London’s best spots for alternative Christmas shopping | Can’t think of anywhere more hellish than a shopping centre in December? Us neither – but that doesn’t mean we can’t enjoy festive shopping IRL. These indie events will leave you feeling downright jolly |
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| | King’s Cross Opening tomorrow on Granary Square, the Christmas Under The Canopy market will get jazzy new traders and events on a weekly basis up until Christmas (so you may want to visit more than once). Until Sunday, the focus will be on ceramics, while Crafty Fox Market is touching down with its trademark roster of artists and makers from 13-15 December.
Just around the corner at Coal Drops Yard, there’ll be a Mexican Christmas market from 6-8 December – expect stalls selling silver and Huichol jewellery, traditional Mexican cakes, handwoven textiles and more. Find out more
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| | Southwark Thinking about how to make Christmas 2019 more sustainable? Us too. At the Pebblefestive event at Flat Iron Square this Saturday, you’ll be able to shop over 30 independent and environmentally conscious brands – including sustainable sock-makers Socko, ethical lifestyle retailer So Just Shop and eco-friendly Danish jewellers Raw Copenhagen.
Entry to the event also gets you access to an array of sustainability-focused talks and workshops: learn how to reduce festive food waste, make zero-waste decorations and try your hand at wrapping presents in fabric. £7.50; 30 Nov; 68 Union St, SE1
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| | Shoreditch In afterlife sitcom The Good Place, one good deed on Earth can have endless (unintended) negative consequences. Sometimes, trying to live sustainably can feel a bit like that – so we’re glad to have found another green Christmas market where we can do our festive shopping.
Buy from over 50 zero-waste brands including Fatty’s Organic Gin, Upcircle Beauty and Edge & Company, and get everything wrapped up without using plastic. There’ll also be mulled wine, food stalls, Christmas cracker workshops – and a CHOIR. We’re there. £6.50; 7 Dec; The Boiler House, 152 Brick Ln, E1
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| No longer just a place you pass through en route to the train station, Victoria is becoming something of a foodie hub. Stylist Loves’ editor Kat checks out Wild By Tart, the neighbourhood’s latest gem |
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| | What do you get when you cross a former power station and coal store with two superstar caterers with a knack for style and substance? Wild by Tart – the new neighbourhood restaurant from Jemima Jones and Lucy Carr-Ellison of bespoke catering company Tart London. Tucked away in Eccleston Yards, it’s a glass-ceilinged, plant-filled space that looks like the warehouse refurb of your #propertyporn dreams.
As for the food? The menu is seasonal, ever-changing, and all farm-to-plate. It’s also designed to be shared; we started with warm sourdough bread and moreish Marmite butter (a must), then moved on to dishes including Devonshire crab and fennel tagliatelle and wild mushroom pizzetti with spinach, taleggio and rosemary from the wood-burning oven.
Deserts are similarly inventive; we devoured the homemade ice cream – one malt, one spiced with garam masala. In short – this place is chic, comfortable, and completely delicious. Honestly, we couldn’t fault it. 3-4 Eccleston Yards, SW1W
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| If you’re so organised that you’ve already bought all your Christmas presents, get your house something nice instead |
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| | If you’re anything like us, you’ll have been saying “I must get a print for that wall” for months. And now you’re hosting three get-togethers in the next four weeks, you’ve realised that big blank space isn’t going to decorate itself.
Thankfully, you can snap up affordable art at two different events this weekend. London Illustration Fair is at Southbank from tomorrow until Sunday, with talks, workshops and loads of prints to buy. And on Sunday, you can buy ready-to-hang pieces from artists like Juno Calypso, Polly Morgan and graphic design duo Rude (pictured) at the Art Car Boot Fair in Lambeth. Entry is £10 – best to book in advance.
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| FYI, we may make revenue on affiliate links contained in this email. | Image credits: Rude © The Stylist Group Ltd |
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