Cherry Blossom Girl

Dress / CiCi

Coat / Minju Kim for H&M

The Bridge

There is something hugely satisfying about finding a hidden gem-  especially one that you have walked past hundreds of times yet never assumed to be anything special . The Bridge just under the Hoxton railway bridge is exactly that. In fact this, from the outside rather dodgy looking bar, has been on my daily walk home every single day but until a few weeks ago never enticed enough to visit. Why? Well from what I could gather from the outside it looked like the kind of place you wouldn't want to go in wearing a floral crown and Taj Mahal print dress especially with some of the odd looks I received from behind the bar. As it turned out the Bridge is one of those places to not judge on first appearance and indeed the ground floor of it turned out to be rather different to the magical hidden space on the first floor. I have to thank my friend Steve for dragging me there who in his expertise of the area still remains way ahead of me having lived there for quite some time and had my full trust when he suggested the place, coining it as somewhere I would love despite my obvious reservation. 

Drinks served here are cheap, simple and good ( think rum hot chocolate, a big glass of white wine for under a fiver and a large number of European beers), but really you don't come for the drinks as a little wander upstairs reveals something akin to a princess's boudoir. Extravagantly upholstered arm chairs, fabrics draping from the ceilings and an array of old and mismatched tables, clocks and lamps made me immediately fall in love with the Bridge's eccentric and completely other worldly atmosphere. In a town where crazes come and go and overhype is  often the name of the game many restaurants and bars end up following the same formulas ( how many more exposed brick downtown NY style interiors can we see) and looking pretty generic, the Bridge is a welcome peculiarity that it was worth discovering and a hidden drinking den everyone should try

Back Packed

Top / Chinti & Parker

Coat / Cos

Skirt / River Island

Backpack / Blackblessed

Willows

Dress / & Other Stories

Earrings / Topshop

Necklace / H&M

Back For Good

Hat / Topshop

Jacket / ASOS

T-shirt / Ann-Sofie Back

Dress Worn As Skirt / Topshop

Shoes / Dorothy Perkins

All Black

Dress / Zara

Hairband / Topshop

Crate

I am a creature of habit and convenience when it comes to eating out,  long passed the phase of being prepared to queue for a burger ( which probably explains why I haven't had one in a good few months)  and not easily convinced to venture into an unfamiliar part of London, particularly on a Friday evening after a long week at work. However after my friend Isabella had for weeks tried and failed to convince me to make a journey to Hackney Wick, which to me was until then like a foreign country despite in fact not being really far at all on the overground, she finally persuaded me to make the trip to try one of her local favourites Crate and thank god she did. Hackney Wick has of course  become known for it's many warehouse conversion filled with  young creative twenty something's from around the world and Crate definitely has a bit of that vibe going for it too. In an old brewery and by the canal, it's location is pretty stunning. Despite the freezing temperatures we sat by the canal and Hackney Wick's industrial charm, the water shimmering with reflections,  and a bustling atmosphere made it a unique and enchanting place to enjoy a dinner. 

That is not to say that it's coolness over substance. In fact Crate's short menu centred around a few pizzas delivers on all fronts. Stone baked and served on solid wooden slaps, these pizzas are far from your average margahrita. We tried the sweet potato, blue cheese and walnut variation which was complex in flavour but worked beautifully in its sweet and saltiness as well as the chicken laksa one, on paper a rather odd sounding concoction of chicken, laksa sauce and mushrooms but upon sampling surprisingly moorish with a fiery hint of chili. Wines are well priced and perfectly matched to the pizzas and service is friendly and welcoming. Whether you sit inside where a DJ regularly provides a good musical backdrop or brave the cold on one of the benches and tables by the canal ( I recommend bringing a blanket to experience the amazing  setting), Crate immediately won me over and made the trip out of my usual comfort zone definitely worth it. Hackney wick, you will see me again. 

Petal Textures

Top / Topshop

Skirt / Topshop

Boots / Miss Selfridge

Pink Hue

Top / & Other Stories

Necklace / & Other Stories

Skirt / 5 Preview

Hair Colour / Directions Pastel Pink

The Truth About Interning

I had planned to write this article for quite some time yet needed a certain mental distance from the subject that I am addressing to finally pen it down. This time five months ago I was in a complete state of despair. Why? Well despite having gained a degree from a top university (UCL) in a solid subject (history), having done 5 internships in the course of my second and first year, giving up my summers to do so and obviously running my blog, I was struggling to score more than an unpaid internship. Many of you may say that it isn't the worst scenario that could happen, after all not naming names many of the companies that offered me these unpaid roles look very prestigious on paper. However without the benefit of parents that can pay your rent and more importantly food these internships are barely doable with a student loan coming in and, for me at least, impossible when faced with rather expensive adult life. Of course the fashion industry can get away with this for several reasons. For one for any internship position turned down a hundred willing girls are waiting to fill it. It's an industry essentially built on free labour and to us, the ones that have inevitably picked  it as our chosen profession it's a price we are, at least to a certain point, willing to pay. 

I no doubt had great experiences in my internships, learnt a lot about the mechanisms of the industry and made connection that  helped me a lot in the years since. However that is not to say there weren't  bad times too. It seems that the people in actual employment have gotten too used to the endless supply of faceless interns going through their doors to see you as more than a human tick list of tasks they don't have time to do. That went from the ridiculous, having to go to three Prets to find a crayfish salad for a certain editor, to the physically exhausting like carrying twenty ten kilo boxes down three flights of stairs by myself when the office lift was broken. I am well aware that these internships are part and parcel of building up the experience needed to get a job, the issue for me is that this rarely actually happens. 

It's not only the fact that through luck and hard work I eventually managed to score a job in fashion that I felt able to write this article but the sad reality that many of my incredibly talented friends have been interning for years on end, able to do so through generous parents and part time retail work, and have been at the edge of giving up on fashion for good many times. Are they incapable? No. Fashion simply is no meritocracy and despite this sobering realisation I have never given up on it. I don't regret the interning I went through but at the same time believe rules that were recently introduced to limit unpaid interning to 6 weeks to be a positive development. Of course this doesn't mean more companies will offer paid internships or god forbid real jobs but it addresses the deep engrained problem of free labour in an underfunded, underpaid yet glamorous and to me regardless forever endearing game that is fashion. Looking back on my intern days my words of advise to those still at the beginning of their career is to do a few but not too many, I always believe there are only so many returns one can do, work incredibly hard without a word of complaint and leave a lasting impression by being you. I hope that those friends still interning for free in their twenties will finally get the position they deserve but the reality is fashion is elitist, about the right contacts, determination and a bloody good amount of strong nerves. No doubt the intern game will continue but I hope it won't be to the cost of loosing a great amount of talent to other industries that simply can't afford to work for free even with the grandest of visions for their future. 

Chequered

Jumper / ASOS Black

Skirt / 5 Preview

Shoes / Minju Kim for H&M 

Dark Flowers

Playsuit / Topshop

Earrings / H&M