London Family Black Book

We created this post in partnership with  Bugaboo, in support of our new family travel newsletter, Yolo Junior

I live in Battersea, South London, with my husband, our two-year-old daughter Bobbie, and a black labrador named Aoife. Most mornings start early with a walk through Battersea Park, then the toddler and dog drop-off before the working day begins. It’s a routine that feels equal parts chaotic and grounding, and I’ve come to love it.

By day I run With Nothing Underneath, the shirting brand I founded in 2017 after years as a stylist at Vogue and Tatler left me convinced that a well-made, well-priced women’s shirt simply didn’t exist. It started from one shirt, roomy enough to move in, smart enough for anywhere, and has grown from there. B Corp certified, independently run, designed around the reality of actual life.

Becoming a mother has made me slower and more attentive to London in equal measure. I notice things differently now, such as which parks have the best playgrounds, which cafés don’t mind a buggy, which corners of the city feel genuinely made for small people. There’s a whole parallel London that opens up when you’re moving through it at toddler pace: low to the ground, easily distracted, suddenly interested in pigeons and puddles and the exact texture of every wall you pass.

London has always inspired me, from its neighbourhoods to the way the light changes in October, the particular energy of a city that never quite settles. But with Bobbie in tow, I’m discovering it all over again. More slowly. More closely. And, if I’m honest, more joyfully than before.

EAT & DRINK 

Il Molino is our local café. We are here every morning as a family before heading off to work/nursery etc. and we are very loyal—couldn’t go to a different coffee shop.

For brunch at the weekend, we love the Pear Tree Café in the middle of Battersea Park: yummy food and room for toddler and dog to roam—everyone is happy.