Step back nine decades to a time when nightlife was alluringly illicit. Forget oversized tee shirts and spandex leggings – dinner jackets and luxurious gowns beaded to within an inch of their thread count were the only club wear of choice. Long evenings were spent soaking up dazzling chorus girls and blue comics or, across the Atlantic, trying to find the savviest speakeasy bulging with liquor while dodging the police. Welcome to the golden era of cabaret.
After the Labour disaster, England deserved a Red Victory. No matter if it didn’t happen on the shore of Albion – it happened in Russia, no less. Well done Manchester, I’m sure it was a great game. Sorry but I wasn’t there with my nose glued to a TV screen. Instead of rejoicing in red, I was slumped in the deep black of Lou Reed’s Berlin.
Those pair of jeans were still dirty with dust, beer, sweat and everything you can soil your jeans with during the Camden Crawl. They had spent the last few weeks shoved at the bottom of the laundry bag, forsaken and forgotten. So when it came to prepare myself for the Stag and Dagger, that is the newly born Shoreditch answer to the Crawl, I proudly donned them and swaggered out of my den.
It’s dressing up time this coming bank holiday. Don’t waste it on a bender. Instead check out the London Fashion and Film Festival Weekender (24-25 May). This 2 day event is jammed packed with a heady cocktail of films, fashion and general frolicking, ending on a truly high note with ‘The White Coffin Club Night’ party. Vintage Secrets co-founder Naomi Thompson talks to Curator Claire Geddie from the BFI who unveils an insight to the debauchery ahead.
DJ, Club Promoter and Blogger, Todd Hart talks about the rise of Afro Beat in London’s savvy party scene.
Pointing out a trend is a bit like saying a particular cloud looks like a hedgehog. You hope that the trend you see actually looks like a trend to others. But maybe you just want to see a hedgehog anyway.
The Joy of Ephemera
Never let it be said i am either on the case or on time or down with the hip kids, for i am not, i am one for archane practices, strange brews and herbal elixiors, brews of berrys and fruits, pipes of strangley archane leaves and pettles and almost extinct, long forgotten by the hustle and bustle of prepackaged fast food modern urban society,
Fashion in Film Festival
Naomi Thompson takes a peep at what’s to come from the Fashion in Film Festival that hits London from 10-31 May. Planning the perfect crime? Don’t forget to look the part.…..Somewhere along the line it may pay dividends.
Word up! New gallery opening at 119 Bethnal Green Road (top of Brick Lane). It's called Austin, it is very great. It is run by the founder of artkandy.co.uk, an online new British art-dealer. Austin will have regular exhibitions of both new work from around the UK and working international artists. Plus parties, installations, video nights and no doubt more! The possibilities are endless ... keep your keen eyes open, kids!
In an ideal world elections and sex are matters of choice. Not so in Russia, where the recent presidential election resembled a coronation with a subsequent plebiscite rather than a democratic poll. As expected, Putin's anointed heir, Dmitry Medvedev, won a landslide victory – a story I am sure you've heard plenty of times in recent weeks.
Let’s begin this dirty little excuse of a love affair with a brief intro to get the niceties out of the way. Then we can kick back with a glass of Sancerre and get down to business. Me: 20 something stylist, writer, co-owner of a fashion website and fully paid up member of the fashion fascists of Great Britain. You: new devoted reader. I don’t even mind if it’s out of utter disdain.
Moving on….
LFW