Trying London shopping on for size

Tag along as our fashion critic samples London's hot spots and trolls for finds, like a true Brit 'it' girl.

By Booth Moore, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
12:00 AM PDT, May 07, 2006

Related Stories

THE first time I visited Liberty of London I was 16, and as hard as I tried, I couldn't find a thing to buy. There wasn't a T-shirt or a tote bag in one of the store's famous prints, not even a pair of slippers, to show off to my friends at home. Only bolts and bolts of that paisley, floral and feather fabric.

I came back many times through the years and always the same disappointment. Then in October, I walked into the Tudor building on Regent Street and spotted it — a silk hobo bag in a brilliant peacock plume print. I snapped it up, along with a silk scarf and an embossed leather notebook. I even considered a pair of bikini underwear.

No doubt about it, Liberty had changed. And so had London. It wasn't the frumpy place I remembered from the 1980s, when Sloane Rangers dined on steak and kidney pie and Princess Diana struggled to stay on the best-dressed list wearing British designers.

More than any other fashion city right now, London is full of creative energy. You can feel it in the stores, restaurants, music halls and art galleries, and especially on the streets, where trends such as punk rock skulls, skinny jeans and padlocked Chloe Paddington bags were born, thanks to style icons Sienna Miller, Kate Moss, Gwyneth Paltrow and Madonna, who live here.

As The Times' fashion critic, I come to London at least once a year for the shows, which have had their ups and downs. But in the last several seasons, designers here have captured more attention than they have in years. New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art has been so inspired that it's opening a related exhibit, "AngloMania," this week, and the May issue of Vogue magazine is dedicated to British design.

When it comes to shopping in London, the exchange rate is brutal. But it is possible to dress like a Brit "it" girl — if you know where to go. In fact, give me 48 hours in the West End, Mayfair and Knightsbridge and I can cover the high-end, the avant-garde and the discount — entirely in stores that are unique to the city. Even the department stores are interesting, because they still serve their original function, stocking a little bit of everything.

Sometimes, I approach shopping here like a fashion tutorial, learning all I can about the latest old British brand — Liberty, Aquascutum, Biba and Mulberry, among others — trying to pull a Burberry and reinvent itself for a new generation. This is also the city that produced John Galliano and Alexander McQueen, so there is always a new rebel fighting for space on the boutique racks. And then there is Topshop, a laboratory for trends and the world's best cheap-chic store.

Shopping can be hard work in London, but it's also civilized. Here, retail therapy comes with great food halls, Champagne bars and fashion-related museum exhibitions.

Day 1

TO avoid jet lag, I usually take a morning flight from the East Coast, which lands me at Heathrow around 8 p.m., just as the shops are closing. Not even two litchi martinis at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel bar can take my mind off the next day's plan of attack.

I carry a nylon tote with an umbrella (rain comes fast and hard in London) and an extra pair of shoes for when my feet give out. I like to begin at Oxford Circus, where the same evangelist is always stationed with a bullhorn at Regent and Oxford streets, trying to move the tide of mass consumerism toward Jesus. The number of people streaming out of the Tube station is dizzying, each person working "a look." It could involve shorts worn with stockings and high boots or the gift-with-purchase handbag that came packaged with the latest British Vogue or Elle magazine. (Why don't they do this in the U.S.?)

You have to brace yourself for Topshop. The four-story fashion emporium has its own radio station and manicure bar, regular runway shows and candy bins to dip into for a sugar high. I like to look at the accessories on the ground floor first, because it takes concentration to make sense of the tangles of Boho beaded necklaces, bangle bracelets, fishnet stockings and leggings. Downstairs, I hit the boutique that features affordable collections by high-end designers, such as Zandra Rhodes and Sophia Kokosalaki, made especially for Topshop. (This month, textile designer Celia Birtwell, muse to David Hockney and former wife of designer Ossie Clark, joins the group.) Finally, I shop the shoe department, with its racks of ballet flats, picking up pairs in pink leopard and cream lace, #30 each, or about $55.

As you walk south on Regent Street, 131-year-old Liberty of London is on the left. The roots of the store are exotic. The Tudor part of the building is constructed from the hulls of an old ship, reflecting the tastes of founder Arthur Lasenby Liberty, a traveler and collector who decorated the store with carved monkey heads and outfitted the staff in kimonos. In the 1890s, Liberty designers became key figures in the Arts and Crafts and Art Nouveau movements. Liberty's dress fabrics were popular in the 1920s and '30s and again in the 1960s, when Mary Quant, Bill Blass, Yves Saint Laurent and others used them in their collections.

The store's profile declined after that. Then, two years ago, designer Tamara Salman, who worked at Prada and Romeo Gigli in Italy, was hired to recapture some of the store's past glory and create a signature brand. With 40,000 archival prints to pull from, she went wild, blowing up the Art Deco Ianthe print and splashing it on string bikinis and neon-pink plastic beach totes. She created a range of Ianthe-embossed leather handbags and duffels that are astoundingly modern and used the Hera peacock print on scarves, throw pillows and upholstered chairs. The new collection is not available in the U.S. yet — upping the prestige for the travel shopper.

Just behind Liberty is Carnaby Street, which these days is less about swinging and more about surfing and skating. Skip the Vans, Roxy and Quiksilver stores, but do stop in Pret A Manger, the local sandwich chain, for an early lunch. The Mature Cheddar and Pret Pickle is a guilty pleasure — lots of mayonnaise and cheese, very naughty, very English. I might pass through Boots too. This drugstore chain has the best travel-size shampoos and soaps.

Single page | 1 2 3 4 5 >>