They say the past is a foreign country. And to a Londoner, that means it’s eternally sun-dappled, which explains the mood lift you get on entering and seeing the multi-coloured mish-mash of spanking vintage goods on offer in the world of Pop.
While the Pop Boutique offers all clothing styles from the last 60 years, it has always displayed an overarching mod ethos, and there’s always a surplus of reflectively shiny Chelsea boots, skin-tight black cords, Breton tops, and LBDs with snowy-white Peter Pan collars.
Among the vintage Wrangler jackets, psychedelic A-Line frocks, plaid shirts and ‘ickle tiny ‘70s tees (perennial favourite of indie kids and now, 1990s retro fiends – how very post-post modern of them) you’ll find brand new items made especially for the shop’s own Pop label, which include Harrington-style jackets, dresses, jeans, knitwear and leather shoulder bags. There’s also original punk-era pin badges, braces, belts, jewellery, records, annuals and ‘60s and ‘70s homewares.
Unlike many other vintage boutiques, the stock at Pop is so crisp, clean and starched that you can only tell the new stuff from the second-hand gear by the Pop label. You find no apparel with crumpled lapels or worrying and mysterious stains here.