Lauren Likes // Berlin!

...Berlin!
As today has mostly been a medley of Berlin lusting and nostalgia after flicking through some old holiday snaps, I thought it'd be the perfect time to share one of my best-loved holidays with you!
I first fell in love with Berlin in May last year. Mr Bagshaw and I had been dating for just a couple of weeks, when upon discovering that we both yearned to visit, thought what the hell - let's go! (..."Oh the romance of it all!" cried the overly sentimental narrator). We spent five amazing days meandering through this beautiful city, exploring the sights, rummaging through its delightful collection of vintage paraphernalia and sought out some incredible finds. We spent the eves, relaxing with a good German beer or two, listening to good music & laughing lots.
We went back again earlier this year and as we stayed Central West in the stunning Wilmersdorf area of the city, we made it our mission to explore the East this time around. I adore how effortlessly cool the place is - like London but without the hustle and bustle and completely all-embracing of its art, culture and heritage. I had an utterly magical time and here's a few snapshots of my personal highlights...

By far the BEST vintage shop I've been in - with two adjacent shops one selling predominately men's attire and the other women's, it's a temporary home to the most amazing collection of authentic 60s dresses. A little on the expensive side but the cuts and fabrics are absolutely divine and well worth splashing out on. As well as original homeware from the 60s and 70s, the shop also boasts of the biggest vintage magazine collection that I've ever seen! When I spotted a 1966 copy of Playboy, the front cover adorned with an illustration of a beautiful bunny wearing a full length ball gown, I was in love and J very kindly bought me it as a treat :)

Absolute heaven. Could have easily overdosed on my vintage suitcase addiction in this shop - almost wished that I'd brought more luggage so I had an excuse to come home with four suitcases!



I LOVE this pic - the colours are dreamy. On our first trip we borrowed an Olympus OM1 camera from J's dad and got some lovely photos (will put some up on our Flickr soon) but out of convenience the second time, we mostly used Instagram to capture charming fragments of the city. Each corner has something wonderful to offer whether it'd be impressive street art, incredible architectural design or just a cute little kitsch set up on the street.




Give Peace A Chance! Checking out the Reichstag. 'Scuse the scowl - it was just a mixture of the wind and my naturally miserable looking face - I was actually stupidly happy!


Absolute highlight - coinciding our first trip with a She & Him gig at Lido! Zooey & M. Ward were on top form at this lovely, intimate venue, playing a selection of songs from Volumes 1 & 2. One of the most admirable and alluring aspects of their live set was the sincerity and conviction with which Zooey delivers vocally. Rather than exhibiting the artificial self-assurance and nonchalent attitude of an actress turned singer, Zooey ensured that her audience's full focus was on the heartbreaking, bluesy tones of her voice and her lyrics, firmly rooted in the Phil Spektor era of Sixties soul.
That said, she was also even more enchanting than you'd expect... I think Mr Bagshaw was in his element! Supporting them was the perfectly haunting sound of the Chapin Sisters, an ethereal folk band (and also She & Him's backing singers), check them out!

Pre-drinks for the gig were had in this delightful little pub parallel to Lido.

One of our favourite spots for an evening was 8mm. A very small but extremely delectable little club, showcasing live music against a backdrop of original 8mm footage from the 50s, 60s & 70s projected on to the walls! Yum.

New favourite thing... old school black & white photobooths found in the middle of the street! The perfect way to re-discover a love of antiquated methods of photography. Only 2 euros a pop - was fun messing around in there for a little while and we now have the cutest (silliest) collection of photostrips to show for it!


The 'Musikinstrumenten Museum' - abundant with musical artifacts from as far back as the Renaissance period. Including oddities of instruments that we'd never seen before and didn't even know existed, it's a real eye opener on the history of music's most well known instruments. Provided with an audio tour handset, you are guided through the musical canon - touching these astounding antiques is sadly prohibited, however, knowing how clumsy I am, I probably wouldn't trust myself to touch a harpischord or lute from the 1500s, so it's probably for the best!

Despite the fact that J appears to be dozing here for a second, whilst riffling through one of Berlin's mutlitude of record stores we were excited to find J's band, The Moons' first album and a collection of their singles! Yeaaah!


Everyone knows I'm a sucker for a fine fellow with an exquisite mustache... add 'artist extraordinaire' to the mix and I'm well and truely bowled over! So when we heard that Dali was in town, it was a must on our agenda! Famous for his Surrealist impressions of Modernist society and explosive use of colour, I was pleasantly surpised to find that Dali also created a whole plethora of work using much more refined techniques, intricate line drawings in black ink as well as illustrating for numerable novels - beaut!

In addition to all that, we also made time for lovely afternoons drifting amongst the crowds checking out all of the tourist spots and making ourselves laugh by participating in a little interpretive dance outside the Reichstag - though we probably should have synchronised our moves a little before unveiling them at the epicentre of Berlin.
Here's a little video we made, I present to you...
'Un Film Silencieux by L.Park & J.E Bagshaw'


I hope you enjoyed taking a little trip down memory lane with us!

Much love,
L xx