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Modern Love – and the Great British seaside.

— by Alyson Walsh

Modern Love’s fabulous cape dress.

We’re back. And whilst Mr That’s Not My Age recovers from a weekend with my family (he’s currently lying speechless on the sofa), I’ve been tending to my inboxes. Blimey, I feel like Sisyphus with his boulder. Does anyone have any tips, apart from press delete and go for a walk instead? So, as I trawled through the digital dross, I found a query from a lovely reader who asked where she could find screen-printed dresses. Oh I do like a coincidence, only last week one of my favourite grown-up labels Modern Love embraced e-commerce and introduced a fully functioning, transactional website. Technically, these are digital prints but hey, no need to be pedantic – there is a screen involved. And as the latest collection is inspired by seventies disco, I’d like to take this opportunity to show you the largest mirror ball in the world:

Which can be found in Blackpool. Where the Blog Widower and I spent the latter half of the Jubilee weekend. As the Modern Love team are seasiders too (they live in Brighton) – and we’re all feeling proud to be British at the moment – I’m sure they won’t mind me banging on about Blackpool. After many years at the bottom of the bucket list, usurped by cheap air travel and the promise of a kagoule-free holiday, I’m pleased to announce that this tired old northern town has had a facelift. The Golden Mile has been spruced up: new trams, a new registry-cum-tourist information office, a landscaped promenade with fabulous fixtures and fittings and, wait for it…public works of art.

The new look Golden Mile.
A shiny new tram.
Pebble-shaped seats on the prom.

If you look closely (on the left-hand side, behind the shiny new tram), you can see Blackpool Tower. Not dissimilar to Eiffel Tower and the closest some of us northeners get to Parisian Chic.

Then last but not least, there’s the fabulous Comedy Carpet. Which looks like a gigantic, old-fashioned playbill and consists of 160 thousand granite letters –  displaying the names of comedians, writers, and popular catchphrases – embedded into concrete on the seafront.

A close-up of the Comedy Carpet.

As the brochure says, ‘Comedy runs through Blackpool like the town’s name runs through a stick of rock.’

Er, nice to see you, to see you nice.

 

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Modern Love’s fabulous cape dress. We’re back.