Columbia Road Flower Market

Despite being just round the corner from Brick Lane, one of my favourite places in London, I hadn’t been to Columbia Road Flower Market until a few weeks ago. On Sundays there is a great flower market and although perhaps December isn’t the best time for buying flowers there seemed to be a lot of choice and it wasn’t too expensive. In the spring I think I’ll be visiting a lot and filling my room with flowers. The flower market is set up right in the middle of the road and down the side of the road are some really adorable independent shops. I think perhaps I preferred these to the flowers, and I really like flowers. The shops were all really unique and original, slightly different from your typical high street offerings. My favourites included ‘Suck and Chew’ an old fashioned sweet shop and ‘Ryantown’ where the artist Rob Ryan sells his wares. I would highly recommend that you try and do some of your Christmas shopping there as you’ll get some individual and unexpected presents. To cater for this they are running ‘Christmas Wednesdays’ where the shops are open from 5-9pm with lots of other festive events too. Check out their website to have a look if any of the shops take your fancy and then pay them a visit tomorrow evening.

STYLE FINDER EN MADRID! MUY BIEN!

Apologies for the distinct absence of SF on Mododiva! Uni work (and a spot of globe trotting) are to blame, hard life eh? But even on the continent my thoughts are with fashion, and MODODIVA so here are my thoughts on style in Madrid...

Preconceptions of Spanish style include colourful leather boots (i.e. not just black or brown), 'quirky'/verging on gaudy prints, polo necks and tweed dresses.... The latter stemming from a dress I will never forget that my step mum bought from Spain which was a tunic-come-sack made of two equally horrific shades of brown tweed and had two tiny pockets on the chest thus giving it its lasting name of 'the nipple dress.' On the plane I tried desperately to shake this dress from my mind and embark upon Madrid with an open mind, sin pre-conceptions. Alas, as I stepped off the Metro (yes, they have clothing stores underground before you've left platform level) I was greeted with everything I had expected....

Yes - the dreaded prints, the bizzare use of metal and I'm pretty sure there's some inappropriate use of tweed lurking somewhere in the background, it was all there... My travel buddy wanted to go shopping that day but after witnessing this, I feared the venture would be fruitless. However, when we hit the Oxford Street of Madrid we unsurprisingly found Topshop, Zara, Mango, Berksha, Gap and other highstreet staples.Inside was a similar selection to our London counterparts, except a smaller selection and largely items no longer dominating the window displays in London: in the same way films released in the US hit England 3 months later, it seems certain trends take a while to reach Spain, via France, from London.It must be said though, that the ultimate Spanish girl's accessory is her show stopping good looks and the endless gorgeously brown hair which SF saw women sporting at every corner.

Here's a couple of styles SF managed to snap in between tapas and fiesta-ing...

LO ME ENCANTA
 - the hat (a staple in our been and gone/still hanging on Autumn wardrobe)
- fur collared leather jacket

A Louis Vuitton rucksack! (note the gorgeously long Spanish mane..)







I had a look at Spanish Vogue and enjoyed their moda en la calle (street style) especially to be proven that tweed in Spain can be good and it can be right - note the example of this cape...

 

Adios for now. I shall write again SOON with updates on the battle of snow vs. fashion on campus.

SF