Independent shopping - Islington

As I have mentioned here before, I am becoming more and more frustrated by the homogenised nature of the British high street. British consumer choices and trends has been a special interest of mine ever since my MA thesis; a comparitive study of teenage girls' consumption choices in the 1970s and the noughties. Praised throughout the world for the mass availability of high trend, low priced fashion, I nevertheless find our standardised town centres and shopping malls increasingly repetitive and boring. The long term sustainability concerns of such consumerism is another factor in my turning away from most of our well known stores.
With all that in mind and before I get too preachy, self righteous and hypocritcal (I still can't resist a cheap copy from Topshop, so long as I know I will wear said bargain loads!), I am going on a bit of a treasure hunt around London to see if I can root out some truly unique and interesting independent boutiques and I thought I would share my findings here.

As it is a bit chilly at the mo, for my first trip, I did not wander far but stuck with what I know - the Angel, Islington. Seeing as there are so many great independant stores here, I am going to blog in two parts and will hopefully keep you waiting with bated breath for the next installment!! Part one covers make do and mend, with vintage and craft stores.

It seemed logical to begin in Islington, seeing as I spend a lot of time in one of the best independent stores in London, Loop, which is situated in the fabulous Cross Street. Walking down this little road makes me feel I am as close as I can get to what London used to be like in the past, with its cobbled alleyways, terraced houses and colourful shop fronts. I don't need to tell you much about Loop as I mention it here so often, but if you are a craft addict, its rainbow of tactile yarns are a temptation too strong to ignore. Buying yarn to knit my own bespoke garments also ticks all the boxes in my desire for unique and interesting fashion. There is even the handy sewing shop Sew Fantastic round the corner, and The Make Lounge up the road on Barnsbury Street, making Islington a handy crafty hub.

While we are here, Cross street also has Wild Swans, which is one of a small chain of boutiques offering desirably subtle and sophisticated Scanadinavian brands, the sensuously pretty lingerie store Tallulah and a smattering of other interior shops and galleries.

Since Loop opened almost five years ago, the street has seen quite a few small businesses come and go, a sad sign of how hard it is to stay afloat in the tough and expensive capital.

Another sad tale is of the vintage and antique stalls and shops in and around Camden Passage, which used to be much more extensive. Now there are fewer, while in their place are a few more well known stores from the high street. However, many are still going strong, and the market on a Saturday and Wednesday morning are worth a trip. Here, Annie's is my favourite shop, a treasure trove of vintage clothes and textiles. On my latest visit, I could not resist some beautiful hand worked Victorian lace trim. Just over the road, Cloud Cuckoo Land comes a close second, with more affordable yet just as high quality vintage pieces.

While on the subject of second hand stores, the Essex Road is home to the one store I can never walk past and one I rarely leave without a purchase: Past Caring. It sells anything from the tiniest buttons to huge sideboards and just about everything in between. On this weekend's visit I coveted a retro 60s olive glass pulldown light, a Star Trek annual from 1975, some brightly coloured assorted glass objects and the fabulously kitsch horse and sultry lady paintings. Ah, such bliss. If only I had the space for yet more clutter...

A store which encompasses a little of all the shops I love to frequent is My Sugarland, which stocks a little bit of vintage, a little bit of contemporary fashion and a little bit of hand made, all packaged in a stylish, yet effortless way. They also host yoga and craft classes and exciting events such as wedding and styling evenings.

Phew! As you can see, there is a lot of shopping to be done around here, which is possibly why I was out all day on Saturday! Next up, the quirky contemporary fashion stores, some less ubiquitous high street shops and my tips for where to grab tea, lunch or something a little stronger!

time for tea

Last week I took my knitting into High Tea of Highgate in North London. While I knew that it was a quaint, lovely little tea shop with delicious cake and warming tea all served up in dainty china, I was pleasantly surprised to find that it is also a fabulously stylish shop, stocking all kinds of quirky, handmade and British wares. These are all hand picked by owner Georgina Worthington and having worked in fashion in a previous life, she has a discerning eye for contemporary, chic yet charming pieces.
High Tea stocks a broad spectrum of interesting cards from independant designers and illustrators as well as selling art pieces, traditional sweets, textiles and crockery. Worthington likes to support British businesses, selling stunning Burleigh Ware ceramics from the last working Victorian Pottery in the UK and beautiful blankets from Johnstons, where every last item is produced from scratch in their Scottish mills.

The shop is decorated with a thoughtful, elegant cosiness and I personally loved Charlotte Hardy's monochrome trompe l'oeil illustrations drawn straight onto the walls.

Hopefully I will be running a few knitting lessons and workshops At High Tea in the near future, which you can read a little more about here.

In the meantime, get yourself down to highgate for tea and a piece of home made cake - she even does gluten free alternatives, so there should be little excuse for not making a visit...!

london fashion week

It was London Fashion Week this weekend and I was lucky enough to secure a press pass to the exhibition at Somerset House. I went along yesterday in the glorious sunshine to interview some lovely ladies who have big plans for the British textiles industry, so as you can imagine, I was very excited to meet them. More of that very soon I hope.

To celebrate some of the talented people I saw and talked with this week, here are some of my personal highlights from the exhibition and catwalk shows.

Although September fashion week showcases the Spring/Summer catwalks, there was still some beautiful knitwear in evidence. At Pringle, Clare Waight Keller has transformed the brand from the tired and uninspiring heritage brand I witnessed during my time on work placement at their design studio in 2003. In this season's show I was pleased to see the knitwear holding centre stage, looking both modern and interesting. Waight Keller used such traditional stitches as chunky cables and even hairpin lace (which I was so excited to see used in a contemporary ensemble after my recent class at City Lit) combined with the more obviously summer attire of fine gauge silky sweaters, tiny fine gauge cables and pointelle dresses to great effect. Thus she proved that knitting can be suitable and, in fact, elegant at any time of year.

Another classic brand which appeals to my personal tastes is Jaeger London; a British brand, plus being popular in the 70s equals retro classic perfection! There were some great knits incorporating the metallic trend I also noted at such brands as Louise Goldin and Betty Jackson, yet another British fashion institution, alongside some chic pieces which utilised the desirable contrast of chunky and fine knit stripes as seen on the right. Another trend here, and all over the collections was for the longline cardigans we have seen for quite a few seasons; good news for my last Summer collection cardi, which will last and last!

It was not just the oldies doing knitwear well this season, some relatively new and talented designers also caught my eye. Christopher Kane was one of the hot tickets of the week and I adored his subtle, soft pastel checked jumpers and vests, which layered beautifully over the unusually large proportioned gingham skirts and dresses he sent down the catwalk.

Finally, I cannot mention the knitwear at LFW without talking about Mark Fast's controversial show. He sent out some incredibly tight fitting and transparent fine gauge knits which mainly looked more like underwear than outerwear; Fast innovatively sees knitting as an extension of hosiery rather than as traditional sweaters. He also used 'plus-size' models (for which phrase substitute 'normal' or 'average' as you wish), causing a great hurrah in the press. To be honest, I was not overly enamoured by his dresses, or the make up which made all his models, whatever their size, look half dead, but the structures and techniques used in his work are fascinating. I especially liked the beaded embellishments, which looked like large glass beads trapped in tubes of fine knitting. They remind me of a bracelet I started one year as a birthday present for a friend, but never finished (sorry Katherine!) This show might just be the motivation I need to make another.

I certainly got a lot of inspiration from all the coverage this week and am already planning my next summer collection, despite not being halfway through winter's yet...too many ideas, not enough hours in the day...