I went on a day trip to Brighton on Thursday, having earmarked in advance their ’boutique/fleamarket/independant shops’ quarter because I love unique original shopping areas rather than Clone Towns.

From the moment I walked towards the North Laines area of Brighton I was wowed with fascinating sights and sounds. The first thing I came across were these amazing wall murials.

Then as I wove my way past door upon door of wonderful independent book shops, record shops, fashions boutiques (and delightfully quirky bars and cafes), I came across this lovely street music.

There were many wonderful shops in North Laines, but my very favourite was Bluebell and Co, not only because of their stunning product range, but because of their incredible attention to detail and outstanding displays.

This says “I must buy lovely things”! How cute!

I finished up my wonderful day here, in the beautifully ship-like The Fortune of War pub on the seafront, overlooking the lights of Brighton pier whilst (I’ll be honest) getting slowly drunk

Brighton Sunset

Anyway, the moral of the story is – creatives, you HAVE to visit Brighton, because all this and I didn’t even find time to make it down to the ‘artists quarter‘ at the seafront. 2nd visit required.