Memory Lane

Just back from a weekend away in London - a pre wedding anniversary treat for Mr MK and I and very nice it was too. Warm, sunny, fun filled - just like our 17 years together, 11 of which have been as Mr and Mrs. We stayed Friday night in order to get an early start Saturday morning.

First stop Berwick Street. I hadn't realised - being totally focussed on fabric each time i've been there - how many record shops are in that street. This was a RESULT! Mr MK is as fanatical about music as I am about fabric! I decided that I would actually like to live in The Cloth House but that not being possible, I settled for a few purchases - the start of a distinctly retro flavoured day, not least because we have so many memories of London but also because retro seems to be scene of the moment.


I found a metre of The black fabric which isn't very visible here in the remnant bucket. It cost £10, a third of the full cost per metre! It's cotton with holes in, I thought it might make a nice gypsy top. Mr Mk bought rare CD's next door at SisterRay. One of them a tribute by The Cramps to the rockabilly bands who inspired them.


Round the corner in Brewer Street, the site of my hen night, 11 years ago. Madame JoJo's cabaret club, where the "waitresses" were leather clad, blue haired, heaviliy peirced transvestites with deliciously glittery red lipstick and pointy bras. The "cabaret" was performed by scantlily clad muscle men and other "ladies". I had no concept at the time that this was a strange thing to do for a hen night, but in a recent conversation was told "if my bridesmaid had suggested that sort of hen night, i'd have thought she was wierd" ... Well we all enjoyed ourselves thoroughly despite the price of the wine!

Next stop ...

Which has changed somewhat in the last 20 years. I remember for a while it seemed to lose it's way with a plethora of cheap "alternative" shops selling lurid hairdye, pvc clothes and thigh high boots - an overhang from the punk era - which I loved at the time. It now seems to have regained it's status of high fashion, with a little retro still and a few old survivors..

In this Mod Shop which was one of two that we had a browse in, we found some pin badges from the 80's which have swiftly found their way onto our boy's Harrington jacket - We call call him "Jimmy" after the main character in the film Quadrophenia, his favourite since the summer holiday last year. From Skater boy to Mod, he was heard to say to a girl at school, after having his long hair chopped into an appropriately short style (taking a picture of aforementioned character to the hairdresser with him), "THIS isn't a haircut ..... THIS is a way of life" .. sigh .. I'm glad he's getting it out of his system early. I blame it on the parents though ...


Years ago, when Mr MK looked like this:

And I looked like this:

We would gaze longingly through the dark windows of The Great Frog at the chunky silver adornments of rock stars. It was a famous jeweler in those days, now it's on a side street, all black inside, a little worn round the edges but no less splendid, we always pop in for old time's sake. This time, as it's nearly his birthday, I bought Mr Mk a present ...

It matches the present I bought him at Christmas


Mr MK loves his cut-throat which he uses (very carefully) at weekends. After a few nasty slicing incidents while learning how to work it, he thankfully does not look like Heath Ledger's Joker, but does have a fantastically smooth face.

In keeping with the style of all things Retro, I bought Shoes at Office


Ribbons at Liberty


A bag from the Salvation Army


Accessories from MacCulloch and Wallis (what a place!)

Then over to Camden Town, another stomping ground from our misspent youth, we still love to shop there, though heavens above, what are they trying to do here?

Call me mad, but I can't help thinking that the fire at Camden a few months ago which burned down a large section of the street/market, is part of a conspiracy by property developers to tart the place up.

We firmly resisted the urge to return here ...

Had dinner by the Lock and then limped back to the hotel near London Bridge by 7pm with the most ridiculously sore legs and feet.

Just a couple of hours to recover, before I had to don these for our night of dancing ... Talk about killer heels!

At times like this my favourite mantra comes in handy. From the film Grease which I watched continuously when I was 15, and consequently am still able to recite in its entirety, word for word (including all songs), the immortal line "Beauty is Pain".

Fortunately, notwithstanding said mantra, I had some of these in my shopping bag too ...