post-war glamour girl
Hello from NY where its that slap you in the face red in the cheeks freeze your hair cold. I wrote the below on the Norse flight from London. Fun way to pass the time after finishing The Departed
Does anyone else feel like “England” is trendy lately? When I told a new American acquaintance that my boyfriend1 was English she said that was all the rage these days. I guess because of the new rat boyfriend thing? Or that wretched film about how the British aristocracy is actually fine if just different, other random people got to reap its benefits?
All I know about is London, and there’s lots to hate about London– damp, people don’t believe in heating, pubs close early, what happens if your friend moves to South London– but I’m going to list some of my favorite parts about this silly place for those that might be interested (for some reason.)
some nice thematic music to listen to as you read
Half pints of cider
I’m not a big drinker, in that it takes me like 45 minutes to drink a beer. Beer gives me a stomach ache, sorry! But a half pint is manageable for me, extra points if it’s a dry cider. A half pint of draught sweet cider is fine too, especially if you’re sleepy. Instant sugar high that can repair any bad mood. Plus, ordering a half pint keeps you on the rounds schedule with everyone else. I guess I can drink wine more quickly, but when you’re at the pub the last thing you want is yeuchy acidic pub wine.
Ok in direct contradiction to what I just said– sometimes ordering wine in a pub is amazing because they ask you what size you want as if you’re getting coffee. Venti, officer! A small is what I’d call a standard glass of wine, a medium is what I once heard Internet Personality Dan Allegretto call “a Bushwick pour” ~10 years ago and never forgot, and a large is a wine glass filled up to the brim. You have to walk back to your table slurping carefully from the top like you’re carrying a martini. When I order A Large Wine I feel like an absolute legend, like, how is this allowed. It makes up for the fact that the wine tastes yucky.2 Although it looks like the “large wine” may be under threat…
The price of paperback books
How is it possible that the price of an average novel in England is like £7.99? In the US you can barely get a Dover Thrift edition printed on newsprint level paper for that. Multiple times a week my friend Peter Huhne and I peruse Book Culture on the Upper West Side and leave with nothing, Peter shouting the PRICES in America! He’s right!
Vintage shopping
It is better there, I think. Cheaper too? Who knows. My favorite portobello place is 282 vintage for classic English Heritage Stuff (blazers/trousers/sweaters etc.) The lady there is really funny and will pull things for you and give you deals. Great menswear too. There are also a lot of “cool” places. Should I list what they are? I feel embarrassed at the idea of doing that. Rellik, Karen, and the actual clothes vendors on the street are the best.
Alfie’s Antiques Market in north west London is also good. It’s a full square block of various vintage/antique furniture, art, clothes, jewelry, lighting etc. It’s fun to see the Italian 70’s furniture area next to the creepy Victorian dolls area next to the baseball cards. It reminds me of the antique malls we would go to near Oberlin in Ohio except the stuff is much better for obvious reasons.
I really wanted to buy an enormous oil painting of the Concorde there once but it was £1,000. For my 28th birthday my BF (help!) bought me a purple amethyst necklace that looks like the heart of a compass/ something that casts spells.
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