The tribes of London revealed

Pigeon holed? Grace Dent at the London Evening Standard:

Retro rockers

Find them at Blitz vintage store

Modern London is rubbish, according to its vintage tribe. That’s why they prefer to live in sexier, more stylish eras, spending their spare time scouring eBay and the Blitz warehouse for bygone bargains. Rosie takes meticulous care to match the perfect 1940s tea dress with authentic nylons and headpiece. The devil is in the detail. Her look is a mesh of wondrous signifiers, treading a fine line between subservient girly-whirlishness (gingham dresses, cupcake stalls, pearls) and resilient 1950s biker-girl chic (armful of sailor tattoos, stiff quiff – thanks to regular appointments at The Painted Lady on Redchurch Street – and red Cupid-bow lips). By night she takes swing dance lessons and learns burlesque moves – which isn’t ‘just stripping’ as she’s wearing a vintage corset and Agent Provocateur nipple pasties. Dave looks to Kevin Rowland and Mark Kermode as his fashion gurus, plodding about record fairs searching for rare St Etienne vinyl and wondering how many tattoos that hot girl in the Monroe-esque evening dress has. Despite looking to the untrained eye like they’re constantly in fancy dress, Rosie, Dave and everyone else in their tribe find each other perilously attractive, as proven by the goings-on at the regular rockabilly weekends in a Camber Sands caravan park, which are fun very much of the old-school variety.

If you’re a Londoner, or if you know Londoners, go over there and find out whether you’ve (or they’ve) been pegged dead-to-rights.