London high street retailers Next and Topshop are peddling Katherine Hamnett inspired slogan tees to the masses. They seem to be doing very well - I see them almost every time I go to Central London. Other large font slogan t-shirts I’ve seen are “Working Class Hero” and “Frankie says re-edit”.

ps: the above slogan is misleading. Any good that is produced bears a cost to the environment.

Pics galore of the Old Truman Brewery in East London, where an artsy and grungy vibe meshes with the curry houses on Brick Lane.

Acid house baby!

London outpost of the Parisian-based design bookstore.

And a handful of cool indie shops for the urban fashionistas

Reason number 47 why I love Brick Lane: the Free Range exhibition of art and design graduates. The event runs until 23 July. Here are a couple of pics I took from the creatives of Camberwell.

(Note the sticker above - smoking ban at restaurants and bars started on Sunday in the UK)

After a three-month hiatus, Flatmate and I were re-united for some promising weekend action in London.

We were off to a sluggish start on Friday night. With no particular plan in mind, we spent pretty much two hours wandering in East London looking for a different place to party. Our last hope to salvage the night was a minimal house party advertised all over Old Street and Shoreditch.

When we got to Gramaphone, we were pleased to see no queues and punters inside seeming to have a good time. To my surprise though, they were dancing to reggae NOT minimal. Sure, reggae can be fun – I just wasn’t prepared and in the mood for it.

Saturday night, we headed to Camden as Flatmate wanted to catch DJ Spinna Spinner at Jazz Café for some soul, R&B and old school house. After a couple of hours of funky beats, we then ventured into the derelict area near King’s Cross to The Key for some techno.

The main room at The Key was teeming amid the austere decor and flashing tiles on the dancefloor. It could have been a blast, but I simply stood back and watched the kids enjoying themselves. Perhaps I’m slowing down? Or maybe I was just saving my energy for the Sunday afternoon sessions at Cafe 1001 on Brick Lane.

And so I turned up at Cafe 1001 at 5pm expecting the dance floor at the back to be packed as usual only to see a room void of revellers. I suppose their new Saturday all-nighters which run until noon are taking a toll to the party people. Or perhaps it was the nice weather (finally!) that made people stay out longer. Oh well, at least I saved money to make more T-shirts.