england :: london :: general

[fre-co]

Joydiffusion gave good advice, follow that.

Buy timeout for bands, go to brick lane on sunday for a trashy market.

Get an oyster card for bus/tube unless you buy day tickets everyday. Do not pay for single journeys in cash.

British museum is the top of the list but it's very busy and queues everywhere.

DSM is good, Browns is good, but not open on Sunday. I despise Selfridges, steer well clear of that god awful place. Liberty is a much better department store.

[Unwashed]

Wow guys thanks a bunch!

This helps a lot. Actually i don't like the Big Dept. stores that much. I'm more into smaller boutiques but anyway, still gonna check out Liberty.

Oystercard will be nice then. Is this card rechargable?

And what about this VAT refund? Why would i ask this?

Need to check which bands are playing then

[mofonyx]

Everyone in London has an oyster, or more than one oyster. If I'm not mistaken, it costs a refundable 3 pounds to buy which you can top up however much you want.

VAT refund is a good idea because everything in UK is taxed (12.5% I believe). So, you get to reclaim this 12.5% tax on all the items you purchase at the airport (or a VAT refund centre). Consider it a 12.5% discount on everything, assuming you don't get taxed by your own customs.

[Unwashed]

VAT refund is a good idea because everything in UK is taxed (12.5% I believe). So, you get to reclaim this 12.5% tax on all the items you purchase at the airport (or a VAT refund centre). Consider it a 12.5% discount on everything, assuming you don't get taxed by your own customs.

Isn't this for people who don't live in Europe or something?

[mofonyx]

Hmm, good question. You're probably right.

Perhaps someone else could enlighten you on that.

[Unwashed]

Yup, 2bad:

As a foreign visitor you can get VAT/GST refund on the purchases that you export from the country you are visiting. To be entitled to a refund within the European Union (EU) you have to reside outside of the Union.

The following countries are members of the EU; Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and UK.

[Sabbath]

So what seems to be the general consensus about Harrod's 'round here? Not that I give a fuck, because I genuinely love that place, just curious... I was in there today and saw they had the Raf x FP collab.

Also anybody know where PRPS denim is stocked in London besides "Heartless" which shouldn't even be allowed to say they're in London when they're 2 hours away...

[hapsical]

==========

Edited July 24, 2014 by hapsical

[Sabbath]

I enjoyed reading that.

[fre-co]

Good essay on Harrods tackiness there. I happened to be in there last weekend and walked past that billionaire couture... horrific. 'All brass and no class' kind of sums up that place.

Is Liberty still suffering then? I knew they were when they sold off the regent street building but I had no idea of the current situation.

[doke]

hey guys, I'm heading to London / Paris / Italy / Serbia in June.

Anyone have some advice on places I MUST stop by in London - or any of the other places i'm going too.

Also, If anyone has a list of decent stockists in any of these countrys hit me back

(and if anyone's keen for a beer or three while i'm there hit me back also)

[JoyDiffusion]

Ugh, Harrods is horrendous.. tacky, gaudy, full of tourists and nouveau riche big spenders who buy things not for the design or quality but for the right label and the attached status..

Liberty, on the other hand, totally respects the design of stuff and they've created the right environment for that, and you can tell their buyers don't just go in for the big names, but then again you keep hearing about how Liberty isn't doing too well financially...

+Rep... couldn't agree more. I don't know anything about the financial status of Liberty, but if they are in relative trouble, it's perhaps just a symptom of how much of society has lost its' sense for real fashion/quality/design. I often find myself wondering while on the street "did people always dress this badly?" I do think it's gotten worse this decade.

As for Sabbath, Liberty have PRPS, but the only kind worth getting is the raw, purple-selvedge version (conveniently enough, the least expensive). Alas, even Liberty carry the pre-distressed PRPS, along with a (select) few other tacky labels. I haven't lived in London long enough to notice any trends regarding what they carry, but it would be a shame for them to move towards the Harrods approach.

[thomas_highstreet]

to be honest your saying liberty is great but that room with the prps and the middling 'streetwear' is absolute trash.

the best thing about liberty is the issey miyake fete and other interesting lines up on the womens floor.

[Unwashed]

For shopping, the RO store opened not long ago, it's in Mayfair.

I've heard they postponed the opening of the store, can someone verify?

[hapsical]

to be honest your saying liberty is great but that room with the prps and the middling 'streetwear' is absolute trash.

the best thing about liberty is the issey miyake fete and other interesting lines up on the womens floor.

I think their main men's designer room (Alexander McQueen, Rick, Comme, Marni, Burberry Prorsum, Viktor & Rolf etc.) is good, and the men's formalwear too, which mixes the trad. British brands with ones like Lanvin and Jil Sander.. I agree it's not really the place for streetwear, though they do have good selection of contemporary brands like APC, Folk and YMC.

In fact, nowhere in London really excites me in terms of retail, I'm just saying Liberty is a great deal better than Harrods.

Regarding the RO shop.. there was an interview with him in the a/w 08 AnOther Man magazine saying that said his shop would open soon on South Audley Street, but I have heard nothing about it since (you'd think they'd have done a big PR push around the opening), and it's not listed on his website with the other stores.. then again Jil Sander quietly opened on Bond Street recently and I had heard nothing about that until I happened to be passing by. I'll check if I'm nearby, but I'm not bothered enough to go especially looking.

EDIT: just Googled, latest seems to be opening in APRIL - doubt that's set in stone though, could well be delayed more.

[thomas_highstreet]

i think i wrote that post pretty badly

i was tryna say the whole 'streetwear' room is shit and needs to be done with for more space of jil sander, marni and lanvin.

[Sabbath]

Last time I was there they had some renovations going on behind construction walls on the menswear floor.

[The_D]

The construction walls downstairs at Liberty have gone now. It still feels really disorganised to me, I have to say. There's a new(?) room with pyjamas, scarves, knitted ties, and underwear (with none of the Schiesser stuff they had a couple of seasons ago), which just feels weird - full of stuff they didn't know what to do with (is that even English? Sorry).

The 'streetwear' room is, as others have said, still shit. A weird little Folk concession, low-rent T-shirts, a motley collection of APC stuff, couple of racks of YMC, and Oliver Spencer (basically you'd be better off going to Lamb's Conduit Street, so you can see Spencer's shop, which also stocks Engineered Garments and Margaret Howell, and the Folk shop, as well as some other interesting stores like the Persephone bookshop.

Liberty has also extended the men's shoe department - they've done away with the random collection of Japanese woodblock prints and filled it with a ropey collection of predictable shoes, like Kurt Geiger (incl. another dull Grenson collaboration), Margiela German Army trainers, and those bloody Prada trainers that casuals wear.

How-ever... no one seems to have mentioned (sorry if I missed it) the Editions de Frederic Malle perfume concession on the ground floor. Finally you can try this stuff in London. They have fancy smelling booths/pods there. Maybe this should be in the fragrance thread.

[M4TM]

i'm back in london next week again... any sales still on??

[mofonyx]

hi guys, i just finished my exam left with a few weeks in London (~3 wks), anything interesting I should get up to before I leave?

I'm already going to the orchestra. I'm thinking museums and art galleries. Not a big fan of stage productions (wicked, les miserables etc).

Suggestions? Any unique food that isn't too expensive, stuff to see (tourist-y would be fine)..

[YoungM]

Apologies if this has been covered- I'm lazy.

What are suggestions for 3 days in London? A little bit of shopping, and then some interesting touristy crap. I'm young, and with my father, so no night life oriented stuff.

Thanks sirs.

[AgentRed]

YungM just hit up the Tate Modern and the Victoria and Albert Museum and wander around Oxford Circus and the parks and gawk at Buckingham Palace and stroll through Notting Hill and yer three days will be over lickety split.

For anyone still arguing Harrods vs. Liberty, I strongly favour the latter but... has anyone tried Harvey Nichols? I stopped in randomly a few weeks ago and they have some KILLER Thom Browne and Balenciaga and Lanvin stuff. Strictly trust fund babies only...

[The_D]

Second on the Tate Modern; worth going to Tate Britain too, to see the new contemporary acquisitions on display there. There’s also the Jeff Koons show in the Serpentine gallery, which also happens to be in the middle of Hyde Park/Kensington Gardens if you need some fresh air. If you want newer contemporary art, go to the galleries in Vyner Street (although it’s a bit out of the way).

If you want touristy crap, the London Eye is fun; best time to do it is early evening, I think. Most of the major London museums are pretty cool, and are also all free. The Tower of London is great if you like history or big jewellery. Don’t go the London Dungeon or Madam Tussauds unless you are both brain-dead and like standing in long queues to see waxworks. Taking the river boat on the Thames is quick and moderately amusing. There’s one that runs between the two Tate museums, which is useful. That way you can see places like the Houses of Parliament from the river, instead of dealing with the tourist crush on the pavements. Also, if you want something super-touristy but a bit different, there’s an amphibious coach tour called Duck Tours, that uses WW2 vehicles to drive round London and then into the river. Think their booking office is near Waterloo.

If you want to see something a bit different, go to Dennis Severs’ house – it’s a mad art performance/museum that’s a completely restored 18th century house in Spitalfields, that you view by candlelight in the evenings. It’s really worth visiting, and quite unlike anything else you’ll. Also, because it’s in Spitalfields, you can check out all the shops in Shoreditch and Spitalfields first.

The decent independent shops are quite spread out. E.g. Garbstore is in West London, A Butcher of Distinction and Three Threads are in the East, The Hideout and Albam are in the centre. But all of these sell the usual suspects that you can get online (e.g. Engineered Garments, overpriced Japanese labels, etc), and it’s sale time so there’s not much stock left, and the new stuff isn’t in yet. Savile Row and Jermyn Street are interesting to see, as the homes of traditional English menswear and tailoring and shoes, but if you’re young, this might not be your thing (but might be your dad’s…). The arcades in the west end, like Burlington Arcade, close to Bond Street, are also touristy diversions to walk through. Also worth going to the food hall at Fortnum and Mason’s if you want touristy English food gifts for people (tea, chocolates, etc). Avoid Oxford Street like the fucking plague, unless you have to go to Selfridges, which is basically just another department store, or the Uniqlo flagship which is just down the road from Selfridges. And of course, there’s the Dover Street Market, on Dover Street. It’s a bit in the middle of nowhere, but the Old Curiosity Shop is interesting to look at, because it’s really old, written about by Dickens, and now stocks clothing by Blaak and remakes of Ian Reid shoes. And Sir John Soane’s museum is just round the corner, which is another amazing, unique house like no other museum.

Food-wise, if you want traditional English done well , it’s going to cost you, but hey, if your old man is paying…. Rules on Maiden Lane is an ancient and old-fashioned place that serves expensive but very good food.

The other ‘traditional English’ dish that’s worth eating while you’re in London is curry. If you’re in the centre of town, try Masala Zone on Marshall Street, or Floral Street (same street in Covent Garden as the various Paul Smith shops); if you fancy going for a more ‘local’ experience, take a taxi to the Lahore Kebab House off the Commercial Road; or Tayyabs, on Fieldgate Street. Both very good.

Finally, buy a copy of Time Out as soon as you arrive – it’ll give you up-to-date information on what’s going on.

[The_D]

Fuck sorry, that came out as a huge cut-and-pasted vomit-block of text.

[YoungM]

Nah, it's super helpful. I was really at a loss as for what to do. One final question- stores to hit if I'm looking to see some goth ninja shit I don't normally get to experience? I know the Library stocks Poell, which would be fun to see just for kicks.

[fre-co]

Follow his instructions. There is nothing more to add.

Is Dennis Severs house still going? I went about 20 years ago when I was a lad and he had just started it.

And rep him for the effort.

[AgentRed]

The_D's advice is ill, I live in Shoreditch and didn't know about some of his suggestions.

The Library has a weak collection of CCP, only a few women's t-shirts from 3 or 4 years ago that they bring out for the sales. Avoid. If you wanna see some CCP go to l'eclaireur on rue Herold in Paris.

Pineal Eye near Carnaby street (49 Broadwick Street) has the goth ninja look covered, and a store called Two See at 21 Fouberts Place has British goth ninja (it works) and very avant garde stuff. Also try B-Store on Saville Row for British designers and Bernhard Willhem style clothing, it's like 7 in NYC.

And don't forget to hit up the Abercrombie and Fitch for some £80 A&F Jeans

[The_D]

AgentRed, I reckon the Pineal Eye is now closed. Not sure exactly when, but I'm sure it was empty last time I walked past it. Similarly, Designworks on the other side of the street was having a closing-down sale. Broadwick Street maybe just didn't get enough foot-traffic... I think Kokon to Zai on Greek Street is still going though (wasn't it run by the same people?)

If you're in that area, though, Concrete is well worth checking out on Marshall Street. New designers plus a curious mix of antique Chinese furniture. Think the guy that runs it also runs a fashion-PR company. Also, that's just round the corner from Cinch (on Newburgh Street) - the LVC store, if that's your thing. And at the end of that street is Liberty; and just round the corner from there is the Photographers Gallery. Anyway, enough already.

I think you might be right at the wrong end of the wrong season to catch too much goth-ninja shit in London.

[sybaritical]

Pineal eye closed more than 18 months ago.

It's a print shop or something now.

[AgentRed]

Pineal eye closed more than 18 months ago.

It's a print shop or something now.

Damn you recession!!!!!!!!!!!!

Kokon to zai is a sort-of alternative, it's like PE's crazy cousin from the country.

If you're in the area, you could also try the Jas MB store which was the first retail place in the UK with Diet Butcher Slim skin (I think, long before DSM anyway). It's tiny but their selection's well picked and their bags are sick