The Tate Modern

Ironically, this is the post where I seem to have forgotten how to perform for the camera...

The wonderful creepiness of Facebook reminded me this morning that I posted my first post of this blog exactly a year ago yesterday. Now, a job writing blogs for a living may well have thrown a time- and inclination-shaped spanner in the works in terms of Dressing Up in London, but I have resolved to try a little darn harder. Probably because I have suddenly got muchmuchmuch busier at work… these things never make sense, do they?

Anyway, this weekend Delightful Boyfriend and I got a bit cultural (rather than spending the entire weekend on the sofa, watching Game of Thrones and talking to no one except Deliveroo, like we normally would) and moseyed on down to the Tate Modern.

Babel - Cildo Meireles, 2001

Mona Hatoum

The Tate Modern is the UK’s gallery of modern art and holds our national collection of British art from 1900 to now. It is housed in what was the Bankside Power Station back in the day, which was designed by the same architect who did Battersea Power Station. When the Bankside branch shut down in 1981 I don’t suppose anyone thought than in its next life it would be one of the largest modern art museums in the world, but there it is, life is unexpected.

In 1992, the Tate Gallery at the British National Art Museum was beginning to get a little too big for its accommodation, and proposed a competition to build a new building, just for modern art. The firm that eventually won it was Herzog and de Meuron, the Swiss company responsible for the Bird’s Nest – Beijing’s 2008 Olympic stadium. Instead of knocking it down, the firm decided to keep the power station as it was, and reinvent it. Whether it’s your cup of tea or not, I am rather glad they kept it. It’s nice to have a little reminder of old London on the waterfront, especially considering the various monstrosities which are going to be popping up along the Thames over the next decade or so. 

Inside the collection is organised by theme rather than chronologically - apparently because doing it chronologically would expose the large gaps in the collection! These themes are a GCSE-art student’s dream: “Structure and Clarity”, “Transformed Visions”, “Energy and Process”, “Poetry and Dream”… I want to know who comes up with these things. Sounds like they did my university modules too. 

There were some pieces which were predictably bonkers, as modern art is wont to seem to someone as simple as I, but there was a fair bit that I liked. I learnt about Bernd and Hilla Becher and their lovely black-and-white photographs of industrial structures from across the world. I was also glad to see a good chunk dedicated to the Guerilla Girls. The Tate's new director Frances Morris is the first woman (and the first Brit) to be appointed and seems to be keeping up the good work after championing female artists at the Tate for many years. And I particularly enjoyed the Mondrians. There is something deeply calming and satisfying about how neat and precise they are. Plus, one would go beautifully with our coffee tables…

Then there is the gargantuan Turbine Hall which used to house the generators and in more recent times housed mammoth pieces of work by artists such as Anish Kapoor and Ai Weiwei. When we were there the hall looked pretty empty…though that could well have been an exhibit too – who knows with modern art?!

For my long-awaited (ha) return to “fashion” blogging, I may have played it a bit safe – it’s just that there are so many blimmin’ people in this city! Perhaps I am getting a bit cowardly in my old age. I’ll try to go a bit crazier for next time. Maybe. Anyway, to contrast with the stark, brown exterior of the Tate, I decided to go very colourful. And flowery. And with some gratuitous leopard print because why the hell not?!

 

Tate Modern details

Opening times = Sunday – Thursday, 10.00–18.00. Friday and Saturday, 10.00–22.00

Admission = Free! (Pay for exhibitions)

Closest Tube station = Southwark or Blackfriars

Top - New Look
Skirt, Shoes, Earrings and Belt - ASOS (I swear they should be paying me by now)
Cardigan - Next
Sunglasses - Topshop

Outandaboutfit #2 - London Walk (From Bethnal Green to Limehouse Basin)

Well bloglets, it is September, which means summer is officially over for another year. This might then make this weekend’s choice of activity seem a little odd, but I refuse to let the passing of the warm weather signal the end of my romping in the outdoors. That’s why this weekend, my right honourable flatmates (RHFs) and I decided we would go for a good old-fashion walk to blow (fairly literally) away the cobwebs.

It is true that, if you live in the countryside, a weekend walk is a fairly natural thing, but must seem rather strange when one lives in a bustling metropolis such as London. Well, the whole idea came about when RHF1 brought home The Rough Guide to Walks in London & Southeast England. This handy little guide suggests around 40 routes, all within an hour’s train journey of London, and ranks them by difficulty, as well as pointing out interesting sites and the best places to eat or drink. So, we thought, since this blog is all about exploring London, what could be better?!

Don't ask me to explain this one...because I can't...

Since the day allotted for our walk promised to be bright yet blustery, we thought we would start off with a shorter walk, fairly close to home in good old South-East London. The route we chose started off at Bethnal Green station and skirted along Regent’s Canal and around Limehouse Basin to…the pub! Where else?  It was – justifiably – rated easy and should have taken us 1 hour and 20 minutes. But we stopped for cake, and to take pictures…and just generally ambled, so we ended up doing it in 3 hours… No judging!

There was no escaping that this was an urban walk, with an abundance of tower blocks and frequent sights of the Shard and Canary Wharf, but most of the route was along Regent’s Canal or the Thames and there was plenty of greenery to be found and that, plus the sunshine, really made for a most agreeable stroll.

One of the potential pit-stops along the way is the RaggedSchool Museum , which is dedicated to the work of Dr Thomas Barnardo, and has very strange opening hours (if you fancy visiting – I’d suggest you prepare in advance!). It is situated in the school set up by Dr Barnardo in 1877 for the children of Mile End. We decided to see a different face of Mile End, however, and went for tea at a charming café called The Coffee Room, which I would highly recommend.

Nearer the end of the walk there is also Limehouse Basin, an old dock which used to be used by seagoing vessels to drop off their loads to canal barges which would transport the cargoes further up along Regent’s Canal. It was built in 1820, but did not achieve huge commercial success until the mid-nineteenth century. Later it became one of London’s most infamous slums, a den of vice and sin, and the home of old Chinatown, which moved to its current location after much of Limehouse was destroyed in the Blitz. Anyway, the Basin was redeveloped in the 80s and is now the location of a number of fancy-pants apartment blocks.

I feel like this picture makes it look as if the top of the Shard is opening some sort of portal...

We finished our walk at The Prospect of Whitby – London’s oldest riverside inn. It was opened in 1520, during the reign of Henry VIII, and has been going ever since. Nice, atmospheric old pub, with gorgeous views of the Thames, but beware! The prices are extortionate. We were going to have dinner, but after RHF3’s pint came to £5.70, we decided takeaway at home made more sense…

The Outandaboutfit itself is fairly straightforward – slouchy jersey material so I looked put-together but was also extremely comfortable, and also pearls to offset my really-rather-manky Vans with the holes in the toes. Again I say, no judging. All black may have been a slight oversight considering how sunny it was, but it did make me feel a great deal more at home walking around edgy East London…

Skirt - Asos
Top - Topshop
Shoes - Vans

London Walk details

Closest Tube/Overground station = Bethnal Green at the start, Wapping Overground at the end

Ragged School Museum Opening Times = 10am-5pm - Wednesday and Thursday, 2pm-5pm – First Sunday of each month

Admission Costs for RSM = Free