Street Style: Spring has (almost sprung) and Stylish Faces

I realise my blog looks and feels like it is suffering from bipolar disorder- one minute I am on about travel in Istanbul or whining about our boiler going wrong (and have I mentioned the little mouse situation?!) and the next I am taking photographs of street style. If you, dear blog fan, are a bit dizzy from the lack of direction, then I am positively vertiginous!

Until I figure out exactly what I want/should/need to focus on, y'all going to have to just sit tight, fasten your seat belts and grip your sick bag- the ride could be a bumpy one :)

Which brings me to this post and the emergence of Spring-like weather in London. Damn, and ain't it fine! The sky is azure blue, the air warm (I heard one miserable sod complain it was too hot yesterday- helllllooooo), the daffodils have popped open and trans-seasonal dressing is in full swing. Because while it is wonderfully warm in the sun, move into the shade, hop off the tube or bus and there is still a little nip in the air.

What to wear now? I spotted this woman (above) and thought she looked fabulous....actually I noticed her beautiful hair first (if that isn't recessionista hair- no thrice weekly blow-dry required here- then I don't know what is), then her cute, fresh stripey dress, then her deep caramel trench and then her jewellery. You probably can't see from the photographs but she had a stunning jade and gold necklace and two fab rings. Jewellery can make an outfit, non?

And about that hair....she is a perfect example of how to do loooooooong, loooooooong hair for those of us who are over the age of 29 :):) Not everybody can manage it (there is a fine line between a glorious mane of hair tumbling wildly down your back and looking like a 40 year old High School Musical drop-out): Jennifer Aniston can, Demi Moore can, as can Gwyneth and Tamara Mellon. Check it (below). Oh yes, and she is giving me the thumbs up sign- she was running to catch a cab while on her mobile when I signalled if I could take her photo....

This sun- I love it- but I need to learn how to shoot in it. I am so used to the grey, dull sky in London that each time I try to take someone's photo, I end up either blinding them, blowing out the highlights, or shooting blindly. So the next few photos are the ones I managed to salvage- yeah, they are (almost) all close-up shots....

Karina (who is English but lives in Australia- I thought she was an Aussie at first- her accent was almost as strong as mine...almost!):

Keira:

Hannah (that gorgeous red hair!):

This gentleman was an absolute delight: funny, stylish and with that terrific moustache. Sure, he might not be wearing an outfit straight from the pages of this month's GQ but he was wearing something which suited him and looked fabulous:

Seoulee from Korea:

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Posted in Fashion "London Street Style" "London Street Fashion"

Istanbul Guide- Part 1

I thought I would do this Istanbul mini-guide for those who maybe only want to buy maybe ONE guide book (and not like 5 or 6 like some other people- Messy looks around, whistling) and who only have a couple of days in Istanbul....obviously if you have longer there are a whole host of other websites, blogs, travelogues which will provide guidance on things to fill your stay. This is part 1 of the mini-guide - I haven't quite decided how many parts there will be yet! It isn't meant to be comprehensive by any means...but maybe it will help somebody planning a trip to Istanbul.

I thought I would start with Sultanahmet in the Old City, which is where we spent the first two nights of our stay (I will cover our hotels and getting to and from the airport on the Asian side in another Part). The big ticket items on everyone's must-do list are the: Blue Mosque (Sultanahmet Camii), Hagia Sophia (Aya Sofya), Topkapi Palace (Topkapi Sarayi), Grand Bazaar, Spice Market, Mosque of Suleyman the Magnificent, Underground Cistern. We didn't get to see the Topkapi Palace, Underground Cistern or inside the Mosque of Suleyman the Magnificent, mainly because of timing- we only had one full day in Sultanahmet before we moved hotels. The Blue Mosque and the Hagia Sophia were magnificent (I even got up at 6am to take some sunrise shots of both but unfortunately there was no spectacular sunrise so I just got strange looks from the locals going to prayer and a very friendly, stray cat). As for the Grand Bazaar and Spice Market, they aren't really my thing (I am more of an open air, fresh food market kind of gal) but were worth a short look-see. Being off-season, neither were crowded but I still felt rather claustrophobic- I can't image what it must be like in the middle of summer with tourists crammed into every nook and cranny. Atmospheric or Hell on Earth...depending on your particular persuasion. The Grand Bazaar is huge so I would try and download a map in order to navigate its labyrinth of streets. For me, the best thing about the Grand Bazaar was the tiny kebab shop called Aynen Durum (which I mentioned in an earlier post) just outside the Bazaar near the informal money market. It is basically a "hole in the wall" set up with room for one guy to cook and seating for about 6 people either side of a stainless steel "condiment bar". You order your lamb or chicken kebab (cubes of lamb not the shaved doner variety) which is cooked over charcoal, wrapped in soft, chewy flat bread with a little tomato and handed to you to load up on condiments - sweet,minty pickles, dried chili, pickled chili, spices and masses of fresh, bouncy flat leaf parsley. Simple, clean, honest (and cheap) food- probably the best we had in Istanbul. You eat shoulder to shoulder with the locals (we were the only non-locals I spotted both times we passed by) and it was always packed. I gave the owner a "that was awesome!" thank you after we had paid (around 8 YTL) which produced some laughs from the other punters. The address for Aynen Durum is "Merkez: Muhafazacilar Sk. No:33 (Ayakli Borsa Yani) Kapalicarsi" Tel: 0212 527 47 28. If you make the effort to track it down, I promise you won't be disappointed :)

If you want to buy something to take home and can't face the prospect of the Grand Bazaar, try the Arasta Baazar which is tucked away below the Blue Mosque. It is just two rows of shops, open air and much less daunting. The Hedonist's Guide to Istanbul lists some of the shops worth seeking out in the Arasta Bazaar, Spice Market (Egyptian Bazaar) and the Grand Bazaar- bargaining/haggling is de rigueur so, once again, this may be your idea of heaven or hell (I can't tell you how much I loathe having to bargain- give me a fixed price any day!). It might be worth limbering up with a few smaller purchases before bargaining for that carpet or pricey antique ceramic.

Post Grand bazaar recovery? Head to the tranquil, chilled Erenler Cay Bahcesi- a nargile (hookah) cafe. I loved this place- I could have stayed there for hours drinking tea, chatting to the locals (did I mention this place is full of locals?!) and taking photographs. Alas Mr Messy has a thing about me asking people for photographs in his presence so I only managed to get the one of the gentleman (above) smoking his nargile. We ordered Turkish coffee and a cheese toasty- perfect revival fuel. I would have had a shot at smoking a nargile but the embarrassing prospect of coughing and spluttering my way through the experience stopped me (this is when travelling with friends comes in handy).....The sweet, heady smell of our neighbours smoke, listening to him inhale and the water bubbling was oddly soothing. I can't recommend this cafe highly enough particularly as it is so close to the Grand Bazaar but has (so far) escaped being touristy. Mesale cafe near the Arasta Bazaar (and our hotel), also a nargile cafe, is an example of a cafe which appears solely geared towards tourists- and that is all I will say!

Thick, leathery Turkish coffee at Erenler Cay Bahcesi (below):



Stoking the coal which sits in the top of the nargile with the fruit tobacco:

Baubles in the Grand Bazaar:

Once you are refueled and armed with a good map (does anyone else have trouble finding street signs in Istanbul?), head towards the Istanbul University and Mosque of Suleyman The Magnificent and then down into the back streets of the Old City: your destination being Vefa Bozacisi the home of Boza, a curiously addictive fermented millet drink. We got hopelessly lost trying to find the cafe but is was well worth it- for the chance to see life in the back streets of Vefa, to check out the beautiful cafe and to drink Boza with the steady stream of Turkish people heading through its doors. School kids accompanied by their parents, businessmen and women, local workers- it seems everyone needs their afternoon fix of Boza. The drink itself is an acquired taste (although I pretty much acquired it after 2 sips!)... it looks like yogurt but it doesn't taste anything like yogurt- it is thick, "oaty", creamy but with a "spritzy" ending (I guess that is the ferment). It is served sprinkled generously with cinnamon and what I think were crunchy, sweetened chickpeas on top. I saw Vefa Bozacisi for sale in take away bottles all over Istanbul but the cafe is something a bit special.

This little boy's grandfather helped direct us to Vefa Bozacici:

Pouring the Boza:

Inside the cafe:

With contented tummies (the Vefa Bozacisi chaps were keen to point out the health benefits of a daily glass of Boza- it contains vitamins A, B and C) we wound our way back down to near the Spice Bazaar and the intimate, beautiful Rüstem Pasha Mosque. This mosque is tucked away above bustling alleys lined with shops and while you can see its minarets, it is a little hard to find. Just ask somebody for directions or, if you are like us, people will see the confused look on your face and start pointing to the mosque.

If you see this impromptu market:

and spices lining the alleyway:

Then you just need to go up some stairs and are at the Rustem Pasha mosque with its exquisite blue floral tiles:

As for dining out, we ventured to Tarihi Selim Usta Sultanahmet Koftecisi which seems to be very popular in guide books and on forums but which we found wholly underwhelming.

Similarly, Hamdi restaurant (posh kebabs) was very average but the view (below- I think this may be the top of the Rustem Pasha mosque?) from the glassed in top floor dining area was worth the twice the price we paid for our meal. Late on a summer's night I think this would be a fabulous place to digest the day's travel adventures....

Street Style returns tomorrow :)

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Posted in Travel Istanbul Turkey " Istanbul photographs"

Istanbul

This post, which is very short indeed, was suppose to be Part 1 of the Messy Guide to Must-Do's in Istanbul....for anyone who doesn't feel up to reading loads of guide books and/or surfing the net for hours on end. However the Messy household has been struck down by a virulent bout of food poisoning. Such that we have both been alternating between being curled up on the bed in the foetal position and hugging the porcelain in the bathroom. Not an attractive sight. So, the next post will be Part 1 (not sure how many parts there will be!) of my Istanbul guide.

And as soon as I am feeling up to it, I will be back out on the streets shooting some Street Style...so if you are looking for some street style posts, check back later in the week.

Tonight, I leave you with a George Carlin quote I read yesterday (in an article about some rather um, "interesting" parties which take place in London) which appealed to me as I lay on my (death*) bed: "Life's journey is not to arrive at the grave safely in a well-preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, totally worn out, shouting, "Holy sh*t! What a ride!"

Photographs above and below are from the Hagia Sophia (Aya Soyfa in Turkish) in Sultanahmet. The Hagia Sophia was originally a church, then became a mosque in 1453 and is now a museum. It is worth a visit to the Hagia Sophia for the exquisite Byzantine mosaics alone. The top photograph is a mosaic depicting Christ, the Virgin Mary and John the Baptist (I only photographed Christ as I couldn't fit all 3 in with my 50mm lens!). The other two photos I took through the windows in the South Gallery.

In the courtyard of Hagia Sophia:

A boy near the Galata Bridge (on the Sultanahmet side):

A fisherman on the Galata Bridge:

A jumble of deaded fish and what look like 1970's prawn cocktails (complete with cocktail sauce) on the Galata Bridge:

It got lowered down in front of me so of course I snapped it!:

Hot roasted chestnut vendor:

*Google is a wonderful thing except when you are suffering from a "medical condition" and are self-diagnosing (always dangerous). The words which leap out from the page are always the most dire like, oh, for example: can result in death, paralysis, severe dehydration, nervous system damage.....

Proceed to Google (for medical diagnosis) with infinite caution most excellent blog fans!

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Posted in Travel Istanbul Turkey " Istanbul photographs"

Istanbul

Merhaba Most Excellent Blog Fans!

Istanbul (my destination for last week). I have been back a couple of days and am mulling over how to describe it, how I truly felt about this sprawling, ancient city. And I still don't know. So you will have to excuse me if I ramble a little in this post.

Having read numerous guide books before I went (Rick Steves' Istanbul; Time Out travel guide: Istanbul; Lonely Planet: Istanbul; Style Guide: Istanbul; A Hedonist's Guide to Istanbul; Eyewitness Guide to Istanbul) along with blogs, and travel articles I had squirreled away from magazines over the last few months, I thought I was well prepared for Istanbul and all it had to offer (Okay, okay, so maybe I went a teensy bit overboard in the research department but I wanted to be prepared rather than just winging it). Hmmm how wrong I was. I, naively perhaps, expected to fall in love immediately. To have a longing to return again and again to the "World's Hippest City" (not my words*) where tradition, culture and ancient architectural marvels collide with the cosmopolitan, the modern, and the fabulous. Instead, I feel confused. And I wonder if this is because Istanbul is itself confused. Is it that Istanbul is still trying to find its identity following the fall of the Ottoman Empire, is it still trying to reinvent itself in its desire for entry into the EU, is it the effect of gentrification? Or is it simply that I, who came expecting the exotic (fuelled, in part, no doubt by those copious glossy magazine articles), had preconceived notions of what Istanbul should be like, rather than what it actually is like in the modern day? I'm not sure and after only 5 days in Istanbul, I am (obviously) in no position to provide the answer. However, while I was there I did read the beautifully written account of Istanbul by Orhan Pamuk "Istanbul Memories and the City" (which I would highly recommend to anyone, whether you are intending to travel to Istanbul or not) and on a grey, wet day in the very back streets of the Old City, I felt I understood what Orhan meant when he talks about a communal melancholy ("Huzun" in Turkish) which seeps through the city and fills its occupants.

What I did fall in love with almost immediately was the people of Istanbul. Generous, kind, friendly, open. They were, in a word, wonderful. If I was fortunate to go back to Istanbul, it would be the people who I would seek out, spend time talking to, photographing, taking tea with. A number of times, after thanking a local for directions when we were hopelessly lost, I almost burst into tears of happiness when a Turkish man would smile, dip his head and pat his heart - such an endearing, delightful gesture. For me, to be invited into the home of an Turkish family would be an honour. For I strongly suspect that the heart of Istanbul, its true identity, lies behind the locked doors in the back streets of the Old Town and steep, cobbled streets of the New District.

Precious memories: hearing my first call to prayer (ever) while standing in the courtyard of the Blue Mosque. It was an incredible moment: spine tingling and something I will never forget; being "warned off" by a pack of street-wise dogs while off wandering on my own (the Dog Whisperer would not have been impressed by my actions- I squealed and ran! Probably the most foolish thing to do in the circumstances); sitting, drinking Turkish coffee and eating cheese toasties while inhaling the heady, sweet smoke from the narghiles being smoked by a cafe full of locals; crossing the Bosphorus in a private launch from Rumeli Hisarı to Kanlica; drinking sweet, fresh orange and pomegranate juice every morning (and afternoon!); strolling along the waterfront in Bebek (European shore) and Kadikoy (Asian shore); drinking Boza in the exquisite 1930's Vefa Bozacisi cafe (more on this in another post); watching the sun go down while chatting with some local fisherman near-ish the Galata Bridge; witnessing the kindness bestowed on the thousands of meows which inhabit the city (I have never seen so many well fed cats!); eating dinner late on Saturday night in a restaurant crowded with happy Turkish families; scoffing the freshest, most delicious kebabs at a teeny place called Aynen Durum just outside the Grand Bazaar while listening to the boisterous men bellowing frantically down their mobiles at the informal money exchange market; watching grown men take childish delight in throwing pieces of simit (the delicious, chewy, sesame coated bread sold by street vendors everywhere in Istanbul) to the eagle-eyed seagulls following the early morning ferry; getting icing sugar up my nose, all down my clothes and camera bag while trying to eat yogurt in Kanlica (messy Messy!); nibbling freshly made, flaky börek ....

This is one of my favourite photographs from Istanbul (yeah, I know I blew the highlights out of the sky on his hands but I still like it!). He was jeweller who had a gorgeous store near Tomtom Kaptan Sokak:

Inside the Blue Mosque:


Treasures for sale in the back streets of Sultanahmet:

The view from Moda, Kadikoy (on the Asian side):

*from Lonely Planet Guide to Istanbul

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Posted in Travel Istanbul Turkey

A Dash of Tangerine and a dashing Oliver

A very quick post before I dash off to somewhere exotic and warm for a few days.....well, it was suppose to be warm but the forecast says rain, rain and, predictably for me, more rain. I am still hopeful of the exotic part!

I love this tangerine smock-ish coat spliced with grey....it reminds me of the colour of the monk's robes I photographed a couple of weeks ago.

And dashing Oliver- what can I say? The man works his tweed-ish jacket so well.

See you next week :)

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Running with the Fash Pack....London Fashion Week A/W 09

Sometimes I just shouldn't be allowed out of the house, or at least, my mouth shouldn't be. I don't know what comes over me but I have the ability to stay the daftest, most inappropriate things at times. It is truly a wondrous (unwanted) talent I possess. Like, last week, when I met Scott Schuman (The Sartorialist) I managed to blurt out something about the Dog Whisperer (you know, Cesar Millan, the guy who rehabilitates and rebalances wayward pooches- one of my favourite shows on television).... it wasn't even close to being relevant to our discussion but it popped into my head and before I knew it had bubbled out of my mouth. Being a calm-assertive pack leader has nothing whatsoever to do with fashion or taking photographs....hmmmm, or does it?!

And then today I had to pop into Oxford Street to pick up the new U2 CD* for Mr Messy's birthday (Happy Birthday Mr Messy!). And I may have made a little detour to Selfridges in the process ;-) So I was happily minding my own business (read: spraying myself with liberal amounts of Tom Ford perfume) when a gentleman asked if I would like to try the new Guerlain fragrance. So I did. And then he asked me what I thought of it. And I told him. Um, that it sort of reminded me of a "nana" fragrance, errr, like something my grandma would have worn (lets just say that it had strong notes of violet). This was obviously not the right thing to say as he looked me up and down disdainfully before flouncing off. I felt bad: I just should have said it smelt "different" or "unusual".

And then I bumped into the girl with the purple shoes in the 4th photo (below) in Boots chemist today. And I felt the compulsion to tell her I had photographed her at LFW last week.....And it was all just a bit embarrassing and weird. I kind of just wanted the ground to swallow me up...

And then there are my various attempts at making conversation on the Tube and....



Loving that red hair:

Kate Lanphear, Senior Fashion and Style editor at Elle (US):

The girl with the purple shoes:

Model, off-duty:
Continuing my littlest fashionista series, this wee girl was very sweet. Um, except I think the look on her face says "Listen up here strange lady, back it up and step away with that camera from me and my penguin!"

*anyone else purchased the CD yet???

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Posted in "London Fashion Week" "London Street Style" "London Street Fashion" "London Fashion Week A/W 09"