Support the Locals

Now, I do want to say that I'm not one of those po-faced people who toffily like to say 'Support local produce. Down with the corporate fat cats! Buy your cheese/meat/bread from your local shop to combat the supermarkets.' I'm really not. I take modern convenience for granted and I have no qualms about walking into Sainsbury's/Tescos's to get my groceries. That said, East Finchley, a suburban place in London that's neither out of town nor centrally located, does offer some comforts that I enjoy. A gander in Black Gull's bookstore. A fry up at Casa Pepe's. Fish and chips at Poseidon's (MUCH better than Toff's in Muswell Hill which always gets ranked in Top 10 chippies in London...). The idea of walking two minutes up your LOCAL high street and buying an outfit as opposed to taking the tube into town and sweating it out with the throngs is even more pleasing and I can do that at Lazooli, a shop that sells a bit of old and new and also buys old clothes too. There's vintage designer and high street in manner of Bang Bang. Baskets of vintage hoisery, local jewellery designers and art for sale. It's not the hippest of places and is aiming for 'Bright and Welcoming' as opposed to 'Haughty Cool' which is why it sits so well next to Phoenix Cinema, the charity shops and a really odd electronics stores that sells fairy lights all year round.

Me thinks for a lot of people, the possibility of buying fashion gems within two minute vicinity of your home is simply not possible, but the ickle places that seem so randomly placed geographically are still breedingly healthily, so I'd love to hear about your local picks that aren't likely to be any published shopping guides and perhaps give your local community a bit of 'oomph' in the fashion stakes. Of course, if you happen to live by the central throngs, lucky you too and whilst I work in town and spend my majority of time out there in Zone 1, on Bank Holiday Mondays like these, I prefer the local no-effort high street walkabout.