Catching up - Travels, Friends, Collections, Art...

Hiya, hope those of you to whom half term means anything - whether kids at home or time off work - have had a good one. We had a couple of days in Brighton, or 'Hove, actually' as the bit we stayed in is generally known, and I'm finally beginning to thaw out. When will we ever learn that February half term is NOT the time to attempt to do family mini-breaks? Still, the Siberian snow flurries coming off the sea-front did give us an ideal excuse to spend a lot of time in our favourite galleries and to make regular cake stops at cafes, which is always enjoyable, and we got to spend some time with our nieces. We took the kids to the Sea Life Centre, which is fun - although given that it's housed in a subterranean Victorian arcade - also chilly. I refused to take my gloves off for long enough to take more than a few snaps of Brighton on  my phone - not particularly surprisingly they all fall into my regular subject categories of street art, cake, and random things which strike me as amusing:

Tape Butterflies outside ArtRepublic gallery by Cassette Lord

More Cassette Lord work near Hove Station

Most of the junction boxes have been decorated by him

{with the council's OK}

Mmm yeah Tea - by Sinna 1

Chocolate sculpture in the window of Choccywoccydoodah

Desiree is that you?

Obey Mr Grey - wedding?? - cake in window of shop in North Laine

Imagine having to explain the theme to your Grandma

u

Insane poodle trainers - not by Irregular Choice, but...Adidas!

Krista - what do you think? Tempted?

Speaking of pink haired princesses, I recently met up with the divine Miss Simmonds for a little jaunt round Camden, which mainly involved gossiping, trying on hats, chatting to knicker makers, buying sunglasses - it was pissing down, obviously, but a trip to Camden without buying shades is no trip at all - and a bit of charity shopping. It was less freezing, and I occasionally remembered to get my camera out.

None of these is Clare

Here she is, next to her faithful steed

Glamorous pants, made by 

Coy. Don't you just love her sparkly lurex frock?

Pretty in Pink in Traid changing rooms

This would have been a great dress if it weren't for all the holes. I think if you're going to try and charge £17 for a second hand home-made garment the shop should at least attempt to mend the several places where it was coming apart at the seams. Unfortunate because it went really well with her hair.

In addition to the cheapy sunglasses I bought some skull print jeans to add some interest to my school run wardrobe, a felt hat from Zara via charity shop for a fiver and a turquoise leopard print vest also from a charity shop. Turquoise and leopard as a combination appeals to me almost as much as the scarf I bought in Brighton - purple! With skulls! Made of flowers! Shame it's polyester chiffon and not particularly warm. I continue to suffer for the sake of rock and roll. 

See, I DO like florals...

Anyway, I don't have photos of this more recent stuff but I have been adding absent-mindedly to a few collections recently so I will link this post up to Magpie Monday - it's been too long. I've got another annual to add to the shelf - a boys' one this time - it's not dated but I think it's late 40s or early 50s, and I also grabbed this mint condition Folio Society copy of The Wind in the Willows for only £2. I'm reading J K Rowling's recent novel for grown-ups (calling it her first adult novel makes it sound like porn) 'The Casual Vacancy' and am quite enjoying it. I didn't fancy paying £20 for it when it came out, despite being a fan of Harry Potter, but £2.50 for the hardback in the Scope shop made it more reasonable. Has anyone read it? What did you think? I must admit to being mildly amused that the central deceased character is called Barry. She must have really cast around for that name!

The Eagle Annual has a story set in futuristic 1997, where dashing space rangers have to do an intergalactic Christmas pudding run!

I bought the poseable artist's figure in a local charity shop, and the Czech glass bud vase from a junk shop. I have about 12 now, I just seem to come across them and they're always cheap. The coloured glass bubble bases look really pretty in the sunshine but a lot you see have stains on the plain glass caused by hard water evaporating. I've tried lots of methods of getting rid of this but haven't found a way yet. The red-headed ladies prints are greetings cards made by Anna at Gold Lion Diaries - she kindly included them free when I bought a print for Boy2's room from her Etsy shop. Nice aren't they? I keep meaning to look out for some little frames for them.

I could have bought loads of art when I was in Brighton, spending time in galleries or museums always makes me covetous. I'd quite like Justine Smith's 'Time is Money', if anyone has a spare grand and a half and fancies getting me a present.

 It's made of the bank notes of each country's currency and looks far better in reality

I've said it before, but I used to really enjoy art at school, I'd love to get back into it. Much as I enjoyed my English lit course, Clare's talk about art college makes it sound a lot of fun, and seeing all the modern/street inspired art at my favourite gallery Art Republic makes me yearn for a big studio, lots of canvas and some spray paint to play with. Mind you, whenever I go to the Tate Modern I'm convinced I can make my fortune with some shop window dummies, old planks and parcel tape so it's entirely possible I am delusional.

Finally my cookie cutter collection has expanded again with these few I couldn't resist on eBay. The owl, spider and er, poodle made an unusual Halloween threesome for a few quid, and I have decorating plans for the martini glass. A triangle of coloured icing and one of those little jelly lemon slices and I reckon the biscuits will look brilliant. [I counted up my collection the other day after making the polar bear biscuits and it now numbers around 80 if you include scone cutters.]

On the subject of cookies, here's some of the ones I made for my boys for Valentine's day - the bra and thong only made it into a grown-up lunch box though, don't worry!

Well I seem to have rambled on for ages, so that should probably do for now. I'll be back tomorrow for Ta-dah! Tuesday, so get ready to link up any finds/makes/bakes/outfits etc that you want to show off!

Lakota x

PS. There are loads of comments I've had recently that I wanted to reply to but I'm still being deluged with spam which Blogger's filter isn't picking up so it's getting hard to pick out the genuine replies. Is anyone else suffering? I really don't want to turn word  verification on.

Street art and thank yous

In my last post I promised some more pictures of the graffiti and street art around Shoreditch, so here's some iconic and not so iconic images from the Brick Lane area, taken by either myself or the Mr. If you're familiar with the area you'll recognise some that have been around for ages - others are more transient and will probably be gone next time I visit. Sadly some amazing murals have been removed already - apparently in a pre-Olympics clean-up a last year. Still, this is Shoreditch, you can't keep the artists down!

I'm really fond of this stork on a building backing onto some waste ground. If it was scrubbed off or painted over then I think the area would look more run down, not less. The detail and expression in the bird's eye is brilliant.

Technically speaking, the road signs in English and Bengali are not street art in the usual sense of the word. But it's an iconic picture which you always find on photography stands. You're spoiled for choice if you want to take your own version, as there are various places where Brick Lane is sign-posted. I think the old layers of paint on the eponymous bricks add to the grimy charm of this one.

Huge soldier opposite Absolute Vintage on Hanbury St.

 I don't know if this was commissioned. You'd need scaffolding or a cherry-picker

Round the back of the Sunday UpMarket

There's also a Banksy pink painted car which was too difficult to get a picture of, as it's protected in a perspex box, as is his signature. [Attempts to photograph it were thwarted by reflections]. I love Banksy, but that does make me laugh. When I was living in Bristol in 1995, you'd see his stuff everywhere, and it was usually promptly painted over by the council.

The great artist's 'signature' protected for posterity
Wonder if he'd re-sign if it was painted over?
Is it still a Banksy if his thumb isn't on the spray can?
 What if someone else uses a stencil he cut?
Loads of Damien Hirst's 'Spot' and 'Spin' paintings were done by other people, and still sold for a fortune.

Part of a large work near Shoreditch High Street station

One of the many many stickers which adorn virtually everything. 

Is it an advert for a club night? Or just an insult?

I love this one for the juxtaposition of two styles, although 

I don't know if Lady Godiva was added later by a different hand?

Quentin Crisp. At least I think so.

Outside Absolute Vintage. For the moment

Alice and the Hookers.

The above was done by the same person who did the robed figures and chair I showed in an earlier post. As it's made of paper and it poured with rain that day some of it has already begun to come away. Soon just the painted shadows on the pavement will show it was there.

Don't park your car on Hanbury Street, unless you want it to be eaten, crushed by a falling anvil, pooped on by pigeons (a hazard pretty well everywhere) or snipped in half.

My favourite this time was the graffiti below of a cartoon couple, painted in a doorway.  I think you have to be very clever artist to put so much expression into figures devoid of features other than dots for eyes. I also like the way the niqab wearing lady appears to be the more dominant of the two, her companion looking shyly up at her, his head turned down.

Moving on from the East End, but continuing with the home made art theme, I was really pleased to get a parcel in the post from the ever thoughtful Lucewoman. Look how beautifully she wrapped it up:

And inside, this amazing picture. Isn't she clever? Thanks so much Lucy, I love it.

Finally, I need to show you the fantastic 80s earrings which the lovely Loo sent me. Sparkly snake hoops! An excellent addition to my earrings through the ages collection. Cleopatra, comin' atcha!

Cheers Loo!

Lakota x

Linked to the Newbie Party at Debbie Doo's

Anniversary outing

The Mr and I celebrated 8 years of marital bliss last Tuesday, so being the thoughtful and caring wife that I am, I thought he'd like a look round a market and a load of vintage shops. Oh no, hang on...that's what I wanted, and he kindly acquiesced to my suggestion when I pointed out we could have curry for lunch and he could take his camera and get gritty East London shots. So, a romantic stroll around the grimy environs of Shoreditch it was.

I hadn't been to Spitalfields Market for absolutely ages, and was pleased to discover that although it was a Tuesday, stall holders were setting up and it wasn't just the shops around the edges which were open. There are some really nice pitches there, and the stall holders were all friendly. I bought this necklace from a charming Afghani man with a great sales patter, although I may have a go at making these myself - they're basically just scarf material stitched into a tube, and the material alternately threaded through and covering the beads.

necklace / hair band / belt

I also picked up these photo prints of vintage Vogue covers, which I'm going to put up in the bedroom. They also had photographs of local street art and landmarks, but we've been taking our own shots of those to mount and frame.

The best stall for me though was the one selling antiquarian books, especially given all my whinging about London vintage prices these days. I know that old books like this are probably not going to provide a pension, but the most I paid was £4, and that was for the Partridge's Children's Annual dating from 1922. The other hardbacks were £3 each, and all have their beautiful colour plates intact and the binding is in pretty good condition considering their age. A similar book would cost between £12 and £25 on Ebay. I kept expecting the seller to say that he'd made a mistake with the pricing!

 Blackie's annual is c1935

Partridge's 1922

Haven't been able to date the Kiddies' annual - maybe 50s?

I also picked up the book below for £1, it's the second part of a poetry anthology for children, originally published in 1906. I'm not sure when this little paper back edition came out - it was possibly a school textbox - but probably not much later, it includes all the press reviews from 1906, and was priced at 'threepence'. I'd love the hardback original one day, if anyone comes across it!

Like my dad and I, my eldest is a big fan of poetry, so it's been nice to be able to share some of the poems thought suitable for children 100+ years ago. It includes a frankly terrifying one called The Dreadful Story of Harriet and the Matches, which should possibly be read in schools round Guy Fawkes night:

"And see! Oh! what a dreadful thing!

The fire has caught her apron-string;

Her apron burns, her arms, her hair;

She burns all over, everywhere.

...So she was burnt , with all her clothes, 

And arms, and hands, and eyes and nose:

Till she had nothing more to lose

Except her little scarlet shoes;

And nothing else but these were found

Among her ashes on the ground."

(Heinrich Hoffman)

I also felt for the narrator of Little Girls - "If no-one ever marries me - / And I don't see why they should,/ For nurse says I'm not pretty / And I'm seldom very good" - and enjoyed A Boy's Aspirations, which listed a four year old's ideas for when he was 'quite old':

"I'll never go to bed until twelve o'clock;

I'll make a mud pie in a clean frock;

I'll whip naughty boys with a new birch;

I'll take my guinea-pig always to church;

...I'll never stand up to show that I'm grown;

No-one shall say to me, 'Don't throw a stone!'

I'll drop my butter'd toast on the new chintz;

I'll have no governess giving her hints!"

(Menella Bute Smedley)

The fashion and schooling may have changed, but the general defiance and mess seems to have stayed the same!

Anyway, enough of the English lit (my degree, sorry) and on to the shops! As well as being the old Jewish quarter - a famous 24 hr bagel bakery still survives, and is the best food for under a pound in the area - and current heartland of the Bangladeshi community in London, Brick Lane is also home to probably the largest concentration of London's vintage and retro shops in one area.

 Of course, a lot of what's on offer it is overpriced, but if you can't find what you're looking for here, you're probably not trying. Each shop has a different vibe, and some are certainly friendlier than others. Absolute Vintage is a famous one, although to my mind I'd rather work through a charity shop and hope to strike lucky than rummage in this place. So much of the stock is battered and filthy, yet they treat the customers as though they are offering them a rare glimpse at top secret couture designs for next season. There are signs everywhere warning you against filming, photography and even drawing; and I saw staff going through someone's phone to delete a quick snap taken of a bag. I'm sure plenty of fashion students come in, hence the 'no sketching' rule, but I can't imagine they clutter the place up that much, and surely are just the type of people who would be regular customers. I wouldn't be surprised to see 'No Looking' signs next time, and felt guilty using my eyes to, y'know, observe the merchandise. They do have a vast array of vintage shoes though, arranged by size, which is always handy.

Other good shops are This Shop Rocks, which had a 50% off sale, and a cluttered basement area with unsorted bric-a-brac as well as clothes  (I found something for my swap partner Amy here) and The Vintage Emporium and Coffee House. This has mainly antique clothes downstairs - Victorian to 1930s, including a selection of furs, if that's your thing - and a Coffee and Tea room upstairs, filled with antiques. Then there's Rokit, which is the polar opposite of Absolute Vintage, and has washed/dry-cleaned and labelled everything. Ok, you may lose the thrill of the chase somewhat, but they do have lovely stock, and the clothes prices aren't that bad really (although the jewellery is very over-priced). The staff are far nicer too! I found this late 60s Woodstock style top there, which may form part of my outfit for friends' 60s themed wedding in August. I've just mentioned a small selection of the vintage places, there are many more!

I'll share some more street art and graffiti pictures in another post, but here's some of the illustrations out of the children's books I bought. Most of the stories are equally charming, although it still comes as a shock to come across the odd story or rhyme featuring the unenlightened attitudes of the time. Obviously I don't want my boys learning certain racial slurs, so unfortunately they can't be for general reading. I'm still looking for prints to frame, but as these are in such good condition I think I'll scan them and print them rather than take them out of the books.

From The Golden Staircase, illustration for Wynken, Blynken and Nod

Illustration to a rhyme called 'Tangled' which made me laugh as it reminds me of my 3 year old

who's just been for yet another haircut.

Lakota x

PS. I've had loads of comments about people sorry to have missed the swap. If everyone's up for it, maybe we could do another around Christmas?

Linking up to Flea Market Finds

Magpie Monday

Thrift Share Monday

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East End, Clobber and a Ruby...

Project wardrobe rejuvenation is going pretty well. No vintage this week, but plenty of second hand schmutter. Despite the fact that I am currently cold, pasty and hungover you'll notice that they're all rather optimistic of warm weather and a tan. Luckily, I'm off to Malta in a couple of weeks.

Silk and sequinned Ted Baker top £5.00

Crochet look crossback top - brand new with tags on £4.00

More sequins on this Topshop vest - £3.00

Heidi Klein beach kaftan with dancing figures print - sample £5.00

I might Ebay this one. I made a tenner on the Boden dress I found a couple of weeks ago

Brand new soft leather hobo style handbag £6.00

I love this, it fits everything you can imagine

I'd love to do more outfit posts, but the camera is rarely my friend, and concurrent project 'eat healthily and look slimmer' was slightly derailed by ending up in an eating establishment here last night:

Oh well, at least I got some exercise before the curry, we were on a treasure hunt for a friend's birthday which took us all round Jack the Ripper's old stomping ground. The East End might not be the prettiest area of London, but it has some great photo opportunities. If you go on Sunday, there's also the Petticoat Lane and Columbia Road markets.

Wall at the corner of Fashion St, East End.

Intriguing doorway...

Stencilled graffiti - Banksy style but without his subversive humour

 This was my favourite. The chair and hooded monks are paper cut outs just a couple of inches high glued to the bottom of the wall down a random street. The shadows are painted on the pavement. Cool huh?

(nb. For international readers not acquainted with Cockney rhyming slang, a Ruby is short for Ruby Murray and means a curry)

Lakota x

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