Eat, shop, garden: Chelsea Flower Show trends

The Chelsea Flower show is always something of a mixed bag of grow-your-own meets meets country house gardener. There’s also the fiercely competitive element of corporate landscape design, where worlds of finance, media, retail and eco-aware business vie for publicity on their highly prized patch of Sloaney turf.

Every year, working like a well oiled machine, the show sees long snakes of people through narrow entrances into bustling alleys of market stalls and stands, selling all manner of garden related wares from packets of seeds and wellies to bronze statuary and quirky gypsy caravans.

























Those fascinated by frost and fertilizer form orderly queues for lunch, tea and the loo. In this colony of cultivation, earnest devotees swarm like ants to and from their chosen attractions, occasionally stopping to indulge a Chelsea Pensioner in the odd spot of friendly banter.

Last year, I noticed there was rather an Eat, Pray, Love feel to the occasion, with many of the gardens displaying Far Eastern or spiritual influences.























This year, along with strange new varieties of plants and flowers (see below), I’ll be looking out for urban farming and living walls (as promised by B&Q's entry), and curious trends like edible art. The cleverest of designers will presumably have created rain gardens, not for collecting, but for making rain…


























Meantime, all things horticultural are happening in interiors – with an abundance of fabulously floral home accessories. I spotted plenty of these on Friday, when I visited sofa.com’s cool Chelsea showroom for the first ever Dabbler Summit – see the photos in my latest post at The Dabbler.













And do check out the curiously collectable vintage flower paperweights at ShopCurious too. At least they won’t need any watering.

Will you?

Flying back in time, Aesthetic style

Last year’s Chelsea Flower Show brought out the bees and the bugs, though I didn’t see any dragonflies – apart from our Art Nouveau style brooch. This year, we’ve another dragonfly brooch at ShopCurious, with more of an arts and craftsy feel…Curiously appropriate in view of the Cult of Beauty exhibition, currently showing at London's Victoria and Albert Museum.









A whole host of Aesthetic themed events around town are cashing in on the popularity of the show. Last night, I popped down to a preview of Liberty’s annual Arts and Crafts exhibition at their Regent Street Store, held in association with specialist dealer, Patch Rogers.

The pieces on offer include Aesthetic furniture, books and objets d’art – all the sorts of things that would have been available at Liberty & Co when they were originally produced.




Some of the items were a little out of my price bracket, like this edition of Salome by Oscar Wilde, illustrated by Aubrey Beardsley. Apparently, Wilde dedicated his play to Sarah Bernhardt, who appeared in private performances of the banned production, in London and Paris.






Slightly more reasonable was this stylish Aesthetic movement panel in its original oak frame, dating from around 1895.

And, talking of dragonflies, some motifs appear more widely than others on the items – like the peacock, an ancient icon of beauty that’s often seen on antique Persian ceramics. The totemic symbols of the V&A exhibition, sunflowers and lilies, are also very much in evidence.







As for social butterflies, there was another rather more happening event at the store last night, where designer Richard Nicoll (right) held court over a fashionable crowd of shoppers etc, including the likes of Henry Holland.

Thinking of the dragonfly, symbol of enlightenment and freedom, reminded me that the Aesthetic movement was based upon a feeling that the world was becoming increasingly ugly and commercial. Artists of the time were looking for something fresh and more naturally beautiful…

Are you?

Childhood musical memories

There’s nothing like a bit of nostalgia - so, what are your favourite musical memories? Does anyone remember Andy Pandy?

I’m of the opinion that an appreciation of music, as mentioned in my latest post at The Dabbler, is something that should be introduced to children from an early age.

When I heard about the Fun with Music CDs by Ann Rachlin, where she narrates stories to famous pieces of classical music, I bought selections of them for all my Godchildren.

I’m also a big fan of nursery rhymes. This wonderful vintage children’s picture book, currently available at ShopCurious, combines the well known Hey Diddle Diddle and Baby Bunting with curiously charming and old fashioned illustrations by famous cartoonist, Randolph Caldecott.















The rare publication dates from 1882, yet the rhymes are as loved today as they were then. This would make a very special heirloom gift for a newborn baby, young child or Godchild.















Anyway, I’m interested to hear your childhood musical memories, so do let me know...

Will you?

Classical music in fashion?

Will you be watching Stephen Fry debating against Radio 1 DJ Kissy Sell Out in the first ever live-streamed debate from the Cambridge Union Society tonight? The motion is ‘This House believes that classical music is irrelevant to today’s youth.’

I’ll be tuning in at 7.0 pm, and will let you know my verdict after the event…








Curiously, I’ve noticed that classical music is creeping into fashion - in particular, alongside romantic Regency and Rococo style influences in clothing and accessories.









This is good news for men, giving them the opportunity to be a little more flamboyant in their dress... And we’ve the perfect musically inspired accessory at ShopCurious – a vintage silk and wool opera scarf, featuring an operatic music manuscript print. Useful, since Father’s Day falls bang in the middle of the summer opera season.







Meantime, I’m looking forward to the debate.

Are you?

Never on a Sundae?

As mentioned in my post at The Dabbler, I’ve fallen madly in love with the late 19th century mandolin I purchased recently. A few days after buying the balloon-backed beauty, I stumbled upon a quirky little retro holiday souvenir that has a very similar shape.












I think the colourfully hand painted instrument, now available at ShopCurious, is originally from Greece. A list of Greek stringed instruments indicates that it may be something called a Sazi.



I haven’t quite mastered the mandolin yet, but perhaps I don’t need to, as some instruments play music all by themselves…

The mini mandolin-style memento isn’t quite as in tune with nature as the self-playing musical masonry that’s appearing in communal spaces the world over. In fact, it sounds curiously like the chimes from a traditional British ice cream van.

Anyway, here’s the original version of the tune from the 1960 film, Never on Sunday (with English subtitles). This fabulous old clip has Melina Mercouri waxing lyrical over the sensual delights of the Athens Port of Piraeus…

Are you?

Curiosities of musical art

An aging population, a fascination with vintage style and our nostalgia for slower, less frenetic, times have contributed to the growing popularity of retro sounds and musical curiosities.

The influence of Cubism in contemporary design art is also having a curious effect upon our perception and treatment of musical instruments.









At ShopCurious, we’ve unearthed some unusual pieces of musical memorabilia that will be appearing on our website over the next couple of weeks. Fans of old style rhythm & blues, and quirky kitsch, will appreciate this collectable set of hand painted, ceramic musicians.

























I love the curiously characterful faces of the members of this band – each one is totally unique. Dressed in fashionable red, these colourful figurines will jazz up any home décor scheme...

Even grungy greige.

Will you?

Vintage royal mementoes

Plans for the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge to travel abroad have apparently been put on hold, to avoid being hassled by an international media circus. ‘Wish you weren’t here,’ is the message the royal couple are most likely to send on a postcard home, as they strive to achieve some semblance of privacy.












As the happy couple spend a quiet pre-honeymoon weekend in the UK, recovering from the Royal Wedding, I discovered that a relaxing local getaway is very much in keeping with royal tradition of yesteryear (see my Retropgressive column at The Dabbler).





Meantime, I’ve also found the perfect selection of stationery for the Cambridges' official honeymoon greetings: A collectable set of six vintage postcards at ShopCurious, featuring royal portraits dating back to the reign of King George VI.








These curiously posh postcards are actually original photographs, ranging from formal state portraits of Her Majesty The Queen, to informal shots of the royal family at home. The artists include child photographer, Marcus Adams (1875-1959), whose work is currently on show at The Palace of Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh (until 5th June).










There are also photographs by the late Dorothy Wilding, probably Britain's most famous female photographer.







Wilding was the first woman to be awarded a Royal Warrant to be the official photographer to a King and Queen at their Coronation, and one of her photographs of the present Queen (known as the 'Wilding Portrait') was used for a series of definitive British postage stamps, used between 1953 and 1967.

If they’re not snapped up for the Royal Collection, such charming, old fashioned ephemera would make a lovely family heirloom. Alternatively, you may wish to mail a few royal memories to your friends from your own holiday hideaway…

Do you?