FLIP

replace the address and this was all the publicity they did

Original check shirts, college jackets second hand Levis and converse along with 50s overcoats and battered leather jackets that was the main reason for going to Flip. An American Vintage store that was the destination in the late seventies and mid eighties for soul boys, Rockabilly revivalists and stylish people of all denominations. Covent Garden, King's Road and Shoreditch where were they were situated but the place to be was the Shoreditch Branch in Curtain Road

Remember this was when Shoreditch was one of the least trendy places in London; No Chicken Tagine, Mullets, Graphic designers or Japanese graffiti artists. Curtain Road was where all the best stuff was and cheaper too.

Yes you had to have a rummage but if you were patient you could find a nice MA1 flight jacket an original and subtle Hawaiian shirt a Pendleton blousson a Harrington style waisted jacket a lovely webbing belt or fifties jazz tie.

Alongside these goodies were numerous button down shirts, beautiful faded-plaid shirts, the odd pair of brogues, chinos and if you were lucky penny loafers or even an original Van Heusen shirt.

The kind of shop where you could get the gear that you saw in the movies and remembered from American TV and pop music.
 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cAlzg0S51GY
for some the playbook
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6dkSnG9Y0Bg

The style of clothes available became even more popular with the so called ‘Hard times’ look; a term coined by the young Robert Elms. But Flip didn’t live to see out the decade. The good thing is that other shops carried the baton forward with these types of clothes. The bad news is that they charged much more.

Those who remember going to Flip will remember a window of opportunity to look good, feel good and have change in your pocket. Individual items abounded ensuring that each Flip customer could be assured of having something different and something of genuine quality; as the legend says “they don’t make ‘em like that anymore”. A far cry from today.