Vintage tips for London?

honeychurch said:
I wonder! I picked up a copy of Nancy Mitford and Evelyn Waugh's book on upper class sayings and pronounications at a book market a few years ago but haven't read it yet. The upper classes have this thing called U and non U language (aka ordinary joe shops like myself) where they can identify other members of their "class" by the way they pronounce things. Now being Irish myself, and Ireland having a long, fraught history under British colonialism I don't buy into that and use my rough as you like Irish accent ^^

The book:
(sorry I don't have any other picture)
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Honeychurch, you should be proud to use your Irish accent- it is a wonderful thing, I have several close friends that are originally from Ireland but now live in Australia, I just love listening to them speak, rough or not :)
 
Gayle's right - many Aussies have a thing for Irish accents. I used to know an unsophisticated young woman from country New South Wales (Aus) and the effect on her was almost embarrassing - basically, she'd fall in love with every Irishman she met, they just needed to open their mouths.

Personally, I go weak-kneed for a Scottish accent, although I'm much better after spending a summer there.

When I first got to London I worked for a menswear wholesaler and took phone orders from a Glaswegian sales rep. As soon as he started talking I would go wobbly and didn't really hear a word he said (it helps that the Glaswegian accent is a particularly impenetrable one) so I developed a technique where I would zone out to happyland until he finished talking and then I'd say "thanks for that Gavin, would you mind faxing the order through, just to make sure I got everything?"
 
Gayle, I suspect it's because the Irish, Scots, Welsh and English had such a big part in the country's formation: most of us have a little of some. Oh, and there's also the little fact about them all being really wonderful accents compared to our own Aussie twang!
 
sewingmachinegirl said:
Honeychurch, you should be proud to use your Irish accent- it is a wonderful thing, I have several close friends that are originally from Ireland but now live in Australia, I just love listening to them speak, rough or not :)
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Hah, thanks, I know Australia is a plagued with Irish people at the moment, have a couple of friends living there. Most of my friends are emigrating to Oz, London and Canada - the way things are here. I've been jobhunting myself for almost a year but all the visa's for this year have been snapped up so I'll have to wait it out for another while. I'm not so keen on moving to London, I love it to visit but I've been reattached to living in the countryside again :)

Circa Vintage said:
Personally, I go weak-kneed for a Scottish accent, although I'm much better after spending a summer there.

When I first got to London I worked for a menswear wholesaler and took phone orders from a Glaswegian sales rep. As soon as he started talking I would go wobbly and didn't really hear a word he said (it helps that the Glaswegian accent is a particularly impenetrable one) so I developed a technique where I would zone out to happyland until he finished talking and then I'd say "thanks for that Gavin, would you mind faxing the order through, just to make sure I got everything?"
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I agree with you on that one. I lived in Glasgow for a year and a half and I go misty eyed when I speak to some of my friends, and the men's Glaswegian accent "Alrigh' hen?" :')
 
Aw I'm a fan of the Aussie accent, but yeah Irish men, even being from Scotland and much more used to it, an Irish accent is lovely! I'm with you Honeychurch I'm also struggling with the general economic climate, more temp/fixed term jobs than years since 2008 and so I'm taking a while out to Australia soon on a working holiday in the hope of some time to re-assess. I'm in Edinburgh and glad there's some love for Scottish accents!
 
I left on Wednesday and didn't get to read the remainder of your tips anymore - but we were busy enough anyway, and I'll file the rest for next time. I'll also ask earlier next time :). Just been to busy with work to think of this earlier...

Anyway, I did find a vintage shop, a big thrift, and also an Oxfam (by chance). The vintage shop had good prices, considering it's location, and I did find something. On the way there I already splurged on a pair of new shoes :hysterical: that look very, very retro. Will post pics soon!

We did see a load of vintage-inspired shows - Singin' in the Rain, Top Hat and Kiss Me Kate - all just great! We managed to spend more than a half day at the V&A - fashion galleries and much more. We also came across the Valentino exhibition at Somerset House, which was by pure chance but utterly worth it, plus we went to the Fashion & Textile Museum in Bermondsey Street, which had a gorgeous exhibition on Norman Hartnell and Hardy Amies. In both exhbitions, none of the garments were behind glass and one could in some cases go quite near and see how they were made. My mom totally enjoyed that as a hobby-dressmaker herself - seeing how things were made and what techniques were used. In the Valentino exhibition, some special techniques that are utterly incredible were actually shown in detail, how they were done. Her comment? "That's not complicated at all!". Noooo.... just an incredible lot of work. Well, I learned a lot too, and very nearly needed a drool bucket :jawdrop:! We also managed to see the Courtauld Gallery which I hadn't been to before, and Kensington Palace, where the rooms open for visitors have just been redone. Sadly the weather on Sunday got really bad, and the tube was totally overloaded on some lines both on Saturday and Sunday, so we didn't do quite so much riding around as we might have done in other cases. Because it was so cold, we also spent a little time more in cafés etc. than we might have in good weather. Being left with a little time to spare on Sunday afternoon and not wanting to go too far from the hotel anymore, we dropped into the National Gallery in the end. Ok, it was super busy, but actually not in the rooms that hold my personal faves (Dutch 17th century art). It got a little busy around the Vermeers, but otherwise it was fairly quiet there. And these are the kind of paintings I can look at again and again without tiring (and some like the Avercamps I have, thanks also to special exhibitions, already seen a few times before). Actually, I find them calming - no matter how busy things might get around me, rooms like that in any museum are sort of a haven to me :cool:.

Karin
 
cozmicstar said:
Aw I'm a fan of the Aussie accent, but yeah Irish men, even being from Scotland and much more used to it, an Irish accent is lovely! I'm with you Honeychurch I'm also struggling with the general economic climate, more temp/fixed term jobs than years since 2008 and so I'm taking a while out to Australia soon on a working holiday in the hope of some time to re-assess. I'm in Edinburgh and glad there's some love for Scottish accents!
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I was hoping to go to Canada this year but the visas for Ireland were snapped up in 3 days! Maybe next year... had an argument with my mum about what I'm going with my life. I would like to do a PHD I think, but not for another couple of years, something to do with textiles and lace making in Ireland I think!
 
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