My new year’s resolution is to try to buy just a few, well chosen, well made clothes, made from sustainable material, have been made by people paid a decent wage, and are pieces that I really love and will treasure and last. Ideally I'd like to support UK designers/craftspeople. I want to by just a few items this year. Is this even possible? I am bored of having four imperfect cheap black skirts, made poorly in factories, that won’t last. I could have bought one really beautiful expensive skirt that I really love to wear. And shouldn't we support enterprise and talent with good wages when we are lucky enough to have a good wage ourselves?
It didnt start well. I headed to Ascention in Oxford Street, only to find it replaced with another shop. I guess the recession was harsh on ethical shops.
Sunday Gustavo and I emerged from our flat on a beautiful sunny cold day, walked down to the canal, said hello to his bees, noticing buildings now knocked down and those growing up. We came out from the canal at Islington, me hoping to detour to the sale at Equa clothing. Nope - it too was closed and full of packing boxes. Hard times. I need to think laterally. Fashion Grads? WI knitting circles?! I'm not so fussed about organic. Good quality material, well made and a good wage are my three magic ingredients.
We ambled down Copenhagen street, diverting past giant murals and a jumble of old estates, trying to find the Pangolin Gallery to see Lynn Chadwick’s bold sculptures. We found a strange public square with a giants playground full of large colourful wooden piles – too big to play on. Walking past a beautiful square we stopped a moment to hear joyous singing and drumming echoing out of an old large church. That part between Islington and Kings Cross is a great London mix, changing all the time in some parts, and elsewhere has been the same for decades. The whole area awaits the anticipated ‘regeneration’.
The gallery inside shiny new Kings Place was closed - how can it be closed on a Sunday? Instead we enjoyed Keith Pattinson’s black and white photography exhibition of the miners’ strike in Durham.
The gallery inside shiny new Kings Place was closed - how can it be closed on a Sunday? Instead we enjoyed Keith Pattinson’s black and white photography exhibition of the miners’ strike in Durham.
Some very moving photographs, capturing the frustration, determination and solidarity of the workers. Some fantastic tight jeaned men with swagger and patterned jumpers, girls with big hair and large tucked in shirts reminded me of my sisters in the 80s. But the backdrop of the mines, the grey sky and the exhaustion after weeks of striking created some very atmospheric, powerful, beautiful images.
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