Soho versus Shoreditch

For anyone who has spent a fair amount of time in London, Soho and Shoreditch are household names synonymous with nightlife and the cultured young. Ask anyone where is good to go out and these two names will pop up. But these two areas and the people who inhabit them are as far from each other as the West to the East – and this isn’t just in terms of geography.

Soho makes me think of fake-tanned girls in miniscule dresses and killer heels. Also gay clubs.

Some of the bars have semi naked oiled men dancing about, or failing that slideshows of hot models on their large television screens.

Shoreditch on the other hand is a whole different world. Here the people are cooler than cool itself. When friends come and visit I always insist on taking them to the infamous Shoreditch - it’s an experience in itself. I used to give them one piece of advine - wear something checkered. Check shirts were so last year, yet when I take my check detector to Shoreditch it still goes off the Richter scale (my check detector is merely me saying, “check” every time I see something checkered). A typical walk down Shoreditch High Street sounds something like this: “Check, check, check, check.”

I find it amusing that such cool, individualistic, trend setting folk are in such a habit of dressing like each other. All the guys are rather skinny, with sleek side parted hair, black skinny jeans and Pimsoles. For girls it is all about looking vintage. A lot of black, dainty shoes, some fur, a bow here and there and a sultry expression.

Ahh, but you see, Shoreditch is becoming so passé. Dalston, Dalston is the new Shoreditch. Dalston is where the real alternative trendsetters head to these days. I can’t help but smile to myself; I lived in Dalston for over 3 years. Does this make me Dalston cool? I’m not convinced, but I’m going to try claim it anyway.

So you see I am a victim of my own mockery. As much as I dislike the cool kids down by Shoreditch Church, there is something about the East Side which keeps drawing me back.

There is something so dynamic, and well, cool about East London. No one takes tubes - it has nothing to do with the reason that tubes in East London virtually don’t exist. The borough of Hackney is best served by buses, or even cooler – bikes.

Failing that just walk, the street life is huge. There is such an eclectic mix of fruit and vege stalls, markets and general bric’n’brack.


Bricklane is a favourite. On weekends it is always full of trendy people, overflowing from the cafés, markets or roaming the streets eating from the huge range of culinary options.

So you see,  I am a Londoner, and my heart lies in the East side. I even have the I Heart Hackney badge to prove it!