American Retro on Old Compton Street (London) has products beyond words…so we thought we’d show some rather sexy pics. We think this beautiful shop in the heart of seedy Soho from the chain store it has become and provides great irreverent products at awesome prices. Below is the hottest watch we’ve found in all of London town and it’s only £30! American Retro‘s website sells all their super quirky products online, so you don’t even need to leave your shack…Like their Facebook page for updates here

Shop lowdown: 25 years old (the same age as this writer) and still independent, Sue Tahran’s American Retro offers the effortlessly cool and quirky including accessories, clothing (Fred Perry and new up and coming independent labels & designers like Trikki), art books, cards and exciting housewares.

Shop til you drop and have a vintage summer with our pick of the lovely oxymoron of digital online vintage shopping. We tried to avoid the obvious and bring you the best secret places to find those gems that will make your friends mega jealous. Here’s our top 3!

1. Ultimate favourite online vintage shop! Thrift-ola

This online one of treasure trove of vintage, kitsch and housewares has saved our life. We love following Leona Thift-ola on her adventures finding the most amazing trinkets for the site. Our favourite items are below and don’t forget today is her rather wonderful Make me an offer Monday…so make her and offer bag a uniquely brilliant bargain!

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2. Favourite mailout! Retro To Go

This is an essential within the Loserville Towers inbox, their email has kept us in debt for around a year now…hehe. Their daily mailout features retro trinkets on eBay, the web in general and new retro-themed items from less pricey retailers.

Sign up to their mailing list here

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3. Favourite charity goldmine! Oxfam’s Second-Hand Online Store

Free delivery and endless bargains keep us coming back to the charity monolith. We love you Oxfam!

This weekend whilst flyering I discovered the superdooper Columbia Road market area in ‘fashionable’ Shoreditch, which was rammed with trendy people and had an absolutely outstanding roast – 10/10 at the Star of Bethnal Green. Here’s why it’s such a lovely place to go for a wander on a Sunday! Don’t miss their special Christmas Wednesdays where you can get all your Christmas shopping for the people you like all in one place!

1) Amazing pub lunch! At The Star of Bethnal Green which is just round the corner and a nice relaxing break from the madness of the market. I had the roast stuffed chicken and it came stacked with the classics some unusual amazing extras like beetroot, potato gratin and a scottish pancake thing mmm was so good! It’s also home to our favourite monthly dance fest: Unskinny Bop they provide”Disco dancing opportunities for girls, gays and misfits.”

2) Nice Geezers! The lovely traditional flower market sellers hawking their wares with much aplomb. As a saarfh-east London boy I love a bit of the good old shouting ‘any bunch a fivvaaah’, it’s so nice in a world of Tesco.

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3) Lovely Sweety Shop! Suck & Chew at Number 130 peddles every conceivable sweet you can remember, and some you don’t, while their delightfully named Vintage Tat range of
pocket money treats brings out the inner kid in everyone. And, if you can’t find what loved as a kid, just ask, from Coltsfoot rock to a stuffed dog on wheels: Shopkeepers Vicki and McCaulay will happily track it down.

4) Amazing niknak shop! I loved this shop as it had beautiful niknaks and unusual gifts including lovely ceramics like dog shaped mugs. I also loved when the owner said they did not have a website or a card. Visit Idonia van der bijl (the shop) at number 122 Columbia Road!

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5) Fun Fabrics! Beyond Fabrics at no.67 was a truly gorgeous shop, chock full of rare pretty fabrics!

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6) Ryantown! Lovely paper-cuts and a gorgeous temporary taxidermy inspired gallery show.

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House Clearance – rummage sale and artists’ market launches tomorrow, Sunday at Jaguar Shoes – In memory of Gladys Chance and for the benefit of her cat and only friend, Cecil. Read Gladys’ story here…and be sure to come and pay your respects from 11-4 in Shoreditch…

RSVP to the event on Facebook here

Join the fan page by clicking Like here

Hereth the story of Gladys Chance begineth…

Gladys was born in a village near Coventry in 1912, the year of the Titanic disaster. Her father worked in the newly built Cadbury factory making Dairy Milk for a very low wage and the family was used to a frugal lifestyle. Her mother was a retired footwear model and resented the loss of her looks to the point of becoming increasingly envious of her daughter’s strange beauty.

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During the prosperous 1920s, Gladys in her teens became obsessed with the music hall. She followed her dream to London, leaving her family in search of fame, fortune and independence. She arrived in London amazed at the scale and truly thought the streets were paved with gold. She settled in South-East London becoming a chorus and cloaks girl at the Croydon Clocktower under the name of Coral Wreath.

She eventually came to headline at the Croydon Clocktower, she yearned to move on to greater things, the Palladium perhaps. However, a chancer named Cecil conned her out of all her newly made wealth, promising her a life of luxury and stardom, only to deliver a damp cold empty squat in Soho. He left the country with her money and she never saw him again.

Gladys from this point on lived a rather solitary life, despite marrying her former schoolmate Arthur. Unfortunately, upon his return from the battlefields of WWII, Arthur was a changed man, whose abusive nature distanced the pair, and pushed Gladys into a life of solitude and often despair.

Inspired by the TV series The Good Life, Arthur persuaded Gladys to abandon her career and leave friends behind to begin a new life of sustainable living in Surbiton.

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To support the household while Arthur reared pigs and lived the simple life, Gladys became a cleaner for their wealthier and…neighbours. As she dusted the picture frames of these happy, contented families, Gladys began to realise how much in life she was missing.

Unbeknownst to Gladys, Arthur’s health was deteriorating, and one day while Gladys was emptying the ashtrays of the next-door neighbours, she caught sight of her husband in pain on their vegetable patch. The image of his face as his life slipped away would haunt Gladys until the day she died.

With her husband gone, and his lovingly tended garden rapidly going to ruin, Gladys became even more reclusive, even giving up her cleaning job and thus her one looking glass into a happy world.

Seeing her sister-in-law’s life descending into mournful isolation and loneliness, Arthur’s sister Brenda gifted Gladys a new-born kitten from her cattery in Shropshire, hoping that the company provided by the cat would help fill the void left in Gladys’ heart.

Gladys named the cat Cecil, after her previous fling in her youth and quickly developed a fondness for it, even allowing Cecil to sleep at the end of her bed. Cecil reminded Gladys of Arthur, particularly his Taurean traits of stubbornness and stoic loyalty.

During her final years as her life slowly slipped away, Cecil provided comfort and a loud purr to the now frail Gladys. She passed away peacefully this year aged 102.

House Clearance is in memory of this old woman’s struggle against the odds and the many old people who have no one,  and is for the benefit of her cat Cecil who still lives, aged 9.

Still a few stalls left at Saturday 31st July (12-6pm) Going For a Song jumble spectacular at the legendary Amersham Arms in New Cross. Do hurry though, we wouldn’t want to disappoint! The day is promising to be a belter, we’ve got some super bands lined up and also amazing prizes to be won in our tombola! Be sure to spread the word with your friends and lovers…Combine this with a visit to Deptford market for all your superdooper shopping needs! http://goingforasongjumble.blogspot.com

Special Offer: Two stalls for £20 – team up with a mate and get a space for just a tenner each! How great is that!