drifting through the halls with the sunrise

Last week ended up being nicely busy; after a gentle beginning with lots of art, banana and peanut butter smoothies and catching up with journalling I went to two days of British Summer Time festival in Hyde Park, and saw The Strokes, Metronomy and Blur, before meeting up with Antonio and Sophie on Sunday (who also inspired the title of this post, as I thought they might appreciate the Florence reference). As I have a shorter summer this year, these two days were my only festivals, which is sad but means I will have more than enough time to forget the true horror of travelling home from Reading festival last year before I attempt to go to another long weekender next summer. I bought a disposable to use - I opted for a cheaper Boots own brand to my usual Kodak, and actually really liked the hazy effect although the flash isn't really needed as much as it usually is on a disposable, and so a few of the photos are quite over-exposed but still, at least I have some (I thought I'd broken the camera the other night and had a mild panic at the thought of losing so many memories via the photos I had taken on it).

Luckily they did all develop, so a major disaster was averted. Above is the general outfit I wore for Blur on Saturday, although I did end up swapping the shirt for a rain jacket at the last minute. The trousers and top are Beyond Retro, the shirt from HFW Vintage in Margate, the bumbag is from Mi-Pac, and was perfectly spacious and held my camera, phone charger and water easily on both days. The socks are Topshop and the shoes are my trusty wooden platforms from Office, which are wonderful as they are easy to walk in and comfortable but help make me normal height.

These photos are mostly from Thursday, when we saw The Strokes. It was so hot and sunny, we wore different coloured fishnets, patterned trousers and hawaiian shirts, ate free popcorn bars and somehow didn't get too separated in the crazily packed crowd (possibly the most squashed I've been at a concert except Peace in February). The band were amazing though, so you didn't really notice being buffeted around that much. The stage was beautiful - framed with big fake trees, it looked amazing against the pink dusk sky. The last few here are from seeing Blur on Saturday - I got stuck in traffic on my way there from work, so had to run in platforms halfway across Hyde Park, and dart through the huge crowd to try and find my friends who were really close to the front. The rain was nothing short of a blessing after my over-exertion, and in fact I was actually pleased I came so close to missing out on getting there or seeing my friends at all as it really made me enjoy myself once I was there - seeing Metronomy for the third time was great, and of course Blur were incredible. The crowd was amazing, with a great atmosphere but none of Thursday's constant pushing, shoving and fighting to keep your balance. I didn't stop dancing the whole time though and so woke up the next day fully unable to move my legs for a good fifteen minutes. Both days were so good - it was so nice to be able to get into the festival spirit, but not have to sleep on the floor in a cold tent once it was over, and instead come home to a huge mug of almond milk tea and cosy pyjamas (I am such a grandma it's ridiculous).

Anyway, on Sunday I met up with Antonio again and finally got to meet Sophie! They had spent the morning exploring the Tate Britain and had just seen the Alexander McQueen exhibition when I met them, so after getting overly emotional about how amazing it is (even though I saw it a while ago, thinking about the amazing clothes and creations on display is like re-opening a wound, resulting in a fresh flood of feelings...if you have been you will understand how deeply inspiring and simultaneously melancholy his work is). We wandered around the V&A museum for a while then wandered over to Hyde Park, where we danced to a group playing bongo drums and listened to the faint sound of a concert coming from over the other side of the park. We hadn't really planned to take photos but I had a disposable to use up, and Sophie had her camera so we ended up climbing trees and taking pictures all afternoon, strolling through the park and through central London. It seemed quite apt that we had our dreamy, teen-ish afternoon/summer evening on the Summer Solstice, the longest day of the year - once again, I find myself reminded of the idea that teen years seem both endless and ridiculously finite at the same time. Also it was so nice to actually meet Sophie after almost two years of reading each other's internet goings-on...I can now say she is just as interesting and knowledgable as she appears on Pretty Passions, and if she isn't the editor of Vogue or something one day then I don't know what I'll do.

Whilst sitting in a tree Antonio noticed two huge nests of weird insect larvae that all three of us would have been sitting or standing near at one point or another - how we hadn't accidentally kicked it (and released the maggot-y contents on ourselves) I have no idea - all I can say is I doubt any of us have ever jumped out of a tree so fast. Tree-climbing is really cathartic though - there's something nice about being so high up yet so comfortable at the same time? Also they are great places to people watch from.

Notice the height difference (also note that I was wearing platforms and Sophie normal shoes). I am so tiny in real life it's unreal. My dress is from Motel Vintage, shirt is my mum's, shoes from Asos and socks from Topshop.
To add to the whole dreamy teen vibe we ended up having a dance along to the group playing bongo drums, which resulted in photos reminiscent of the Moonrise Kingdom beach scene but with darker undertones and a more city feel.

I had such a lovely day - days spent exploring London in the evening's summer sunlight will always be some of my favourites; I really need to spend more time finding my way around and discovering new places. If you don't already read Sophie's blog, you can find it here (you really should - not many others can combine such strong looks with such interesting musings) and Antonio's portfolio is here, and blog is here (as I have explained previously his work is incredible). Have a lovely week!