The hat and shoe shops of London

Between Christmas and New Year's, I had a weekend in London visiting friends with my husband.  We had a day to ourselves on the Saturday, to allow our hosts some rest from our Friday night of talking and drinking late into the night.  First stop was St James's Park, to meet another friend (not pictured, she's blog-shy!).  We had a long overdue catch-up over coffee and then headed out for a walk to send her toddler to sleep.  We passed Buckingham Palace and stopped for the obligatory photo opportunity, amongst the throngs of people doing the same.  I don't remember seeing the palace up close before.

Then began a high-end shoe and hat adventure, beginning on St. James's Street.  The street is home to shops with a distinguished history, including 200 year old cigar merchants, Britain's oldest wine and spirit merchants, and the oldest barbershop in the world.  A more recent addition is a 'Kingsman' line pop-up shop by Mr Porter, taking its name from the film.  We made a beeline for Locke and Co., the oldest hat shop in the world.  You might have seen their Andalusian Panama featured in fashion magazines in 2018 (I think it was in Harper's Bazaar or Vogue).  I was impressed by the ladies' collection, which included a very smart orange fur felt fedora.  My friend was more impressed with the steampunk style goggles, and the mini top hat Christmas tree decoration!  Chris had a good chat with the shop manager about hat manufacturing (who was incidentally, dressed in the sharpest, best-fitting suit I have ever seen on a man in real life), and we enjoyed seeing the small historical display at the back of the shop, featuring memorabilia from Winston Churchill and other notable heads that have been topped with a Locke and Co. hat.

I'm wearing: a natty little 1930s' hat by Crosskeys, a redingote (1939-1941 I reckon), Clarks boots, vintage Bally bag, and a 1970s' Carnegie dress.  All bought from charity shops or Ebay.

Chris is wearing: 1920s' v-cap boots, vintage (1930s?) Locke and Co. hat, 1940s' Sydney Heath coat.

Also on St James's Street is John Lobb.  The shop has a workshop, with a sort of mini museum.  John Lobb focus on bespoke shoes, with a small ready to wear collection.  (Think £1,250 upwards in terms of price-point!)  We had a good look through the 'museum', which as well as a sealed cabinet with the really rare/valuable/old stuff in, included other cabinets where you were allowed to handle the shoes.  There were some beautiful 1930s', Deco style ladies ones (not anywhere near my size alas), and a large range of mens' boots.  It was lovely to be able to handle the shoes, and look at the details close-up, something you can't do in an ordinary museum!  When we exited the shop, a group of Italian tourists were outside, taking photos.  The look they gave us was priceless, I think they might have been under the mistaken impression that we actually shop there...

The shoe and hat adventure continued up Jermyn Street and beyond.  Church's, Grenson, Barker, Crockett and Jones, Christy's...  Most of the older brands have vintage shoes on display in their stores, oh how I wish they still made some of those styles!  We had a pub lunch off Jermyn Street, and then decided it was high time for a cocktail, so we popped into the Bar Americain at Zedel's.  I had a Vesper martini.  A martini is my all-time favourite cocktail.

As the afternoon turned to evening, we got a chance to see the Christmas lights.  Beautiful angels swooping down the street were my favourites.

That was then the end of our day in London.  I think actually a day, maybe two, is my limit.  After all of that hustle and bustle, I was glad to return to the quiet mountains of South Wales!  We'll definitely return to London in 2019, but I am starting to line-up the other adventures too, and there is much excitement in store.  Where are you planning to go in the year ahead?

Linking up with: #iwillwearwhatilike, Visible Monday, Fancy Friday