Portobello Road Charity Shop: Red Cross Vintage on Sundays

The British Red Cross shop at 164 Portobello Road, London W11 2EB, is open from 10am to 6pm Monday to Saturday and from 12pm to 5pm on Sunday. It sits in one of the most photographed streets in London, but it is a working charity shop with a vintage focus: the Red Cross lists vintage dresses, suits, jackets and sweatshirts, designer brands including Chanel, Valentino, Jaeger and St Michael, and vintage jewellery, bags and shoes.

Portobello Road is known for its market and its pastel houses, and most visitors spend their time among the stalls. The Red Cross shop offers a different way to shop the same street: fixed prices, a till, a fitting area and a roof over your head if the weather turns. It is also one of the few places on the road where the money you spend supports people in crisis, locally and internationally, as the charity's shop page puts it.

The shop's own page describes what you will find in specific terms. Clothes come first, with the vintage dresses, suits and jackets that this part of west London has always attracted, then the designer labels, then the jewellery, bags and shoes. Household items and unusual vintage pieces round out the stock. Because everything is donated, the list is a guide to categories, not a promise that a given label will be on the rail the day you visit.

Start at the jewellery, because it is the smallest and quickest category to scan. Vintage rings, necklaces and watches sit in a counter or display, and the pieces that interest you are easy to ask about. Look for hallmarks and clasps rather than size or colour, and ask to see anything that looks well made. Costume jewellery is rarely worth an unusually high price, so judge by how it feels in the hand.

Move on to the clothes with a plan. Portobello donations tend to include a wide range of eras, so use fabric as your guide: silk, wool and cotton age well, while cheap polyester from any decade looks tired fast. Check linings, underarms and hems. If a coat or dress fits across the shoulders, almost everything else can be altered by a good tailor, which makes shoulders the one measurement to trust.

Bags and shoes need honest inspection. Open a handbag fully, look at the corners and the lining, and test the zip. For shoes, look at the soles and the heel tips, since worn leather uppers are cheaper to polish than worn soles are to replace. The Red Cross says that the better the condition of an item, the more likely it is that they will be able to sell it, which tells you donated stock is graded before it reaches the floor.

The shop is open every day, but the street changes character across the week. Portobello Road Market is busiest on Saturdays, when the pavements outside are crowded and the shop does its heaviest trade, so a weekday morning after 10am is the easy time to see the whole floor. Sunday is a short day, with the doors opening at 12pm and closing at 5pm, so arrive close to noon if you want a long look.

A judgement call: if you are only here for souvenirs or bargain-bin basics, the shop is not the answer. It is at its best for one-off clothes and accessories, and a day spent hunting for one particular designer label is a day likely to end in disappointment. Go for the browsing, treat a Chanel or Valentino label as a bonus rather than a target, and you will leave with something you actually like.

Payment is simple, because the shop page says card payments are accepted, and donations of goods and cash are welcomed. If you are bringing in donations, aim for clean, current-condition items that fit the vintage and designer theme of the shop. The email on the shop page, portobelloroadshop@redcross.org.uk, is the route for questions you do not want to ask over the till.

Budget a full hour if you mean to try things on. Vintage sizing is unreliable, so a dress marked for one size can fit like another, and the only honest test is the mirror. Bring a thin base layer so you can slip clothes on over it, and wear shoes you can take off quickly. Ask staff whether a piece has a matching item, such as a jacket and skirt that were donated together.

From the shop you can walk the length of the road in either direction. One end leads towards Notting Hill Gate and its tube station, the other towards Ladbroke Grove and the quieter stretch of the street, where the stalls thin out and shops take over. Along the way are antiques arcades, vintage dealers, bakeries and pubs, so plan a coffee halfway and leave the heaviest shopping until the end of the walk.

The houses on the side streets are the famous ones, painted in pastel shades of pink, blue and mint. They are best seen on a weekday morning, when you can stand back on the pavement without being swept along by a crowd. If you are collecting photographs as well as clothes, walk the side streets first and come back to the shop afterwards, with the time to try things on.

Address: 164 Portobello Road, London W11 2EB. Opening hours from the British Red Cross shop page: Monday 10am to 6pm, Tuesday 10am to 6pm, Wednesday 10am to 6pm, Thursday 10am to 6pm, Friday 10am to 6pm, Saturday 10am to 6pm, Sunday 12pm to 5pm. Card payments are accepted.

Use Karpo APP to plan a half-day around the shop, pairing it with the antiques arcades and a bakery stop, and keep your bag small so you have room for what you find. If the shop is busy, start with the jewellery counter and come back to the rails when the queue eases. Everything you buy is a one-off, so decide quickly on the pieces you love and leave the rest for the next donor.