The Visa Diaries

As I’ve mentioned, I am living on Portobello Road. Despite having been long ago “discovered”, despite the fact that it has gentrified to the point where the odor of fresh minted bills wafting from the pockets of resident Swiss bankers is now much stronger than the traditional smell of ganja, despite all this Portobello Road remains an active, happening, charming place. And of coarse, one with abundant shopping opportunities. The street market is the heart of the neighborhood, and the reason it has managed to resist as much of the blandification process as it has. (Also the trustafarians, who like to keep it slightly ratty as a lifestyle choice, but that is another story.)

Every Saturday, the world descends on Portobello – tourists of all shapes and accents mill from the Notting Hill Gate tube stop, through the antique stalls, through the fruit and vegetable stalls, toward the clothing and knick-knack stalls toward the Ladbroke Grove end of the street, getting solicited by head massagers and street performers along the way. For me street markets are like eating pie – despite seeming sweet and appealing to begin with, they soon reach saturation point when I want to run screaming from them. And of course can’t, because they are so damn crowded. So, despite having the market on my doorstep, I don’t often go shopping in it.

However, when I need a cheap and trendy treat, there is no better place. Recently this was the case with these sunglasses:

which I have also noticed Almost Girl Julie Frederickson wearing on several of her posts. I am the first to admit that I am not on the bleeding edge of fashion trends, and embarrassingly enough, I first clocked these shades on Victoria Beckham during all the World Cup coverage of the WAGS (wives and girlfriends, of course) fashion capers. Slightly ridiculous, but in the most of-the-moment 60s redux way, they seemed like the perfect candidates for a quick accessory fling, but not something to blow the child-support check on. (Not having a child, and hence not receiving any child support checks, is only all the more reason.)

Mine cost all of £6. They are slightly wonky, and have no nice monogram logo on the sides. But they do claim to cut out the ultraviolet rays, are surprisingly nice to wear because the lenses are so big that they cut out most of the peripheral light. I alternate them with my $200 pair of Armani aviator-esque shades, and lately the market ones have been getting more play time. Maybe its summertime, but a cheap rip-ff off Posh Spice’s latest bug-eyed silliness feels just the thing.