Markets in London

Two of my favorite things to do are to eat and shop. I love all different kinds of food and I love trying new things. Before I came to London I looked up the different markets in London that are well known and had good reviews. One of the markets that had great reviews was Borough Market. This is a food market located near the London Bridge. I knew that I had to visit this market to try the amazing food from around the world and experience a London market. I visited Borough market during one of my first weeks in London and fell in love. There is every kind of food you can think of, from every different kind of place in the world. There is Swedish food, Indian food, Spanish food and so many more. When my mom visited me in London, I took her to Borough market and she wanted to spend the whole day there! I have visited Borough Market over 5 times since being in London and have been able to have some of the best food in London and even pick up some groceries. 

Along with Borough Market there are many other markets that combine food and clothing and everything else you can think of. Another well known market is Portobello Market. People travel from all over the UK to visit this market and it is a must see tourist destination. Along with the many stores that are located on Portobello street, every day of the week there are food vendors and clothing and accessory vendors on the street. The best day to go to Portobello Market is on a Friday, Saturday, or Sunday. On the weekend the market is packed with so many different kinds of food, drinks, desserts, clothing, antiques, accessories, and really anything you can think of. The market extends down the length of Portobello street and you could spend a whole day or even two exploring all of the vendors and the cool things they have to offer. 

Another market I would recommend going to would be Spitalfields market. This market is more of a clothing and present market. I have visited this market many times while being in London as well. This market has vendors from across the UK that have handmade clothing, jewelry, and anything you can think of. I visited Spitalfields to get all of my presents for my family and friends back at home. One of the cool things about Spitalfields is that it is located right in front of Brick Lane. Brick Lane houses some of the best graffiti work in London. The streets are covered in amazing art and behind every corner is a new masterpiece. Also on Brick Lane you can find some of the best Indian food in London. We were brought to Brick Lane as a field trip for one of our classes. We were told to explore the streets and the vintage shops as well as the graffiti and artwork that decorates many of the buildings. They also told us that the best Indian food in London is located on Brick Lane. 

Overall the shopping in London is amazing, but for different and unique handmade goods the markets are the place to go. For the most tasteful and unique foods and drinks inspired from around the world, the markets are the best places in my opinion to eat in London. 

Graffiti on Brick Lane 

Graffiti on Brick Lane 

One side of Spitalfields Market 

Afternoon Tea

In London it is a tradition and a highly practiced event to have tea. Specialty teas and unique teas from around the world are celebrated over small sandwiches and desserts. It is a common practice in London to have tea in the morning as well as in the afternoon before dinner. Londoners many times prefer tea over coffee in the morning and have around 2- 3 cups of tea a day. While living in London we thought it would be a good idea to practice this well known London tradition of "Afternoon Tea". Living right across from Hyde Park and Kensington Palace we thought it would be a great idea to have Afternoon Tea at Kensington Palace's tea room, the Orangery. Afternoon Tea begins at 2pm. We sat down and were able to mix from a large selection of teas for each person. With you tea comes a variety of sandwiches, croissants, and sweet desserts to compliment your tea. The experience made us feel like true Londoners and the decor was lavish and amazing to look at. The outside was surround by gardens and the inside was ornately decorated with white lines and chairs and complimented by Blue and Gold dishes. While in London I would recommend everyone go to Afternoon Tea at any place that offers it and enjoy the relaxing experience with friends and good small desserts.

Shopping in London

Of course coming to London as fashion majors we were all overly excited to start shopping on the "high streets" of London. London is known as one of the fashion capitals of the world next to New York City, Paris and many more. We had only heard about how amazing the shopping was and could not wait to check it out and make purchases to add to our American wardrobes. One of my favorite destinations to shop was Oxford High Street. Although many Londoners do not enjoy this high street due to its high volume of people, especially tourists, I loved the busy crowds and the "three-story" stores. Some stores that I enjoyed the most were ones that are not from America. River Island and Harrods were two of my favorites. River Island is more of a fast fashion retailer where Harrods is a luxury department store with a food court and afternoon tea. Along with Harrods, there are other main luxury department stores that you have to see when living in London. Selfridges, Liberty's, and Harvey Nichols are also great destinations for luxury fashion and high end designers. Even if you are not wanting to buy clothes at the high end prices, it is amazing to walk through these stores and look at the amazing designs of big name designers. Top Shop in London is the place we went to find whatever we needed. In the TopShop on Oxford Street you could get lost for hours in the four-story building. You wouldn't mind getting lost due to the Cafe, Bubble tea stand, Cupcake Stand, Hair Salon, Eyebrow Waxing Salon, and so many more. The clothes offered in this Top Shop ranged from Top Shop's own collections as well as collections from young up and coming designers. These are one of a kind pieces that can not be found everywhere. Top Shop sponsors the designers and sells their clothing for them. The collections as so unique and its so exciting to know that you are helping out a new designer. Overall the shopping experience in London is made more into a destination than just a stop in and grab one item experience. The stores in London make the shopping experience a lot more exciting and fun. Who doesn't want to drink bubble tea while shopping or take a quick break for a cup cake?

Fashion Visuals- London College of Fashion

During my time at the London College of Fashion we took a class entitled Fashion Visuals. In this class we learned about the importance of visuals in fashion and how to relate images that were completely unrelated. We were given freedom to take images from anywhere and across all spectrums of themes and create mood boards. We were allowed to use themes of color, contrast, line, texture, shape etc. I liked this class a lot because in any job you have or whatever department in the fashion industry that you work in, you will have to be working with visuals and a lot of times with mood boards to present your ideas and your plan. This class gave us the opportunity to really define our skills and make successful images to put in our portfolio. This class is not offered at Drexel and allowed us to improve our skills with visuals which some Design and Merchandising students are not as good at. Fashion Visuals was a fun class and allowed us to work with images that inspired us and give us a break from traditional written projects and presentations!

Styling Class- London College of Fashion

During our Fashion Business program at the London College of Fashion one of our classes was a styling course. In this course we were taught by a stylist working in the industry who has worked the names like the Kardashians, and many models and actors and large name magazines. We were also taught by a well known London photographer who has been published in many magazines as well. We had three main projects. Our first project was to style two looks for ourselves and two looks for a partner of a Sports Luxe theme. For my theme we chose to do more of a street style Sports Luxe photo shoot. Below are two looks that I styled, one on myself and one on my partner Evelin.

The second project included us styling ourselves and our partner taking two trends from the Autumn/Winter fashion week and combine the two trends into one photoshoot. I chose the two styles of Red as a Neutral and Oversized Coats. Below are the two photos that I chose.

For our final project we were required to create a 10 page, 10 look spread of a certain theme of our choice. We were in groups of four or five and each person in our group was given a role of model, photographer, stylist, editor, and finding locations. Our theme was 60's reboot and was set as a carnival and fair type of theme. We named our lookbook 2060 to play off of the idea that its the two thousands now and we are bringing back the styles of the 1960's but with a modern and unique twist. Below are two out takes from the shoot. The class overall was my favorite because we were able to take what we were learning and putting it into place and actually showing our skills and what we learned. It was good to have two shoots before our final lookbook because we were able to take the feedback from our first shoots and apply them to our final project and get the best results. It was fun to buy so many outfits and shoot them and edit them. The class was fun and a break from writing papers and reports which was awesome.

Traveling

Since I have been in London I have been able to travel so easily throughout Europe. One of the best things about being in Europe is that once you are here it is so easy and inexpensive to travel to other places in Europe. The flights are significantly less expensive than if you were to travel to these places from the United States. I had the opportunity to travel to Paris and Amsterdam. I was also able to travel to the countryside of the United Kingdom and visit the Windsor Castle, the city of Bath, Brighton and Stonehenge (one of the seven wonders of the world). The landscape in the countryside of London is so unexpected considering we live in London which is such a busy city. The landscape is breathtaking and  goes on for miles of hills and plains that are beautiful and is a good break from the busy fast paced lifestyle in London. Also some of my flatmates have traveled to Italy, Dublin, Barcelona, Ibiza, Monaco and many other places. Studying abroad is amazing for the fact that you get to live somewhere abroad for one-six months and have the ability to travel so easily to other cities and countries as well.

Bath 

Stonehenge 

Amsterdam 

Coming to an End

My program in London is all too quickly approaching an end.  Less than two weeks from now, I will be at home in the States and probably packing to go back to Drexel.  When I applied to study abroad this summer, my goals mainly centered around expanding my horizons and my point of view.  I wanted to understand this global industry from a British perspective and to see how they prepare their fashion students to enter the work force, making me more well-rounded.  I was surprised by multitude of differences in the approach to teaching and learning.  In the States, our grades are based on multiple assignments, how well we perform individually, and throughout the term, we take exams or have critiques.  At London College of Fashion, there was a more hands off approach.  We had one or two big assignments that we were expected to work on throughout the course on our own time, and when we were graded, it was based on how well we did in comparison to our peers.  It was definitely a wakeup call.  It was also beneficial to take classes with people from all over the world.  Working on assignments with them and hearing their input was interesting and also helped me see the business in a new light.  I have a new understanding of the world around me and am starting to see, more clearly, my place in it.  Overall, I feel like I have accomplished everything I came here to do and would do it all again in a heartbeat.