Accessories in abundance at LFW

When is a lampshade not a lampshade? When it’s a fringed dress, hung from the stone staircase at Somerset House. I spotted lots of unique accessories at London Fashion Week.

Like this hand-sculpted metalwork and leather cape by jewellery design-duo Yunus and Eliza,

cutesy Perspex hair bands and epaulettes from Little Shipa,

arty headwear by Stephen Jones,

illuminated shoes by Liam Fahy,

and quirky handmade bags by Benedetta Bruzziches.

This time there seem to be more accessories than clothes at the exhibition – perhaps related to the growth of online shopping?

Unusually for London, there seem to be plenty of empty parking spaces too…  By the way, I am wearing a vintage men's Playboy shirt, hand painted and embellished platform shoes, with a handbag and sunglasses from ShopCurious..

Will you? 

Curious shopping trends

It’s dark by 4.0 pm, it’s raining, and the high street is a depressingly familiar sight...

But what would you like to see instead of the bright lights of Poundland?

This weekend ShopCurious has an alternative shopping showcase:





At Curious Trends, we’ve a feature on one of London’s most unique curiosity shops – LASSCO at Brunswick House. This architectural salvage emporium is perfect for anyone renovating a home, or simply on the look out for quirky antiques and retro memorabilia (though probably not for a pound).

Over at The Dabbler, we visit curiously colourful and retro-progressive Brixton Market, where you’ll find slow food, ethnic homewares and fabulous vintage fashion.

And we also take a peek at the hi-tech future of retail – just look at this virtual Tesco Homeplus store in South Korea. People in Seoul are shopping from the walls of the subway…

Are you?

Slow-tech lifestyle shift?

I was reading Elle Decoration’s recent trend report, which seemed rather like a manifesto for shopping curiously – favouring nature-inspired pieces, along with "humble materials, upcycled treasures and… quilted fabrics."

If you’ve visited central London recently you may not have noticed any move towards frugality, but after the recent riots, we’ve begun to think in a totally different way.




ShopCurious has been pivotal in the shift towards vintage and recycling. We’ve been helping lead consumers towards a less wasteful, more meaningful future - from hi-tech to artisanal; from unnecessary extravagance to provenance…













Trends indicate that a lot more of us are starting to look back to a previous (more reliable) time, when the physical and tangible prevailed… But can we not combine the advantages of modern technology with our old-found knowledge of what works, and what doesn’t, to create innovative, contemporary solutions?




On that note, you may like this curiously quirky, collectable out of print book - Corey Ford’s Guide to Thimking (sic). With over 40 vintage cartoons and groovy graphics on the cover, this ‘humorous handbook for the machine age’ is the height of retroprogressive cool.

Are you?

PS My prescient predictions from September 2010 are also worth re-reading.

Accessories for a vintage weekend

Starting today, the Vintage festival at London’s Southbank Centre is the place to be this weekend. There’s an incredible range of activities on offer, from retro shopping and dining to fashion shows, dancing and boat trips on the river. One thing’s for sure, the occasion will make for curiously fascinating people watching.

I’ve noticed that the vintage vibe is filtering down through the generations. Fashion students have led a trend that now sees young people all over the country sporting vintage clothing and accessories – even hair styles, like the quiff and the hair roll, have become rather popular.



A key accessory for any vintage look is a pair of retro sunglasses. If you’re not able to get to the Southbank over the next few days, we’ve a selection of quirky and characterful vintage shades at ShopCurious. Hopefully, you'll actually need to wear them at some stage during the summer.




















Anyway, if you’re going along to join in the fun this weekend, we’ll see you there...

Are you?

Tourist memorabilia: trivia or treasure?

Whenever I go away, I like to visit any flea markets and curiosity shops in the area, so I can rummage for quirky vintage bits and bobs. However, there’s really no need to go abroad, as local junk shops and car boot sales are perfect for sourcing retro holiday souvenirs – which have become curiously collectable of late.

A few of the pieces I've found are now available at ShopCurious: I tried to sift out the most tasteful items - including a beautifully hand painted cigar box, a characterfully antiquated Flamenco dancer, and a fabulously fierce looking doll in traditional Spanish dress.


























































Many such curiosities are probably unwanted gifts. But what is it that compels people to bring back these kitsch mementoes from their travels? And what’s the most curious thing you’ve been given by someone returning from foreign parts? Do tell…

Will you?

Fairy dust, fireworks and fragrant fantasy

There’s been no escaping the American influence in London over the past couple of days. At Clerkenwell Design Week, next to a sign saying ‘beware of pedestrians’, who should I bump into but Buzz Lightyear (courtesy of MJ Creative Imaging).

Disney’s films have been popular with designers this year. At Milan Design Week, Tron Legacy was the inspiration behind the TRON designs CORIAN retro-futuristic living room exhibit.









By curious coincidence, I was also invited to a launch event at Disney’s new showcase store in Oxford Street, which has been two years in the making, and opens on Saturday.






The store is more of an interactive experience than a shop, and even incorporates a theatre with free events. Every day, there will be an opening and closing ceremony, where a child is chosen to open or close the rope barrier with a giant key.











On entering the store, there’s a 28 foot high castle, with animations and music controlled by an iPod Touch. I was treated to a private display of thunder and lightning, fairy dust and fireworks by Disney’s marketing man, Jonathan Storey.

To coincide with the launch, there’s a new fragrance, called Imagination – the scent of possibility, the smell of the enchanted forest, a whiff of Neverland… With wild mint, watermelon, forest flowers, vetiver, sequoia and moss amongst its ingredients, it’s actually got rather a pleasant, leafy and refreshing aroma, with hints of wild berries. The candle, room spray, hand and body lotion and hand wash are colourfully packaged and reasonably priced too.












The tall, charming and beautifully bouffant blogger, Prince Cassius, was amongst those assembled to sample the scent.






I followed Tinkerbell’s Pixie Dust Trail to the Disney Princess Magic Mirror. Here children can wave a wand to watch one of five short stories, apprearing magically before them.







The back of the store is bursting with London themed Disney memorabilia.




















And, lurking amidst the animated trees was another Buzz Lightyear – as each of the members of staff is named after their favourite Disney character...




















I'm still a great fan of Minnie Mouse – if you are too, do check out the curiously collectable vintage Fiorucci Minnie Mouse sweat shirt at ShopCurious.

Will you?

Couture Catherine?

Congratulations to the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.

As soon as the wedding was over, people flocked out onto the streets of London, doing what they do best – shopping and eating.

There was bunting everywhere – in gardens, across streets and down by the river.




































Whilst some people walked to friends’ street parties, others rushed out to the shops.

In Putney, the Exchange shopping centre had a roped off shrine to the royal couple.

Many shop windows showed their own mark of respect to William and Kate in the form of congratulatory messages…























Though for some it was all about the shopping.

























Chain Store Kate would certainly have approved of the flurry of activity on the high street. Although now she’s a royal, ShopCurious wonders if she should be renamed Couture Catherine?

Do you?

It pays to be curious

I just wanted to say a big thank you to all our lovely customers.

I hope that your visits to ShopCurious are always enjoyable, educational and time saving?

Incidentally, you were curiously clever if you found some unique Christmas gifts online - and you were also spared the mercenary mania on the cold, wet streets - especially this year in London:




























































And these photos were taken before the snow…

Thank you for being curious.

Are you?