Columbia Road meets Cath Kidston
Last Sunday we went to Columbia Road Flower Market…we had been meaning to take our friends Sue and Kevin to Cath Kidston 
for ages, ever since Sue first set eyes on our decoration at home, she wanted us to take them there, you can’t help falling in love with all those delightful pastel mixes of boho 1950’s chic now can you!….so we decided to make a day of it and take in some other sites too, starting with Columbia Road flower market.
Above is the living room, that she loves, and below is part of our dresser….
Now if you are in the ‘know’ this flower market is the place to ‘go’….if you want cheap good quality plants, set in the East End of London, this place is a treasure trove destination that will make your heart skip a beat!….it is the perfect place to thrift, as entwined either side of the main market itself are side streets that carry an abundance of second hand nik naks, new designer goods and expensive antiques….this place is a thrifters paradise! N.B Bring Plenty of money or your sugar daddy..because you will want to Spend Spend Spend!
Columbia Road Market above and below……
The side streets were packed with people, but still you were able to amble around at your leisure…I love looking around places like this, and the fun thing is that when you take your Nikon camera with you, the general public think you might be a famous photographer/blogger and are very polite.
Check out these side stalls, look at that Fab tapestry covered chair and the eccentric Graham Nortonesque lamp shade!….Geraniums….red & white stripe and duck egg blue what more can a girl ask for!
Look at this stall – the girl that owned this, has definitely got taste!…Freddy wanted to buy everything – it does look rather home from home…he didn’t want me to add any pictures of him in this pic or indeed any pics as he was having a rather ‘bad belly day’ you know the sort…a result of too much wine the night before!….
All this wondering around looking at the beautiful plants and shops was making Kevin very very hungry and there was many places to get something lovely to eat, so Kevin ceased his opportunity….Here!
Here!
Look at those lovely Bagels…..would you of been able to resist! mines a salmon and cream cheese….please!
and here!
This shop was along the main street, it sold vintage clothing with plenty of yummy new clothing, trinkets and jewellery….look at the fab metalwork on the front of the shop and the vintage blue and white dresses….fantastic!…we also visited a shop called Treacle, which is a Tea & Cupcake-aholics paradise and sooooo Vintagely trendy…..another must visit place! (the shop is no longer there)
…..we then went back to the car, it was getting warmer by then and do you know what, I have come to a conclusion that whenever I wear my black and white floral tunic which I may add is made from Viscose! it turns out to be a warm day, you see I usually wear linen, through every season actually, I love the natural feel and the way it lets your skin breath, I wear it through the winter and summer and yet when I wear my ‘Viscose’ tunic (which I love! – Fred hates it!) the sun shines – sods law that, isn’t it! anyway moving on!
We haven’t had many warm days this year, just rain, rain, rain! perhaps I should order a lorry load of floral tunics!…I’d make a mint!
Next stop Spittlefields Market, this is an art and craft market and I was pleasantly surprised at the surrounding area, years ago this part of the East End was a bit of a dump, but the renovations that have taken place, well we were really surprised! theres bars and cafes, and Notting Hill style shops and hardly any graffiti, just a few Banksy’s here and there which is very trendy for this day and age, you feel quite privileged to see one actually.
Years ago I used to make Re-style clothing, (the brand was called Edith & Bella) which is taking second hand clothing and re-styling it into something else, I used to applique lace and vintage material adornments to each garment making every piece a one off…..so I couldn’t resist taking this picture (or rather making Fred take this picture!) of these wicked re-styled garments in the market….There is sooo much talent in this market – you have to visit it. Whoops I sound like I am an advocate for the British Tourist Board there, don’t I!
This guy had real talent….any designers out there….I would definitely snap him up if I were you!….Next we decided to go to Cath’s, as we could contain ourselves no longer, well Sue and I couldn’t contain ourselves no longer, Kev was a bit worried as to how much Sue was going to spend…..We sped off to the Kings Road, home of the Punks that used to live there in the 1980’s, it is rather disheartening to see that no longer, the unusual and funky shops are there anymore, they have long gone – although if you amble along further up the road heading towards Hammersmith, there are more eclectic and quirky shops like, Noah, Graham Greener and English Eccentrics (I must just say, we were in there last week (EE) and who should be in front of us but Felicity Kendall and she looks absolutely fantastic – I wish I knew what cream she is using!)
We hot footed it into cath’s and Sue kept putting things onto the counter, she decided on a red star zipped holdall, knitting bag (she is teaching me to crochet at the moment!) a red strawberry breakfast set , oven gloves, an oil cloth table cloth and a tea towel – I feel us Cath Kidston fans should give her a round of applause for her first time, I was really proud of her, still its not that difficult is it and off course Fred and I couldn’t resist a few bits too….(I’ll show you in another post what we bought and how we have made use of it!)…
We couldn’t resist jumping in the car and tearing round to Cath’s other shop in Clarendon Cross as we were in the area, on the way round we passed a Wine Bar and as I looked round I could of sworn that Jennifer Aniston was sitting by the window, as we sped passed I mentioned the fact, so Fred drove around the block and I braced myself with the camera to take a paparazzi shot of a lifetime….finally a chance to make my fortune!….as we drove along there was a Fire engine with hunky firemen (they are always hunky aren’t they!) so Sue asked me to take a picture of them…..well they were making me laugh so much, I hadn’t turned the camera on and by the time I did! this is the pic that I took!
No firemen in sight!…..what a shambles – I usually take fab pictures…..well we were in fits of laughter…..only for Fred to stall the car outside of the Wine Bar where I had spotted Jennifer Aniston.….imagine the scene crazy people in a car in fits of laughter only for me to take the picture as husband stalls car and then only…
…for the flash to completely bounce off the window, which you can’t see at the moment, but afterwards as I peered through the lens everyone from the cafe looks in my direction, for which we are still in fits of laughter, Fred can’t start the car and it seems like an eternity before he eventually kangaroo’s the car down the road……How embarrassing!….we were crying with laughter….I must just say at this point, I am never going to take up photography as a living and sorry Jennifer if you have had double vision this week!….it was Me!
We finally arrived at our final destination, where we politely bought some material for Sue to make some cushions, here I am, I have my lovely Non linen floral warm tunic on! We had a lovely day and will be repeating it again soon….of course I’ll keep you posted…
UPDATE July 2022
My memories of this day still makes me smile…although we do not see Sue and Kevin anymore, I hope wherever they are and whatever they are doing, that they are well and happy.
Also my feelings have changed completely for Cath Kidston! I hardly like anything these days! I have put a few links on this page for you to have a look to see what you think! I used to love that place, but since Cath sold the Company I haven’t been impressed…I loved the homewares, but all they seem to concentrate on is the bags and clothing and that makes me sad!
I still check them out to see if they are releasing a new collection of something that I like…but I haven’t bought anything, apart from some wallpaper for years! It was good while it lasted 🙂
UPDATE March 2023
Finally! Cath Kidston (The Brand) is celebrating 30 years in business and has introduced a few new vintage patterns, that us oldie fans, will drool over! Finally something to buy at last!
UPDATE March 2024
As I am sure all of you will be aware that Cath Kidston the Brand has been bought by NEXT !