Girly Twirly
Have a cab drop you on the cnr of Ledbury Rd and Chepstow Villas, and head down Ledbury. First on the right is #32 Aimé / 7221 7070 / aimelondon.com / with a curated line in French fancies. Trick out Fido opp. at #51 Mungo & Maud / 7467 0834 / mungoandmaud.com, gasp at #53 Assya’s / 7243 1687 / assya london.com / striking jewels, then hiplines be damned with scandalously rich hot choc at #59 Melt / 7727 5030 / melt chocolates.com. Across the road, dip into fab budding design concept #46 Wolf & Badger (see Adv. Shopping); before zipping over Westbourne Gr for ‘kinis n’ kaftans at #48b Odabash / 7229 4299 / odabash.com; cult heels at #48 Penelope Chilvers / 7221 2363 / penelopechilvers.com; his n’ hers label stable #60 Matches / 7221 0255 / matchesfashion.com / and queen of die Schickeria #68 Dorothee Schumacher / 7229 0911 / dorotheeschumacher.com. Pop over the road for #77 Caramel’s / 7727 0906 / caramel-shop.co.uk / button-cute kids’ togs, then exit right and right again into Lonsdale Rd for #3 Ben Day’s stagger-glam gems (see Adv. Shopping). Another right turn will have you galloping into cobbled Colville Mews where #6 Temperley London / 7229 7957 / temperleylondon.com / has heart-stopping gowns, while just next door the Museum of Brands / 7908 0880 / museumofbrands.com / is a jolly jaunt down memory lane. Hank Marvin? Skip back to Ledbury and hit the buffet hard at #63 Ottolenghi (see Lunch), before slipping into some lim. ed. treads at #178 Mr. Hare / 7221 4025 / mrhare.com. Bear left into Westbourne Gr for one-stop swimsuit shop n’ tanning salon #174 Heidi Klein / 7243 5665 / heidiklein.co.uk / and gal about town #172 Twenty8Twelve / 7221 9287 / twenty8twelve.com. Dutch duds delight at #170 Maison Scotch / 7792 0152 / as does the m/wear across the road at #181 Scotch & Soda / 7792 5840 / scotch-soda.com. About-turn a few paces, staying left for à la mode apparel for boys at #189 Woodhouse / 7792 8253 / woodhouseclothing. com / and #201 Pippa Small / 7792 1292 / pippasmall.com / with ethnicky baubles. Now, carry on over Ledbury to nail the rest of Westbourne Gr. First, on the left cnr is sneaker ace #207 Emma Hope / 7313 7493 / emmahope.com / while on the right awaits #188 War the Robe / 7243 3776 / wartherobe.com / with eclectic Turkish clobber, #206 Orlebar Brown / 3441 6289 / orlebarbrown.co.uk / for swank guy swimmers, and #216 James Perse’s / 3617 9430 / jamesperse.com / luxey leisure garb. At the next cnr sashay right into Colville Rd, left down Lonsdale Rd, and right into the famous Portobello Rd – a riot of veg stalls, vintage and ‘antiques’. Flagging, Fanny? Snag a table at #191 Electric Diner (see Lunch) for people-ogling and a decent repast (with an eyeball on the listings of its ultra-plush cinema), or totter left onto Blenheim Cres to browse #4 Books for Cooks / 7221 1992 / booksforcooks.com / complete with fab cooking workshops. Note pan-Asian hipster sipster E&O at # 14 / 7229 5454 / for later, then saunter left onto Kensington Pk Rd for creative crumbs at #194 Biscuit Boutique / 7727 8096 / biscuiteers.com / and homespun interiors with feel-good fashion at #188 Couverture & The Garbstore / 7229 2178 / couvertureand thegarbstore.com. Almost there! Just scoot on and over the road for stylist go-to #19 Merchant Archive / 7229 9006 / merchantarchive.com. Didn’t you do well, Dolly? Finally, wobble back to E&O for a cocktail... or three. Lovely jubbly!