Thursday, February 23, 2012

Shoes on the Streets...of London

On my brief stop in London, on my way back from Berlin, the snow had melted but most people were still wearing big ole' boots with many, many layers.

Pink power: art student Amy outside the British Museum
and the Grayson Perry exhibition inside

Just outside the British Art Museum, art student Amy was clutching some grey leather to transform some pumps into unicorns complete with horn and mane. She calls her style "part fantasy, part Harajuku gone mad.... and all pink" Her lace-up boots "from some market somewhere" and her tiara: "Oh I didn't even realise I was wearing one!"

Photos from London Fashion Week showed off-duty pictures of models wearing their boots with denim cut-offs. Funnily enough the rest of the population declined to expose their bare legs.

Alexa Chung at London Fashion Week via
What I've realised is the average Londoner - whatever their age - take fashion risks. They seem not too bothered about appearing coiffed and "cute" but rather aim for the interesting and off-beat.  Flea market, main street and designer all get a fair share of the wardrobe. As one friend says: "Sometimes I look a bit cat-lady chic but that's all part of the fun."

That good-natured couldn't-give-a-toss-about-the-matchy matchy has also seeped into the restaurant decor as evidenced by The Zetter Townhouse in the cobblestone streets of Clerkenwell. This is where I met Kate, my Kiwi friend. At the Zetter you feel you are dining at the home of your eccentric old aunt, with a stuffed kangaroo peeking out from the corner, worn winged-back chairs, wafer-thin cocktail glasses and mis-matched plates.

The Zetter Townhouse via
The cocktails are mixed with tinctures, bitters and herbal remedies and I definitely felt a little finer after one...or two. "Supper bowls" of nursery food such as fish pie make you feel old-school posh and longing for the Nanny Crawfie you never had.

Kate and I agreed we were in the glorious shape-shifter years (nearing 50) and opting for looser tops. She wore a Day tunic with tights and her Miu Miu biker boots.

Boots with everything: Kate at home before heading out
Further back in time this couple were posing in Hyde Park for a new TV show called Teen High. Not sure what the era is supposed to be...

Teen High stars in Hyde Park
Next day I was transported to Europe in the Sixties at Leon's just behind the Tate Modern. All Mediterranean oranges, vintage chairs and family photos in Cairo. More modern is the nutrition ratings on the dishes including eight kinds of alerts about things like "Glycemic Loads" which apparently is the quick and the bad sugar. This means you are instantly appraised of how very swiftly that brownie - though locally sourced and lovingly baked - is going to stick to your arse.

I was meeting my old journo friend Catherine, who used to be a health editor for magazines and has now set up an ingenious new website called School Guru, which ranks schools. She, her husband and two boys have left London for a more peaceful life on the sandy beaches of the Isle of Wight where they are remodelling an old guest house.


Catherine in Leon's

Back in Queensway, I had dinner with my old old boss Anne and her family. Anne told me that the hot new cuisine in London is American BBQ, sliders and pulled pork. Anne is now editor of The Times' property and money sections. She had just written about duplexes in Belgravia selling for 46.5 million pounds. Generally I found the flat prices in west London more than double what they were ten years ago.

The Belgravia duplexes, via
Anne in her faux Astrakhan and snowboots

Anne is that increasingly rare creature in media; a top-rated journalist who is also kind and decent. We ate in one of the excellent chinese restaurants off the reassuringly still-scungy streets of Queensway, the last hold-out against gentrification. I forgot to ask Anne how she's kept her cherubic looks; I assumed there's an aging portrait in her attic...

Another friend Emma says she has a good solution (on the aging thing...) Emma and I spent hours and days and years together wheeling babies up Portobello Road and around Kensington Gardens. I'm very cynical about supplements but a couple of years ago Emma started selling Imedeen after one of the products cleared up her eczema.  Last summer Emma gave me three months of Imedeen to try (formulated in Denmark and not yet available in the US). I really think it plumped out my skin and I went straight to Boots and bought four month's worth.  Both Emma and Joanna Lumley - who endorses it for free - are pretty fabulous testaments.


Emma in Portobello Road
I arrived home as odiferous as a German backpacker, or fair dues, a Kiwi backpacker. Truthfully I hadn't missed the kids at all and hadn't thought about them much either. Then I caught sight of Cy's smelly size two sneakers at the door and felt a little pang.  But just let me enjoy my final hour before his other pair of (filled) stinky sneakers arrive home...



38 comments:

  1. What a fabulous sounding trip, and so varied. I love London, was there last year (but not in winter). Such an expensive city but still, so fun.

    ReplyDelete
  2. When I was in Italy and Berlin last I also always noticed how un-specific the styles are there. Not everyone conforms to the same style as they do here in the U.S. There's less trendy-ness going on. It's much more individualistic.
    And funny that you didn't miss the kids at all! I felt the same on my last weekend sans kids and it makes me ponder what kind of a mother I am.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Living in the bay area, I do miss how cutting edge the English can be...Americans rarely see that side of them. (I'm not including me, cos I've never been fashion conscious!)

    ReplyDelete
  4. My first thought on reading this post was 'Darn...she was in London...I could have met her!'.....but of course I wasn't in London and you were having a great time catching up with proper friends!! Loved the 'sticking to your arse' comment.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Libby - I would have loved to have met up! I will email next time and hopefully you'll be there! I was going to email some of the BritMums but just never got around to it...

      Delete
  5. Some day I will travel the world!! I just love all of the places you go and the people you know! :) This is what fashion should be about, putting something together and doing it without much effort but still looking amazing and looking like yourself!!

    PS I tagged you in my 11 questions post!

    Also looked at some of your older posts I missed...love the picture that your daughter drew and you standing upside down! :)

    ReplyDelete
  6. You always have the chicest friends. Such fun that you enjoyed a nice mini-break from the kids and daily grind. Amazing how the sneakers and kids that fill them get by just fine when we are away. I'm meeting my BFF next weekend. Destination tbd. : D

    ReplyDelete
  7. Ah how I miss London. I need to make a trip very soon. And I definitely need to give Imedeen a shot. Another reason to make a trip :) xoxo

    ReplyDelete
  8. I must check that Imedeen out! Sounds like you had an amazing time! I always enjoy London when we visit:)
    ~Anne

    ReplyDelete
  9. Your chums are all so stylish, up in the frozen north we are still in full Bagpuss gear!

    ReplyDelete
  10. Why does the phrase "the shape shifter years" sound spooky and glamorous all at once???

    ReplyDelete
  11. Sounds like you topped off your trip quite perfectly! I always love catching up with friends and spending time time in old stomping grounds.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Great shots! The shoes are lovely, but I love these cozy coats, too. xo style, she wrote

    ReplyDelete
  13. How much I miss London!! The photos are great!! Love the one with the teens in Hyde Park!

    xoxoxo

    ReplyDelete
  14. Stalking your blog again & wondering if we could do a little trading places/freaky friday kind of thing where I get to be you for a few days. Sounds like some marvelous times you're having!! Fun post!!

    ReplyDelete
  15. Loving the shots! And your blog too =)

    -Nil.
    www.meetnil.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  16. I miss London - and I only live two hours away! It was always great to find quirky places to eat problem was when I lived there I didn't think about it now out in the sticks I pine for it! Sounds like you had the MOST amazing time!

    ReplyDelete
  17. I love London.. I was just there for a few days and I already miss it again!! Cool shoes :)

    xx

    www.sickbytrend.com

    ReplyDelete
  18. Alexa Chung always looks so incredible! :)

    ReplyDelete
  19. how fun!! london, one of these days i will visit ya!

    ReplyDelete
  20. I have missed you! So after this I will be catching up with your other posts below. All I can say is I want to look as chic as your friend in the biker boots and I will have to find out more about the supplements. I watched Dr. Oz {first time, I swear} on supplements and realized I have to get on these things fast!

    xo Mary Jo

    ReplyDelete
  21. i'm intrigued by the imedeen (aame company as boots??).

    i have a really hard time with supplements (physically) and so extremely happy to have finally found one that i can stomach from tj's (daily vitamin that reads- gentle on the stomach + an ODORLESS fish oil capsule). i try to take my "hair vitamins" but those have to be taken at just the right moment (on a full stomach), or i get extremely nauseous. tmi? {sorry :)}

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Torrie, its sold at Boots in London, if you can get someone to buy it for you and bring back...

      Delete
  22. I love your narration of your travel and meeting new and old friends along the way and new expereinces including desciriptions of fashion and food. Of course, complete with photos.

    ReplyDelete
  23. Great take on your visit to London - the many wonderful people and a day in their "shoes" or "boots." All of them so very chic! I will have to try Imedeen - considering I was told last week that I will soon need collagen for my laugh lines, I probably ought to look for a healthy alternative! Have a great weekend!

    ReplyDelete
  24. Jody, the links are below most of the pics, just click on them, they are all from my usual shopping haunts here.

    ReplyDelete
  25. So glad you had such a dun (if flying) visit! I love Anne Ashworth's writing, btw. I know what you mean about not missing the family as well *guilty face*

    ReplyDelete
  26. Jody- In my daydreams here at 1:56am I'm joining you on all these trips to great places, eating great food and talking with great (yet down-to-earth) amazing type folks.

    ...and asking how someone could forget they are wearing a crown. Alas, only daydreams! Thank you for sharing your adventures and snapping the lovely pictures.

    Loretta

    ReplyDelete
  27. what a trip!! and i always loved seeing street fashion in london

    ReplyDelete
  28. Another fun post. I loved seeing the fashion about London, fun!

    ReplyDelete
  29. As always, I am in awe of your glamorous and jet setting life:)

    ReplyDelete
  30. A. i love that you take photos of all your besties!

    B. what is this imedeen you speak of and where do i get it?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Available at Boots in England and some places in Europe, but sadly not here yet.

      Delete
  31. Good grief you packed all that in a brief stopover in London! This was quite a tour of shoes, friends and food! Oh and beauty secrets. Now where's my notebook...must write down a few things here, starting with Imedeen...!

    I love your posts like this--fun, full of energy AND informative :)

    ReplyDelete
  32. Sounds like a fantastic trip!! That Imedeen sounds like magic :)

    xx

    ReplyDelete
  33. So great...your giving me the travel bug (miss London!)

    ReplyDelete
  34. Hi I found this information helpful and was wondering if you could recommend a place to buy these shoes in the uk.
    Although I often have a hard time waiting for something that I have ordered online, its hard to beat the selection and prices. It seems the more that I shop online, the more I like it.
    Thanks you for writing this information in your blog and i think its worth bookmarking your site, to return for more useful tips.

    ReplyDelete

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...