Alfie's is what it's all about

Keira Knightley in the sparkly flapper's dress she bought for her 21st birthday celebrations from the increasingly hip Alfie's Antique Market in Marylebone
13 April 2012

Kate Moss buys her handbags there and it is where Keira Knightley gets her vintage frocks.

Now Alfie's Antique Market has been named one of the best shopping destinations in London.

The arcade in Church Street, Marylebone, has been trading quietly for 30 years.

But since Moss popped in to snap up a Twenties clutch bag for her infamous Beautiful And The Damned 30th birthday party, it has attracted the capital's cool people.

Knightley bought the sparkly flapper's dress she wore to her 21st birthday celebration from Alfie's and Stella McCartney and Jean Paul Gaultier are devotees.

The market has been named one of the top shopping destinations in a new guide to London compiled by style bible Wallpaper*.

The pocketbook distils the capital down to a handful of the hippest destinations.

As well as Alfie's, Richard James in Savile Row, Liberty, Prada, Selfridges and Start in Hoxton are among the few venues judged good enough to be included.

Landmarks deemed worth a peek include the Gherkin, BT Tower and Centre Point but not Tower Bridge or the Houses of Parliament. The best restaurants include Canteen, Maze, The Ivy, J Sheekey and Sketch while the top bars are Cocoon, Kabaret's Prophecy and Café Kick in Exmouth Market.

The guide also has the best way to spend 24 hours: breakfast at Inn the Park, elevenses at the Serpentine Gallery, lunch at Hampstead's Wells Tavern, a stroll on Hampstead Heath and sunset on Primrose Hill.

The book says: "London is not always easy to enjoy. It is tough, sprawling and inscrutable, violently fluid and fickle.We can think of no other city that requires so much insider nous to navigate properly."

COOLEST PLACES TO VISIT, BY WALLPAPER*

Landmarks

Tate Modern
The Gherkin (Swiss Re building)
Centre Point
BT Tower
Trellick Tower

Hotels

The Halkin, SW1
The Zetter, EC1
Claridge's, W1
The Berkeley, SW1
Sanderson, W1

Restaurants

Sketch, W1
UMU, W1
Canteen, E1
Maze, W1
Nobu Berkeley, W1

Bars

The Cuckoo Club, W1
Cocoon, W1
Kabaret's Prophecy, W1
Bistrotheque, E2
Claridge's Bar, W1

Shops

Alfie's Antique Market, NW8
Dover Street Market, W1
Liberty, W1
Prada, W1
Richard James, W1

The Wallpaper* City Guide to London published by Phaidon, price £4.95.

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