities, men's jumpsuits in brilliant neon colours which reminded me of some boy-band video and pimp fur coats for men...however I suggest that you rummage as this is the best way to shift through boy-band skeletons and find that one piece of gold.
Enjoy
Marie V
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