99 Reasons We Love Britain
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99 REASONS WE LOVE BRITAIN America and Britain may be connected by a common language, but it’s a whole different world as you venture down the rabbit hole. And, for this issue, to Wonderland we traveled, assembling a trove of treasures along the way. Here is our collection of favorite things from the kingdom where no man is an island, but there is an Isle of Man. Compiled by Out editors Brandon Presser, Aaron Hicklin, Matthew Breen, Jerry Portwood, R. Kurt Osenlund, Julien Sauvalle, Jesse Steinbach, and James McDonald TKTKTKTK TKTKTKTK OUT NOVEMBER 2015 49 ALBERTO E. RODRIGUEZ/GETTY IMAGES (ANDREWS). CHRIS JACKSON/GETTY IMAGES FOR SENTEBALE (MCKELLEN). CHRIS JACKSON/GETTY IMAGES (DENCH). GABE PALACIO/IMAGEDIRECT (SMITH). RUTH BLACK (TEA) BLACK RUTH (SMITH). PALACIO/IMAGEDIRECT GABE (DENCH). IMAGES JACKSON/GETTY CHRIS (MCKELLEN). SENTEBALE FOR IMAGES JACKSON/GETTY CHRIS (ANDREWS). IMAGES RODRIGUEZ/GETTY E. ALBERTO 50 NOVEMBER 2015 O U T 2.-5. DAMES & SIRS Lancelot could swing a sword, but could he throw a zinger like Maggie 1. Smith? JODIE HARSH For Britain’s best-known drag queen it’s all in the music. DAME JULIE ANDREWS Whether it’s bringing the hills to life with a tune or helping to revive Lady Gaga’s o lip-syncing, no singing, Osbourne, and John Galliano were career, the woman no dancing, no jokes. regulars; Amy Winehouse would many remember as 6. But if that makes British usually rock up f or the last fi ve Fräulein Maria or Mary Poppins has a knack for AFTERNOON N performer Jodie Harsh minutes,” recalls Harsh. “It was a emitting regal vitality. sound like she wouldn’t last the real moment.” TEA fi rst round in, say, a televised But it’s as a DJ and producer that search for the next drag superstar, Harsh has really pushed the limits Tea drinking has been popular think again. of what a drag queen can do. She in Britain since the 17th Harsh is the hottest drag DJ was too busy to organize her 30th century, when the great diarist going. Her current gay club night, birthday party in February this Samuel Pepys recorded Room Service, has requests year because she was playing SIR IAN MCKELLEN drinking his fi rst “Cupp of This gay legend had a from people from the other side Madonna’s U.K. launch of Rebel banner year in 2015, Tee,” in September 1660, but of the world, desperate to get Heart. She’s DJed the MTV and Brit giving the performance it was a 19th-century duchess photographed there. “I get people Awards. Her remixes of Beyoncé’s of his career in Mr. who popularized Britain’s Holmes, and serving from Australia going, ‘I want “Blow” and “Pretty Hurts” both hit as a grand marshal signature ritual. Anna Russell, a Room Service picture,’ ” she number 1 on the Billboard dance for New York’s Pride Duchess of Bedford, was parade. But he’ll always reacting against the pesky explains, referring to the ultra- charts, and she’s been number 1 in be the world’s fi ercest airbrushed, wildly sexy shirtless her own right in Europe on an EP wizard to us. Victorian trend of eating shots the club takes of its patrons, featuring former Spice Girl Mel C. dinner at 9 P.M. when she which inevitably end up as slightly All of this, you’ll note, way before instituted a mid-afternoon disingenuous profi le pictures on any of RuPaul’s children heard of stopgap of tea with rounds dating apps. “They can get a bit iTunes. “I don’t jump on stage and of bread and jam that quickly cartoonish sometimes, but I don’t perform. DJing has always been caught on with the neighbors. care.” my hook,” she says. “I get booked DAME JUDI DENCH It took the gregarious A journalism graduate of because I’m a really good DJ, and She ended her stint in Edwardians to elevate this the Bond series as the the London College of Fashion, I have this look. And there aren’t other divine Miss “M,” humble snack into a social Harsh—real name Jay Clarke, any other drag queen DJs. Well but Judi Dench is still an event, by taking tea out of the actress to be reckoned home and into the lobbies drag name adapted from “a there are, but…” with at 80. crappy British celebrity called Right now Jodie Harsh is at a of London’s fashionable Jodie Marsh”—started working pivotal point in her career, her hotels, such as the Savoy in club night doors but quickly trajectory headed onward and Covent Garden, which still became queen bee at Circus, upward. She will be a judge on does it best, and Claridge’s her champagne– and celebrity- the U.K. version of Drag Race, and in Mayfair. Wherever you end fueled noughties club. Circus ran there’s a publishing deal, with her up, if you don’t fi nd cucumber for six years from 2006, featured co-writing with ex-Girls Aloud DAME MAGGIE SMITH sandwiches, and scones with credible DJs (Robyn, Róisín star Nicola Roberts and Ray of Whether she’s bringing clotted cream (always from audiences to their feet Murphy, and the xx all played), Light producer William Orbit. She in the West End, or Devon or Cornwall), you’re and drew incredible guests: Kate doesn’t rule out stepping in front questioning the con- doing something wrong. cept of a “week-end” Moss brought the paparazzi, the of the mic herself either. “That’s on Downton Abbey, Geldof girls were regulars, and kind of up for negotiation at the this drama queen can actress Jaime Winstone and pop moment. I would like to be Diplo command a room without lifting a fi n- star Paloma Faith became proper in a wig. That’s where I’m aiming ger—save the extended ALBERTO E. RODRIGUEZ/GETTY IMAGES (ANDREWS). CHRIS JACKSON/GETTY IMAGES FOR SENTEBALE (MCKELLEN). CHRIS JACKSON/GETTY IMAGES (DENCH). GABE PALACIO/IMAGEDIRECT (SMITH). RUTH BLACK (TEA) BLACK RUTH (SMITH). PALACIO/IMAGEDIRECT GABE (DENCH). IMAGES JACKSON/GETTY CHRIS (MCKELLEN). SENTEBALE FOR IMAGES JACKSON/GETTY CHRIS (ANDREWS). IMAGES RODRIGUEZ/GETTY E. ALBERTO pals. “Alexander McQueen, Kelly for.” —COLIN CRUMMY pinky at tea time. PHOTOGRAPHY BY TOM BARNES OUT NOVEMBER 2015 51 7. EAST LONDON The East End has come a long way since Jack the Ripper. London’s lofty rents have forced students and struggling artists to desert the West End in favor of the East, where they find more livable space to let their creativity fly. But with the 2012 Olympics and the new Overground rail came yuppies and hipster families, and those who made Spitalfields and Shoreditch hubs for design and nightlife are now looking for affordable grounds in Dalston and beyond. Still, there’s fun to be had when you go East, and we’ve got the lowdown. 8. STREET ART If you go in, it’s virtually Shoreditch has increasingly impossible to leave empty- been under threat of real handed. HouseOfHackney.com estate developers, who favor 28 10 luxury flats over its street art 11. ALBAM masterworks. Luckily, the local If you must make one quick community is fighting back to stop to refill your closet, Albam preserve the neighborhood’s is your go-to. The British facades. Book a tour with Pepe menswear brand recently Martinez to go on a fascinating set up shop in Spitalfields, its hunt for Banksy and his third outpost across the city. acolytes (some pieces are tricky Look for its perfectly cut tees, to find on your own) before outstanding outerwear, and they disappear completely. made-in-U.K. denim jeans. [email protected] AlbamClothing.com 9. THE HAWKSMOOR 12. CEREAL KILLER CAFE 9 A meat lover’s haven tucked You could hardly get more hip in a dimly lit tavern, The than this bar, which specializes Hawksmoor boasts some of the in cereals—and not much else. tastiest chateaubriand we’ve Even though you can buy an ever sampled, and cocktails entire box for the price of a to match. Beef is served by the small bowl here, Cereal Killer’s gram here, and the waiters main draw isn’t affordability, are skillfully trained to help but sugary 1980s nostalgia. As you decide how much you’re you peruse the cafe’s expansive able to handle. Just make sure menu, you’ll feel like a kid in a you save enough room for the supermarket, except this time sticky toffee pudding—beyond Mommy won’t pay the bill. delicious (find the recipe on CerealKillerCafe.co.uk page 87). TheHawksmoor.com 11 13. ONE FINE STAY 10. HOUSE OF HACKNEY Headquartered in London, Until it opened in 2010, British the savvy hospitality service prints were dominated by puts a luxury spin on Airbnb Liberty, the West End fashion with upscale digs and a legion institution. But HoH’s exotic of dedicate gofers committed birds, leafy palm trees, and to offering hotel-like service. Moorish patterns bring a fresh East End pads really embrace twist to tradition, and they’re the area’s mod-artist vibe. available on anything from OneFineStay.com mugs to armchairs. Warning: TKTKTKTK TKTKTKTK 52 NOVEMBER 2015 O U T 14-16. LONDON MENS- WEAR STORES WE LOVE 14. SUNSPEL If you admired Sunspel when Daniel Craig donned the navy Riviera polo shirt in Casino Royale, then grab one for yourself at this Soho 17 20 19 18 boutique. The brand has been specializing in high-quality cotton knit apparel since 17-20.