Tropical tresses

A couple of years ago I had a curiously crazy idea to get a few outdoor plants delivered to create my own tropical paradise in central London. Of course I went a bit over the top and eventually had to organize a crane to deliver said pots and palms - but the result is a pleasingly stylish and unique oasis of rustling leaves, twittering birds and buzzing insects (though at this time of the year there are quite a lot of nasty garden spiders too.. )

I thought it might be appropriate to focus on nature for a while, since so many of the new products at ShopCurious are naturally beautiful things - like these rather individual silk and feather hair accessories. Each is lovingly handmade in England by the designer, Gil Fox.






They're great for so many occasions like parties and weddings. They'll also make a perfect addition to your Christmas wardrobe, or even an unusual seasonal gift. These unique accessories are also very versatile and not just for wearing in your hair. Why not attach the clip to a hat to add some ornamentation - or fix to your clothing and turn this into a quirky corsage, or an original piece of jewellery.





They also look very arty in the leaves of my palms. The one in the middle (above) is attached to the rather dangerous looking agave (right), a plant native to Mexico. This agave is now scarily larger than when first delivered,as is the rather fiercely spined plant pictured in the top left of this blog, which I'm stilll trying to identify - I think it's a type of trithrinax. Does anyone know?

Do you?

Spanish rose

So we finally travel back to Europe to bring to an end our curiously circuitous trip along the Silk Route. We're just stopping off in Spain for a final glimmer of summer sunshine, a spot of flamenco dancing and a whiff of some late flowering Spanish roses.





Of course some parts of Spain are sunny all year round, like the Canary Islands. Perhaps that's why the Greeks and Romans called the archipelago the Fortunate or Happy Islands. Some historians believe that the legendary continent of Atlantis was located here.






On to the mainland for a bit more action. Flamenco combines dancing, singing and musical accompaniment. It possibly evolved from the music of Moslem Andalucia, during Medieval times, but developed into the dance of the gitanos or gypsies, the form of flamenco as we know it, from the late 18th century onwards. Of course, there's also a fair amount of fashion involved in flamenco. Traditional female flamenco costume is a fringed shawl, a long frilly flamenco dress (bata de cola), a fan and a flower worn in the hair.



At ShopCurious, we've got a wonderful selection of Spanish inspired vintage clothing and unique accessories for dancing (or dining, or just looking pretty). As well as our collection of original vintage silk scarves featuring Spanish tourist destinations, we've also a vintage skirt made of a recycled Spanish silk scarf with unusual hand dyed pale pink fringing. You might like to team this up with one of our selection of fans - this hand painted Spanish lace number should work perfectly - or it might make an unusual gift for someone who's visiting a hot country, who's a collector of vintage fans, or simply a lover of beautiful things.






To top it off, here's a stylish Spanish silk rose corsage, which you can use as a flamenco-style hair accessory, though this one can also be worn as a bracelet, or pinned to your dress. It looks as naturally beautiful as a real rose too - can you tell the difference?

All this talk of flowers is making me feel homesick. I know it's a bit sad, but I'm missing my plants! I'm curious to see what's happened in the garden whilst I've been away.
Are you?