London Fashion Week SS14 Street Style Photos: Part 1

My favourite thing about London Fashion Week is not so much the runway designs, but the street style. The guests and the people milling about outside the shows make for some of the best people watching in the city all year.

There’s been some fantastic contributions to the Flickr pool over the past few days so I’ll share them with you in a few entries this week. Be sure to check out the photographer’s links!

Photo: London Fashion Week, Day 2, Somerset House by My Soul Insurance

Photo: London Fashion Week, Outside Mulberry Show, Claridges, Day 3 by My Soul Insurance

Photo: London Fashion Week, Outside Mulberry Show, Claridges, Day 3 by My Soul Insurance

Photo: London Fashion Week, Orla Kiely Presentation, Day, Elms Lester Painting Rooms, Day 2 by My Soul Insurance

Photo: London Fashion Week by Alan Brutenic

Photo: London Fashion Week, Outside Mulberry Show, Claridges, Day 3 by My Soul Insurance

Photo: London Fashion Week by Rob Schofield

Photo: London Fashion Week, Somerset House, Day 1 by My Soul Insurance

Photo: London Fashion Week, Outside Mulberry Show, Claridges, Day 3 by My Soul Insurance

Photo: London Fashion Week, Somerset House, Day 1 by My Soul Insurance

Photo: London Fashion Week, Outside Mulberry Show, Claridges, Day 3 by My Soul Insurance

Photo: London Fashion Week by deepgreenspace

Photo: London Fashion Week, Somerset House, Day 2 by My Soul Insurance

Photo: London Fashion Week, Somerset House, Day 1 by My Soul Insurance

Photo: London Fashion Week, Chloe Melissa Nørgaard after the Ashish show, Somerset House, Day 2 by My Soul Insurance

Photo: London Fashion Week by deepgreenspace

Photo: London Fashion Week, Somerset House, Day 1 by My Soul Insurance

Photo: London Fashion Week, Somerset House, Day 2 by My Soul Insurance

Photo: London Fashion Week, Sabrina Carder by deepgreenspace

Photo: London Fashion Week by Anthony White

Photo: London Fashion Week by Dave Cook

Photo: London Fashion Week by Matt Gage

Photo: London Fashion Week by deepgreenspace

Have you been to any Fashion Week events in the past few days? Where did you go? What do you think about the street style this week? If you’ve taken any photos, add them to the Flickr pool!

For more, see LFW Street Style Part 2, LFW Street Style Part 3 and LFW Street Style Part 4.

Listen to a Londoner: Elizabeth Remes

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!!

Listen to a Londoner is a weekly interview with a Londoner – someone who lives in this city, born here or elsewhere. If you’re up for being interviewed, email littlelondonobservationist@hotmail.co.uk.

Elizabeth Remes

Betsy is a city girl at heart and is proud to call London home for the forseeable future.  She works in development in the performing arts, sings in a chamber choir, loves the expat blogging community, and intrepidly explores the best (and worst!) that London has to offer.  Her boyfriend wants to you know that although she is assimilating very well to life in England she once fell asleep at a cricket match at Lord’s.

LLO: Where are you from originally, how long have you been in London and what brought you here?
ER: I am originally from Washington, DC, although I have also spent a significant amount of time in New York City and in Paris. I got my MA in London a couple of years ago and that allowed me to apply for a Tier 1 visa – I moved back in June 2010, happily! I now live in South London and work in North London.  (Yes, I do need a passport to cross the river!)

LLO: What have been your biggest challenges as an expat so far? Any advice for newcomers?
ER: I have found that the biggest challenges are the nitty-gritty! Expats should (and usually do) expect a certain amount of culture shock and so prepare themselves for that. I don’t think that most newcomers arrive ready to do battle with banks, mobile phones, and utilities companies. My advice for newcomers is: try to do as much research as possible on the nuts-and-bolts of living in a different country.
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LLO: Favourite London locations for a romantic or unusual date?
ER: I actually just wrote a blog post on my top five London date spots – good timing! I think my favorite for this time of year would have to be the Somerset House ice skating rink. It’s a fun date in a gorgeous venue, and you can treat yourselves to a yummy dinner at Tom’s Kitchen afterwards.

LLO: Best place to spend a Saturday night out with the girls?
ER: For a classy girls’ night out, I’d recommend Purl, a new cocktail bar in Marylebone – it has a great speakeasy vibe and very imaginative drinks with secluded booths perfect for gabbing. If you want to be a bit more wild and crazy, though, try The Lexington in Islington – it’s a loungy bar with an incedible selection of whiskey, and they’ve played retro dance music every time I’ve been there!

LLO: You post “Frock Fridays” on your blog. Give us a few of your favourite London shop recommendations that aren’t on the high street, especially since the big NYE is coming!
ER: I’ve brought my love of Anthropologie with me from the States (there’s one on Regent Street and another on the King’s Road in Chelsea). They’ve got great party dresses plus unique jewelry and quirky accessories. There’s an amazing vintage shop in Shoreditch called Absolute Vintage. They have tons of clothes from every decade you could want, plus shoes and bags galore. Trilogy, which has a couple of stores around London, has a great selection of jeans. And – I want to include this even though they don’t have any physical shops and are only online – I love Boden for basics.

LLO: Best place in London for people watching and fashion inspiration?
ER: Depends what kind you want! But I think that one of the most entertaining places for people watching and fashion inspiration is The Book Club in East London. Go for breakfast with a newspaper, stay for lunch with your laptop, and then hang around for drinks and music in the evening. They cater for everything – and everyone goes! It’s eclectic and fun, though it can tread the line of too-cool-for-school.

LLO: Tell us about a memorable moment that could only have happened in London.
ER: In early September my flatmates and I went to the Mayor’s Thames Festival, a free weekend event on the South Bank. We went on the Sunday, and it was packed! There were tons of food stalls as well as activities for kids and live music – in fact, there was a swing dancing spot in front of the Tate Modern! The day closed with a massive Carnivale-style parade and then an incredible fireworks display. The whole thing was so much fun, and it was amazing walking next to the river, seeing the sun set over iconic landmarks, and thinking, “I live here!”

LLO: Have you found a place in this city that always seems to make you happy? Where and why?
ER: Borough Market always makes me happy! You can tell from my blog that I love cooking and entertaining, and my weekly (if I can afford it!) pilgrimage to Borough Market is an integral part of the dinner party process. I have a whole routine for my Borough Market Saturdays that includes my favorite butcher and Neal’s Yard Dairy for British cheeses – and the trip has to be concluded with lunch and scrumpy from one of the stalls. No matter how hungover I may be after a too-late Friday night, stepping out of the London Bridge tube station and seeing the sign for Borough Market always makes me happy.

LLO: Favourite quirky or unique London discovery?
ER: There are so many options available to you if you want to get some culture, but my favorite discovery is that there are tons of possibilities other than West End shows and the most famous museums – check out the smaller venues for performances and exhibits that might be even more exciting than the big stuff!

LLO: If you were to leave London in the near future, which 5 specific things would you miss the most?
ER:
5. Full English Breakfast – America does good brunches, but if you want to get down and dirty with good hangover food, you have to have a full English. 
4. Borough Market and the guy at Laithwaite’s Wines (whose name I embarrasingly can’t remember!) who always helps me find the perfect wine to match my menu.
3. Meandering along the South Bank and watching the sun set at the horizon of the Thames.
2. All the commons – I love that almost every neighborhood has its own green space.  It makes the city seem more intimate and more spread out at the same time.
1. My life with my English boyfriend of two years – even if he came with me to wherever I was going, I would miss the life we’ve been making here in London. Even just over the past six months, we’ve really set down roots here together. I’d definitely miss that.

Thanks Betsy!

Betsy blogs over at: http://www.betsytransatlantically.blogspot.com/

For more Listen to a Londoner posts, click here.

Elephants 161-170

Elephant time! Here’s 161-170. Which one would you like for Christmas?

161. Maureen by Mackenzie Thorpe; Queens Walk, National Theatre

162. Gajaraj by HH Maharaja Ranjitsinh Gaekwad of Baroda; Old Quebec Street

163. Suraj by HH Maharaja Ranjitsinh Gaekwad of Baroda; The Dorchester

164. Hathi by Manish Arora; V&A Museum

165. Untitled by Marc Quinn; originally at Sotheby’s New Bond Street/Somerset House

166. Lunacrooner by Maria Ines Aguirre; Kensington High Street

167. Elephish by Mariana Bassani; Foubert’s Place/Regent Street

168. Coco by Fernando Pires Jorge & Mariana Bassani; Berkeley Square

169. Nanook by Martin Aveling; Green Park

170. Vanishing Elephant by Martin Jordan; Curzon Street

For more photos, interviews and other info, visit my Elephant Parade page. Stay tuned for the rest!

Listen to a Londoner: Jodie Mandat

Listen to a Londoner. This is a weekly post where people who live (or have lived for a while) in London answer a few questions about the Big Smoke. If you fit the bill and want to be interviewed, give me a shout at littlelondonobservationist@hotmail.co.uk. Always looking for new victims volunteers….

Jodie Mandat, 25

“Im an Australian living the life in London for a year so I can travel europe and see the world. I came here for eight weeks on a holiday last year with my best friend and loved it so much, I went home, sold my house and all my furniture, left all my friends, my boyfriend and my really great job. I’ve made some really good friends here so I’ll be sad to leave in only six more months. The travel bug has bitten me HARD! I didn’t think I’d love it here as much as I am, so when I do go home I’ll have to decide where I want to live forever. On a more personal note, I’m a shopaholic and a chatterbox! :p”

LLO: How long have you lived in London?
JM: 6 months

LLO: Where are you or your family from originally if not London?
JM: Melbourne, Australia

LLO: Best thing about London?
JM: Always something to do.

LLO: Worst thing about London?
JM: I’m starting to think it’s not so much the cold, but the dampness of everything.

LLO: North, south, east or west? 
JM: I live in the northwest, but I love it all

LLO: Best restaurant?
JM: Little Bay when I’m feeling adventurous and Pizza Express when I’m feeling casual

LLO: Best shop?
JM: I’m going to have to say Topshop!

LLO: Best place to escape the city?
JM: Richmond is lovely and so is Greenwich, but closer to town, Hampstead Heath.

LLO: How do you spend your time on the tube?
JM: Usually eyeballing the newspaper of the person next me until I can get my mits on my own copy, but if I’m standing, I’m usually concertrating on NOT breathing where somone else is!

LLO: Most random thing you’ve seen in London?
JM: People dressed like it’s Halloween when it isn’t!

LLO: Best place to catch a gig?
JM: Somerset House.

LLO: Best local band?
JM: (not sure if theyre local but dicovered them here) Just Jack

LLO: Favourite book, song or film about London?
JM: Not sure they’re about london, but they’re certainly based in or make reference to London; Book – Confessions of a Shopaholic, Song – “Ldn” by Lily Allen, Film – Closer or Green Street Hooligans

LLO: Favourite London discovery?
JM: Brick Lane 

LLO: Best place to spend a Sunday afternoon? 
JM: Almost any pub or the kitchen with the other flatmates!

LLO: Best museum or gallery?
JM: I’m yet to find one in london that I really love 😦

LLO: Favourite market?
JM: Camden 

LLO: Best London magazine, newspaper or website?
JM: Company magazine, The London Paper before they scrapped it and www.tfl.co.uk 

LLO: If you were to dress up as one of the tube station names for a costume party, which would you be?
JM: Cockfosters (hehe) or maybe Elephant and Castle.

LLO: Best time of year in London?
JM: Summer!

LLO: First place to take a visitor?
JM: On a red bus, top deck to Oxford Street (but only if they like to shop). Otherwise, Big Ben.

LLO: Favourite place to be on a Saturday night?
JM: A bar in Islington or Angel

LLO: Best and worst things about tourists?
JM: Best – good moods. Worst – slow walking and getting in my way to take photos.

LLO: What would you change about the city if you had the power to do so?
JM: The rubbish and spit on the sidewalk. Eeewwwww! And, I’d make people apologise for bumping into other people.

LLO: Most interesting recent news story?
JM: All the British soldiers that die in the Middle East. It’s so sad. We haven’t sent that many troops from Australia, so we don’t hear as many stories about them being killed. The most interesting, however, was the one a while ago on TV called; Katie, My Beautiful Face.

Thanks Jodie!

For more Listen to a Londoner posts, click here.