Kat's Adventure to Camden

Ever since I came to London I had made it my goal to visit and shop in Camden: the center of gothic, alternative, punk, industrial, fetish, street fashion. I had anticipated going for such a long time and today was the day I will finally get out there and see it in all its glory.

I got off on a late start because I had used the Overground train; it is the same system as the Underground but I just had not used this form of transportation yet. I was slightly lost for a while but after about 2 hours I had finally made it to Camden. While getting myself there I had already noticed all the alternative people and their looks. I saw people with colored hair in many styles (mohawks, extreme French braids, half and quarter shaved heads, multi-colored, ect.) what interesting clothing they wore, even the kind of styled shoes they walked in. I could immediately tell that I was getting closer to where I was trying to go. My general opinion of the city of London, and its people, is that there are A LOT of openly stylish people. I have never seen so many fashionable people in any given city, and I’ve been the New York City. Twice. So despite the fact that I was confused for the majority of my ride I enjoyed people watching on the rails.

I had finally made it to the rustle and bustle of the street shopping of Camden. My first impression: DAMN there were a lot of tourists. This wasn’t a complete shock to me, but I guess I was surprised by how many people were interested in the street styles that Camden had produced. Second impression: ooohh fuck yes! This is everything I had dreamed of and more. It was as great as I imagined. My sub-goal was to not only see the general shops around, but specifically go to Cyberdog. We will get to that later.

There are many sections of Camden shopping centers to visit, but I specifically was in the area of Camden Town Market, around Camden Lock Market (which I was not able to look around but just to give you an idea of where I was), and the Staple Market. Those were the best alternative markets to go to, so I was told. I had started walking down the road following the flow of tourism, and I can already tell what stores were legitimate alternative shopping spots and which stores were tourist traps. The first shop that caught my eye was a specialty shoe store that sold the cutest little heels you will ever see in your life. There were shoes with little pearls, glittery hearts, Disney characters, little doughnut charms, candy charms, candy charms, unicorn faces, and every magic little detail in between. If this shoe shop didn’t scream Lolita I don’t know what would have. I was inspired by all of these extremely unique shoe designs. Just blown away. This store made me wish I liked wearing heels, but I will forever be a gothic platform boot lady!

After a bit of walking another shop caught my eye. I walked to the window and saw how they sold clothing worthy of my buying. So I walked in and I was TOTALLY BLOW AWAY by what was inside. It was COMPLETELY congested with clothing accessories. Think of a hoarder on those TV shows where they try to clean up the place because the living conditions are extremely hazardous. Think that but with alternative clothing. It was floor to ceiling full of stuff! I was amazed. The owner of the shop, who was an older gentleman, looked at me and said “you looked like you could use a new pair of trousers” and I replied “I am actually here for that reason.” The old man told his younger employee to take me to the trouser room. I was taken to the holy grail of punk, alternative, goth, ect. trouser collection I have seen in my entire life. It was glorious. The man who was helping me shop was being a bit too helpful. Then he turned from being too helpful into flirting which made me VERY uncomfortable. I felt like I was being worked in the since that he was trying to get me to buy a lot of stuff. I really WANTED to, but I was getting annoyed by how flirty he was being with me. I was constantly being asked out for drinks and trying to get me to agree to go out with him. Besides that happening he was kind enough to ask me my favorite pant styles so he could pick out recommendations and find my styles that best suited me. I had to have some sort of self-control and not spend millions of pounds on everything I saw. I ended up finding an amazing pair of trousers that had bondage inspired straps, chains, skull studs, pinstriped printed body, and could convert from a long pant to pair of shorts. If I wasn’t being flirted on constantly I would have bought a few more pairs of pants.

I was determined to finally find the store Cyberdog which is a store that specialized in cyber goth, rave, and alien like looks. So I had set sail to that general area. After confirming its location I decided to take a look in the shops surrounding Cyberdog (I had picked up a Starbucks drink and did not want to carry into the store.) I walked up and down the strip see what was here. Literally the majority of shops were alternative. It just was so great! My dreams had basically come true! I am in the shopping center that fits me best! I had started shopping and making constant stops in and out of stores. One store sold awesome hats that were custom styled with influences of the London punk scene embellished with steampunk/cyberpunk/industrial goggles with spikes. There were many shops that also sold 50’s/60’s mod styled dresses and outfits as well. The shops had a very large variety of product and eras of clothing. There was a shop full of nothing but stylish hand bags/back packs for either the common tourist or a fashionable goth. I walked into the majority of alternative shops buying mostly trousers (I had run out of shorts and this past week has been particularly hot.)

I had found a top on sale that I liked. There was this one shop where their product was completely wholesaled from places in China. I could tell because when I was a baby bat underclass-men school kid, I would shop on Ebay for alternative styles to feed the goth kid in me. These products were, for lack of a better word, cheaply produced. That really didn’t stop me from sifting through the shop to find things to take home. BUT because of the cheaper materials I ended up ripping the front of a pant leg because I was pulling them up to hard on my thighs while testing the fit on myself. Ops. I still bought them with the rip I had created and they were already priced down.

Personal video taken of my first walk into store until I was stopped by employee to not record. Ops again

Finally I decided to walk into Cyberdog. My first impression: AAHH! THIS IS PRETTY SWEET! The whole store was basically a rave. Loud music blaring at you, polls dancers above your head, black light radiating through out the store, neon glowing clothing. I just died and went to rave heaven. The only thing I did not enjoy about the store was, again, tourists. I was told to not got to Camden on a week end because of this very reason, but on week days I work with Jed from 10am-6pm which would be much to late to come back. That really didn’t stop me from going out and seeing these awesome shops. Cyberdog, much like Slimelight (mentioned in my last blog post), was like a giant maze. There were three floors full of product for women, men, and even children and toddlers. I took my sweet time looking around and drooling over everything. The store was laid out in the most impressive way possible with this kind of theme. Something that I have learned in school was that the more creative the path way through a store was the better impression you give your customers. Cyberdog had branded themselves so incredibly well its really no wonder they have left an imprint on the tourists of every kind.

Taking the long and confusing route to Camden was worth it! I only scratched the surface of Camden and the many markets. I think next time I will go back I will try to have Yvette take me through the best places. I think having a guide such as her would be beneficial. I will definitely make plans to come back to Camden before my time here is over.

Click here to visit the blog gallery entry for this day to see more photos!