Features

Hattie Lloyd 01/12/17


A Gallery of the Most Adorable London Shopfronts

A Gallery of The Most Adorable London Shopfronts

Window shopping’s all well and good…

…Until you run out of wall space in your house.

But it’s hard to resist when there’s such a plethora of appealing shop fronts in our fair city; from fading Victorian murals, to immaculate new facades – and so we thought we’d gather a little collection of the best for you to browse, right here.

No purchase necessary.

 

Mamasons | Kentish Town

https://www.instagram.com/p/BbcwV5wnLET/?taken-by=lost.in.ldn

You wouldn’t guess it from their pristine signage, but Filipino ice cream store Mamason like their ice cream “dirty”. And you will too, once you’ve had a glimpse of their cones covered in gloopy, latex-shiny, black coconut sauce… FIND OUT MORE

Tessa Metcalfe | Clerkenwell

https://www.instagram.com/p/BXxWy4Uj3Vo/

This jeweller’s has a window so attention-grabbing in itself, that it could feasibly slip your notice that all the jewellery in said window is made from casts of pigeon roadkill claws… FIND OUT MORE

Biscuiteers | Notting Hill

https://www.instagram.com/p/BbgDuNgnvan/

The only thing more elaborate than the Biscuiteers facade – apart from, say, the Sistine chapel – are the hand-iced, luxury biscuits they make inside, which come in the form of anything from a fully-stocked first aid kit, to three excellently rendered wise men. FIND OUT MORE

Peggy Porschen | Belgravia

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bbg-sDqhXtR/

Peggy Porschen’s picture-perfect palace serves up eye-wateringly good cupcakes. And what’s more, they’ll even let you in on their secret – since they’re also London’s leading school of sugarcraft and wizardryFIND OUT MORE

Hurlingham Books | Putney Bridge

https://www.instagram.com/p/BAPB04XmeYF/

They say you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover. You should, however, judge a bookshop by its shopfront – and this second hand store is exactly as crammed and eclectic on the inside as you’d hope. FIND OUT MORE

Retrouvé | Hackney

https://www.instagram.com/p/BPff2-QgOgI/

This vintage shop is so authentic, even the shop sign is recycled. Stocking hand-me-downs from the 1930s onwards, the dedicated owner will even hunt down specific items on request. FIND OUT MORE

Cundall and Garcia | Spitalfields

https://www.instagram.com/p/BTZOq5oFPiQ/

Cundall and Garcia offer Monmouth-roasted coffee, pantry provisions from around the UK, and sandwiches filled with the likes of wild boar and apple sausages. Oh, and there’s bunting. FIND OUT MORE

Floris | St James’s

https://www.instagram.com/p/BbKWLdcH6GC/

Well, Floris is just your typical 300 year old perfume shop once equipped with a direct underground tunnel connected to Buckingham Palace… FIND OUT MORE


Thomas Farthing 
| Bloomsbury

https://www.instagram.com/p/BbeOpKvnBhW/

Thomas Farthing’s 30’s style suits make you look so good, this guy hasn’t realised he’s talking to a mannequin yet. FIND OUT MORE

The Tea House | Covent Garden

https://www.instagram.com/p/BXk-C36F12e/

Piled up to the rafters with tea leaves, exotic brewing paraphernalia and elegant teapots, this window to The Tea House leaves you in no doubt as to what they sell here. That’s right, it’s golf clubs tea. FIND OUT MORE

Lina Stores | Soho

https://www.instagram.com/p/Ba1fPJ_gUkk/

We’re 97% certain that the shade of green adorning the front of Soho’s Lina Stores has been scientifically developed to make you subconsciously splash an inordinate amount of cash on the Italian biscuits, oils and truffle products lining the walls inside. FIND OUT MORE

Mile 27 | Regent’s Park

https://www.instagram.com/p/BCPacdGitDi/

Once the site of a Welsh dairy, the Mile 27 coffee shop and runner’s club has inherited the loveliest of tiled facades, and equally lovely tiled interiors to boot. And yes, they’re totally milking it. FIND OUT MORE

The Vintage Showroom | Covent Garden

https://www.instagram.com/p/BbP4nxUFtYB/

In 2007, The Vintage Showroom took over a former ironmongers that had been on this spot since 1835.

It was hard, but they managed to forge a new path for the place.

And now it’s home to their first vintage emporium, with an appointment-only collection of the most covetable pieces downstairs. FIND OUT MORE

Raven Row | Spitalfields

https://www.instagram.com/p/BY8XIIOArMU/

Raven Row is an unmarked, but far from understated, free exhibition space in the heart of Spitalfields. Drop by, and you might find yourself witnessing anything from the mental cartography of an experimental farmer, to live performance art where the cast “attempt to be each other.” FIND OUT MORE

Donovan Bros. | Spitalfields

https://www.instagram.com/p/BaMNnhRAczp/

This Spitalfields ghost sign once marked the flagship of a successful chain of paper carrier bag merchants, who had branches in Borough Market, Covent Garden and Commercial Road. Nowadays they’re operating in New Spitalfields Market for all your wholesale disposable receptacle needs. FIND OUT MORE

Pompi | Richmond

https://www.instagram.com/p/BZHAOt7lM-H/

Ok, so this isn’t strictly the outside of a shop. But honestly, you’ll be too busy rushing inside for the five varieties of tiramisù they serve to even notice the front… FIND OUT MORE

 

Main image: Liberty London


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