Shopping in London

Aside from food (which is mostly mayonaisse based, it seems), I haven't purchased many things while here in London. I bought a train ticket north and a train ticket to Paris. (Oui, oui!) I bought a ticket to see Momix, an American dance troupe that I've always wanted to see. (So worth it, even if it was twice the price of a ticket at home.) I bought some airmail envelopes and paper (with the Indian proprietor of the shop saying that nobody writes letters anymore, even to India).

I did go to a craft fair yesterday (apparently I AM my mother's daughter). While I drooled over some wooden bowls, and I really wanted to take an attractive furniture-maker home with me (his furniture was attractive too, but that was secondary), I did make a small purchase of some lavendar sachets. They were more in my budget (and weight limit) than anything else. And they smelled nice. (That will probably be welcome after a couple of months of travelling.)

Today I wandered around Islington and popped into a couple of shops. I went into one clothing boutique called Frostfrench or something. Surprisingly, everything there was made in England. Go figure. I'm not really one for fashion. (1-800-221-4221 is my fashion hotline... that's LL Bean, in case you didn't recognize the number. Yes, I am wearing something from them right now.) I just don't understand why some people think things look attractive. I mean come on, the bubble skirt is back? Women in London seem to think that trousers are optional if their shirt is long enough. I can almost understand all of that. But when I was going through the racks of shirts and skirts and trousers at this boutique, I came across a garment that could only be described as cashmere knickers. Yes, panties. They looked rather like the things that people put over diapers. (I don't have any kids, so I don't know the technical name of that piece of clothing.) I was tempted to ask about these, but decided to just put them back and move on. But you can be sure that I will be looking at those women with the long shirts and no trousers more carefully from now on to see if maybe their ARE wearing something else under there.