Twee Tweed (The Belle & Sebastian Look)

On the tube to Chalk Farm last Monday evening, you could just tell who was on their way to the Belle & Sebastian concert.  Anyone wearing tweed or corduroy was a safe bet.  Pretty floral dresses for girls.  Cardigans, for boys and girls...  But don't get me wrong, I mean this in the nicest possible way.  I like it when a band's fans have a group aesthetic.  I particularly like the vintage vibe of the Belle & Sebastian fanbase.

And I happily embraced it, in my tweedy shorts:

Wool suit jacket: Rokit, Covent Garden

Plain singlet: reliable ol' M&S

Tweedy shorts: Beyond Retro, Soho

Patent brogues: Jones Bootmaker

Silk scarf: Beyond Retro, Cheshire Street

Plastic bead necklace: Sunday Up Market, Brick Lane

Deciding what to wear to a concert can be quite tough.  Okay, sometimes I get a bit lazy but when I am truly devoted to a band I feel that sartorial homage is an important thing.  But you also have to make sure that all the basic functional considerations are covered, more so than usual.  You don't want sore feet ruining your fun, nor a wardrobe malfunction occurring whilst you're trying to dance or squeeze through the crowd.  Pockets are always a bonus because it saves you having to carry a bag.

So, on this occasion, I contemplated one of my sweet florally or gingham summer dresses initially.  But in the end my shorts won out, mainly for their nice, deep pockets.  From there, I kept it pretty basic, with a plain red singlet, flat brogues and some pretty but unfussy accessories.  Jacket for the journey there but hair up so as to keep it off my neck in the hot, sticky venue!

And now some of the finer details and observations:

I'm still discovering my shorts, which I just bought recently.  I tried them on without a belt in the shop so one thing I've subsequently noticed and love is the excessive number of belt hoops - more than really necessary but it turns a functional feature into something more fun and aesthetic.

And my new (old) RAF sweetheart brooch from ebay wasn't really calculated as part of my concert attire but has become a semi-permanent fixture on my favourite go-to jacket.  But that story is one is for another post.

This is possibly my favourite silk scarf in my collection.  It's small, but still a perfect size for simply tying around my head or neck.  I let it down for the photo so that the full loveliness of the Deco-esque pattern could be appreciated.

And, for the record, the concert was excellent!  I had a good bop around the dance floor, met some nice people, and a good time was had by all.

Random Reasons to Love London #2

This evening, when out shopping for a friend's birthday present, I was served by a friendly boy wearing pastel blue nail varnish.

He commented on my Belle & Sebastian tote and we went on to exchange stories of how we both fell in love with them.

He told me about seeing them at T in the Park years and years ago.  It was raining heavily as they played, until the clouds parted and the sun shone through.  It was a magical moment, he said.

Crazily enough, I had almost exactly the same experience on an entirely different occasion.  The first time I ever heard them was at Glastonbury years ago.  During that set, there was a downpour which then cleared, followed by a rainbow appearing over the crowd.  The memory's always stuck with me.

The boy in the shop and I both agreed that there's just something strangely irresistible about that band which makes it so that you can't help but love them.

Victorian Warehouse Exploration

Last week I trotted along to have a look at the annual Clerkenwell Design Week.  Amazingly, this is the first time I've ever been along, despite having worked in Clerkenwell for almost four years.  So, before I could even get around to focusing on the designers who were displaying their creations, I first had to just take in the wonderful buildings that were hosting the exhibitions...

In fact, I've realised that there's just too much to write about in one post, so this is going to have to be split up over three - one for both the buildings I visited plus one for the designs which caught my eye.

First up in the series, the Farmiloe Building on St John Street, as shown in all its glory in the picture above.  This is a fabulous, run-down, vacant Victorian warehouse built in 1868.  It housed a glass and lead suppliers, George Farmiloe & Sons, until just over ten years ago, when they moved their operations down to South London.  

Because it was functioning as both a warehouse and offices until so recently, the building is quite a fascinating hodge-podge of features from different periods.  You can still see essential warehouse elements retained from its early years, such as pulleys for lifting goods up through wide openings onto the numerous, lofty floors.  But then there are various modern interventions such as repairs and strengthening works carried out in concrete.  Whereas concrete on an historic building is usually an abomination, there is something wonderful about the way it shows the building's development over almost a century and a half of solid use in its original function.

And then the ground-floor display rooms and first-floor offices are still absolutely legible.  Climbing up the fabulous staircase, my companions and I found all the fixtures of the old offices, including internal doorbells and quaint little letterboxes (the latter of which unfortunately didn't translate well into photographs).

The Farmiloe & Sons logo on the staircase

And then, finally, there's the view over Clerkenwell/Farringdon's rooftops from the higher floors of the warehouse.

It's just a shame it isn't open all year round for exploration and for games of Victorian make-believe!