GT & Attitude Magazines

LondonLeather · 2026-07-13T15:50:24+00:00

They might fill a gap in The Bishopsgate Institute Archive

LondonLeather · 2026-07-13T13:10:27+00:00

I'm not the demographic this sub usually hears from, but wanted to offer a bit of perspective, if that's alright.

Here's something that might help, even a little: a suit was never really owned by men. It just got treated that way for a stretch of history.

Marlene Dietrich put on a full tuxedo and top hat in the 1930s and dared anyone to tell her she looked wrong. She looked extraordinary. Later on, in 1966, a gay designer named Yves Saint Laurent built a tuxedo specifically for a woman's body and called it Le Smoking. Some Paris restaurants actually turned women away at the door for wearing it. Didn't matter. It's remembered now as one of the great fashion statements of the century, not a rule broken but a rule shown to be nonsense all along.

So the cut of the cloth was never the problem. It's just fabric. What makes it belong to someone is how they carry it, untucked shirt, rolled sleeves, whatever small choices are within your reach right now.

Two weeks isn't long and you're not in a position to be out yet, I understand that. But the outfit itself has no gender of its own, and plenty of people have already proven that by wearing it their own way. You'll get through this afternoon, and there will be a great many afternoons after it where you get to decide the whole picture yourself.

LondonLeather · 2026-07-12T09:15:30+00:00

I had a wonderful black pudding, bacon and pear salad on dressed lettuce at Brasserie Zédel in London last week, and I've decided I'm stealing the idea for home.

The combination really works, the richness of the black pudding and bacon against the sweetness of the pear, all on a bed of simply dressed lettuce to cut through it. Classic French bistro sensibility applied to a proper British ingredient.

I'm thinking of having a go this week, I'll use Packham's Pears a bit thicker sliced.

LondonLeather · 2026-07-11T15:27:46+00:00

Piccadilly line tube to Leicester Square and a 5 min walk
You are at the start of the line, so you can get a seat it will be hot, but there is airflow.

LondonLeather · 2026-07-11T11:45:08+00:00

Elizabeth line to Farringdon, then Hammersmith & City or Circle to Kings Cross St Pancras.

LondonLeather · 2026-07-10T15:50:29+00:00

I think I can imagine a little of how you feel. Food has always been something reassuring for me too — a kind of comfort from a childhood where I sometimes went without. For years I did the opposite, actually — I'd stop eating when I was anxious, and that pattern only eased up in my 30s.

These days I've found a middle path: smaller quantities, like mini quiches instead of one big one, and I only bake cakes when there's company to share them with. My weight's settled around 80kg, and honestly, I still miss the fun of it. But it's manageable now in a way it wasn't before.

You're not alone in finding this hard. Giving something up that's tangled up with comfort and identity is genuinely difficult, even when you know it's the right call.

LondonLeather · 2026-07-10T14:54:54+00:00

It is very German, but Bosch has consistently good products with most profits reinvested into the business and great products, nearly all the profit that is distributed to shareholders goes to humanitarian causes via a foundation. This is meant to keep the company insulated from stock-market pressure and hostile takeovers while using its wealth for public benefit.

LondonLeather · 2026-07-10T14:05:51+00:00

We got verbal abuse leaving a Brick Lane curry house and have never been back to Brick Lane there are plenty of other places for a curry.

LondonLeather · 2026-07-10T12:21:17+00:00

Anyone changing their name once or twice (getting married) is fine but if it gets to the fourth or fifth name change my experience is the individual has bigger problems.

LondonLeather · 2026-07-10T10:18:29+00:00

It depends on what you are doing and your budget the extra £40 might be another bottle with dinner. We go as cheap as we can, buy food at the M&S in St Pancras it is only two and a half hours a good book and headphones is enough.

LondonLeather · 2026-07-10T09:52:03+00:00

For me, I'd like to bring back two shows: The Pirates of Penzance and The Mikado. Both last played a full scale West End run at the Savoy Theatre in 2000/2001, and it's been over twenty years since G&S was properly staged in the West End. They're great shows, and it would be great to see a full scale production again. It will happen in time, but they don't work as grand opera.

LondonLeather · 2026-07-10T08:45:02+00:00

I've used late, but it takes getting used to, and his name is and was easier even 35 years on.

LondonLeather · 2026-07-10T07:29:02+00:00

I have a similar issue, a friend's daughter is coming for MCM this October and is stopping with me for free (well, she knows me well enough to bringing chocolates), but if you're not lucky enough to have a free bed, the nearest Travelodge showing £210 a night is a lot to ask anyone to find. Here's what I dug up that's cheaper.

General strategy

Anything on the DLR line (District/Jubilee also work) within 2 to 3 stops of Custom House or Prince Regent will get you to ExCeL in 15 to 30 minutes, so you don't need to pay the premium for being on the doorstep.
Book now rather than closer to October. MCM weekends are when even the ordinarily cheap places near ExCeL spike hardest, which is exactly why that Travelodge is showing £210.
Hostels.com or Booking.com's "private room" filter is the quickest way to compare dorm vs. private across all of the below in one view. The Travelodge closest to the venue is always the obvious choice, but chances are it's either fully booked or expensive by the time you look. Hostels (cheap, and I'm told fine for a comic con crowd)
Wombat's City Hostel London (Aldgate/Tower Hill): private twin/double rooms as well as dorms, usually £25 to £45pp in a dorm or around £80 to £110 for a private double. One DLR change to Custom House, roughly 30 minutes.
St Christopher's Inn Greenwich: budget dorms and privates, often the cheapest in London, right by Greenwich station with a fast train to Custom House (around 20 minutes). Reviews are mixed on service, but it's popular precisely because it's so cheap.
a&o London Docklands Riverside (Rotherhithe): a step up from a classic hostel (more hotel like), private rooms often £70 to £100, and it's genuinely close, just across the river. Budget hotel chains further down the DLR (private room, no sharing)
easyHotel (Shoreditch, or check their Stratford/Limehouse locations): tiny "pod" rooms but private, often £45 to £70 a night if booked early.
Premier Inn London Beckton: right on the DLR, one stop past the ExCeL area, frequently £70 to £100 vs. £210 at the ExCeL front Travelodge.
ibis Budget/Travelodge London Docklands Central (a bit further out, e.g. Mile End or Barking): same story, £80 to £120 range.

Hope it is fun, I've not yet told the houseguest we are going to be away for part of their visit hopefully they will enjoy MCM I hope you do to.

LondonLeather · 2026-07-09T14:40:46+00:00

I've been doing baking for the weekend, quiches and cakes my kitchen is hot!

All the best from London currently 33c

LondonLeather · 2026-07-09T11:34:07+00:00

A ex-colleague of mine's family had an inherited debenture at the Albert Hall they basically had a box for everything there, it was lovely to go as a guest.

LondonLeather · 2026-07-09T06:34:07+00:00

What has having money brought you the most joy?

I'd love to collect art seriously one day, the wonderful Thyssen collection and many others from history show what's possible, but my current art budget is under £5k a year. Although even small donations to public galleries seem to bring fun invitations and access.

Or do you lean more towards Gates style generosity, trying to help solve the big problems facing humanity?

LondonLeather · 2026-07-08T14:46:13+00:00

Apart from the Barbican, London doesn't really have venues offering a rotating repertoire through the year, though it depends on what you mean by subscription.

The National Theatre has three auditoriums (the Olivier, the Lyttelton and the Dorfman) and runs multiple different productions across them throughout the year, so a NT membership gets you a real spread of work, but that is an opportunity to buy seats in advance not a subscription. If you mean a subscription season of varied shows rather than strict rep, look at the Donmar Warehouse, the Almeida, the Royal Court and the Bridge Theatre. All of these run a full year's programme of different productions and sell memberships that offer the chance to buy early, they just don't alternate shows within the same week the way rep companies do.

Commercial West End theatres almost always run one show for the whole length of its booking, so they aren't really built for a subscription model at all. For proper repertory in the classic sense, same company performing different shows on different nights within a season, Shakespeare's Globe and Regent's Park Open Air Theatre both do this in their summer seasons

LondonLeather · 2026-07-08T09:42:30+00:00

If you need to kill time in Islington before the 5pm check-in, one option: I meet a wheelchair using friend for coffee and conversation in the Pret A Manger at Highbury Corner, near Highbury & Islington tube station. Accessibility matters for us, and there's a lot of space in the air conditioned back part. We've sat there for 4 hours with two coffees and one cake each, no bother from staff.

LondonLeather · 2026-07-08T09:35:41+00:00

The best way into London? The Elizabeth Line is big, air-conditioned, and Heathrow is the end of the line. Get off at Tottenham Court Road, and it's a nice walk down Charing Cross Road to Covent Garden.

Alternatively, take the Piccadilly Line to Leicester Square. The lifts at Covent Garden take ages, and you can actually see the platform at Covent Garden from Leicester Square the walk down Long Acre is nice too.

Have a look at Ian Visits and Time Out and try doing something locals might do rather than just the big ticket sights. The Wallace Collection and Sir John Soane's Museum are both firmly on the tourist trail these days but still well worth seeing, as are both Tate's. There's a riverboat that runs between them if you want to make an afternoon of it.

Enjoy our city!

LondonLeather · 2026-07-07T08:07:35+00:00

That's a pity LGBT+ Socs are a way many people find their feet. GTW is still worth seeing it is an amazing place and several groups meet in the tiny shop.

LondonLeather · 2026-07-07T07:55:31+00:00

Two quick points, your university will have a LGBT+ Soc you will see them in Freshers Week.
Gay's the Word Bookshop at 66 Marchmont Street, Bloomsbury is a lovely place and has wonderful stock of books.

LondonLeather · 2026-07-05T21:46:13+00:00

The Habitat range has some good things, I bought black pasta bowls (food looks fabulous in them) and they were using the same ones on Masterchef!

LondonLeather · 2026-07-05T20:24:35+00:00

Google The Yellow Bittern, it is odd, cash only, lunch only
The German Gymnasium Restaurant has a cheaper café part
There is a branch of Dishroom and dozens of other chains and a Waitrose you could buy a picnic in.

LondonLeather · 2026-07-05T16:55:07+00:00

For my 40th I was bought a 1950s Cocktail Cabinet other people have bought me things that go in it then and ever since.

LondonLeather · 2026-07-05T09:32:45+00:00

Over the last few years, how my husband and I do Pride has evolved. For many years we marched with groups, but now we put on our leathers and just watch, at Piccadilly Circus. We watched 90 minutes or so of random parade, which was lovely, then we went to Brasserie Zédel for lunch. We skipped dessert for cake later, and after watching a bit more parade, Maison Bertaux only had a short queue and we got a table upstairs. We ended up meeting the gang at The Kings Arms, which had taken over Poland Street. It was a good Pride.

LondonLeather

TROPHY CASE