Travel with Julie

Shopping In London

Knowing the best shopping opportunities in a city the size of London requires leaning on the expertise of a local shopping aficionado.  So I turn to my friend and travel guide, Angela Akehurst, who not only shares some of London's shopping highlights but tells of the interesting and colorful tales that surround them:

Hi. I'm a city guide in London, and I'd like to introduce you to one of the world's great shopping areas. Shopping in London really shouldn't begin and end with Harrods. It may be our most famous shop, but if you want to see something of the grandeur and tradition of London, then Mayfair & St James's is the area to explore. It's a little bit 'hidden away', tucked to either side of Piccadilly, but this is where you will see some of the most amazing shops in the capital.

Ede & Ravenscroft

Let's start with the Royal Robe Makers. Ede & Ravenscroft, on Burlington Gardens (near Piccadilly Circus), were first commissioned to make Coronation Robes by King William and Queen Mary back in 1689, and have continued to make them ever since to exactly the same pattern, ".. a six yard train in best quality handmade purple silk velvet, trimmed with best quality Canadian ermine ... and fully lined with pure silk English Satin ...  in the traditional manner". This is a company that has unrivalled knowledge of the correct formal attire for kings, queens, lords, ladies, heralds, judges, bishops - anyone, in short, who has to dress ceremonially. Not only do they know how you should dress, but they can also advise on how you should look after your robes, given that you may not need to wear them again for another 200 years.

Hardy Amies

Around the corner at No14 Savile Row, a street famed for its traditional tailors, Hardy Amies is so discreet that there isn't even a shop front to this beautiful 18^th century house, but you'd expect nothing less from the man who was official dressmaker to Queen Elizabeth II for more than 40 years. As with most businesses in this area, they have an impressive client list, with occasionally an unexpected name - Amies dressed the 1966 World Cup-winning English football team (in suits) and also created the costumes in Stanley Kubrick’s film "2001: A Space Odyssey".

Henry Poole

Next door you can look down into the basement of Henry Poole's and see those traditional tailors hard at work. There is a story that in the late 19^th century some American gentlemen sought Henry Poole's advice on what they should be wearing to dine with the Prince of Wales. Poole's supplied them with dinner jackets similar to one the Prince wore, and when they took them back home to the Tuxedo Park Club in New York the style quickly caught on and they became known as tuxedos.

Stella McCartney

A short distance away in Bruton Street is a contemporary English fashion icon, Stella McCartney. Parents Paul & Linda McCartney were a hard act to follow, but Stella was crowned British Fashion Designer of the Year in 2012 for her designs for the Team GB athletes for the Olympics.

Hartnell

Another Bruton Street door that's oh, so discreet, is that of Hartnell, the couturier who created Queen Elizabeth II's wedding and coronation dresses. Known for opulent ornamentation - "I despise simplicity" - he chose to embroider the wedding dress with flowers inspired by Botticelli's painting 'Primavera', and the Queen's coronation dress was covered with thousands of seed pearls and crystal beads. Hartnell also designed clothes for the Royal Family's State Visit to France in 1938, which Christian Dior acknowledged as influencing his own post-war 'new style'.

Coincidentally, on the wall opposite Hartnell is a grey stone plaque telling us that this is where the Queen was born - not in a palace or a hospital, but in the home of her maternal grandparents. Today that house has long since vanished, replaced by an office block that is occupied at the corner by one of the grandest car showrooms in London, Jack Barclay Rolls Royce & Bentley.

Gerrard

In Grafton Street, almost facing each other, are two of London's most important jewellers. Garrard was once the Crown Jeweller, and created the Queen Mother's Crown, which you can see in the Tower of London. For a while, Mick Jagger's daughter Jade was their creative director. Back in the early 80s, Lady Diana Spencer chose one of their stock rings for her engagement to Prince Charles - a ring that was then given by her son Prince William to his own future wife on their engagement.

Wartski

For their wedding ring, Prince William and Kate Middleton crossed the road to Wartski. There is a certain appropriateness to this - Wartski was founded in north Wales by a refugee in the 19^th century. In the heart of Mayfair, one of the most glamorous and expensive shopping areas in the world, they still describe themselves today as Wartski of Llandudno, a small seaside town in north Wales. Prince William is Prince William of Wales, he has been working and living in north Wales, and the ring was made from Welsh gold.

But if you're not looking for a wedding ring for a future queen, Wartski is the place to buy Fabergé.

Alexander McQueen

From there I suggest you take a stroll down Bond Street. This may take a while, as there is lots to look at in this street of designer fashion, but definitely pause at the bottom of the street to peer into the windows of Alexander McQueen. Another British icon of fashion, once known primarily for eccentricity and the wilder edges of fashion, the company not only created THAT WEDDING DRESS, but also seem to be regularly dressing the Duchess of Cambridge (Kate) for other important moments.

Now let's take a stroll through the 18^th century Burlington Arcade. I use the word stroll advisedly, as the Beadles will stop you if you do anything unseemly like running or whistling. The arcade is a great place to buy antique silver and jewellery, and cashmere, as well as other luxury goods.

N Peal

N Peal has been supplying cashmere to the stars since 1936 - most recently seen being worn by  James Bond in Skyfall. None of us will ever forget that scene during the Olympics Opening Ceremony when James Bond went to fetch the Queen from Buckingham Palace!!

Linley

I don't know how well David, or Viscount, Linley's name is known abroad. He's the Queen's nephew, the son of Princess Margaret and her photographer husband Lord Snowdon. He has artists and designers throughout his family on his father's side, and he's turned out to be a fine craftsman himself. He trained at John Makepeace's Parnham House School for Craftsmen in Wood, and here he sells small gift pieces. If you want to buy his furniture, you'll have to head for his Chelsea showroom, and if you'd like to try some out before purchasing, then Claridge's Hotel offers a suite designed by Linley.

Turnbull & Asser

South of Piccadilly is Jermyn Street, the very heart of tradition with a somewhat Dickensian atmosphere. Paxton & Whitfield have been selling cheese since 1742. Floris has been selling perfumes and toiletries for 8 generations, and will blend to order, as they did with a Rose Geranium Toilet Water for Marilyn Monroe. Harvie & Hudson have been making bespoke shirts for three generations, Taylor's of Old Bond Street have been selling gentlemen's toiletries since 1854, Turnbull & Asser dress the Prince of Wales and James Bond, and Crockett & Jones sent their shoes with Shackleton to the South Pole. Everything here is hand-made, and only of the best quality.

Lobb's

Winston Churchill once said “A gentleman buys his hats at Locks, his shoes at Lobbs, his shirts at Harvie and Hudson, his suits at Huntsman and his cheese at Paxton & Whitfield”. At the bottom of St James's Street, where Henry VIII's St James's Palace looms in front of you, Lobb's are at No.9, once the address of the poet Lord Byron. Lobb's handmade shoes are worn by the Duke of Edinburgh and Prince Charles, and in the window you can see examples of the wooden lasts that they hold for each of their customers.

Lock's

Also on St James's Street, Lock's is the oldest hatter in the world, founded in 1676. They commissioned that most English of hats, the Bowler, for a special order for the Coke (Earl of Liecester) family's servants in the 19^th century, and for many decades it was essential wear for the English businessman. They tell the story that once a postcard was delivered to them from abroad; it was addressed simply to "The Best Hatters in the World", and it found them.

Berry Bros & Rudd

The first business at No.3 St James's Street was established in 1698 by the delightfully named Widow Bourne, and out of this grew today's wine merchant with its ancient shop front. One day in 1923 the partners were joined for lunch by a Scottish artist, and of course the conversation turned to whisky. It was felt that Prohibition could not last forever in the USA, and so a plan was hatched to blend a whisky that would be pale in colour - not looking too strong and alcoholic, it might even be mistaken for tea - so that when the law changed, Berry Bros & Rudd would be ready for the new market. Out of that lunch was born Cutty Sark whisky.

Angela Akehurst is the owner and operator of Tour London and Beyond.  She was awarded the 'Blue Badge' as a guide from the Institute of Tourist Guiding.  With a BA Hones History of Art and Architecture degree frm the University of East Anglia and a postgraduate degree in Heritage Interpretation from the University of Surrey, she enjoys sharing the infamous art, architecture, scultpture and garden designs of London and its surrounding area with visitors from all over the world.  At home, you can follow Angela as she shares her life in London on her blog, 

 

Planning a trip to London?  Click here to find out how I can help make your vacation a unique postcard in your travel scrapbook!

Loving London

Ever wonder what goes through your teenager's mind as you drag them along on a European vacation?  I had to find out when my 15-year-old neighbor, Lisa, announced she was visiting London with her parents.
Here is London through the eyes of a teenager:

London is well renowned for many things: the tea, the bright red double-decker buses, that one family that's really rich and occasionally wear crowns, and the odd looking dogs with short legs and perfectly triangular ears that are on every souvenir. Besides the classy Burberry coats and high cost of living is a city that connects modernism and history with a bridge, and still celebrates and takes pride in it's culture today.

My first day in London was a rainy one, but certainly not dreary.  Walking down the stone streets with my parents and admiring the old fashioned architecture and style was a lot more memorable than walking the teenager poluted streets of Southlake.  Not that there is anything wrong with the shopping district that I was so used to, it was the fact that I was so familiar with that area of Texas that a few phone booths and charming, interesting accents was good for a change.

We "bus hopped" from one tourist magnet bus to the other, and although I normally feel embarrassed for taking irrelevant pictures and walking around annoyingly slowly to take everything in whenever I travel, I couldn't feel guilty or blame all the other fascinated foreigners.  It was hard to believe that the people who lived there could casually catch the fastest subway and not admire the city-like traits and ties to the past that London had.

I was also fortunate to celebrate the Queen's 60th Anniversary Diamond Jubilee that I could've sworn her Majesty herself had waited to celebrate as soon as I had arrived. Although it brought in a wave of tourists including me that caused a storm of chaos for my dad who had almost every plan down to a science, being at such a memorable event for both the commoner and the royalty was a once in a lifetime, Kodak moment (literally, mom took thousands of pictures).

As you can tell from my own blog, I am not at all musically talented but love music just as much as the next person, and being in the birthplace of the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, Oasis, Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds, the Who, and the Vaccines just to name a few was heaven. Nothing could possibly please my music lover's needs like eating an American burger at the original, first Hard Rock Cafe.  The walls are plastered with vintage guitars and you could almost hear John Lennon singing "All You Need is Love" amidst the chatty Brits and loud music videos playing on the televisions.

The next day was spent shopping at Harrods, which was in reality trying to avoid any price tag that innocently poked out of a Marc Jacob's wallet or a Burberry scarf.  The dazzling display of designer products was worth getting hit in the head a few times by zombie like consumers whose eyes were glazed over with greed and no devastating financial aftermath in mind.

We also enjoyed tea at the Brit shopping mall on steroids, and sat near where her Majesty herself had tea a few days before.  My mom had a smeared grin across her face as she smeared clotted cream over a dry, sweet scone.  I sipped my favorite, Earl Grey, and even snuck in a few shots of our display of finger sandwiches and macaroons as bright, rich and colorful as the room itself.

Flying back home was the worst part, although I did miss the comfort of my own room (including some elbow room) and those southern, Texas accents.  London is well known for it's city lovers that create an urbanized feeling minus the flashy skyscrapers that are instead beautifully designed buildings that may last for years, but the history behind each one lasts forever and will always be remembered from one resident to the other.  If you ever visit London, visit every nook and cranny, but most importantly go with people that will make your experience even more memorable and have the same interest in traveling as you do. Besides, if anyone is begging to go to London with you, they must already have good taste.

Lisa is a sophomer in high school, studying journalism and author of Anything Indie.