17 Feb 2012

Brief Visit to London

Earlier this week we spent fleeting visit to London, the main reason was to visit some exhibitions and search for inspiration for Hollie's final project for uni. Our first stop was to the Design Museum to see the Terence Conran and Designs of 2012 exhibitions. The Conran exhibition was just great, curated really well with cracking visuals and displays mixed in with in-depth details about the designer's life. I'm the first to admit that I don't know as much about him as I'd like to but it was instantly clear to see how much influence his style had on the proceeding decades and future designers.

Here's a bunch of photos from our time down in foggy London time -
Best quote I've seen in ages
  
A man of many talents
There was a large selection of his work from his Habitat days, it all felt so ahead of its fine.
 This tool cabinate was a gifted to Trence Conran on his 80th birthday, what a present! Up close you could see that each piece was finished to the highest level, wonder how much this is worth.
I've never been down the back of the Shad Thames, what a lovely little area.
For all your skinhead needs
A squirrel with its nuts on show, wicked display in Paul Smith's window on Floral St.
A plain outfit was brightened up with polka dot socks from Tabio, with Clarks Desert Trek's
The plan was to go to the David Hockney exhibition at the Royal Academy but they queue was huge and we were pressed for time. Gutted. So we ended up wondering around the Regent St. area to make up for it
Brilliant window displays in the Hackett store on Regent St. They must have spent hours perfecting it.
Anthropologie, boy there's tones of interesting stuff going on in there, here's a couple of things that took my eye. I did snap a ton more in here but they came out a bit blurry
 Had a play around with Ben Sherman's high tech window display on Carnaby St. You can press buttons down turn the clothes around, to see all angles, cracking idea. Lovely looking store and I regret not buying something now actually. I'll save it for another time.
 L.L Bean & Harris Tweed bucket had spotted in Beyond Retro
 We took a detour up Shoreditch High St. to visit Present, it's the kind of menswear store that women love just as much as men. 
If you follow me on Twitter you might have seen me asking for some recommendations of interesting places to visit while we were down. Jen from Styleeast complied her top 10 places to go so we worked our way through most of them. It was a mixture of vintage shops, coffee shops and restaurants. After dashing from place to place down East we finished out trip of with a very tasty coffee at Nude Espresso on Hanbury St, just off Brick Lane. Then we packed our bags and headed back up North.

22 comments:

  1. Love that quote. The area behind the Thames was one of my favorite parts. I wandered around there for a whole day. Even have a pic of it, similar to the one you took in my bedroom.

    Glad you guys had fun! One of these days I'm going to make it back over there, and I'm not going to leave.

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  2. Well the unfortunately queue at the exhibition was at the end a good chance to visit all the surroundings ;)

    Your socks rock! If the have a gren part somewhere they would look like a watermelon! hahahah

    xx

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  3. Wonderful sights around the city! Those window displays are always fun -- loved the tailor in the bowler, and stacks of old suitcases.

    Re: your question on the doors. We have been renovating a house for what feels like a year now. Finally getting to the finishing stages though.

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  4. There's something very dreamy about that window display. It somehow shows the magic tailors do. :)

    nouveauskin.blogspot.com

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  5. Wonderful photos! I love posts like these as they always give me great new ideas for places to go in London. Definitely want to make a trip to the Design museum soon!

    On a random note did you know that street you photographed near the Design Museum is one of the most expensive in the whole of London? Apparently it has more CEOs of companies living there than any other street in the city!

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  6. oo i am going to that exhibition in Design Museum tomorrow with my mate! im so looking forward to it.

    looks like you've had a great time and seen a lot of stuff.

    polka dot socks are cute cute!

    xo

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  7. I always love to see shop-windows with good ideas and original stuff :)

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  8. Ah, London, how I miss it!
    Being able to see all sorts of different exhibitions in the span of a day is one of my favourite aspects about the city!

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  9. Oh yay, you went to some places on my list! I'm so glad it came in useful. This is a great collection of photos, they all go together but each individual one is so interesting. You packed loads into your trip! Hope to see you next time

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  10. That quote's really flipping good - I wish it was something I could encompass more in my style!

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  11. wow, seems like you've been up to a lot lately! really liking the Terence Conran exhibit and especially those red stacked-up teapots! there are soo many good art galleries where you are x very lucky!

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  12. Looks like you had a great time. It's always good to get some extra tips from the locals... really need to see the Terence Conran exhibition. He is quite the design genius.

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  13. I am ridiculously close to jump on a plane and go back to London, thanks to your photography! Oh I loved these, I wish there were more . xx (Hackett store display is so divine, I can't even.)

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  14. You won't be dropping by on Wednesday for menswear day?

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  15. I have not been to the Conran exhibit but I am a regular at his store. How unfortunate that you did not get to go to the Hockney exhibit, it is a real treat.
    Have a wonderful evening!

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  16. Shad Thames is a cracking area. Spent 7 great years working down there at MadeThought's old studio. Kernel Brewery and St John's Bakery just down the road now keep drawing me back. Looks like a good trip.

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  17. Present is an awesome store. I can't believe those suitcases were £325 on sale though!! What brand are they?

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  18. Oh gosh, these photographs are fab and it looks like you had a really fun time. It's a shame you didn't get to the Hockney exhibition.. maybe you will get another chance?

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  19. Looks like you had a good time by seeing all the places you visited. The photos are really nice as well. This post got me a bit more excited for a trip I have planed in March. It looks like I'll be visiting similar places as these.

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  20. Wish I knew you were coming! Next time, do let me know? We can have tea!

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  21. Fantastic quote. I LOVE the Design Museum, haven't been for a couple of years so maybe it's time for a repeat visit.

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  22. Anonymous18:15

    I live in Shad Thames and walk that way every day on the way home from work. I love it!

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