44 Frocks is known for hosting secret location designer dress parties – try for size, then eat cupcakes washed down with champagne. It’s safe to say that their accessories-buying is just as good, and requires no invite. Co-owners Laura and Vickie focus on local designers and artisans, so you can pick up handmade pieces that aren’t cookie-cutter ordinary.
Thomas More Square is lined with office buildings, and if I worked in one of them 44 Frocks is where I would go to get presents for every female I know. Nothing in here is twee – or if it looks it on the surface, it’s definitely not on closer inspection. They stock beautifully-worked metal and crystal necklaces by Storm in a Teacup, as well as tea towels and make-up bags hand-printed with 19th-century London maps. And for anyone after a good-looking but sturdy weekend bag, 44 Frocks is the place to find it.
The boutique itself is set up like an open-plan girls’ apartment: dressing screens at the back, a bookcase filled with everything from Wolf Hall to fashion tomes, antique sewing machine, large mirrors and, of course, tables of stock. You can even pick up original photographs of contemporary riverside London to go with your other purchases.