Beyond Retro

I saw this place advertised on the internet because they were having a ‘garage sale’ aka clearance of old stock. I went into the garage sale first which was located in the mini warehouse/​room next door to Beyond Retro. It was an interesting experience sorting through an array of different coloured bargains through the ages. It was so popular they had a queue outside the door with a one in one out policy. I managed to find a lovely dress for £6 and a skirt for £4.
Afterwards, I went to the store itself, next door. I was impressed with the number of clothing items they had from different eras but was rather disappointed with the price. All the items would have been second hand having been worn by someone in the 70’s/80’s/90’s so I didn’t expect to be paying upwards of £35 for a mini skirt or more than £50 for a dress.
This store is good to go to if you are looking for the retro look and don’t mind spending the cash!

Great atmosphere, good coffee, a wide array of pastries, sammies, and salads!
The shop is also cool, a good mix of vintage and randomness. A lot of vintage places are super disorganized, but this place was well ordered chaos. The prices seem a little high but I think you are paying for the selection.

A pesar de interesarme por la ropa que llevo, tengo que confesar que no me gusta ir de compras. Suelo entrar a cotillear un poco, pero me canso muy rápido y me agobio fácilmente ante la diversidad. De vez en cuando le pongo más ganas o me encuentro más inspirada, pero es rara la ocasión en la que esto sucede. Dicho esto, asumo que mi comentario no resultará muy útil a muchas víctimas de la moda, pero aquí estuve un buen rato esperando (no era uno de esos días de inspiración) y el comentario lo tengo que escribir.
Lo cierto es que la tienda está muy bien y el hilo musical incluso mejor, pero sobretodo me gustó mucho la cafetería improvisada de la entrada, con sillas variopintas y muros desconchados. Este espacio de bollos, snacks y cafés está conectado con la tienda, donde la ropa tiene personalidad y es de segunda mano (ahora se dice «vintage», pero no nos engañemos). Me recordó a un Urban Outfitters más auténtico, con camisetas y sudaderas de corte ochentero y animales pintados al modo graffiti, bandanas, turbantes, vestidos satinados para un Prom en Oklahoma, vaqueros e infinidad de trapos, camisetas y faldas sorprendentemente bien ordenados por colores, estampados y categorías. Curioso lugar que destaca en su estilo y donde probablemente compren ropa muchos de los habitantes de Hackney.

This place has got an awesome retro feel to it to fit in with the accompanying shop. Nice coffee, free wifi, friendly staff. Def worth a visit if your around.

Wonderful staff. I always enjoy a coffee here. Great food for meat eaters, vegans, and everyone in-​between.
Atmosphere could be a little better but the baristas make up for it.
Good calm place to meet a friend or get some work done. And if you spill on your shirt you can walk into the next room and pick out some vintage clothing. Convenient.
The only problem is they keep playing this playlist or CD that sounds like Pitchfork friendly music from 2005. Other than that it is great.

I like it here. It’s fun to look around but it’s a bit pricey for me. £20+ on average for a pullover with cats and sequins? Even ironically it’s just not worth it.
Then again, the last two times I came by I was with someone who wasn’t as interested in scouring the shop.
Ok so, if you have time to rummage through everything, do it. You just may find that dress you can’t put down no matter what.
ALSO! They have a lovely café attached. So you can reward yourself with a brownie after you find that perfect shoulder padded jumpsuit.

Staff are unwelcoming and unhelpful which really puts you off returning. Clothing selection is great though.

Beyond Retro has been celebrating its 10^th anniversary having started life as THE original vintage clothing shop just off Brick Lane, and having grown since to providing large branches in Dalston-​Stoke Newington, Soho and Brighton, plus I was told, a matching set of cool store locations in Sweden — I guess this must be in relative terms for Scandinavia? Their whole company birthday celebration was marked by a diverse evening of burlesque-​esque entertainment provided by the talented Tassel Club, to which I was a grateful invitee. This was also an opportunity for the business to show off its successful trademark attire from Victorian style lace accessories and nipple tassels to modern braces and satin-​ruched dresses even though their actual ‘trademark’ looks to me rather like the kind of permanent tattoo which I have been persuading my latest young intern not to go for.
This whole party package went down a treat with their invited customer, supplier and partner base; furthermore this branch includes a local coffee shop selling the best mixes of ground beans alongside homemade cakes such as one I liked with ginger+lemon+polenta. I was fortunately persuaded to sample these, despite the distraction of alcoholic freebies we were presented with to celebrate the occasion, e.g. amazing cocktails, confidentally mixed, one even containing London gin and Earl Grey tea! This spacious shop on the Dalston-​Stoke Newington borders has a diverse range of vintage style apparel, and a wonderfully bespoke feel, complemented by the sounds of Aretha and similarly retro Tunes playing on a good sound system, reverberating around the lovely tall flaky ceilings, adorned with Tellytubby style post-​industrial piping. Their secret, which is no longer safe with me, is that they are offering a special 50% off everything at the Cheshire St (Brick Lane) store this coming weekend. R-​E-​S-​P-​E-​C-​T.

Aah, Another Beyond Retro store now located in Dalston. Very handy for the local hipsters.
If you like to keep up with the Hipster/80’s/90’s trends, then this shop is for you!
Lots of second hand clothes, bags, shoes etc. 1980’s, 1990’s styles.
This one also has a coffee shop, so you can hang out there whilst looking Hip!
It’s massive!!!
I personally think it can be a bit overpriced for what you get, most of the stuff looks like it would not have cost much back when it was sold originally (say like New Look back in 1992) so I think pricing these items high is not nice;-(
If you are a good bargain hunter you can find better & cheaper in general charity shops and you will get more satisfaction from your bargain hunting too!
But, if you find yourself in the area & need an emergency outfit to wear on London fields, then you should head here!