Although I am now back in Cambridge, not in London, I thought that today's post could concentrate on the wonder that is Kingly Court, just off Carnaby Street...
I'm pretty sure I've mentioned it before, as it is home to my favourite physical vintage store in the world, ever, and it's great for a stop off in a peaceful place amidst the craziness of Oxford Street and Carnaby Street.
The best stops, starting from the top:
Camellia's Teas: Great tea, lovely proprietress, immense foods (the salads and soups are Always interesting - uber-win!) and pretty awesome gift-type items.
T-B + tiny cup = hilarity!
Next floor down is the wonderful Sam Greenberg which is my absolute favourite physical vintage store. Every time I go into the store I find some beautiful dress that exactly fits the occasion I went in there to buy for... It has a lovely mix of pattern and plain, all colours of the rainbow and all eras. Has anyone else been in? They have a great range of eras represented, though a predominance of 80s and 60s shapes. It really is awesome. Small, but perfectly formed! My favourite buys include my Ferragamos (now, sadly deceased due to one too many rainy days...) and my "Flamenco dress" - black, calf length, with big red and white flowers - an adored, well-worn dress, but funnily enough one that's not yet surfaced on here... Perhaps soon!
Anyway, moving on... There are three other vintage stores in Kingly Court: Stromboli's Circus is next to Sam Greenberg, and while I enjoy nothing more than strolling around, and in particular looking at their vintage fabrics and magazines, I've not yet found a piece of clothing in there I really love. It's possibly due to the higher prices and higher incidence of fancy-dress-vintage, but I think it might be awesome for boy-wear. My partridge scarf was bought in here, so I do have a certain amount of affection for it...
Fur Coat No Knickers is on the top floor, near Camelia's Teas. This place is a wonderland, albeit an expensive one... They have really, truly, first class vintage, beautiful hats, amazing though fragile bags, and more jewelled, magpie-happy-making stash than one can bear! It's worth checking out for the intake-of-breath factor!
Finally, Marshmallow Mountain on the ground floor has a good selection of wearable vintage, and an awesome selection of accessories. I always like to rummage in their shoes and scarves, but haven't yet plunged in and bought anything. Possibly because I'm usually expecting to find something more exciting upstairs, and thus I always hold back on the affection-giving!
Aside from vintage, I'd say other highlights have to be Lazy Oaf and Traffic People on the ground floor... Always good fun to be had. Food-wise, I'd say that C'est Ici is pretty nice. Especially if you're a cake fiend. Their chocolate fondant is yummy-scrummy, and the candy cakes are immense; but have them with a big drink of water as they get very sickly very quickly. I'd recommend the blueberry ones. Also, the Ferrero Rocher milkshakes are gooooooood! (Can anyone tell I fell off the gluten-dairy-free bandwagon a few times this summer; much to the detriment of my digestive tract which is still punishing me for my misbehaviour, seeing as I'm actually allergic... Sigh.)
So, all in all, definitely worth checking out if you're Oxford Street way... Carnaby Street is just behind Liberty too, so you must also spend time in their haberdashery department; just in case you don't already, which obviously anyone with an ounce of sense must do on a regular basis... Right?! ;-D
Apologies, seriously, for remaining crap on the blogosphere front. Same excuses as ever. Work, course being horribly hard, etc. etc. Sorry! Will try to get better again soon! I have a few bits and pieces up my sleeve for this week and beyond, so... Woop! ;-D
Finally, a couple of outfit pictures from T-B and I's Kingly day...
Gosh, I really was wearing a lot of black and grey over the summer... Hmmmmm. Anyway. I was wearing: Hobbs grey nubby tweed jacket (borrowed from mother), grey Primark strappy top, black Motel lace back dress (turned around), Luella bag, grey Acne jeans (now sadly deceased...) and M&S sandals... Funnily enough, also swinging a Sam Greenberg bag containing an awesome turquoise 80s dress. Good times.
Right. Must go write essay.
Hugs! Xxxc
