Pop in to Poppy Valentine

Poppy Valentine in London’s Portobello is the perfect place to spend a Saturday afternoon. You will be hidden away from the high street masses and surrounded by gorgeously ethical, truly scrumptious dresses, made from the finest vintage fabrics. What’s more, it’s all affordable too. Clare Saxon meets founder and designer Claire Read.

Clare writes: The clothes and accessories are all magically made in the back of the shop from vintage fabrics which are recycled into modern designs, a rare concept for a boutique. I catch up with Claire Read of Poppy Valentine to find out more about the shop and what makes her recycled vintage heels tick with excitement.

Claire tells me why Poppy Valentine is so lovely to its customers: “We like to offer a personal service. We listen and respond to what our customers like, offering a bespoke service at no extra cost where customers can go through our huge collection of vintage fabrics which I have collected for years – some are my nanna’s! – and choose the style, fabric, leather colour and accessories that they want.

“We also offer a free alterations service on clothing purchases, as it is important to us that our customers are happy with the fit. Our vintage fabric products are either one-offs or very limited edition as we don’t like making too many things the same. Our customers love the fact that the products are made on site, they even like to watch us making them!”

It all sounds delightful, but how ethical is Poppy Valentine? Claire informs me: “All of the vintage range products are made in London and we recycle both vintage fabrics for the outside of the bags and plain dead stock fabrics for linings. We try to use veg tan leather where possible and use a hybrid vehicle to deliver locally. The workers in the shop are also treated extremely well, they even get free tea and cakes!”

So what inspired this perfect pot of vintage? Claire loves the Sixties. “That was when young women stopped dressing like their mothers,” she says. “For textile prints, though, it has to be the Fifties, I love the work of people like Lucien Day and Mary White. There was so much inspiration in interiors in the Fifties around the time of the festival of Britain.”

Claire also finds inspiration in other ways: “I love watching the kitchen sink dramas of the Sixties like ‘Saturday night Sunday morning‘, ‘A taste of Honey‘ and ‘Poor Cow‘. I love actresses like Rita Tushingham and Julie Christie -  I call it gritty chic! But my queen of vintage has to be my assistant and right-hand girl Bella. She lives and breathes vintage and is extremely cool although she doesn’t realise it.” Innocent vintage superstar? Sounds a bit like this beautiful boutique!

So for vintage one-offs or very limited edition pieces you will love as much as the ladies who made them, Poppy Valentine will deliver your dream outfit with bags of love and buckets of sustainable style.

www.poppyvalentine.com