This weeks live shop unfortunately could not come to you live as The Stables Market is only open on Saturday and Sunday. However, equipped with my Sony Vaio I headed down to the market to view some of it's stalls and speak with some of the community of traders. It is situated in Camden Town, underneath the railway bridge (pictured above) near the canal. The market takes place on the site of an old horse hospital (hence the name). There have been markets in Camden since the early seventies and they attract over 100,000 visitors each weekend, so many in fact that the tube station has limited weekend access.
It's a great place to spend a weekend, and offers many great individual items which you wouldn't get anywhere else. There are plenty of vintage stalls where you can find a bargain or two. We picked some of the most exciting stalls but there were far too many things going on for us to show you everything! The Campaign Check out handbags at Afextiou Serendipity
If you like cheap, vintage clothing then look no further than the Stables market. It is literally littered with vintage stalls, and 'What goes around, Comes around...' particularly stands out because of the vast size of it. Spread over two floors the shops is packed with a mixture of mens and womenswear including shoes, cut-off jeans, accessories and formal wear. The majority of the womenswear is upstairs and included a whole rack of glittery jumpers and cardigans (pictured above) which are currently very popular (from £8).
There is so much young, creative talent within the Stables Market as it's a relatively easy way to begin selling your own produce. The great thing about this is that the market sellers are often very passionate about their produce having worked hard to design and create it. It is also interesting as some traders are making more items as you browse their stall. The Urbanist is one example of this, spray painting custom designs whilst you wait...
This womenswear stall is to the side of the former Horse Hospital just before the top of the hill. It has a beautiful collection of Indian inspired clothing which the owner, Sasha, designs and sources herself.
This accessories stall is one of those things that you know is going to be huge. It's such a simple idea but they are beautiful items and are sure to have something that you'd want. Afxentiou is a range of handbags and small accessories created by Sophie Afxentiou and her partner Matt Savage. They create the wonderful items at their shipping container in the docklands where they laminate the fabric themselves.
Despite being a very popular shopping destination for Londoners and a 'must-see' tourist spot the market has recently come under threat by developers. Currently (for those who do not know the market) it is a maze of stalls, shops and food stands. You can easily spend an entire day mulling around the stalls and eating wonderful food from around the world for just £3!
A campaign is currently under way to save the market, developers plan to build a mall with small spaces for each stall within it. I feel that this would lose the community feel of the market slightly. We thought that the Live Shop was a great opportunity to show you what we'd all be missing out on if the changes were to go ahead. For more information please click here.
About an hour from London by train is Bicester Village, one of the country’s premium outlet shopping destinations. We turned up, Sony Vaio at the ready, to discover it’s called a village for a reason! The whole place is set out like a toy town, with brands like Dior, Jimmy Choo, Versace and Mulberry nestled in cottage-like buildings along cobbled streets next to high street names like Monsoon, Karen Millen, Coast and French Connection.
It was our first time at Bicester, so after blowing a kiss at the bear statue (!) we were keen to suss out what the discounts were like. As it’s an outlet village, you can expect savings of up to 70% but that does mean a lot of the stock is past season. Still, with timeless brands like Celine, Anya Hindmarch and Tod’s choosing to sell off their old stock there, Bicester is all about getting cheap classics!
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