Sex and the City or Carrie in the King's Road ?

My second job (well over 20 years ago) was in Chelsea Manor Street - which is the road that joins the King's Road near Chelsea Town Hall, where lots of celebrities used to get married. In fact, I remember bumping into Bryan Ferry near there one day...

Anyway. Whilst I am occasionally around the area it isn't often that I get to walk all the way from Sloane Square (which I have to say is prettiest at Christmas time when they have lights in all the trees - but I nipped into John Lewis and had a coffee in their restaurant which has some fab views over London)down the King's Road and almost to World's End - but this is what I did this week.

It is easy to forget that whilst it is a very busy shopping street, there are frequent little gaps where there are delightful oases of greenery or little squares and pedestrianised areas where you can have a coffee or admire some art or just watch the (beautifully trendy) world go by. There are also a couple of cinemas (I remember going to the midnight screenings of the Rocky Horror Picture Show all dressed up and ready for the audience participation) and, of course, the antiques centre.

Years back, the King's Road was also the height of chic. Where the punk revolution exploded onto the scene. Where the most exclusive and cutting edge shops were. It was sad that so few of those original shops are still there - the only ones I recognised was R Soles and Habitat. In terms of eateries I was pleased to see that Henry J Bean's and My Old Dutch have survived. And how I miss Kennedy's - probably the best burger joint ever to have existed.

But I was on a mission. Having quit the cigs last summer (and I still resent the imposition of the legal ban - I stopped visiting New York and San Franciso when they banned smoking originally all those years ago) I had promised myself some - wait for it - Manolo Blahnik shoes as a reward.

Yes, this is a hangover from envying the carefree journalistic lifestyle of Carrie Bradshaw as played by Sarah Jessica Parker in the unmissable Sex and the City - although naturally I always preferred London to New York. And my planned purchase was well timed as the movie is due to be released in May....

But not many people know that the original and first Manolo Blahnik store is actually tucked away on a neat residential road just off the King's Road - you have to know where you are going or you will never find it. It is also in this store where the most daring designs are displayed.

I found the store. And they let me in. I spent a while surrounded by the most exquisite shoes. The pair I choose are fab. I mean really fab. I'm not going to tell you how much - suffice to say I used to smoke a lot! So I am just waiting for the right opportunity to wear them now...and a further stroll down the King's Road might be just the right occasion so I am practising how to walk elegantly in my 11 cms (yes, 11 cms) stiletto heels..

:hyper: