One of a Kind International Living Postcards--your daily escape Wednesday, Jan. 11, 2006
London, England Sienna Miller sent us. Not directly. Kaitlin, our 16-year-old daughter, had read an interview with Sienna Miller in a London tabloid in which Sienna divulged that her favorite shop for vintage clothing "treasures" is a small place in Notting Hill. We were spending a few days in London just before Christmas, and Kaitlin asked if we could seek out Sienna's recommendation. The place is called "One Of A Kind," but, in fact, there are two of them, owned and run by the same Rastafarian Londoner. The main shop is on Portobello Road. The sister shop, open by appointment only, is around the corner. Blink as you're walking by, and you'll miss them both. They have narrow shop fronts but extend deep inside, where they are jam-packed, floor to ceiling and every square inch of space in between, with what Lief referred to as "hand-me-downs from the '60s and '70s." You've never seen so many used clothes. Thousands of pieces of inventory. Organized in no discernable way. But let Jeff, the proprietor, know what you're interested in…and he'll whisk you from rack to rack, shelf to shelf, hanger to hanger, pulling out pieces to your description and in your size. The guy must have a photographic memory for old dresses and T-shirts. "Someone, very famous…I can't tell you her name…was in here last week," Jeff told Kaitlin, standing outside the dressing room curtain, admiring the 1960s powder blue empire-waist dress she was trying. "She tried on that dress…but it didn't look half as good on her. She'd strangle you if she saw you now. That's fab on you." Kaitlin had to have it. And the silk mini-skirt he chose for her. And the Manolo black suede pumps. (I embarrassed Kaitlin by wondering if she weren't confused. Isn't Manolo's a restaurant in Casco Viejo, I had to ask…) I won't tell you what we spent on Kaitlin's vintage buys, but, suffice it to say, we walked out that sunny Notting Hill morning with her Christmas in a single shopping bag. And we bought a T-shirt for Jack. A red Puma pullover from the 1970s. Jeff looked down at 6-year-old Jackson and exclaimed: "I have just the thing for you, love. It just arrived this morning." From behind the register, he pulled the red T. Perfect fit. Great look for a first-grader. Jack wouldn't take it off for three days. Our Christmas indulgences impressed Jeff enough that, as we prepared to leave (we'd spent more than two hours in the shop…Lief and Jackson, for the final hour, playing Poker on a stool…), he pulled out a card with his phone number on it. "Call me next time you're in London," he said. "I'll arrange for you to see my other shop. That's where I keep the real treasures…" Kathleen Peddicord
Publisher, International Living P.S. One Of A Kind is at 253 and 259 Portobello Road. See http://www.1ofakind-shop.com/. Related articles: - Think you could write a Postcard like this one? Here's how to get your first assignment. - Retro clothing, antiques, eccentric hairstyles, Asian spices, and holistic massage--the best of London's markets. - Looting Malacca.
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