Stoke Newington Style

Ah, summer days are here and it’s time to play spot-the-fashion-disaster in the park and dodge-the-tiered-gypsy-skirt on the high street.

There will be tan lines to gawp at and fake tan-a-streaking, not to mention the odd dropped ice cream and dose of sun stroke.

Yes, this season is a minefield to be sure, so, in the name of all that is stylish I took to the mean streets of Stoke Newington with one photographer friend in tow and scoured the pavements for the most eye-catching outfits, nearly running down several yummy mummies as I went.

Packed full of fruit and veg, white tea and wanky gift shops, Stoke Newington nestles into north London in its own inimitable way – somewhere between grubby suburb and middle-class paradise. Its lack of underground transportation and its proximity to the self-consciously cool East End mean that it’s full to the rafters of people who want be cool but comfortable; down with the kids, but not actually with the kids. And heck, they’re a stylish bunch that Stokey lot.

We struck gold almost as soon as we’d landed when I ran into a friend sporting pleat-front trousers and a ‘Gap special’ top teamed expertly with knotted sandals and Ray Ban Wayfarers. An easy Sunday afternoon outfit that screamed understated chic. Next we stumbled on a gorgeously Karen O style-siren, sporting luxe Italian woven leather shoes with a peep toe and a well-worn look, her draped black skirt and basin haircut topped off perfectly with a pair of Ray Ban Wayfarers. Next it was a devilishly classic couple, she in Reiss high-waist jeans and nautical stripes, he in double denim and a pair of Ray Ban Wayfarers…Are you seeing the pattern that I’m seeing?

There was the man in the vintage store with socks under sandals who professed that this wasn’t the first time he’d been papped by style-seekers, the guy waiting for his sandwich who swore that his home-made cut-offs weren’t cut-off straight, the fully-grown woman in the clown costume who, while willing to have her photo taken, looked oddly menacing on closer inspection; all made us stop and look twice.

But the girl we were most jealous of had everything we were looking for. Though we loved her look, it wasn’t her brightly coloured jumpsuit that we were after. Nor was it the nude leather jacket that she’d nonchalantly slung on over the top. It wasn’t even her sunglasses – the almost-but-not-quite Ray Ban Wayfarers – that we spent most of our time talking about. Right then, all we wanted to know was: where did she get her bloody Magnum Gold?

All images courtesy of Ashley Dansey