You'll know that I'm a fan of colour, but even I was surprised by just how much colour there was in the shops when we were up in town on Saturday. After some functional shopping - a new duvet cover and some makeup from John Lewis - it was time for something I don't do much of, or as much of as I'd like at times. A mooch around London's streets, I had a rough route planned to get us from Oxford Street to Piccadilly, and plans for some window browsing along the way.
While I love London sometimes and in places the crowds are too much. One of the junctions I avoid wherever possible is Oxford Street and Regent Street, much preferring to nip through the side streets and Hanover Square. In fact there are plenty of squares in this part of town and many are worth exploring, but not on this trip, this trip was as it turned out, all about colour.
I mean, when a window display is as colourful and pattern-clashingly-fantastic as this one at Tory Burch, you start to get what I mean.
All of the prints, patterns and colours were great and my eyes didn't know quite where to look first. I'm not sure I would have put them all together in one piece, and I'm not sure many people could pull it off, but it was a feast for the senses. In some ways it's no different to a patchwork quilt, just a bold and dramatic one.
What do you think?
But colour in the shop windows of Regent Street wasn't just limited to clothes, further along these garlands of marigolds were just as impactful.
And the shoes too. There's nothing - other than tradition - that says men's shoes need to be dull is there? I suspect though, that like the outfit above, only the most flamboyant and/or fashion conscious would feel truly comfortable wearing the pair in the centre, although on the plus side they would go with everything wouldn't they?
To highlight that colour was the order of the day, I turned around at one point and spotted this multi-coloured bike against a post. Perhaps the rider had it to match the shoes above?
Arriving at one of our planned route stops, it no longer surprised me to see one of the windows full of colour. This time in the shape of a tea pot, and with a party in every cup there was plenty for dad's reflection to admire!
It also looks as if I've loaned my legs to the teapot, which gave me a smile when I looked back over the photos. Inside Fortnum & Mason, the colour continued and these simple but colourful chocolate bars were very tempting.
We found ourselves in the stationery department - and I escaped from there without a purchase, although there were many tempting items. In truth, it's a department we'll be going back to and I've a feeling that it's unlikely to wield the same result. On this visit though I found myself snapping the colour, from this little bird garland to confetti and a first for me, confetti crackers which do sound an awful lot of fun, as long as they're pulled somewhere out of the confines of my house!
IMAGINE THE FUN - AND MESS - THESE WOULD BRING!
There was the more traditional confetti in boxes but also contraptions to "release the sparkle" which again would be designated not in my space. The glittered letter garland also looked promising but also fell into the the if-you-pick-it-up-you're-making-a-potential-commitment kind of purchase, and I've long since learnt that these are served best with a photo only.
At the end of this section there was a display of colourful (what else?) paper plates and partyware of all designs, but of all of them it was these small square ballroom scene ones that took my fancy. I very nearly left with these, of course I didn't need them and had no idea what I'd use them for, but they were like nothing, and certainly not like any paper plates, I'd seen before.
The other item that seriously tempted me, and got past the do-I-pick-it-up-test was these tiny, tiny cards. Complete with envelopes I was trying to work out if with these I could become the best correspondent ever, sharing little and often or look like the biggest cheapskate ever? The other thing that struck me was you could only send these to people with a short address, and the fancier, larger stamps would be out too.
But then again, if these were sent in the post that would actually involve using them. I decided they were far too pretty for that and returned them to the shelf. I didn't leave completely empty handed though, you may have already seen my Spring decorated fairy cakes from yesterday's post, and I've a feeling that we'll be looking for seasonal cakes every time we visit now!
