Lilly Bling

Lilly Bling is a clothing gem. Absolutely everything in this store is cute and fun. Unlike similar boutiques located next door in bordering trendy boroughs (i.e. Shoreditch) their apparel is affordable. Without dismissing the quality of their products this shop has managed to sell chic clothes at reasonable prices. Everything in this store, from their accessories to their dinner jackets, ranges from £5-£50. If you have the time, venture away from the grandeur of Truman Brewery’s shops and pay this little place a visit. You will be delighted that you made the journey.

Lilly Bling is in quite a strange location for style of clothing it sells. The clothes are mostly evening wear items, made up of a mixture of pretty, light and delicate material, shiny, satiny numbers, tops and dresses (some embroidered with sequins and jewels). There is also a selection of jewellery (mostly quite chunky), clutch bags and purses, candles and soaps. Quite a few expensive brand names can be found such as Pepe Jeans and Ollie & Nic.
The exterior looks pretty cheap on the grubby Whitechapel road. Plain glass windows with a big white board displaying the name, which is made of large pink dots. The interior on the other hand has hanging chandeliers, large, old mirrors and vintage floral wallpaper.
Lot’s of the clothes are more than £50, and despite there being lots of known, ’boutiquey’, and supposedly reliable brands, to me the clothes don’t seem worth the price they are sold for. However perhaps this is because of the area or the collection they had when I went in last, as my friends have had better experiences, using it as a shop on the way home to grab the new dress they just must have for that night out. I may go and have another look sometime soon but I’m not desperate to go back.

The smell in this store reminded me of some beanie baby (remember those?) a friend gave me for my, oh, let’s say 11^th birthday. A fresh, light perfumed smell, like incense, but not in a heavy mystic and musk kind of way. It was nice and made me smile (though not in that «I just got free icecream kind of way»).
«Ooooh cute party frock,» I thought to myself when I saw a gorilla hanging about in his tire swing. The gorilla grunted. I went to the party frock — 70 pound. Hmmm. Pretty, but ‘pish’ if I ever need a 70 party frock. The clothes ranged between club-​like and semi-​designer-​like interesting. The sale rack, which I always manage to seek out like a metal detector seeks out little bits of soda can buried thinly beneath the earth, was reasonable.
I browsed the collection of fishnet and colored (mind you not patterned) tights as well as the gift-​y knickknacks. Still, I walked out with empty pockets and hands (unless you count the family of kangaroos I’ve been keeping in my back pocket for an undisclosed purpose.
Lily Bling. I didn’t see any ten kilogram gold chains, nor any spare gold teeth, nor any gorillas, but just a bunch of clothes and gifts that someone somewhere will really like.

Great for the fact that there’s no similar boutique with fast-​fashion in this part of town. Many of the labels they carry are exactly what you’ll find in the basement of Topshop… so if that’s what you’re after… this is a great alternative to going all the way to Oxford Street.
That said, I wouldn’t make this a destination shop (just like I don’t make Topshop a destination for buying clothes), but it’s certainly excellent if you find yourself in need of a party dress, happen to be in the East End, or are in an otherwise bind clothing-​wise.
An outright five stars for their cards… they’ve got a really darling and varied selection to choose from… MUCH better than anything you’d find on Oxford Street, or any other typical high street, for that matter. And four stars for their little jewelry bits and gifty things.
As a whole, this is just a fun and different and *needed* addition to the East End.

Lilly Bling is situated on the rather grotty Whitechapel Road but it’s the kind of clothes shop that wouldn’t look out of place in Notting Hill or Spitalfields. They sell girly clothes of varying quality but the nice stuff is really nice. I saw a gorgeous black evening dress but it was £65 and I couldn’t justify spending that much money on as I don’t think the clothes were worth it.
Not only do they have clothes but they also have some nice trinkets, candles and picture frames all of similar style to the girly clothing. They also offer an alteration and dry cleaning service.