A little bit of London

London is a bit of a heavyweight category on this blog (which comes second only to 'shopping' in my label list), and I could even go as far as tagging most posts with the city as it somehow seems to influence most parts of my life.  Even though I've spent a lot of time away from the place, I can't help loving the familiar feeling I get each time I arrive at either of the mainline stations I frequent (I think London Bridge is my favourite purely due to it's proximity towards Shad Thames) and anticipation of the day ahead. On this occasion, I was determined to catch the Diaghilev and the Golden Age of the Ballets Russes exhibition before it finished and to see more of the Victoria & Albert museum with the help of Jazmine.

Barbour-esque jacket, jumper, bracelet - Topshop

Skirt - Cow

Tights - We Love Colours

Jersey Circle Scarf American Apparel

Bag - Brooklyn Flea

Brogues - Office

Necklace - Forever 21

Nails - Models Own Nude Beige with black nail art pen swirls
Photos - c/o Jazmine apart from my nail pic, I managed a steady hand!

First things first, what was I wearing?  Well for the first bloggable outfit of 2011 I decided to go a bit crazy and clash a bit, as I was determined to wear my zig-zag tights (found in a goody bag at the first IFB conference) but also a printed skirt.  I did get some strange looks in Natwest but those things don't really bother me any more; I found it fun taking a little bit of a risk.  The new brogues are a result of a House of Fraser voucher given to me by my Uncle, I was a bit lost until I realised they had an Office concession! I realise that I already have them in tan but they are just such a nice, comfortable style that I thought a second investment was wise.  In theory, this means I shouldn't buy any brogues for a while but who knows what might happen if a sale catches my eye.  We'll see. The nails were a slight accident as I was trying to go for a paint splattered effect but due to 1am being my nail-art hour of choice, they ended up being more reminiscent of the paintings of Jackson Pollock.  I quite like that version.

I still can't quite pronounce Diaghilev, but it was nice to learn more about his influences on the Ballet Russes productions.  There were some wonderfully embellished costumes and I was fascinated by the meticulous set designs and pure fantasy element.  I might have enjoyed my childhood ballet classes a little more if they were like this!

As per usual photography was banned in the exhibition and I'm not too happy with the photos I managed to take as my nerves somehow got the better of me.  Luckily with Jazmine's gallery knowledge, I soon found plenty of other inspiring objects and artefacts to take pictures of as she took me to rooms I never knew existed!  It's easy to stick to familiar and safe places in a gallery, like the exhibition spaces and shop but there really is so much more to this gallery, like furniture, ceramics and metalwork. I believe you can take inspiration from all sorts of places.

The premise of the Museum of Everything is that you become a part of the diaroma-like artwork itself by visiting

My sis channels John Lennon, not that she knew who I was talking about...

I wanted to show my sister a little bit of London too, so she too can have her own memories to look back on when she's older. We had an impromptu day trip to see The Museum of Everything in Primrose Hill (might have bribed her with a Happy Meal and an Xbox game).  It's on for about another month and has been curated by Sir Peter Blake with numerous collections, curiosities and even a bit of taxidermy.  It's only a small space so my sister was a bit disappointed (she also told me off for taking photos in the way that 9-year-olds do 'Ummmmmm'), but I loved the random assortment of items as it reminded me of my hoarder-like ways. 

I also couldn't resist a quick look in the Living and Giving shop as it's the only charity shop in the area and has the tell-tale boutique nuances of Mary Portas' influence.  Everything was laid out wonderfully and I even managed to find a gorgeous silk Cos shirt for £7 so late on in the day.  Will show you all properly in a future post!

Now I'm back at Uni with a dissertation to amend, bring on Hermitville again!  What do you love about London?

Follow on

Bloglovin  Facebook  Twitter Tumblr

Reactions