the i love my postcode blog

The phrase ‘postcode lottery’ has been banded about for many years now, but it’s reaching epic proportions. How do we know? Well, one of our google alerts is set up to pick up whenever the word ‘postcode’ (natch) is used. Every day we trawl through a lot of irrelevant nonsense, and more and more of this nonsense is ‘postcode lottery’ related.

Some of them are too good not to share… so we’re gonna start sharing them.

Seen a good one? Tell us about it . And why not hashtag it while you’re at it? #notapostcodelottery

The newest addition to our range is our white bamboo t-shirt, available for men and women. Made from 70% bamboo and 30% organic cotton, it’s a totally different kind of t-shirt to our cotton Am App ones… and we think you’ll really like it. But why is bamboo so special? And what makes it ‘better’ than cotton? Here are five reasons why:

1. Chemical ‘free’: Bamboo doesn’t requires pesticides or other nasties to grow. It’s super easy for farmers to grow and manage, and the fact it needs no chemicals means that bamboo fabric doesn’t need chemical treatments like cotton does. So better and kinder to your skin. While it’s still awaiting true ‘organic’ status (and that may be some years away), it is largely accepted that the production of bamboo is less chemical intense than cotton.
2. A softer fabric: Bamboo fibre has a round surface, which makes it super soft as a fabric but as strong as cotton. It ’wicks away’ moisture far better than cotton, and as such is anti-bacterial and likely to keep you cooler in summer and warmer in winter. 
3. A more sustainable crop: It’s such a fast growing plant, reaching maximum height in just 3 months and maturity within 3-4 months - and crops yield 10 times more than cotton. Plus it needs minimal water, is actually ‘good’ for the soil and as such as is one of the most sustainable and easy growing crops around.
4. It’s biodegradable: Opinion is split over whether bamboo fabric is fully or partially biodegradable but it seems to beat cotton on this one.
5. It’s strong: it washes great, is stronger than pure cotton fabrics… and its alleged anti-bacterial properties mean you can abuse it and it’ll still come good. And unlike synthetic or mixed fabrics it won’t go smelly on you. Promise.

We’re excited to be selling such an innovative and exciting new kind of clothing product, plus we think these t-shirts look great too. They have a slightly see-through quality and are so light weight – perfect for summer season. The women’s t-shirts have a lovely cut too, with a lower neck, and flattering arm cut. Lovely. We’ve sourced them from Continental Clothing, who are rather a rad little company too.

Special Offer

We’ve knocked a fiver off our normal price so these t-shirts are just £15 plus p&p for the moment. Why don’t you try one out and see if it converts you to bamboo?

You can read more about bamboo clothing here, here and here.

We’re adding a brand new item to the ILMP range, and that comes in the shape of these super cool bamboo t-shirts. Yes, really. Made from 70% bamboo and 30% organic cotton, they are eco-friendly, softer than cotton and have a great cut.

Available in white for both men and women, these t-shirts will be on sale in 10 days time for £20.

So, until we get our act together, here’s some pics of Annabel in her blue with red print N4 t-shirt. What a cutie. And the fact there’s a cat in these pics is frankly just a brilliant bonus. Like it? You can get yours here.

Thanks Annabel!

We’ve been gathering mini-guides to London on a postcode-by-postcode basis for a while now, we have around 20 in total. There’s another 100 to do, but the info we have so far is really pretty useful. We’ve put it together in one place on this google map. Click on the pins and get linked right through to the blog guide. Nice.

View Postcode Guides in a larger mapThere are nearly 100 more London postcodes to cover, so we’d like to invite you to take part. If you want to answer some questions about YOUR favourite postcode and have them added to our super London guide, just do it! The questions can be found below:

mike hanging out in his n16 shirt

So our photoshoot took place a couple weeks back, on a steamy day in Soho. Things went swell, and we’re now beavering away on putting them on the site. But it’s hard work getting it all ready, so in the meantime here is a sneaky preview of some of our lovely new photos. Check ‘em out on our flickr page!

It should only be 2-3 weeks till they are up and the site has a new look to it. We can’t wait!

Also, we can confirm we are definitely offering up a prize for the Pen Pusher Postcode Poetry competition. Winner to be announced at Latitude festival (see post below), and we’re handing over a lovely t-shirt to the winner. We can’t wait to find out which postcode wins the battle!

‘Til then, stay in the shade…

Rachel x

We’re still working on a new look home page, and new photos for kids products, so watch this space.

This weekend we’re off to Latitude festival, where we will be proudly handing over a prize postcode t-shirt to the winner of the Pen Pusher poems by postcode competition. It’s rockin’.

Other exciting news to follow, including the fact we’re working on some applique items with Revampit which we hope to have on sale at the end of the summer.

Finally, if you’d like to join the postcode team for an internship in August then drop us a line: rachel@ilovemypostcode.com

We’re looking for excitable and innovative people to come join the team for a month. We’d love to hear from you!

Rachel (W12) x

The lovely Qype guys called and asked to do an interview with the royal ‘us’. So, here it is All Hail indeed!

Hello there,

The delightful Pen Pusher magazine is launching its latest issue this Thursday 23rd July at in Soho, with a fab night of readings from the edition & more. We’ll be there too, handing over a specially commissioned t-shirt for the winner of their Poems by Postcode competition, Inua Ellams. Inua’s poem, Lovers, Liars, Conjurers and Thieves
(An Ode to Southwark) , celebrates SE15, otherwise known Southwark.

Also appearing will be Robert Twigger, Roddy Lumsden, Joe Dunthorne, Ashna Sarkar, Nathan Penlington, Tim Wells, and last but definitely not least the very glorious John Hegley. Frankly, it would be rude not to show your face, so please do if you can.

In other news, our new black vest is now officially available to purchase and comes with white or red print. It’s only £10, too.

That’s it for now…

Rachel

While looking for postcode sites we came across the My Neighbourhoods website & blog.

It’s a great little site, designed to help bring people together with other people in their community, as well as being a top handy place to find about areas in your, er, area, and find trades people, businesses, houses for sale and more of the like.

They also look to be promoting The Big Lunch, which we had planned to blog about but it slipped our mind. The Big Lunch happened last weekend, but we missed it as we were too busy wigging out at Latitude festival in Suffolk. It was a brilliant idea and sure a lot of fun was had. There was one in Ravenscourt Park, our local lovely grass patch, but sadly we couldn’t be there. Next year!

Tim Morgan got in touch after buying his SE11 hoodie to tell us just what he loves about his postcode. Here are his insider tips:

What’s the best thing to eat in your postcode?
It has to be one of Rose and Halil’s fried breakfasts over at the Kennington Lane Cafe washed down with tea and (complimentary of course) tap water

What’s the best smell in your postcode?
The sweet smell of success emitting from the offices of Mint Digital at Westminster Business Square. (nice plug, Ed)

I have 3 hours in your postcode. What do I do?
Start in the Parma cafe and admire the enormous range of menus in there, go around the corner and spend some time with the great variety of rabbits and alpacas at Vauxhall City Farm.

Walk down Tyers street via the park until you get to the Jolly Gardeners German pub where you can sample one or two of an enormous range of German beers. Head back towards the embankment and walk along the river to the SIS building experiencing the amphibious vehicle entering the water at that point. Stop at a Portugese cafe for a farewell coffee.

If your postcode wasn’t in London, where would it be?
Cuba

What’s the best thing in your postcode?
It would have been the Royal Oak pub until Tony the landlord went back to Ireland a few months back. Ummm if England clinch the Ashes there in a few weeks, the Oval cricket ground.

Talk dirty to your postcode. Go on… what would you say?
Stick with the rough stuff SE11, Shoreditch can cater for those who prefer the missionary position

Best bus route in your postcode. Where does it start and where does it take you?
The 77 from Tooting to Waterloo hands down

Has anyone written a book about/set in your postcode?Have you seen your postcode in a film or on tv?
The aerial photo when England are playing at the Oval shows the whole shebang. The area features heavily in books about U2 as they used to squat here. Some of the victorian housing in Kennington is often used for period dramas and of course the SIS building was in ‘The World is Not Enough’.

Trading up or trading down?
Do you mean is it getting better? It is becoming more upmarket but thats a shame as we’ve lost some great institutions; Tony in the Royal Oak and the Ecuadorian cafe/barbers/shop/disco booth on Kennington Lane for example

Tim Morgan is CEO and one of the founding members of Mint Digital who make mass participatory websites. He spends most of his time bigging up SE11 in the face of relentless whining from some of the other Mints who say “Why cant we work in Shoreditch?” and my friends who say “lets have a night out in Spitalfields”. Tim also loves football and has played across some of Londons premier footballing hotspots including Dulwich Hamlets, Chiswick and dare we say it, Old Street. His latest football project can be found here www.football3s.com.

Aw, thanks Tim. It’s good to get some SE tips up on the blog, and we hope that the rest of your great institutions stay going strong. Love the tip about the city farm… we love a good city farm in postcode HQ!

Rachel (W12)

Photo taken from http://london.unlike.net/locations/302418-Vauxhall-City-Farm
www.ilovemypostcode.com
Live there?
Love there?
Wear the t-shirt!

Thanks to LDN Interesting we found this link to a site that collates all the current London twit pics in one place.

Nice one!

R x

One of our fave London blogs is the Faded London blog, which is a mix of photography and journalism documenting the ‘faded’ sights of London. Yelfy captures the details such as old grates, doorknobs, air vents, doorways, roofing (?) and the ‘ghost signs’ of our fair city.

The latest post is a real gem, and takes in the faded sights and treasures of Shepherds Bush and Hammersmith – which is right by postcode HQ. Yelfy wandered very close by to our studio indeed, and got some great photos. One that got missed is on Cathnor road – I’ll nip out and take a photo to post here and send over… but be sure to check out the blog.

Rachel

Another day, another blog recommendation! This time it’s Bench Marks, a blog for the Time Out column of the same name. Stephen Emms pens this lovely blog where he documents the many benches of London and the story each one has to tell.

His latest venture is Tales from a Park Bench which is taking place in the C22 Gallery on Chalk Farm Road. Between 3rd and 9th August we, the general public, are invited to go and sit on the gallery bench and use it as we see fit. Tell a story, sing a song… whatever takes your fancy. Like the plinth, but better for those with vertigo and certainly not streamed live anywhere embarassing. We like it a lot.

UPDATE!
The Bench project is going very strong indeed, with tons of great visitors. Check out the very first bench poser… very wee Archie!
Look at all the mess he’s made already. Bless.

We’ve long quite fancied the Shepherd’s Bush blog, written by Chris Underwood – W12 resident and lover of local. And now we’re really chuffed because it seems he quite likes us too. Brilliant stuff!

Chris’s blog is a great local blog, that brings together news, comment and musings about our fascinating and lively corner of West London. He has a loyal readership too, which is good news all round. And it’s a good alternative to the rag that is the Council paid free p(ropaganda)aper. Ahem.

There’s nothing you can’t do with a good tube map, right? Well, the latest thing that someone has done with it is print it on a flippin’ shower curtain.

The verdict? We love it. And as soon as I’ve done writing this post I am getting out our credit card and getting me some of that! And it’s super timing as we’ve just finished turning our bathroom into a den of ablution cool… and all that’s left to do is choose a shower curtain. We’ll be posting up the results for anyone who is interested. Rock and roll!

Oh, and you can get yours here.

Today we have the giddy pleasure of introducing our first intern extraordinaire… Sarah Barnacle.

Sarah is a fashion student currently living and studying in London, and is lucky enough to be of dual USA and UK citizenship. She’s been living in London for three years, and has lived in Chelsea but currently resides in Ladbroke Grove. Sarah joins us as a Press intern before heading back to college in September, and today she tells us what she loves about W11:

What’s the best thing to eat in your postcode?
The best thing to eat is ANYTHING at Portobello Market, especially around 4 p.m. when the food venders are ready to pack up and get rid of all their remaining food! My personal favourite is Mexican. Give me a Burito with all the toppings any day! Extra salsa verde porfavor!

What’s the best smell in your postcode?
The best smell is the smell of crepes, again in Portobello Market. The crepe venders intice your senses with the aroma of nutella and soft fluffy heaven.

I have 3 hours in your postcode. What do I do?
If I had three hours within W11 I would take a stroll down Portobello road, ideally not during the tourist rush, and catch the antique bargains, eat some fabulous food and crash in Holland Park for a nap in the sun, of course not before stopping by one of my favourite pubs in the area The Earl of Lonsdale. It doesnt take much to make me happy.

If your postcode wasn’t in London, where would it be?
If my postcode wasn’t in London it would be in a fabulous place that is known for it’s food, live street entertainment, and bargains, which is constantly combating tourists. Perhaps somewhere in Brazil, especially with one of the largest Carnival celebrations in the world taking place here every year.

What’s the best thing in your postcode?
The best thing in my postcode is the wild black raspberries. Especially during the summer months every saturday and sunday you can find families with their buckets headed to various settlements of brush and overgrowth to find the elusive berries. Delish!

Talk dirty to your postcode. Go on… what would you say?
It’s too small for the amount of tourists! Go Home!

Best bus route in your postcode. Where does it start and where does it take you?
The best bus route is definetly the 70. You can pick it up just off of Portobello and it will take to you South Kensington to see the museums, High St Kensington to get some shopping done or in the opposite direction it will take you to Acton, laid back and good greasy chineese buffets!

Has anyone written a book about/set in your postcode?
Hugh Grant and Julia Roberts helped make the tourism unbearable with their film Notting Hill. It seems to be an area full of history with Carnival happening each year and the notorious Race Riots of the 1950s.

Have you seen your postcode in a film or on tv?
W11 is full of history, I’ve studied events that have taken place on the street outside my estate! I love the area, in fact they happened to be filming a new ‘hollywood blockbuster’ down the street the other evening! It’s a great place for a setting of any type of story.

Thanks Sarah. We’ll keep you posted on Sarah’s progress as Intern Number 1… and watch this space, as she may be posting on the blog in days to come.

We never thought we’d be posting a link to the FT Saturday mag, but that day has actually come. In last weekend’s mag they featured the creation of postcodes in the UK for their Defining Moment feature. And what a choice.

It told us some stuff we knew already.. like London was the first to get postcodes in 1857, thanks to Rowland Hill. Liverpool was next, and then the rest of the UK slowly followed suit.

But here’s what else we learned:

• It was not until October 1957 when postcodes were first used to enable mail-sorting by machine. Before then it was all by hand. Unthinkable!
• It all kicked off in Norwich, which pleases us, as that is where the ILMP idea was first spawned. We knew it!
• Croydon was the next city to introduce postcodes for machine sorting, but not until 1967… slow to catch on then.
• Not until 1974, did every address in Britain had a “postcode”.

Amazing stuff… anyway, geeky postcode blog post over and out!

Up next is Hape Mueller, who lives in and loves SE14, otherwise known as New Cross. Not a postcode to mess with, here’s what he has to say about life in SE14:

What’s the best thing to eat in your postcode?

SE14 and culinary delights? I don’t think so! However, rumour has it that Paul McCartney used to stop by at the Family Fish Bar in New Cross Road for his fill of cod in greasy batter and soggy chips. Probably just a cunning marketing ploy by the owners to lure in the local punters. I mean, why on earth would McCartney drive through SE14, or has he got a mansion in Kent somewhere?

What’s the best smell in your postcode?
Nothing springs to nose, really.

I have 3 hours in your postcode. What do I do?
Don’t come during the day, it’s all happening at night. Discover the hippest bands in London at the Amersham Arms

If your postcode wasn’t in London, where would it be?
Jamaica

What’s the best thing in your postcode?
The view from Telegraph Hill over virtually all of central London with its iconic landmarks, from the Battersea Power Station in the west to Canary Wharf in the east.

Talk dirty to your postcode. Go on… what would you say?
I wouldn’t dare, she’s got attitude, you know!

Best bus route in your postcode. Where does it start and where does it take you?
The 21. It starts in Lewisham and ends in Newington Green and conveniently, with bus stops just a few yards away from each front door, connects Pen Pusher’s editorial department with its design department.

Has anyone written a book about/set in your postcode?
Not sure about a book, but Carter USM wrote a song about it called ‘The Only Living Boy in New Cross’ - a top ten hit in 1992. (We remember it fondly! – Ed)
Also, according to the London Gazetteer (Chambers, 2006), Charles Dickens kept a secret apartment in New Cross where he wrote Bleak House and later finished Great Expectations. The lodgings also provided him with convenient access to his mistress in Nunhead (SE15).

Have you seen your postcode in a film or on tv?
Indeed, SE14 was home for zombies during the filming of Shaun of The Dead. Most of the five days filming took place at The Duke of Albany public house, now converted into flats and known in the film as The Winchester Arms, in Monson Road; and Lily Allen filmed the video for her cover of the Kaiser Chiefs’ song ‘Oh My God’ at the Hatcham Social Club.

Trading up or trading down?
Only come here if you’re ready for the real London experience.

Hape Mueller is one of the three founding members of Pen Pusher Magazine and the operation’s graphic designer, webmaster and all-round business manager. Originally from a tiny village in rural Switzerland, Hape is mesmerised by London’s endless urban sprawl and its rich history and can’t think of any other place he would want to live right now. Oh and, just in case you wondered, the distinctive Pen Pusher logo was not designed by Hape but by the Kaiser Chiefs’ front man Ricky Wilson.

We’ve gone on a short summer holiday, so no orders will be posted out between today Saturday 5th September and Monday 14th September. We’re in Croatia, having a bit of a break and hoping not to tread on any sea urchins.

You can still order your postcode clobber, but no orders will be sent out till we’re back on Tuesday 15th September. Sorry.

But we’ll be back on 15th, rested and better than ever!

Til then, Rachel x

The lovely people at the London Word site gave us a mention, for which we are very grateful. Nice write up too, and we appreciate their mention of the word ‘bum’.

We do indeed have tricks up our sleeve… watch this space, she says, coyly (before giggling).

Adios!

Ah, E1… the smell of curry, the banter of market traders… what a fine, fine postcode it is. The honour of answering our postcode questions for this glorious ‘code falls to Alex Crawford, radio journalist, cycling enthusiast and general girl about London town.

What’s the best thing to eat in your postcode?

Every kind of curry on Brick Lane and some gret Turkish offerings too.

What’s the best smell in your postcode?

That of sweet spices wafting out of nearby restaurants. (That of wee on a Sunday morning is considerably less pleasant.)

I have 3 hours in your postcode. What do I do?

Visit Whitechapel Art Gallery and its fabulous book shop. If it’s the weekend, mooch around the top of Brick Lane where you can buy everything from bikes to mango smoothies. Go on a Jack the Ripper history tour. Have a curry – but chose wisely! Tayyabs, Lahore, Chillies and Aladins are really good. Go for some drinks in Vibe Bar or 93 Feet East and maybe see a band at the Rhythm Factory.

If your postcode wasn’t in London, where would it be?

Bronte Beach, Sydney, Australia – quite a leap!

What’s the best thing in your postcode?

The unusual old street names: Petticoat Lane, Fashion Street, Chicksand Street, Portsoken Street and my White Church Passage.

Talk dirty to your postcode. Go on… what would you say?

‘How you confound me, tease me, amuse and disgust me, with your many faces – rugged and bejweled – with your mysterious alleyways, exotic smells, shouting, thronging arteries. I love you but I some day soon will leave you.’ (Blush – Ed)

Best bus route in your postcode. Where does it start and where does it take you?

Bus? Pah! I cycle everywhere. Though should I ever find myself without my bike, I think the # 40 would take me all the way down to Camberwell to see mum.

What’s the best cycle route in/out of your postcode!!

If you go directly north past Spitalfields and on to the Kingsland Road you’ll get to Finsbury Park and Haringay in 20 mins.
Go west of here and you’re in the winding streets and cobbled passages of the city in five minutes. 30 St. Mary Axe (The Gherkin) is breathtaking close-up.

Or, follow the canal path from Limehouse and you can wile aways hours pootling along the water, observing all the life and activity the waterways imbibe. Depending which way you go, you’ll end up in Woolwich or Little Venice.

Has anyone written a book about/set in your postcode?

Yes, many: Monica Ali’s contentious ‘Brick Lane’ of course, and a plethora of books about Jack the Ripper.

Have you seen your postcode in a film or on tv?

Er, only films of the above!

Trading up or trading down?

Depends what you can get your hands on – there are some very swanky properties, riverside penthouses and lush warehouse conversions round here as well as some really rough ‘studenty’ dens. Where I am isn’t bad and all my friends seem to think this area is ‘very beat’ but I reckon I’d have to have a bit of garden to say I’d traded up!

Thanks Alex, you’ve covered a lot of the glories of E1 but I suspect there’s yet more to say. Want to step in and do Part II? Just email in and tell us what else you love about E1. Columbia road flower market? A specific stall at Spitalfields?

You can see Alex modelling our garb here and read about her beloved Southwark Cyclists here.

Today is a very special day, for two reasons.

Reason 1: We’re introducing our second Intern, Esther Deustch, who is working as our Press Assistant for the next month.

Reason 2: We’ve broken all the ILMP blog rules, thrown out the London A-Z, and gone all out for a post about Manchester, England, England.

See, Esther’s spent the last few years living in M16 and has almost literally just moved to our fair capital. So, while she finds her way around, we thought we’d let her tell us what’s so great about M16 up north. In the meantime, she’s living in Walthamstow, so has our lovely E17 guide from Laura Porter to guide her. Over to you Esther…

Firstly, welcome to the love of my life, and my second home, Manchester. Welcome to the land of gravy on chips, Oasis, dodgy haircuts, Moss Side and Mr. Scruff.

What’s the best thing to eat in your postcode?
Trof on a Sunday morning for a veggie fry up is pretty damn tasty. Also trundle on over to the curry mile in Rusholme for some cheap and tasty falafel at only a couple of bob.

What’s the best smell in your postcode?
Curry, although the smell of stale beer and student vomit does overpower that on many an occasion.

I have 3 hours in your postcode. What do I do?
I’d say take a stroll round Platt fields Park, grab a falafel sandwich and then head to the central Manchester Art gallery to peruse the beautiful Victorian collection on show.

And for the evening I’d hit the Ram and Shackle pub, before heading out to such epic nights as Hot Milk and Hit and Run to dance your cotton socks off. Manchester has a cracking collection of club nights for every day of the week, catering for the infamous dnb and dubstep heads to the bottom (and ground) shaking bashment fans. Whatever you fancy a wiggle to, Manchester is bound to have it on offer.

If your postcode wasn’t in London, where would it be?
MANCHESTER!!!!! Indeed, ‘Manchester has everything except a beach’, but it doesn’t half rain a lot!

What’s the best thing in your postcode?
It’s got to be the people; northerners are the friendliest people on earth. Old ladies give you cups of tea and everyone always says thank you to the bus driver, no exceptions. Although get on the wrong side of a Mancunian, and you’re dead meat!

Talk dirty to your postcode. Go on… what would you say?
I’d butter your bacon buttie any day of the week (obviously uttered with a Mancunian accent). Manchester is pure filth, believe me.

Best bus route in your postcode. Where does it start and where does it take you?
The Magic Bus 143 to the city centre, complete with Manchester’s own crazy bus lady who believes the freemasons are after her, and a strange OCD man who used to swing his arms around whenever the bus started moving again.

Has anyone written a book about/set in your postcode?
It was the heart of industrial Britain, so a lot of the books are about Britain’s industrial life and conditions and the various politics involved. Engel’s stayed in Manchester for a while and wrote about the condition of the industrial working class in Manchester. There’s also Mary Barton by Elizabeth Gaskell, and I’m sure Hard Times is also supposed to be set in Manchester as well.

Have you seen your postcode in a film or on tv?
There must be tonnes of stuff out there on forgotten film reels, but to name a few: 24 hour party people, East is East, Control and Velvet Goldmine. And last but not least, Shameless.

Thanks Esther! Good luck with your internship, and hope London turns out to be as great for you as M16! You can contact Esther at: esther@ilovemypostcode.com

Our lovely intern Jai has been busy setting up our very own You Tube Channel. The plan is to make some videos along the way, that will include:

• Product vids
• Vodcast posts
• Postcode guides

We’re also going to be inviting you to tell us what you think of your postcode purchases via video, and we’ll post those up too. And even better would be videos from you telling us what you love about your postcode. More on that soon!

But for now, check out our first ILMP video… a slideshow of our products:

We’re big fans of the Love Fashion, Hate Sweatshops campaign, run by the people at War on Want.

Like us, they love fashion but want the clothes that we buy to be made by regulated companies using workers who are paid and treated fairly. At the moment millions of workers around the world suffer poverty wages and exploitation, to produce the cheap fashion that we have such a thirst for. The campaign is about building a fashion industry that respects workers’ rights – through regulation by governments to end and abolish sweatshops.

Want to help? You can add your support to the campaign by uploading a photo of yourself just like we did. They’re aiming to get 50,000 people to join the campaign… so go on, give them a hand.

What are we doing?
At ILMP, we want to ensure we don’t contribute to, endorse or in any way do any dealings with companies who use sweatshops or exploit workers. That’s why we source our garments from American Apparel, Continental Clothing and our kids t-shirts come from Fruit of the Loom.

American Apparel are pioneers for legitimate clothing manufacturing, although they’ve recently hit a problem as they’ve got to lay off 1,300 of their workers thanks to a Government Inspection. Ouch.

Continental has a zero tolerance policy to child labour, and ensure all their supplies sign legal labour contracts and pay living wages.

As for Fruit of the Loom, well, it’s difficult to find too much information about their policies but we are reassured by their vertically integrated manufacturing (i.e. they keep the whole process ‘in house’ rather than outsourcing it elsewhere) and articles we’ve found online. Only our kids t-shirts come from FOLM, and next time we re-order, we’ll be using Continental so we’re 100% happy.

All our printing is done by us, and our prints come from K2 in East London – where wonderfully creative types happily sweat to make the perfect prints for us.

So… sign up for the campaign, and buy responsibly folks. Right , lecture over!

The lovely people at Qype are running a competition to win Postcode t-shirts or vests. Check out the competition here, which is dead easy to enter. You just email them with a link to your favourite venue/restaurant/bar/shop in your postcode and jobs a good ‘un.

And we also met John Hegley, who we have loved long time… way back since we heard his song about Max the farting dog, back in oooh, well, mid nineties at the latest. Brilliant. Anyway, John was there reading his poem about Newington Green and some other things. So we took the opportunity to give him an N16 t-shirt, which he kindly showed off on stage. Coo! Thanks John.

Photos by Nick Scott. Thanks Nick! www.nickscottphotography.com

Postcode cat percival chills out on a parcel

So, as the busy season approaches, and we get ready for our 50% off sale, we’re wondering how best to get your postcode goodies out to you. Mike has come up with the genius suggestion of delivery by hand, by us, on bikes. For all London based orders, of course -I’m not cycling up to Derbyshire. Or France.

The postcode wheels

At the moment this is our best option, and since Mike is a serious cyclist we vote that he does most of it, while we stay at home listening to podcasts and making t-shirts. So, watch this space for the official launch of hand delivery season and get thekettle on!

So, believe it or not, we turn one this week. We can’t quite believe it, but it turns out to be true. We may even have a cake, if we’re feeling flush.

To share the love, we’re doing a 50% off everything sale which runs from Wednesday 29th October to end of Friday 31st October – that’s this week, folks.

We’re busy getting all the sale pages ready, and will be putting them up live late on Tuesday night. How exciting!

As ever, drop us a line with any questions: rachel@ilovemypostcode.com  We’d love to answer them.

Right, back to html coding…

Rachel (W12)

Our birthday sale was last week, where we offered 50% off everything on the site. Boy, were we busy! Thanks to the likes of LDNInteresting and Whampgather tweeting away (not to mention all their lovely followers RTing like mad) on our behalf, we had mega visitors last week and a lot of lovely orders coming through. Thank you to every single one of you who bought something. We were very happy to fulfill your local pride with a postcode t-shirt, hoodie etc.

You’ll have to wait until next year for another 50% off everything, but we will be running some promotions in the run up to Christmas. More on that in the next week! But for now, here’s some pictures of just a snippet of the madness in the studio as we put together all the orders.

 I did the printing (working biceps, triceps and all the rest), Mike did all sorts of jobs like writing labels, cutting letters, writing notes and going to the post office. The cat just snoozed, of course. Lazy.

Thoughts have well and truly turned to Christmas in postcode HQ, and namely what Christmas promotion you’d like the most. Because we’d really like to know, so we can give you what you really, really want. So here’s a quick poll for you:

Poll closes next Friday 13th November, so pipe up while you can! We’ll launch our Christmas offer around 25th November, all being well, if not before.

Thanks folks! Rachel (W12) (more…)

We’ve been crunching some numbers in the studio today and figuring out which postcodes are getting the most love, and which are being left out in the cold. So far we can reveal that the top most requested postcodes are:

No big surprises here – all top notch neighbourhoods with a ILMP sense of pride.

More surprising are the postcodes we haven’t had requested. There are around 50 that remain unclaimed, poor little things. The biggest hole seems to be in the SW area. Sad news that there are no Brixton, Chelsea, Battersea, Clapham or Tooting t-shirts out there, lapping up love. Come on SWs! If you know any SW-lovers who don’t yet know they can have their own postcode t-shirt or hoodie, then do them a favour… let them know.

In the New Year we’re going to launch a new feature called Postcode of the Week. Each week we’ll pick a top London postcode, tell you a bit about it and then offer money off any items with this postcode on. So get the RSS feed and keep your eyes peeled, in case yours comes up. It’s like the lottery, see, but more exciting and less likely to ruin your life.

Finally, we’re running a poll to find out which postcodes you love the best. We’re having trouble embedding it into this post, but you can find it here and see the results there too.

R (W12)

Today’s post is about getting something out there, and kind of off our chests. When we started i love my postcode, the topic of postcode wars was one we considered very carefully. The reported ‘phenomenon’ of postcode wars in London in several media reports, which involves gangs or individuals using postal districts to decide who and who does not ‘get it’, seems here to stay. Were we really going to start a company that promotes wearing postcode t-shirts when, as the media would have us believe, kids are getting stabbed or beaten up based on being on the wrong side of the tracks?

Whichever way you look at it, postcode wars are ugly, unecessary and stupid. They are also nothing to do with i love my postcode.

ILMP is all about loving your postcode, your community, and the place where you live. It is emphatically not about hating other people’s postcodes, other people generally or behaving in a way that destroys communities, families or lives. We’re way too fluffy for any of that. I genuinely hope it’s pretty clear from our site, blog and products that ILMP is a positive company with good vibes about all of Londons postcodes – and we’re a million miles away from staking out territories, violence or gang mentality. In fact, I think we should claim postcodes and community pride back from gangs and violence. We should be proud to be proud of them, not skulk off full of fear.

Our brand is hopefully a positive one – we do not market to, try to reach or speak to those groups who would use postcodes in a violent or negative way.

But what do you think? Do you think what we’re doing is encouraging postcode violence? If so, what could we do to change that, or have a positive impact on London? Let us know what you think.

Looking to the future we’d love to use our profits to do good things for London’s communities and proactively help put an end to any talk of postcode wars. But for now, we’re about spreading the postcode love. Not hate.

Rachel

It’s been a while but we have another mini-London guide. This time it’s for the very special EC1 thanks to food blogger extraordinaire Krista, whose blog Londonelicious is one of the great joys of the food blog world. Yummy words and yummy pictures.

Anyway, Krista really digs EC1, and here’s what she has to say about it:

What’s the best thing to eat in your postcode?
Oh you’re torturing me…Sedap on Old Street does awesome char kway teow (dense noodles packed with flavour). The Market Cafe on Whitecross Street makes a fantastic bacon, egg, and cheese on ciabatta. And I could eat the Welsh rarebit at St. John every day for the rest of my life.

What’s the best smell in your postcode?
Smithfield Market at night once all the lorries from all across Europe have arrived. Some people might not like the smell of raw meat, but I’m not one of them.

I have 3 hours in your postcode. What do I do?
Go for a walk. Start at St. Paul’s station and walk your way up through St. Bart’s hospital to Smithfield Market. From here, I like to wander towards Farringdon Station and up Farringdon Road. (Maybe dropping into The Gunmakers for a pint–they do great ales.)

Afterwards, continue up to Exmouth Market. Drop into Brill for a coffee and to check out the music selection. Then pop over to Moro for some pimentos de padron, a glass of rioja, and some crispy bread. From there, wander up Roseberry Avenue (be careful you don’t venture into N1) and then down St. John Street. My Sugarland is a beautiful shop full of great fashion finds. Oh, and Bobbin Bicylces is awesome if you’re into totally retro biking. Later, check out the library. And then maybe head down to St. John for one of those Welsh rarebits!

If your postcode wasn’t in London, where would it be?
Brooklyn, NY! (Coincidentally, where my family hails from. So I like to think I speak with authority.)

What’s the best thing in your postcode?
That would be St. John. And its Welsh rarebit. Oh, and the raisin bread from the bakery. Can you tell I like St. John?

Talk dirty to your postcode. Go on… what would you say?
Hmmm…I’ve never been good at this. Um…you are so hot?

Best bus route in your postcode. Where does it start and where does it take you?
Thank you for changing the subject. I was getting a little uncomfortable. So…The number 4 will take you down Goswell Road/Aldersgate down the Strand and all the way to Waterloo! Great during Ascot when all of Islington turns out in their finery.

Has anyone written a book about/set in your postcode? Have you seen your postcode in a film or on tv?I’m American. What do I know? (ooh, good point Krista, and we don’t know either. Anyone care to help?)

Trading up or trading down?
Depends on which side. I’m on the grotty side. (For all of 2008, I lived upstairs from hookers.) But for the rest of Clerkenwell, definitely trading UP!

A bit about Krista:

Krista is the force behind Londonelicious.com, one of London’s most popular restaurant blogs. When she’s not eating, she’s definitely not cooking. She likes data, Danish furniture, and Cabernet Franc.

Thanks Krista – we love EC1 too, and will be checking out all the tips next time we’re there.

T-shirts
So, for men, you can choose between red, baby blue and heather grey. For women, it’s heather grey or navy. Choose red, black or white ink and your favourite postcode – and you’re done.

Hoodies
For the men we have a navy hoodie with white or red print, and for women we have a heather grey t-shirt with black, white or red print. They’re super snuggly and make great winter wear.

Any questions, drop us a line. Last orders for Christmas posting is 20th December, and we’re adding an option for special delivery postage too if you want it guaranteed.

Going National!
We should also mention again that we have now gone national – which means you can have any UK postcode printed on our items now. This is a big, new and exciting thing for us and we can’t wait to serve the fanatics of Fife, Farnborough and Filey with their own postcode t’s. Know someone who loves where they live? Drop them a line and tell them about ilovemypostcode

We heard the news today, oh boy… well, technically yesterday. And that news is that UK postcode data is going to be made free in 2010.

Which means no more foxing around trying to find someones actual postcode should you need it to, say, post them a letter. Hurrah.

The free the postcode team must be mighty pleased too, as they can put away their GPS and stop talking in code. Phew.

Read the full story here

Apparently it’s all part of a bigger plan to make more use of technology and the web to transform services. Well, whatever the real reason, we’re quite pleased. Why not celebrate with a postcode t-shirt?

Happy new year to all our customers, readers and postcode lovers alike. Happy 2010!

Right, salutations over with and we thought with a new year should come new prices. And lower prices with it. We figured our t-shirts and hoodies might be a few quid too much, so we’ve brought them down to £20 and £25 respectively. Which we hope you like. They are still top quality american apparel with great screen prints, rest assured, but we figured we could lose a few quid along the way. So enjoy.

We’re damn excited about 2010 and everything it holds.

Reasons to be cheerful:

New products: We’re hoping to have new and cool products to add to our range this year, including a new hoodie with the girls and maybe an awesome bamboo t-shirt. Yes, it’s made of bamboo, and it really is awesome. See it below, with yours truly modelling it badly:

We’ve wanted to do this for a while, but we can now show off our lovely new pictures of postcode pants. Check it out!

Thanks to Jack Reed for the photography, our awesome model Dom, plus Hannah for holding the fancy umbrella, and the cat for not getting in the way. Tremendous stuff.

And as a Valentine Special (yes, we know…) we’re offering the postcode pants at £8 a pair (rrp £10), or two pairs for £14. And no, we can’t work out why they’re called a pair even when there is only one. Answers on a postcard please.

www.jackreed.co.uk

A piece on NW6 has been a long time coming, and who better to ask than two of NW6’s finest bloggers: Whampstead blogger and new kid on the block NW6 blogger. They’ve gone head to head in our 10 questions ’series’. We separated them, fired out the same questions and this is what we got back. No conferring, nothing. So what’s great about NW6? Let’s find out shall we…

What’s the best thing to eat in your postcode?

Whampstead:As you’re casually passing through, then a Moroccan pancake from Café Bon on West End Lane. Oh, you have time to linger? Perhaps check out Vijays on Willesden Lane for some of the best South Indian food in London, and certainly in NW6.

NW6blog: That would have to be some sort of tea-time treat from Bake-a-boo. Don’t be fooled by its pink exterior and smile-wearing staff; the cakes are lean, mean, gluten-free wrecking machines.

What’s the best smell in your postcode?

Whampstead:If you’re that way inclined, perhaps the smell of the police horses from West Hampstead station as they do their daily exercise. If that’s too much, then the coffee aromas in The Wet Fish Café are hard to beat.

NW6blog: Diversity – no, not the dance troupe, that other thing. Also food. For late night olfactory stimulation, you can’t beat the kebab shop Woody Grill, aka Woody’s, which I discovered much to my delight is an ever-growing franchise, with grills in Camden Town and Shepherd’s Bush, as well as two on Kilburn High Road (its spiritual home). While you’re there, pleasing your nosebuds, you may as well buy a lamb donner shish. Alternatively, if you like the smell of fresh air, Kilburn Grange Park is a great green space, with some tennis courts and a basketball court thrown in for good measure.

I have 3 hours in your postcode. What do I do?

Whampstead:Wander around the misnamed Hampstead Cemetery with its dash of neogothic. It’s a far cry from its more illustrious counterpart in Highgate, but it has a quiet beauty (and the odd famous name dotted in and among). Stroll down to Davids Deli for an epic salt beef sandwich before zipping over to Kilburn and seeing a film or a play at the Tricycle Theatre. If you’re lucky you’ll just have time on a Sunday to scoot over to Queens Park farmers market to buy some gorgeously fresh ingredients for dinner.

NW6blog: Get creative: paint a plate. Decorate some ceramics at Art4fun in West Hampstead, whilst enjoying a nice cup of tea. Celebrate your achievement with a tipple down at the North London Tavern. A warm little pub with a couple of cosy sofas, an eclectic (and not too loud) selection of background music, decent rotation of Real Ales, and some delicious food & snacks. Once you’ve warmed your mitts, pop down to the Tricycle Theatre, if you’re short on time, maybe just sneak a peek at their gallery, but if you can, catch a film or see a play. At certain times you can see the latest flicks for under a fiver, and there’s all sorts of theatre-related offers, including the ocassional ‘pay-what-you-can’ nights.

If your postcode wasn’t in London, where would it be?

Whampstead:Somewhere with a friendly community and the occasional grubby corner. A sort of more ethnically diverse Seattle perhaps with its cafés and live music aplenty.

NW6blog: Probably New York or Barcelona, but that’s what everyone says, right? It has its scummy bits, its edgey/trendy bits, and its swanky bits. Like most places in zone 2.

What’s the best thing in your postcode?

Whampstead:The independent shops and restaurants that cling on in the face of the chains, but also the fact that there’s a massive Sainsburys.

NW6blog: It has live music coming out of its (imaginary, Will Smith-esque) ears. On Kilburn High Road alone, on any night of the week, you’ve got unsigned bands playing at Power’s Bar and at the Good Ship, with bigger names at the deservedly London-renowned venue, the Luminaire. The Westbury often mixes it up nicely with DJ sets from the likes of Hot Chip and DJ Format.

Talk dirty to your postcode. Go on… what would you say?

Whampstead:With so many train lines, the answer to “Your place or mine?” is self-evident

NW6blog: I respect NW6 far too much for that. Plus, a gentleman never tells… But, West End Lane’s got some killer curves, and there’s more than one Brazilian on the High Road, if you catch my drift…

Best bus route in your postcode. Where does it start and where does it take you?

Whampstead:If you’re a tourist and you want a bit of London glamour then sure, hop on the 139. Won’t take you through much of NW6 though. If you want a real NW6 bus then it’s the 328. One of London’s finest routes and never passes through Oxford St. Board at Golders Green station and sail majestically into the postcode at Fortune Green Road. Enjoy the shicanes of West End Lane and see how many celebs you can spot donating clothes to charity shops. Hang a right at Quex Road and brace yourself for the full-on Kilburn experience. If the traffic’s bad the next quarter of a mile might take a few minutes, but just sit back and soak up the buzz of Kilburn. You’ll see the pirate DVD sellers, the market traders, the poundshoppers, but also the coffee drinkers, the.. er… drinkers, and the mobile phone cover stallholders. Swing past the tiled exterior of the often overlooked Kilburn Park tube station before exploring some of the large council estates around Carlton Vale. Sadly the NW6 portion of the trip is over, but the delights of Westbourne Park, Notting Hill, Kensington High Street and Earls Court all await before finishing (aptly enough) at World’s End. This isn’t a bus in a rush, but it’s one that captures everything about London living – and NW6 life.

NW6blog: The glorious 139 is the finest in the fleet, and the perfect bus for a hop-on/hop-off sightseeing tour of London. Starting in our very own West Hampstead, it drifts along Abbey Road, ocassionally held-up briefly by the tourists trying to capture their own zebra-crossing moments opposite the iconic studios. Past Lord’s Cricket Ground, it then meanders down to the south-western corner of Regent’s park, stopping at Baker Street – ideal for those wanting to visit the Sherlock Holmes museum, or seeking to leave their wallets at the door of Madame Tussauds. If shopping is on the cards, then where better – rhetorical question, mind – than Oxford Circus? Down Regent Street to Picadilly Circus, and on to Trafalgar Square, it’s one touristy photo-op after another, or perfect for a trip into Theatreland. Finally, it’s time for the best river-crossing views in town as it heads over Waterloo Bridge. Alight at Waterloo for a walk along the South Bank, taking in its many pleasures. As if that wasn’t enough already, it runs all 24 hours of the day. Forget the best route in my postcode – the 139 is the best route in London!

Has anyone written a book about/set in your postcode? Have you seen your postcode in a film or on tv?

Whampstead:There are writers and actors galore in the area, but generally they seem to understand that it’s better to send the geeky location seekers away from your own front door. Let them bother people in Hampstead or Notting Hill.

NW6blog: I can barely read, so you’re asking the wrong person. The lovely folks at local, independent bookshops West End Lane Books and Kilburn Books would be happy to enlighten you though, I’m sure. As for films, the only one I know of is the DVD – now available on Blu-Ray – of The Who: Live at Kilburn. It’s a recording of their 1977 show which was, by most accounts, bloody awful. They played at the Gaumont State, which later became a bingo hall, and is now lined up to be a church. Oh, how the mighty have fallen.

Trading up or trading down?

Whampstead:Up up and away.

NW6blog: Undeniably trading up. All the scummy old pound shops on Kilburn High Road are being replaced by new, fresher pound shops. Restaurants, bars and hip-hop-happening night spots are popping up left, right and centre. Even celebrity types like them ones off of Peep Show have taken up residence here. Unfortunately, trading up means pricing out, and it’s becoming increasingly expensive for young’uns like me to keep enjoying the area’s many delights.

Phew! Thanks for that amazing roundup of NW6 life… if that wasn’t enough to make you want to pop over and have a ganders, then really, check your pulse.

Beg to differ? Do let us know what other NW6 highlights you’d recommend and we can post those up too.

Don’t forget to check out the blogs and the twitter feeds. Details below.

West Hampstead Life blog:http://westhampsteadlife.blogspot.com/
And Twitter feed: http://twitter.com/WHampstead
In Whampstead’s own words: news, views and venues (plus loads of marvellous things like get togethers, hyper local twitter newsfeeds and much more)

NW6 blog: http://nwsix.wordpress.com/And Twitter feed: http://www.twitter.com/NWSixDan
In Daniel’s own words: NW6 the blog is news, reviews and interviews, it’s tips, pics and tiddly-bits, and best of all, it’s, like, well good.