Sunday 27 March 2011

E(1) is for Edgy

I've just spent a lovely day (topped off with just a hint of spring-ly sunshine) avec the Best Friend in Spitalfields and think I am in love. I'm not sure I'll ever be able to shop anywhere else ever again. Well, this is clearly a lie as I love my Zara and a cheeky bit of Topshop from time to time but there's something oh so satisfying about digging out a vintage item from a big heap of, quite frankly, questionable clothing (were red leather hot pants a good idea, even in the sixties?) As I still harbour a somewhat snobbish concern, totally against the vintage mentality, over the origins of the clothes, bags, belts and broaches were the main culprits aujourd'hui.

As we walked down Brick Lane I was completely caught up in the bustle and the noise. I can't wait to move back to London permanently. I am most definitely not made for the country, far less for a small town. Once university is over, it's back to the big smoke for me and all the excitement, diversity and history which comes with it. I realise that, attending one of the oldest universities in the world as I do, that statement is somewhat ridiculous but there's something of the chaotic, the ramshackle to London's history which I adore. Mostly though, I am consumed by the grittiness, dirtiness and dubiousness of London's past, something which feels lacking from the smooth, sandstone colleges of academic life.

That said, I simply do not know my home town well enough and have thus resolved to eschew the touristy and the tacky London, the better to hunt down the quirky and offbeat. Goodbye Leicester Square with your dodgy night clubs, hello Portabello with your soulful blues nights!