Escalator etiquette is one of those things that bugs you intensely for about two minutes a day as you battle your way up a moving staircase full of gum chewing dead eyed tourists, but then flits from your mind the minute you make it out into the fresh damp air of the outside world. I  personally find it hugely embarrassing that all my Australian relatives  resolutely stand on the wrong side every single time, looking slightly concerned and confused at my furious head jerks to the right without actually twigging their meaning, oblivious to the long line of huffing businessmen squashed behind them.

Now I see why.

This great article in the Times explains that whilst modern (and Australian) escalators finish straight on, making it incidental which foot you use to step off, in days of yore a.k.a the 1920’s, when the first escalators were introduced on the Underground, the ’shunt’ design meant they finished on a diagonal, with the right side making first contact with the stair end, therefore making it logical to stand on the right so you don’t have to lunge across the stairway and trip up when disembarking.

That said, I still think it makes more sense to stand on the right, as most people are right-handed so will have a better grip on the handrail, although I think these guys would have something to say about it.

Photo by avlxyz used under a Creative Commons License

London commuters are in for a pleasant surprise come Monday- nestling amongst the many blah Underground adverts for travel insurance, low cost calling rates and airbrushed photos of Hollywood stars enhanced by the oh-so-wittily positioned old chewing-gum stuck over their nostrils by bored commuters, will be these eye-catching beauties.

Elle Magazine has commissioned twenty-five posters to commemorate London Fashion Week’s twenty-fifth anniversary, each created by a legend of British Fashion. (Henry Holland and Christopher Bailey’s creations are featured above)

You can see all the posters on the Elle website and on a tube station wall near you soon – assuming they don’t all get ripped off and taken home as trophies by zealous Fashionistas!

Vintage fabrics of the London Underground

Via PSFK and Wallpaper comes news of London Underground’s scheme to crowdsource the design of the seat fabric in London tube trains.

Here’s the brief:

The colours should respond well to natural and artificial light (there’s even a pantone reference wheel allocating percentage allowances), the pattern must wear and tear well and the fabric must be comfortable and durable. This might sound fairly restrictive but entrants are also encouraged to challenge convention where possible, being mindful not to create a repeat pattern that’s too small to ‘dazzle’ the 3.5 million commuters who will see it each day.

You’ve got to submit your ideas by September 14th, and you can find out more here.

A user generated design would be a brilliant ‘next chapter’ in LU’s  history of design innovation, which includes Edward Johnston’s sans serif font, Harry Beck’s map and Paul Nash’s fabric.

If you’re a true fan you can even buy retro furniture cubes from the London Underground shop – strangely, they are known as ‘Harlem Cubes’ (anyone know why?)

We’re feeling blue because our intrepid reporter lost their favourite pair of killer heels on the Underground this weekend, (don’t ask) so we thought it was high time to draw together some amusing articles about the random stuff that gets left on the London Underground and the NY Metro every year.

For example, the mind boggles at exactly how one could forget their breast implants while  minding the gap, and both offices have had to deal with urns full of human ashes, albeit ‘misplaced’ under very different circumstances.

A great Time Out article on the London Lost Property Office

A more sober NYT piece on the New York Metro’s Office

A Guardian photo gallery of items found on the London Underground

Photo courtesy of Barry Lewis via the Guardian