Fitzroyalty

Hyperlocal news about Melbourne's first suburb: Fitzroy 3065

I care not for your sartorial hegemony

Last year I worked for several months for a very corporate organisation that was one of the most conservative places I have ever worked. One of the most unusual aspects of working there for me was the sartorial aesthetics and the significant differences between women and men.

Women wore a diverse range of clothing that I can describe as: traditional corporate (blue and grey, plain or pinstripe skirt or trouser suit, white or pastel shirt), modern corporate (suits and shirts in fashionable colours and more diverse fabrics), smart casual (untucked and/or collarless tops, cardigans etc) and contemporary fashion (bold colour, asymmetric lines, diverse shapes, cuts and fabrics).…

best fine dining in the UK

This is the last of my London posts, then normal local commentary will resume. I ate at some fantastic restaurants in London on my recent trip there, but it can be difficult to pick suitable places to eat, especially if you are travelling and dining solo. The service you experience will differ greatly based on how wait staff view solo diners.

One of the outstanding meals was at the tiny 10 Cases bistrot in Covent garden, which has been positively reviewed.…

my best (and worst) dinners in the UK

In this post I’ll summarise the best (and worst) dinners I ate during my recent UK holiday. Many of these meals have already been individually reviewed – this is the best of the rest. Apart from the absolutely terrible breakfast I was presented with at Lunya in Liverpool, which I think was the worst meal I have ever eaten, food there was not all bad.

I completely enjoyed dinner at Host and I had another good dinner one night at Tapas Tapas, despite my scepticism about Spanish being the new Italian in terms of mediocre (and often overpriced) food available in major UK cities.…

a review of Leonardo da Vinci: Painter at the Court of Milan at the National Gallery in London

Newspaper reviews of the current National Gallery exhibition ‘Leonardo da Vinci: Painter at the Court of Milan‘ have been extremely positive: see the LA Times, the Scotsman, the Guardian, the Telegraph and the Independent. Effective marketing including a live tv and digital cinema preview has ensured that within days of opening all advance tickets sold out and people wait for hours for limited daily entry positions.

First, I will discuss the strengths of the exhibition, then I will offer some critical comments.…

my best lunches in the UK

Following on from my summary review of the best breakfasts I ate while in the UK recently, here are my favourite lunches. Venison and pork salami, cheese and spinach sandwich with celeriac remoulade and roasted cauliflower and garlic salad from the lovely Edinburgh Larder.

travel london food

ladies with snakes

If you thought 19th century bondage porn was hot, wait till you see the late nineteenth century bestiality. These two statues date from the 1890s and are in the Lady Lever gallery in Liverpool.

Edmund von Weber’s Hygeia (bottom) and Desiré Maurice Ferrary’s Salammbo (top) both feature women playing with snakes. Cavorting. Frollicking even. It’s art, you know. It’s not sexual. Can you imagine the audio tour for this gallery as narrated by John Waters? I can…

visual art travel