Bang Bang!

Bang Bang Clothing Exchange at no 9 Berwick Street, Soho is a boutique that stocks and swaps lots of vintage and high street fashion attire, in particular, brand labels from the 70s onwards.

It’s a swap shop and boutique all rolled into one on two floors. The street floor is mainly women’s clothes and accessories and if you take the stairs down into the basement you’ll find a good selection of menswear.

The prices aren’t so convenient but it’s a good place to head to if you’re in the mood to spend a bit of money and find something old, trendy and branded. 

If you’re in the area, check it out.

The Pearly King

The Crypt at St Matin-in-the-fields

If you head to Trafalgar Square whilst on your tours of London, head to the St Martin-in-the-Fields Church adjacent to the square.

In the 18^th century crypt you’ll find a delightful cafè where both Londoners and visitors hang out at all times of the day. Whereas if you take a stroll around the crypt, you’ll come across a statue of a man by the name of Henry Croft.

The Cafè in the crypt

Henry Croft was the first Pearly King of London. You may be asking yourself what the devil is a Pearly anything. Well, it’s a tradition that goes back to 1875 and Henry Croft, who at the time was a very little lad. Henry Croft was an orphan living in a London orphanage who at the age of 13 started to work in London markets to earn a living. That’s where he met the ‘Costermongers’ ( a fairly tough breed of market trader) who were kind, caring and generous with their fellow traders. They distinguished themselves by wearing clothes with sewn on smoke pearl buttons.

Henry Croft was so fascinated by them and their way of helping one another that he took to the cause of using this generosity to try and make some money for the orphanage and those in need. He raised money by getting the attention of passers-by. As he swept the streets, he collected all the pearl buttons he found and sewed them onto the likes of his cap, waistcoat and everywhere until his outfit (the first smother suit) was completely covered in pearl buttons.

Statue of Henry Croft in the crypt

Henry Croft became his own charity, and was very highly demanded in many of London’s hospitals, workhouses and orphanages. He was so much in demand that his fellow Costermonger friends joined him in his cause.

This tradition has carried on right through to this very day, and is a registered charity operating under the London Pearly Kings and Queens society.

Enter the pearlies home page at http://www.pearlysociety.co.uk/index.html 

Visit St. Martin-in-the-fields at http://www.smitf.org/page/cafe2010/cafe.html

Gosh! The culture of comics

The last time Miss Salami and I were in London we found a wonderful comic store, “GOSH!”.

The shop is situated in 1 Berwick street, Soho. We were surprised because we have been to Soho together so many times and our eyes had never fallen on it before. 

But after a quick web search, we discovered that the shop has actually been open for 25 years, and has just moved premises and is well known amongst comic book lovers.

Salami isn't into comics so much, neither am I but sometimes I love reading some well designed and well written graphic novels, and to be honest there are a lot of classical ones that I would love to read. To tell you the truth, the shop isn't just a comic store. As they say on their site: “..we’re always striving to source new and interesting products, whatever the genre. From translated European albums to mainstream superhero antics; vintage children’s books to contemporary graphic fiction; compulsively readable manga to cutting edge small press: we’ve got something for everyone”.

 

They're right, we have been there and we can honestly say that they have something to please everyone's illustrative taste, with a wide selection of authors, styles and periods (and prices also!). In the basement there's the more “commercial” stuff (batman, x men and stuff like that to be clear) and in a corner on the first floor there's a shelf with interesting indie comics and fanzines at reasonable prices. 

Obviously the shop has just been refurnished; It resulted to be really luminous thanks to its gigantic windows and minimal furniture and almost everything is made with wood and metal. The shop assistants were friendly and helpful.

In conclusion, from what they sell to where they sell it from and who sells it, the place seemed to be really nice to us, it's definitely worth a visit whether you are a comic reader, an illustrations lover or not, you're surely bound to buy something!

Visit Gosh! London at  http://www.goshlondon.com/