Shell out on style

The treasures discovered on my recent visit to the V&A textile stores (click on the pics to enlarge) included a surrealist style 'ceremonial hat for eating bouillabaisse'.






Dating from 1936, this extraordinary hat was made by Eileen Agar, a friend of Salvador Dali. Now specially boxed up, and carefully kept in a temperature controlled, secure environment, the elaborate shell and coral encrusted curiosity must surely be worth a bob or two...


However, in addition to the quirky fish bone decoration, I couldn’t help noticing a couple of rather tacky plastic things (see right) attached to the hat, that looked suspiciously like Christmas cocktail party swizzlers – were they really from the 1930s?





This made me wonder if the vintage (1990s) anemone adorned hat lurking at the bottom of my wardrobe was, perhaps, just a tad more tasteful?







Anyway, as we’re talking about crustaceans, I thought I’d mention Caroline Perrin’s magnificently stylish shell creations, several of which are now available at ShopCurious.

Each of these exquisitely handmade, decorative shell boxes is totally individual - and completely covered in naturally beautiful seashells, sourced from remote beaches around the world.





If you’re able to shell out a little more than usual, I can guarantee your mother would love one of these as a really special gift for Mothers’ Day.








Timeless in style and useful too, these boxes are just the sort of pieces that should be highly collectable in years to come. Gimmicky fashion is fun, but fine quality craftsmanship, authentic materials and simple, practical design may prove to be a much more sensible investment.

Will you?