rhumandclay – TAPE PARADE

(Lucha Libre – a mexican restaurant we visited on the first night)

Have you ever been to Liverpool? The moment I set foot on scouser soil I felt strangely at home. Whether it was just being in a busy populated city following the rural Devon villages we’d been visiting or some vague part of my brain remembering happy primary school trips into Liverpool, I felt really happy to be back. One of my favourite people I met during university was from Liverpool and I was fondly reminded of him whilst surrounded by that distinctive accent. I spent most of my time in the Unity Theatre preparing and performing the show, but the hour or so I spent wandering around I explored nearby Bold Street and their HUGE array of aesthetically charming shops.

CLAUDIA PINK

(exterior and interior of Claudia Pink)

Claudia Pink was the most gorgeous array of unique necklaces, exotic earrings and dazzling brooches. It was lovely to chat to Claudia herself and find out more about the business and her design process.

LITTLE RED VINTAGE

Stellar visual merchandising from Little Red Vintage, I felt a little as though I had wandered into a fantasy, candy-coloured dressing room crossed with a Sofia Coppola film. I absolutely loved these neon, translucent plastic pom-pom chandeliers.

BOLD STREET SWEETS

(exterior and interior of Bold Street Sweets)

It’s a giant sweet shop. With old fashioned pick and mix. American sweets. Lucky Charms. Dark chocolate M’n’Ms (my personal all-time favourite sweet). Yay!

ARK

(interior and exterior of ARK)

Apparently Ark is not a one-off Liverpool independent store but a fairly large chain with stores around the country, so the fact I’d never come across it before is indicative of my own poor knowledge of the outside world (i.e. life past Zone 6). These photos were all taken in their vintage basement where I found the most amazing silver dress. I’m not sure if all the stores have a vintage section but this one was huge and laid out beautifully!

BOLD STREET COFFEE

Hendrix and coffee.

Saturday night saw us staying back at The Yarde Cafe in Devon. It is beautiful there! There was live music courtesy of a local musician and I was asked to play something by both my theatrical cohorts and the owner of the venue. It’s such an amazing feeling when somebody connects with something you’ve created, especially in such an unexpected and unfamiliar setting.