We have visited Richard Ogden in The Burlington Arcade, and I thought we should learn a bit more about the arcade itself today, since I have found that it is such a dear place to so many of us:
The entrance to the Burlington Arcade
For those of you who haven’t yet visited the Burlington Arcade, it is situated between Piccadilly Circus and Green Park, and the arcade itself runs from Piccadilly all the way back to Burlington Gardens. It was built in 1819 by Lord Cavendish and at the time consisted of 72 small two-storey units and a top lit walkway. Many of the tenants and their families actually lived above and below their shops in rather cramped conditions! (1) As time went by, some of these units were combined and the arcade now consists of approximately 40 units.
Oh I do love this picture of the arcade, as so kindly lent to us by Richard Ogden
In the picture above you get an idea of what the arcade would have looked like during its first century. You can see the time typical outfits, where the ladies are wearing bustles under their skirts to support the drapery of the back of the skirt and to stop the skirts from dragging behind. As for the gents in the picture, we have the tall hat from the late 18th century, which was still worn and developed into the top hat. The top hat was worn throughout the 19th century and it was popular among the gents to style their hair into a windswept look, or to wear it short and curled. (2)
Burlington Arcade
Dating so far back in time I wasn’t surprised to find out that the Burlington Arcade is in fact one of the predecessors to our modern day shopping galleries and shopping centres. The arcade is patrolled by Burlington Arcade Beadles, wearing traditional and very handsome uniforms, including top hats and frock coats. Do say hello when you pass them as they are always very friendly, and helpful in case you need advice.
People strolling through the arcade
There is a very fascinating and also frightening story from the arcade, in 1964, when a Jaguar Mark X suddenly raced down the arcade (the only car to ever have entered!), forcing pedestrians to throw themselves against the walls to save their lives! It came to an abrupt stop outside the Goldsmiths and Silversmiths Association shop, where six masked men jumped out of the car, smashed the windows of the shop and grabbed jewellery valued to £35,000! (3) They then reversed out of the arcade and drove off – and were never caught. After this incident big black gates were installed at both ends of the arcade to prevent other vehicles from entering.
Laduree in Burlington Arcade
Today we can enjoy visiting a wide range of shops in the arcade: from fine antique jewellers to high end fashion fashion and of course Ladurée, the French luxury bakery with their delicious macaroons!
Sources:
(1) The Burlington Arcade Website
(2) V&A Introduction to 19th century fashion
(3) Wikipedia – Burlington Arcade
Decades of Elegance 