Those who know of Notting Hill usually know it for two main things: Portobello Road Market and the renowned rows of pastel coloured houses that line the quaint streets. This West London district is famously an Insta-blogger’s paradise, and it’s not often you’ll experience a visit without bumping into that of the blogger kind. Naturally, when we made our way over to the premises on an early Sunday morning, we felt right at home in this kind of scene.
As the markets don’t open on a Sunday, we managed to have clear streets and loads of space to do our thing. So, note to all bloggers and influencers hoping to snap the perfect street shot in Notting Hill: make it a Sunday visit, if you can. Unless you’re looking to visit Portobello Road Market, in that case you should make it any other day of the week.
We hopped off at Ladbroke Grove station and were pleasantly surprised to find the rows of colourful houses just a short walk from there. There was no need to scour the area for the names of the exact streets or go on a Google Maps street view hunt; if you’re visiting the area, the Instagram aesthetic comes to you. Type ‘Portobello Road’ into Citymapper or Google Maps and the journey is made simple.
The first street we shot on had rows upon rows of bold coloured houses. Primary colours of reds, blues and yellows, as well as an ominious black-coloured house drew our attention immediately. Seeing as Mel wore a fire engine red PVC trench coat from the Fashion Nova x Cardi B collection, the red house seemed oh so fitting for a little angle-working. Styled with a gold bag from Rich Fashion and some Tony Bianco sock boots, Mel’s #ootd was a total show-stopping winter fit. Kristen showcased a neutral checked dress from I Saw It First, which rocked just about any backdrop.
Directly parallel was the street full of famous pastel-coloured houses. It was here where we encountered the most people taking photos, and even got asked to take some of others. Mid-photographing against a gorgeous turquoise coloured building, we noticed a man looking our way. We waved out of politeness and he waved back; he then went to enter the building that we happened to be taking photos in front of. Oops, it was as we feared… we were photographing in front of his house.
Since he had been so kind and didn’t go to shoo us away (yep, it’s happened to us before), we engaged in some light conversation. He actually happened to be a New Zealander, so we got along right away. We asked him if he encounters this often, to which he replied with a slow nod of the head, “Yes, yes all the time.” But, he let us continue on with our picture-taking, without so much as a grunt or grumble about it. I mean, imagine living in a house where bloggers and tourists flocked to daily just to snap a pic out the front… it’s safe to say we developed a newfound respect for residents of the Notting Hill coloured houses.
The next stop on our Notting Hill Instagram adventure was the gorgeous boutique biscuit company Biscuiteers; this is where Mel shot her new I Saw It First flare sleeved mini dress, with Kristen opting for a Balmain-jumper-meets-pleat-midi-look. Biscuiteers has the sweetest store front, with intricate black and white illustrations drawn all over and matching striped awning. Signage to the left reads: “hand iced biscuits, DIY icing cafe, icing lessons, bespoke biscuits and cakes, afternoon tea.” Seriously, this cute french cafe aesthetic was doing things for us, our outfits and our photographs.
We ordered a spot of afternoon tea to take to the sole table waiting for us out the front (which we were lucky to snag before anyone else, as this is the iconic Insta spot!). Both enjoying a cup of Americano, Mel had herself a large, dense piece of sweet carrot cake to complement her coffee while Kristen enjoyed a velvety snowflake shaped cookie. We also loved that the two girls across from us were enjoying a DIY icing day at the cafe, creating their very own unique biscuit creations. We’re definitely going to have to return one day to try this for ourselves.
We hope this post gave you a little personal, first-hand insight into the wonderful area of Notting Hill. Which district of London should we uncover next? DM us your recommendations via our Instagram page at @theadelaidian! We’re thinking Belgravia, Camden or Angel.