The first purchases seem tentative, of lesser value and further apart; a flutter of larger amounts towards the wedding day, on a Saturday in late June. This narrative of a wedding is by far the strongest, though not the only one. And it’s loose, refusing to consummate, shifting like Google Earth. Hilda made gowns, among other things. We’re approaching a threshold moment. In just a few years, “a whole world… (will become) obsolete, and the contours of a new (one will begin) to show themselves.”[1] Things are kinder in some ways, harsher in others, “before the switch.”[2] Punk is about to emerge in response, then Joy Division. We don’t know that yet though. Look laterally. TVs are black and white. Telephones are a luxury. Birkin smiles and poses, her basket in the crook of her arm. Hilda impends behind her and the musician - “bras and tights… suspenders and knickers”[3] half-hidden by apples and oranges - “’come and get your gums ‘round me plums,’”[4] – far beyond the woman strutting past piles of boxes, in the “central hub for music and vinyl.”[5] “They used to call it the Latin Quarter, because it was full of Europeans.”[6] “Oh, Hilda was the one who supplied me with my clothes… they were one-offs. Nobody else had ‘em… They were all one-offs, Hilda’s.”[7]
[1] Fisher, M. (2014). The Ghosts of My Life: Writings on Depression, Hauntology and Lost Futures. Hampshire, UK: Zero Books, p.50 [2] Fisher, p.50 [3] Scott, J. cited by Soho Then: Ep. 1 - Food and Shopping. thephotographersgallery.org.uk [4] Stannett, L. cited by Soho Then: Ep. 1 - Food and Shopping. thephotographersgallery.org.uk [5] Berwick Street. www.visitlondon.com [6] Mussi, C. cited by Soho Then: Ep. 1 - Food and Shopping. thephotographersgallery.org.uk [7] Rottondo, R. cited by Soho Then: Ep. 3 - Fashion and Tailoring. thephotographersgallery.org.uk
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