Often described as the Harrods of
vintage, Blitz is London’s first
fully-fledged vintage department store, located just off Brick Lane (where
else?), in a disused Victorian warehouse. This huge space covers over 9,000
square feet over two floors, and boasts a magnitude of quality stock for both
men and women.
Blitz wears are extremely
reasonably priced, and varied. Items from every decade of the twentieth century
are available, from your average vintage fare to exciting designer finds from
Ralph Laurent, Vivienne Westwood, Comme des Garcons and Alexander McQueen. As
one might expect, there is more of a heavy focus on items from the 80s and 90s,
which is easier and cheaper to come by for obvious reasons, but there are still
extraordinary finds at Blitz that
hark right back to the Victorian era in a few cases, and if you’re lucky you
might even find 1920s’ flapper gowns and opera capes to snap up.
Clothing as expected is the main
focus at Blitz, but one can also
pick up books, records, accessories, luggage, and even bicycles there. In
addition, like any good department store, there is a growing furniture and home
wares section, curated by Broadway Market’s purveyors of heritage design The
Dog and Wardrobe. Finally, there is even an in-store café, which serves coffee
from an ancient converted Fiat.
Blitz offers a new, more
accessible style of vintage retail, which is professional, intelligent and
enjoyable. Visiting the store is a real experience, and ideal for anyone into
vintage or bargain hunting. They even have January sales on at the moment, and
student discounts throughout the year – awesome.
