COOL CULTURAL PLACES I GOT TO EXPLORE

The first short course I took at Central Saint Martins in London was called “Cool Hunting Fashion”. It’s a strange name I grant you, but the promise of exploring London with an experienced instructor and fellow classmates was what made me sign up for it.

My instructor was essentially a professional “cool hunter”, meaning she explores and observes what is going on in the world and uses it to create fashion trends. Throughout the week we would travel outside of the classroom at Granary Square and visit the following places:

1 . Victoria and Albert Museum

There was a beautiful exhibit of fashion from the 1700s to today that we went to see. There was also the world famous Alexander MacQueen exhibit on at the time, but the tickets were always sold out. The architecture of the museum itself is just as amazing as the art inside.

2. Lamb’s Conduit Street

Where anyone who’s anyone gets their bespoke suits and other fancy knick-knacks. The street gets its strange name from the man who gave the money for a conduit to be restored in this street in the 1500s, thus providing water for the residents in that area.

3. The Design Museum.

They actually had the “Design of Year” exhibit going on, where you got to see all of the designs up for top designs of the year, many of which had to do with conservation of resources and the environment. The museum is in the middle of a really cool location right on the River Thames. Tower Bridge is just outside as well as a wonderfully coastal boardwalk-like area.

4. Old Spitalfields Market

This extensive market is held in a marketplace over 350 years old. It features vintage treasures, jewelry, maps and fashion and lots of cool food trucks and stands. I even spotted two ladies in full 1950’s garb.

5. Box Park

Box Park is a two-story setup of teeny tiny stores – except they’re not actually stores. They are mobile storage units locked and stacked together to create a small city of unique pop-up shops and even well-known classics like Gap. All with restaurants and balcony seating on the second floor! I doubt I’ll ever see anything like it anywhere else.

6. Portabello Market

Portabello Market is the vintage market to end all vintage markets. Taking place in the famous Notting Hill area, this place is a popular weekend activity for locals and tourists alike. There was even more vintage clothing, countless vintage tea trays, rings, clocks, etc. Move further on down and you’ll come to the food market where Greek women stir big vats of olives and men are hanging fish from the ceiling of their stalls and their are fattening pastries everywhere you look. Fun fact: the picture on the right is from the walk to Portobello Market and is actually the flat where George Orwell once lived.

 

THAT TIME I GOT TO GO TO HARRODS AND SEE THE NEW DIOR COLLECTION WHILE SIPPING COFFEE AND EATING MACARONS

I just had to write up this little anecdote from my trip because it’s one of those things that I will probably think back on in years to come and just laugh with disbelief, as I am now, and as I did then.

In my very first short course, I became friends with a fellow classmate from China. After a day or two, it became apparent to me and others in the course that she was a bit… different financially from the rest of us. First clue was when she let me borrow her leather jacket and it was the softest thing I have ever felt in my life, really. Second clue was when someone asked her where her sweater was from and she said “Valentino”. Of course. Then came the day when we went out in groups to explore Dover Street Market and the surrounding area.

Dover Street Market is known for its collection of dozens of luxury brands and rare pieces of art called fashion. I followed my friend around as she did her shopping there. Then we strolled into Louis Vuitton where she picked up two pairs of exquisitely luxurious men’s shoes and said “which pair is better?”. I pointed to the one of the left, I liked the tassels on the laces. She took them up to the shop assistants, all men in very expensive suits, and got the correct size and purchased them for her fiancé. Five minutes later we were moving on to the next store.

Next she asked me if I would like to go to “Arrows”, which is what I kept thinking she said in her strong Chinese accent. I said “sure” (why not?). When the cab pulled up in front of Harrods, the Harrods, I realized I had misunderstood. She then took me on a personal tour of each floor and showed me all of her favorite brands. One stop along the way was Dior, where the two ladies working knew my guide as a personal friend. They guide us into a personal fitting room (bigger than the room I was living in at the time) and closed these sliding doors I didn’t even realized existed so that it is closed off from the rest of the store and ask if we would like anything to drink. I got a coffee, my friend requested water and “oh, some of those macarons I like”. So there I am, feeling very plain in my glasses and casual outfit and hair in a braid, having coffee and decadent macarons while my friend tries on the brand new Fall/Winter 2015 Dior collection. I don’t remember if she bought anything because at that point I am meeting her fiancé and they’re asking me if I’d like to join them for dinner, at which point my friend says “all though you might not want to, because we ordered a steak dinner and I know you’re a vegetarian”, so I graciously declined. 

Next, my friend and I went to the Valentino section of Harrods, where, surprise, I get to sit in on the fitting of one of two wedding dresses that she has been telling me about all week. So I got to observe as this flowing, glittering Valentino gown was being custom modified just for her.

Our last stop before parting ways that day was actually in the children’s toy “land”. After seeing her float elegantly in £5,000 dresses and stride about in £3,000 coats, we played around in the fabulous toys of Harrods, posing with Thor’s hammer and giant stuffed giraffes.

On top of that, I saw Una Stubbs (who plays Mrs. Hudson in BBC Sherlock, one of my favorite shows) looking simultaneously fabulous and adorable on the sidewalk outside of Harrods. It was a whirlwind of a day, and probably the craziest adventure I’ll have in a while.

WELCOME TO MY BLOG

​Hello, and welcome to my blog. Here’s a little introduction:

For three weeks I got to be a fashion student at the world renowned art school, Central Saint Martins. The school is located just across Regent’s Canal from Kings Cross Station. It always smells like strong coffee, paper, and musty water from the fountains outside and is always alive with busy students and professionals in the fashion industry hurrying up and down the stairs. I attended three short courses(each a week long) in fashion communication during the week days and explored the city in the evenings and weekends. In three weeks I took hundreds of photos, got lost, walked thousands of steps, saw beautiful things  and got lost a little more.

Posts on this blog with tell the story of my time in London in small pieces as well as go into a bit of what travel is and why we do it.