We’re taking a look at the vintage and hand-crafted scene in Manchester, concentrating on the Northern Quarter area situated in the city centre.
The area has a nice collection of shops & stalls to tempt the vintage and hand-crafted enthusiast.
Let’s start with Manchester Craft & Design Centre. It’s a wonderful old building – a Victorian former fish & poultry market.
Spread over 2 floors, it houses a number of fabulous designer/makers, each with their own workspace cum retail outlet.
There are lots of gorgeous jewellery, clothing, home furnishings and accessories on sale.
Special mention must go to Calico Angel at Holm, owned by Susan Kane & Clinton Pilkington.
Not only are their products beautiful but the display was really imaginative – it’s an inspiring space.
There’s also a lovely little coffee shop, Café Aromat, on the premises. On a recent trip we had the best homemade muffins we’ve ever tasted!
Sticking with the hand-crafted theme, we move to Manchester Fashion Market
It’s held on Saturdays at the Piccadilly end of Tib Street.
It’s a group of about 10 outdoor stalls which sell clothing, bags, accessories and homewares – many using recycled fabric and materials.
Continuing on with vintage…
…there’s a great selection of vintage and retro shops in the area.
We love Pop Boutique on Oldham Street.
It always has a few tempting things in the window.
Once inside, you’ll find retro fashion upstairs and vintage homewares downstairs – along with a bustling café.
Across the road is Den Furniture…
…which has a mixture of contemporary & period vintage furniture including reupholstered pieces given a new lease of life.
Next door is Ryan Vintage – a real rummager’s paradise – both mens’ & womens’ fashion and very popular with Manchester’s student population.
Also on Oldham Street is Oxfam Originals…
… a great selection of clothes, bags, shoes and ties… and of course, the money goes to charity!
A short walk around the corner – back on Tib Street – is Rags to Bitches…
…it stocks a discerning selection of vintage clothes & accessories.
They also run lots of fashion-related talks & events in their shop.
Then there’s Cup on Thomas Street – homemade cakes & vintage crockery – what could be better?
Close by on Church Street, is Affleck’s Palace, something of a Manchester institution.
Three floors of fashion, vintage and alternative culture.
Also in the area and worth a visit are American Graffitti, Bluerinse Vintage and Retro Rehab – and some good art & craft supply shops like Fred Auldous and Abakan Fabrics, Hobby & Home.
We hope you’ve enjoyed our little tour and get the chance to visit!
Tags: craft, handmade, Manchester, Northern Quarter, recycled, retro, shopping, vintage
I am booking a ticket to Manchester NOW!
Wow, looks amazing. I have never really been interested in going to Manchester but now I am so jealous of the people I know that live there.
Don’t let Manchester’s reputation for being grey & rainy put you off – it’s a great city with lots to see & do!
Wow, Manchester looks like such a vibrant spot!
Great round up of the NQ, a great reason to visit Manchester. I live practically round the corner from the craft and design centre, but have never been! I really must take a look!!
It’s been a while since I visited Manchester, I hadn’t realised there were so many vintage shops! Thanks for the great info – I may be able to find some bits and pieces for my new work.
You must…if only for one of those fabulous muffins!
Well I had heard of Manchester’s reputation but now I see why! I suspect I would be bankrupt in my first week of living there! Great tour! t.x
Great tour! I lived in Manchester for 8 years, loved the NQ. I always liked the DoJo eco shop on Mason street and Oklahoma on High street.
OH WOW!!! Thanks so much for featuring Manchester on your blog! I’m from Bolton (just outside of Manchester) I was thinking of doing a post very similar to this, but you’ve done it- and so very thoroughly too! Hurrah for Manchester!
[...] for today’s post. It recently caught my (Adelle’s) eye in the window of one of Manchester’s Northern Quarter vintage shops – a real bargain at just [...]
Excellent! I found this originally on the design*sponge site and thankfully you gave a link to your blog which has the photos. I’m off to Manchester on April 14th for the day – solo – to pick up a Ryan Giggs jersey for my step-dad’s birthday. I was hoping there’d be more to see than just the FC stuff…. hooray you’ve shown me that there is. THANK YOU!
Hi Jen,
Little word of warning – a couple of those shops are sadly no longer with us. Rags to Bitches closed about a year ago and American Graffiti closed just last week
There are however a couple of new ones that have open since we wrote that post. We are due to update the post on Design*Sponge – we’re waiting for spring & sunny weather!
Have a great day! x
[...] graffiti, vintage shops, and studios of the Northern Quarter (and beyond)… Aided by this helpful city guide originally published on [...]
Ahhhh, home sweet home! Manchesters Northern Quarter has been my go to shopping district since i was 13 shopping at Afflecks Palace
Lovely blog!!!! from @peppermintplace xo
Hattie Crook recently posted on their blog…Mi casa, Part 2.
We’ve been meaning to do an update on our Vintage Manchester blog post. A couple of the shops we featured have unfortunately closed, but a few others have popped up… watch this space!
Well next time you go check out Retro Rehab on Oldham St, across from Ryan’s Vintage (which is the biggest indoor vintage shop in Europe apparently, but as I can see you’ve visited before) Also Magma is an amazing Arts book shop a couple of shops down from Pop! I was lucky enough to work in my friends shop whilst I was studying Fashion, The Secret Boudoir, which was behind Bluu Bar…unfortunately it’s not there any longer, sob! xo
Hattie Crook recently posted on their blog…Mi casa, Part 2.