Although I don’t know how it came to pass, for a while in the 1980s Jean-Paul Gaultier was an honorary North London queen. After The Bell in Kings Cross closed on a Sunday night, he would often be among the throng running the gauntlet of a dodgy pub (rumored to be a National Front hangout) off York Way on route to another gay club called Traffic that stayed open later. Perhaps inspired by the idea of additional anti-skinhead armor, Gaultier designed these metal shoe plates that he laced onto his multi-hole Doc Marten boots. They inevitably went on to become big with the fashionistas and were available for a while at Stephan Kélian in London.

Some dimly remembered soundtrack selections:

Sunday night @ The Bell
Prince - Kiss, Mountains, Anotherloverholeinyourhead, Girls & Boys
Woodentops - Well, Well, Well
Pet Shop Boys - West End Girls, Opportunities, Love Comes Quickly, Paninaro
Cocteau Twins - Peppermint Pig
SPK - Metal Dance
The Smiths - How Soon is Now?, Bigmouth Strikes Again, There is a Light that Never Goes Out
Paul Simpson - Musical Freedom
Siouxsie & the Banshees - Cities in Dust
Eurythmics & Aretha Franklin - Sisters are Doin’ it for Themselves
James Brown - Living in America
Sunday night @ Traffic
Madonna - Into the Groove, Open Your Heart
Barbara Mason - Another Man
Taffy - I Love My Radio (Midnight Radio)
Steve Silk Hurley - Jack Your Body
Bronski Beat - Smalltown Boy, Tell Me Why
Fingers, Inc. - Mystery of Love