{"id":1782,"date":"2012-01-16T22:47:24","date_gmt":"2012-01-16T12:47:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.soulbridgemedia.com\/news\/?p=1782"},"modified":"2012-11-28T18:46:18","modified_gmt":"2012-11-28T08:46:18","slug":"london-2011-part-7-shopping-shoreditch","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.soulbridgemedia.com\/news\/?p=1782","title":{"rendered":"London 2011 part #7 – Shopping – Shoreditch"},"content":{"rendered":"

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With a little time to spare we caught the black line<\/em> from Chalk Farm<\/strong> to Old Street<\/strong> (just make sure you get the one going through Kings Cross<\/strong>, not Euston<\/strong>) to make a stop at an “in the know” sneaker collector spot Kazmatazz<\/a>. \u00a0Walking past, you’d be forgiven if you thought it was just one of those discount .99p stores with items stacked along its front window but on further inspection of the unpacked boxes and seemingly random grouping display, you’ll see a method to the madness with a lot of unique pieces of clothing and sneakers. \u00a0A lot of items weren’t in multiple sizes or colours and quite a few I had never seen in the States let alone London or at all, another very good sign. \u00a0On the down side, you would have to trust his taste and selection to really benefit from the “uniqueness” as some colourways and styles were questionable to say the least.<\/p>\n

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Kazmattazz<\/p><\/div>\n

Watching, who I assume was the owner, stand firm against a middle age guy trying to haggle 60%+ off a pair of jeans was amusing to say the least. \u00a0While firm with this guy, he was only to friendly to have a chat and point out new arrival stock to me. \u00a0Chat a bit more and if you know what you’re talking about he may suggest you to have a look at the “good stuff out back\/behind the counter”. \u00a0From the quick look I had before he went back to Mr. Lowballer, it seems he may have access to a Tier 0\/1 account and possibly a collector’s collection from the colourways and models I saw. \u00a0Either way, stock was very limited, no idea on sizes but it would be one of those places where frequent visits would be required on the off chance you nab something you’ve been chasing.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately with thoughts of overweight luggage looming, we left empty handed and headed down Bishopgate<\/em>. \u00a0Getting towards the business districts, it was eerily quiet on a weekend but a nice walk to see some stark contrasts of modern skyscrapers amongst period architecture. \u00a0To cut across to Brick Lane<\/em>, by pure chance we wandered down Brushfield St<\/em> where we stumbled across the Old Spitalfield markets<\/a>. \u00a0While not huge, it still had quite a few rows of stalls, “classier” or more elegant styled arts and crafts, jewellery and hand crafted clothing sat amongst the market staples of novelty tees and souvenirs.<\/p>\n

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Arriving at Brick Lane<\/em> was like walking into a music festival. \u00a0Normally its full of expats and backpackers looking for the cheapest curry deals but come the weekend they’re looking for the cheapest of… just about anything else. \u00a0The food stores still have their “hey buddy” “come have a look” staff on the street but towards the northern end, Dray Walk<\/strong> is where the random street vendors and market stalls start cropping up. The bulk of the stalls lie in the Old Truman Brewery building<\/a> with the majority being at the cheaper low end of the market range. \u00a0The selection of food definitely makes up for it, its just a matter of finding somewhere to sit (or stand) to eat it!<\/p>\n

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The surrounding lanes is where things look up a bit with a few nice boutique stores and Casio G Shock East store<\/a> (pretty much identical stock to their West store). \u00a0Prior research also revealed another sneaker spot called “Gloria’s<\/strong>” at shop 6 Dray Walk but I’ll be darned if we could find it! \u00a0Quite possibly no longer existing or just wasn’t open on the day hiding behind one of the many vandalised rolla-doors.<\/p>\n

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\nTravel tip: We took the scenic (re: long) route down to Whitechapel station (Aldgate East is closer) but we did come across another JD Sports store which was perfect to grab a couple last minute items to fill the few spaces left in the suitcase. \u00a0Moral of the story – JD Sports stores are everywhere so even if you miss one or change your mind there isn’t one too far away.<\/em><\/p>\n

That’s just about it for our London visit, we wind down next with a spot of tranquility at Hyde park<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

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London 2011 part #1 – Arrival, Soho Shopping<\/a>
\nLondon 2011 part #2 – Central London sight seeing<\/a>
\nLondon 2011 part #3 – Chelsea Flower show<\/a>
\nLondon 2011 part #4 – Shopping – Hammersmith<\/a>
\nLondon 2011 part #5 – Shopping – Covent Garden and Soho<\/a>
\nLondon 2011 part #6 – Shopping – Camden<\/a>
\nLondon 2011 part #8 – Hyde park, Piccadilly Circus <\/a><\/p>\n

London photo gallery here<\/a>
\nChelsea flower show photo gallery here<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

With a little time to spare we caught the black line from Chalk Farm to Old Street (just make sure you get the one going through Kings Cross, not Euston) to make a stop at an “in the know” sneaker collector spot Kazmatazz. \u00a0Walking past, you’d be forgiven if you thought it was just one […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1407,388],"tags":[1006,1511,1513,1515,487,1418,1510,1408,828,1512,1514,525,1288,1293,183,100,378,300,770,1428,1490,2775,391,1115,444,595],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.soulbridgemedia.com\/news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1782"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.soulbridgemedia.com\/news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.soulbridgemedia.com\/news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.soulbridgemedia.com\/news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.soulbridgemedia.com\/news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1782"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"http:\/\/www.soulbridgemedia.com\/news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1782\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2551,"href":"http:\/\/www.soulbridgemedia.com\/news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1782\/revisions\/2551"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.soulbridgemedia.com\/news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1782"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.soulbridgemedia.com\/news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1782"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.soulbridgemedia.com\/news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1782"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}