The opping rks! , our columnist p to Fortnum’s
of these are foodstuffs and items – not, whisper it, clothes.
It will be a lot more difficult to follow the rules when we’re all barging towards the clothes racks to get to that special item first (I once saw two women fight over a handbag in Harvey Nichols, not much social distancing there). And are they going to put every single dress we try on, but don’t buy, in quarantine? Come to that, how will we pull on and take off clothes without dislodging our face masks? Will they power clean every dressing room in between customers? There is still a lot to think about.
IAM a lost cause when it comes to shopping: hopelessly addicted to it and I’m not going to change. But to see the sheer joy on everyone’s faces – as much as you can make out behind the face masks – is telling. Fortnum’s, of course, is an institution, a tourist destination as much as a retail institution. It’s also a slice of London’s history, having been here so long. And it’s stirring its limbs and reminding us that one day this will be over. Fortnum’s, after all, has not just withstood two world conflicts: it actually predates the Napoleonic Wars.
This is a shop that has seen it all before. Lurking in the stairwell (think country house, smart wallpaper, oil paintings, velvet curtains), I look longingly up to the second floor, still strictly out of bounds.
This is where you will find yet more luxury, in the form of wonderful cosmetics, silk negligees, jewellery, handbags and hats.
One item that I covet and do not (yet) possess is a
Launer handbag, one of the most elegant designs in the world. They have them in Fortnum’s and when this is all over, the time might finally have come.
And that moment is coming soon.For Fortnum’s, like other shops, is getting ready to open up the rest of its wares to the public, sometime in mid-June. In many ways, this has been a trial run, with everyone diligently managing social distancing and a liberal outpouring of goodwill. I obediently line up to queue at the till, obeying the floor markings. It might be a little more difficult among crowds.
But when the great full reopening happens, there’s going to be no stopping some of us, baby. Hasta la vista, Fortnum’s. I’ll be back.
FOOD FOR THOUGHT: So much choice
‘I feel much as the Spanish conquistadors would have done had they found El Dorado’