Retro Woman

The best place to go if you like beautiful things. Amazing collection of shoes & handbags.

My favourite shop in Notting Hill.

The staff here is famously rude - although the worst one is the Italian (?) one who seems to be in charge of the Soho branch. They all seem to think we're beggars for bringing in old clothing, when in fact they rely on us to do so. 
I brought in several designer jackets, and was offered between £6-£8 per item, and that included a flawless Yves Saint Laurent jacket. Needless to say I left. Back to good old eBay.

PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE BUYING OR SELLING ANYTHING HERE.

I had two scarfs one from Hermes and one from Erdem and some other leather goods that must have totaled around one thousand pounds retail. High end stuff. And I wanted to exchange them for some new shirts, recycle the old for the new, have a clear out so... i went to visit the shop.

It was so bad it was actually good, the shop was empty and smelt, I was ushered into a basement where a young black British girl served me, I wish I had got her name.

I had around 8 unused items that did not suit me I thought I would see if I could exchange them. The assistant began to turn her nose up at the clothing it was bizarre, just what about Hermes and Erdem the assistant found so awful I just don't know.

When she saw my scarf she began to rub it with her fingers with gasps of "oh its yellow, its yellow, its damaged. " Which for a second worried me. Alas there was nothing wrong with my scarf. She wanted to offer me a pitiful amount, and pull a fast one on me.

Anyhow after looking through my garments she made a miriad of excuses to why she could only offer me, wait for it, £1.50!!!!

I was flabbergasted, and needless to say took my garments back. I got the impression business is bad, and if they can, THEY WILL try to screw you over and bank on the fact that most people do not want to leave empty handed. It was a rather bizarre experience. And made no sense. I left the store feeling humiliated and bemused. It was all rather strange, I have no idea what training she had. Or if she was ever involved in fashion. Bizarre.

VERY rude staff. Ive had similar experiences to the above reviewers. A surly man (who thinks he is better than everyone) downstairs sifting through your treasured clothes, looking distainfully at every item before finally concluding £5 is all you deserve for an entire garbage bag full of designer gear. Way too cool for school- need to take a deep breath and decide how much (or little) you are willing to part with your clothes for

You can find some treasures, in particular Prada, Chanel and Jimmy Choo shoes, and the sales staff are very friendly. However, when I went with a pair of Jimmy Choos to trade, you're sent down into the basement where the staff were patronising and uninterested. The woman was dismissive and said that she wouldn't accept them as they were slightly scuffed and they had quite a few black stilettoes already (so not exactly what they put on their website that they 'accept anything that's legal') Given that every pair of shoes have marks and some sort of scuffing for the obvious reason that they're not brand new, I was slightly confused and their attitude was terrible. I really wouldn't want to give them my business and given that there are lots of fabulous vintage shops this will not be one I'll be going back to.

I went in to Retro Women today after doing research that they bought unwanted old clothes.
I live a good 40 minutes away, but lugged my big suitcase full of my worldly goods over to notting hill hoping to get a bit of cash as well as making that much needed room in my wardrobe!!
I arrive in the morning and a polite young man greeted me and showed me down to the basement (i had no help with this large heavy suitcase, down these very narrow stairs)
The guy sifting through my clothes was sullen and miserable. He picked out about 5 items (out of about 60 items i had bought) and offered me £12 for the lot (i dread to think of how much they cost all together).
Needless to say i hadnt gone over there wanting to come back with nothing so at least it paid for my travel so i excepted the offer!!
What annoys me the most is that they advertise saying 'nothing refused' and when i questioned the miserable guy sifting through my clothes he offered me 1p per item he refused. Which frankly is like giving me the bird for breaking my back going over all that way.
My advise to anyone who wants them to buy there old treasures is to go and sit on the curb of Brick Lane...that has worked out much better for me in the past!!

A good place to go if you are looking for a Chanel handbag, a two-piece Dior suit, a Prada dress, a Vivienne Westwood Gold Label, a costumised McQueen or a pair of Jimmy Choo's. This shop focuses on a bit more upscale vintage pieces but you can also find £2 jeans and tacky 80s knitwear.