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    I wish I had some interior shots of Liberty for you but all I can offer from my visit this week are exterior ones.

There is so much to admire inside - except the music they were playing which was dire enough to drive us out (we've talked about music in shops before),

and although it's later in period, the building's history makes me think of the magnificent London emporium at the heart of Diane Setterfield's new novel Bellman & Black which I'm currently reading and - thus far at least - can thoroughly recommend.

    Channel 4 are making a documentary about Liberty, to be screened this autumn, and I shall watch it with great interest.

Comments

[Freda]

Thanks for highlighting the Liberty programme - will look out for that. (I see we have been at opposite ends of the country having very different experiences! I hope you enjoyed yours as much as I enjoyed mine..)

[Cornflower]

I had a great time, thank you, Freda!

[Barbara]

Dear old Liberty's; I used to buy a lot of dress fabric there.

Oh ho! I see we are going to disagree completely about Bellman and Black!

[Dark Puss]

I can't think of any good reason for Liberty to play music in its building. Very depressing to hear of your experience; I hope you let them know!

[Cornflower]

Re. fabric, we were very surprised to see how few bolts of Tana Lawn they had and how much empty shelf space there was.
As to Bellman & Black, I finished it this morning and must say I was completely absorbed throughout. It won't appeal to everyone, but I was very taken with it!

[Cornflower]

The music in Uniqlo was worse, even Toast (in Oxford) had off-putting stuff, and Virgin Atlantic saw fit to play caterwauling during boarding and disembarking.
Happily, other places we visited were more peaceful.

[Dark Puss]

I've been visiting Liberty for over 30 years and I like it less and less each time I go. All sorts of interesting things appear to have vanished or become attenuated (cloth being one of them even though I never bought it) and modern furniture seems to have disappeared too. It seems to me to be resting on its laurels and its location and is in danger of becoming primarily a tourist attraction rather than a world-class shop. I do hope you will tell me nonsense!

[Dark Puss]

I looked up Toast and got momentarily interested in the men's clothes but they are all too large for me. Grrr. I suppose at least I won't have to put up with the music!

[Cornflower]

On previous visits I've seen a collection of wonderful journals and notebooks (all v. expensive of course, but still) which appear to have vanished now.
I've never seen a remnants bin for fabric as you would find in other shops, and can only surmise that they use every last snippet of their Tana Lawn, for instance, to make their lavender bags, pincushions and so on (again, not cheap items for what they are).
Music apart, it is still a very nice place in which to browse, but I'm looking forward to seeing the documentary and finding out more about it.

[Claire]

I, too, will watch with interest. I expect their wonderful needlework department has gone - I agree, I think it's becoming a tourist attraction in the same vein as Harrods. Not a "proper" shop anymore. Always a giveaway when they begin to sell teddies with their name on!

[Cornflower]

'Style over substance' comes to mind ...