Kate Sylvester Shirt / Massimo Dutti Top / Zara Coat / Asos Skirt / Senso Shoes / Celine Bag
I have heard so much about the markets in London but usually the conversation is about Brick Lane with its vintage and street food. So when we went to Portobello Markets one Saturday afternoon I didn’t have too many expectations besides seeing the rows of pretty pastel houses seen in Notting Hill. A few friends had told me Porotbello Markets was more for overpriced antique knicks knacks so what we found was a pleasant surprise. The vintage was overflowing and all for a reasonable price too – around $10 pound for dresses and $15 for fur coats and jackets, which was a lot better than what I was expecting.
Usually when I go to markets I find there isn’t a balance of everything that makes a good one – interesting vintage and second hand stalls, cute little knick knacks, handmade goods like notebooks and Japanese fuzzy felt toys, book stalls, delicious food stalls, artists selling their work and the occasional soap and perfume stall here and there. Portobello had all of the above, and then some. Even a live music band with the scent of hot nuttella crepes floating down the main street.
We made our way out of the main hub of vintage stalls and onto the street where there were more commercial yet really cute stores lining the sides of the street. This is where it really sank in how big these markets really are and just how many people are shuffling down its tiny streets. For someone who didn’t have calling credit it was more important not to lose Laura and Bryce in the sea of people than it was to scour the market stalls.Luckily these two are very patient people because every time I spotted colourful terrace houses I would stop to take photos, so if you’ve been to Notting Hill before you’ll know we stopped a lot. But aren’t they pretty? New goal on my life list is to buy a whole row of houses and paint them pretty colours and prints. No not really, but kind of…See, more pretty houses! On our way out we found this incredible store, Hirst Antiques. It was one of those stores that I kind of wish we never found but at the same time I’m so glad we did. The vintage costume jewellry in here was ridiculous. Just make sure you know or ask which pieces are which, as there was quite a lot of “new” jewellery mixed into their vintage cabinets. If an antique is “that cheap” than usually it’s not real, especially from an antique seller who is more than aware of its worth.
We ended the day as a beautiful golden glow quickly filled Hyde Park. We bought these wands from the markets and spent the day doing, well, all of the above. I actually cried from laughter when Bryce decided to wear his bubble head for the occasion. And these are the usable photos too. All of the rest are photos of Laura and Bryce frantically running with their heads close to the ground trying to line up their face with the bubbles for these photos, or the flocks of children these bubble wands drew! I won’t lie though, seeing how happy these kids were from blowing bubbles completely made my day. Now let’s never speak again of how it’s honestly taken me a week to sort, edit and post these photos. On that note, this post has around 60ish photos so I had to refresh my page three times to make sure they all loaded properly so I hope they all load for you too!
Photos by me, Laura and Bryce.