short London travel - any tips?

[wahine]

My auntie invites me to go to London, yay! :bounce:
She's never been to London, and since I haven't been there for about 15 years it'll almost be like a first time for me, too (the town must have changed a lot; and I have changed, too).

I'd be grateful for some advice and tips where to go besides the well-known tourist places like the tower and such.
We'll probably have only about 4 days, so we'll need to make our picks cleverly.

We're especially interested in: fashion (not necessarily the big designers), fine fabrics (she's a tailor), history (rather social than military), flea markets, food, architecture, musical/theatre

Especially suggestions about where to get vintage / second-hand clothing (esp.50s) at reasonable prices are very welcome. I read that Camden town isn't what it was anymore...
Ways to save money, recommended accomodation, I wanna know it all.

We probably won't go before next spring, so there's plenty of time to look forward to the trip.

(I would have put this outside of the ladies' section, if only I knew where's the right place. So, bartenders, feel free to move it if there's a better place for it. Thank you.)

 

[Drappa]

I am not sure there is much affordable vintage in London, as it is very trendy here right now and picked over. Most vintage shops carry mostly 80s and not that much 40s or 50s, but others can probably be of much more help.

For fabric shopping I'd suggest Goldhawk Road. Also check out this blogpost http://www.tillyandthebuttons.com/2012/05/fabric-shopping-in-london.html by Tilly.

I would also recommend the Fashion and Textile museum http://ftmlondon.org/ as well as the Victoria and Albert Museum http://www.vam.ac.uk/page/f/fashion/.
Have fun!

 

[Shangas]

When I was last in London, I visited the Bermondsey Antiques Market, the Portobello Road Antiques Market, the Camden Locks Market, Savile Row (if your aunt is a tailor, you MUST take her there, and to nearby Jermyn Street).

There's lots of little historic house museums dotted all over London. The Dickens House, the Sherlock Holmes museum...the list goes on and on and on.

If you like that kind of stuff, I would suggest going on one of London's famous walking-tours. I've been on about half a dozen, and they're great.

 

[Baron Kurtz]

For fabric shopping I'd suggest Goldhawk Road. Also check out this blogpost http://www.tillyandthebuttons.com/2012/05/fabric-shopping-in-london.html by Tilly.

Oh Lord, my man is outed! This guy gets excellent ends of rolls of heavyweight suit/overcoat fabric, and very nice linings. Typically £1-£2 per metre for linings. The most expensive he's ever quoted me is £8 a metre for very heavy Melton. He'll haggle from 5 metres up.

Walthamstow market, weekdays outside Halifax bank, Saturday's outside Sainsbury's.

 

[wahine]

That looks wonderful and some good places for starting to plan our trip, thank you all for posting!
The tilly-blog is very interesting, makes me wanna go even more. Fabrics have become so expensive around here, at least if you want to go to a local store. The only chance to get a bargain is on the Dutch fabric markets that take place couple of times a year.

Shangas, in which area is Savile row? is it just for fabric shopping or are there other rewarding places to go in the same area?
I love the idea of the walking tours, I always thought the best way to get to know a place is do it walking (or do you say walkingly? ).

Drappa, the museums look very interesting! I guess the Victoria and Albert will be the top choice since it has so much more than just textiles - we love textiles and clothes, but we don't want to limit ourselves to that.
A must-see on my list is the British Museum since I'm sort of an Egyptologist; there won't be time for a thorough check of the museum but I need to see the Rosetta stone at least.

What seems to be important is to use the possibilities to get tickets online to avoid excessive queueing.

 

[Edward]

Do let us know when you're coming over if there's time to catch up with some Loungers. If you're interested in walking tours, the Ripper tours are always good fun. Also do check this guy out- Russell does great work. http://www.guiderussell.co.uk/ I highly recommend "the men who made menswear".

 

[Alice~]

What seems to be important is to use the possibilities to get tickets online to avoid excessive queueing.

Definitely. I went to V&A to see the Hollywood Costume exhibition for Marilyn's dresses and had to queue, as the weekends were sold out weeks before I was to visit London. They usually reserve a small amount to be sold on the day but it's important to get there early. I arrived before opening time and it was already very busy - I queued for around 40 minutes. I can't imagine how terrible the queues were for people arriving after opening time! I didn't mind, but I think that sort of thing can definitely take the edge off a good day, especially when time is limited. So do book online where possible.

You're going to adore the British Museum! I didn't have much time to visit that one, so, like I presume you will, spent most of my time in the Egypt areas. It was breathtaking.

If you are a poetry fan, Keat's House is incredibly easy to get to - just a short walk from a tube station.

I have heard that the What Katie Did boutique is lovely.

 

[Two Types]

One simple rule for anyone visiting London:

Avoid Camden at the weekend.

 

[Two Types]

Oh, and I forgot:

one of my favourite things about London is finding a nice old pub. Get there between the lunchtime rush and before the evening crowd arrives. The right pub, on the right day: perfect.

 

[wahine]

Edward, it'd sure be great to catch up (whatever that might mean in particular ) with fellow loungers. Thank you for the link and the idea about the Ripper tour. Problem is, my aunt does't speak English well. We will be limited to tours with very little talk, so I can translate for her or no talk at all (or German, if there are no other suitable options).

So the first comment on Camden is confirming my assumption that other areas might be better for us.
I guess there's no recipe to find the right pub and the right time, I guess. Although I'd love to get in touch with local culture and talk to lots of people, I'm afraid that my aunt's limited English knowledge will keep us from any intense chats. But then, with a glass of Ale or two, she might be able to do some good pantomime...

 

[Flicka]

My auntie invites me to go to London, yay! :bounce:
She's never been to London, and since I haven't been there for about 15 years it'll almost be like a first time for me, too (the town must have changed a lot; and I have changed, too).

I'd be grateful for some advice and tips where to go besides the well-known tourist places like the tower and such.
We'll probably have only about 4 days, so we'll need to make our picks cleverly.

We're especially interested in: fashion (not necessarily the big designers), fine fabrics (she's a tailor), history (rather social than military), flea markets, food, architecture, musical/theatre

Especially suggestions about where to get vintage / second-hand clothing (esp.50s) at reasonable prices are very welcome. I read that Camden town isn't what it was anymore...
Ways to save money, recommended accomodation, I wanna know it all.

We probably won't go before next spring, so there's plenty of time to look forward to the trip.

(I would have put this outside of the ladies' section, if only I knew where's the right place. So, bartenders, feel free to move it if there's a better place for it. Thank you.)

What sort of history are you mostly interested in? There are plenty of tiny, little known museums that provides a good look at life in the past, such as the Sambourne's house, Dennis Severs' house... And Highgate cemetary was simply lovely. Depends on what era and thing you are mostly into. Same with architecture. And are you interested in art at all? If so, you shouldn't miss a quick visit to the Wallace Collection, where it's never crowded and where you can stroll around among amazing 17th and 18th century art (such as Boucher, Reynolds and Canaletto) in what used to be a private residence - they have a nice courtyard restaurant too which is perfect for afternoon tea.

Give me a hint of what you like and I might be able to make some suggestions. Also, what kind of food/atmosphere do you like? I have a London friend who is super at finding great new restaurants. Each time I visit, she takes me to some new, surprisingly cheap Michelin-star restaurant, for example.

Pity it won't be this autumn you make the trip since I am probably going to spend (probably) October and part of November there. I hope to finally meet some of you London Loungers, though!