The Village Green

The Village Green make self professed “quintessentially British clothing” for both men and women, which is perfect for our moderately mild summer days and cold, sombre winter nights. The owners of The Village Green were vintage clothing retailers for 20 years prior to opening their new store, and all of their collections have had a strong flavour of traditional attire, though beneficially sans the danger of pit stains and the smell of mothballs.

Each item of clothing by The Village Green has a new-classic vibe – modern, fresh and multi-dimensional, but with a twist of the good old-fashioned debonair. Their recent summer collection saw a muted palette focusing on navy, cranberry red and power pink, placed on classic slacks, preppy blazers and chunky knits. This is clothing that will stay in fashion for years, whilst continuing to maintain that vital tight edge.

 

Prices at The Village Green can be a little over the odds, but all items are made out of quality fabrics (typically pure wool or cotton), are perfectly made, and will last decades with care. The old adage “buy cheap by twice” really stands up here, plus its very easy to get some excellent deals from these guys at sales time. 

The Village Green’s main boutique can be found in Seven Dials, Covent Garden, and a selection of their clothing can be easily found in the boutique section in Topshop’s flagship store on Oxford Circus. You can also order some items online through both The Village Green and Topshop/Topman websites.

http://www.thevillagegreenlondon.com/

Oh Comely

Oh Comely is a fantastic independent magazine that has been in circulation for just over a year. The vibe of the magazine is one of subtly, creativity, beauty, curiosity and intrigue, and the whole magazine is executed with these ideas in mind. Every two months the Oh Comely team release a new issue filled with hip, quirky, and visually divine content that entertains, encourages and informs in a wonderfully friendly and positive manner.

Recent issues have included instructions on how to make your own shoes from scratch, recipes for homemade marshmallows and Turkish delight and instructions on how you make you own pinhole camera (which I recently completed, though we’ll have to see how the pictures turn out still!). They feature lots of work by illustrators and photographers, interviews with musicians such as Emmy The Great, Frank Turner and Beach House, fashion pages full of independent designers and kooky high street finds, and insightful, though-provoking articles and essays.

 

It is fair to say that the magazine is predominantly aimed a women and creative activities that women will enjoy. And I must say, I really is nice to see a magazine predominantly for women that encourages creativity, artistry and beauty rather than gossip, or quasi self-fulfilment through clothes and anti-aging creams. Don’t get me wrong – I love Vogue, but you know what they say about variety. And whilst Oh Comely is essentially aimed at women a fair amount of the time, there are plenty of items in every issue for men to enjoy too, providing the man in question has an interest in exploits such as indie music, photography, and interviews with interesting people. The craft section even had an item recently on making your own boat – what’s not to love?!

Oh Comely is released bi-monthly and cost £4.00 per issue. It is available online through their website, and is also available at most WHSmith stores and select boutique stores and newsagents. You can also get a yearly subscription, which gives you six issues for £20. I would highly recommended getting a subscription once you have check out the magazine for yourself – having Oh Comely drop through my door every other month is like having a mini treasure chest of creativity and ideas to enjoy and explore, and I really look forward to its arrival.

  

http://www.ohcomely.co.uk/

Mix Bar

 This gorgeous little bar is one of Reading’s best-kept secrets. Located just to the east of the Oracle Riverside, the beautiful Mix Bar is awash with ambient lighting, cool, classy décor, chandeliers, gold sofas, and orchids aplenty. The bar has a great set of DJs and the music isn’t so loud that you cannot talk to your friends. The ambience is relaxed (very relaxed for Reading) and the bar tenders are friendly and affable in a way that is perfectly genuine and not forced.

The key thing about the Mix Bar though is that it is quite literally the best place to get a cocktail in Reading, bar none. The drinks are little bit on the steep side, at around £6.50 they are about £1.50 - £2.00 more expensive than your average cocktail, but my god are they worth it. Each cocktail is individually made and takes up to five minutes to complete. They use fresh fruit and freshly squeezed juice alongside the finest and tastiest spirits you can get, using Grey Goose, Finlandia and Bombay Sapphire instead of Smirnoff, Bells and your usual generic spirits. 

 It is not just the quality of the ingredients in the Mix Bar’s cocktails that is laudable however; the way the construct their cocktails is truly inspired, with rich, complex medleys of tastes and aromas. As an example, two of my current favourites of theirs are “Around the Garden Fizz”, made up of Grey Goose pear vodka, St-Germain elderflower liqueur, fresh mint, peach bitters and champagne, and their classic dry Martini, with vodka or gin, dry vermouth and orange bitters and a couple of olives. There is such an effort and consideration put into every drink, and it is a tasty treat I try to give myself every time I go into Reading for a night out. 

 If you are local to reading and you have not been to this bar yet shame on you – do try to check it out. It can get quite full, so you might have to either arrive early or be patient. But believe me, the drinks are worth the wait.

http://www.mix-bar.com/