The London Lounge

I was remembering some sunny afternoons of September at Time for Tea in Shoreditch, meeting up and chatting with nice people, occasionally professional utopians and advanced dreamers. Someone said we need interesting people. Whether they trade vintage Victorian corsets in a basement of the East End or buy delicacies in a gourmet bakery of Mayfair (wearing plastic orange shoe covers on a pair of bespoke shoes, as it rains), I'm glad they exist.

Johnny Vercoutre from Time for Tea (also here).

Is that place actually ever open? I frequently pass it but it's not clear when it operates...

Luca wrote:Is that place actually ever open? I frequently pass it but it's not clear when it operates...

Luca, it's more than one year since last time I was there. In those days they used to open Saturday and Sunday only. I think it always worked somehow as a private house open to visitors for tea, rather than as a business. The plan and the interiors of the ground floor are/were those of a house: reception room on the front with just two tables, kitchen and bathroom on the back. I was caught more than once by some lovers of lindy hop who played a 1930's record from the jukebox and all in a sudden danced around the big table where I was sipping my tea and eating carrot cake cooked by Johnny's mum

Speaking of Lindy Hop, there was a really fine demonstration of "vintage" moves last Saturday at the Prohibition Party. I must get around to taking the English Rose to some Lindy Hop / Swing classes.

Luca wrote:Speaking of Lindy Hop, there was a really fine demonstration of "vintage" moves last Saturday at the Prohibition Party. I must get around to taking the English Rose to some Lindy Hop / Swing classes.

Oh fantastic, Luca! Any changes to your previous outfit for this event? Speaking of lindy hop, I went few times to Swing Patrol's classes in Shoreditch - very enjoyable!

I went for more of a 30s look: the spectators came out, of course (got a lot of use out of them this summer, in general), a mid-blue linen pinstripe suit, a contrast, pointed collar shirt and a maroon tie with a fairly 30s pattern.

Back to the topic of the thread: I find the diversity of dress / attitudes in London, especially in 'special' areas like Shoreditch, to be one of my favourite things about living here. You can see everything from "international luxe brand bling" to "urban retro lumberjack-mill worker", from "tatooed, 40s GLTBQ" to "pinstripes-and-Jermyn-Street as armour" side by side, enjoying everything the Big Smoke has to offer. Less a tribal place than a medieval annual fair, with its own tolerant laws, its own sociology.

I might pop into this, at the Old Truman Brewery. http://www.skiddle.com/e/12246689/

Luca wrote:Speaking of Lindy Hop, there was a really fine demonstration of "vintage" moves last Saturday at the Prohibition Party. I must get around to taking the English Rose to some Lindy Hop / Swing classes.

I am also dancing a little bit swing(lindy hop, balboa, shag and boogie woogie) with preference for balboa.
This was actually one of the many reasons why I started wearing bespoke tailoring. You need a high armhole in order to dance comfortably in a jacket or suit.

Swing dancing is a great joy for everyone and I strongly encourage you to try. With balboa being very elegant and comfortable even at 200-250 beats per minute:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NjWQgLsyggI

Frederic Leighton wrote:Johnny Vercoutre from Time for Tea (also here).

Frederic / Luca,

Better enjoy it whilst you can:


http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for ... 96286.html


Quote: "There is potential to convert into flats or into a single family dwelling subject to the usual consents


It could be another interesting gem lost.

Regards
Russell

Thanks for the head's up, Russel. Many Shoreditchers (or is it Hoxtonians?) -- who almost certainly would not have remotely discovered these purlieus had they not been hyped by the pop press to begin with -- lament the rapid burgeoisification of hipsterland.

On one level, since I work adjacently to this area, I would like every block to forever remain as it was at its peak "Luca-ness", a mix of originality and quality.

That said, I don't worry. London is immense. Once Shoredicth becomes what Kings Road became in the 1990s -- the INTERESTING PEOPLE will have moved on, elsewhere. And there I shall seek them.

Already, many galleries have moved west because East-end prices are too high...