Taking the commemorative royal biscuit

In the previous post I forgot to mention some other useful gifts at ShopCurious: These characteful retro souvenir tins, commemorating royal weddings have just arrived. Not only do they come in handy for storing biccies and/or collecting curious stuff, but they’re also likely to appreciate in value - especially in view of the forthcoming demand for royal wedding memorabilia.









Despite the monarchy’s wealth and status, even Prince William and Kate Middleton seem to prefer life’s simple pleasures over the pomp and circumstance of ceremonial occasion. It’s a touching tribute to both Princess Diana and his future wife that, as someone who could have his pick of virtually any piece of designer jewellery in the world, Prince William chose to give Kate Middleton his late mother’s engagement ring as a gift of his love.






And it’s also a testament to the Prince and his future brides’ commitment to their country and its economic wellbeing that they’ve chosen to have a very formal and very public wedding. I don’t think Kate will be making her own wedding dress, but it’s good to note that our prospective King and Queen are a resourceful couple, who understand their duties and responsibilities - and seem genuinely able to identify with the thoughts, feelings and opinions of the average British citizen.























Anyway, I don’t care what anyone else says or thinks about previous royal weddings, I find Wills and Kate totally charming. And now I’m off to have a celebratory cheap and cheery cuppa. In fact, I was going to ask you to join me in commemorating the royal occasion by dunking a biscuit or two from one of these curiously collectable tins…but somebody seems to have eaten them all. You look awfully guilty…

Are you?

Collecting for Christmas?

With purse strings tightened, we may start to become more inventive in our seasonal gift choices. It’s intresting that some of the latest shopping trends recall memories of a bygone era, when people made the most of what little they had, and used their own skills to create special treats for their family and friends.

Some of the things I’ve noticed already are:

- Increased purchases of the basics, such as raw materials for crafty creative pursuits, like knitting wool and beads, which are perfect for those with time to DIY design and make their own Christmas gifts.

- Recycling and updating old clothes and accessories to refresh and give added life to occasion wear.

- Investing in timeless treasures like personalized books and retro collectibles, which can be passed on as heirlooms to future generations



- Buying useful gifts, like this curiously collectable, porcelain Union Jack piggy bank from ShopCurious.

- Making memories instead of giving a tangible present – cooking a nice meal for someone, sharing a walk or a meal out together…

For me, receiving photographs of an enjoyable occasion or event is often more special than being given yet another gift I don’t necessarily want or need… How about you? Hope you’ll share your views and opinions, along with any other inventive gift suggestions you may have…

Will you?

Retro showbiz style

Talking of drugs, this has to be the most stylish 'no smoking' sign I’ve ever seen, as photographed at the amazing Sands Films studio in London’s Rotherhithe – a hidden gem of a place that’s full of quirky curiosities and old fashioned charm.

Though Harry Potter (and associated film studios) have been in the news recently, you may not have heard of Sands, which incidentally, makes the costumes for the Tales of Beatrix Potter ballet productions (see below). The incredible thing about Sands is that they’re well and truly entrenched in the past in terms of their approach and methodology, yet they still produce top-rated films.



Anyone who appreciates or collects vintage clothing simply has to visit the huge period costume hire department. There are also all manner of accessories, including hats, umbrellas, masks, gloves, fans and corsets. And there's an extraordinary photographic library. Anyway, you can read more about Sands Films (and see more fabulous photos) in today’s Curious Trends article.











Staying with the showbiz theme, we’ve a rather nice book of old movie star photos at ShopCurious. Film star portraits of the fifties includes glamorous photographs of Marilyn Monroe, Tony Curtis, Gregory Peck, Marlene Dietrich, Doris Day, Elizabeth Taylor and many others. Might serve as a suitably starry Christmas gift for one of your parents, perhaps? Or maybe you have your own collection of movie star memorabilia?








Finally, more showbiz style over at The Dabbler, where the English rugby team is given a curiously French fashion make-over. Do check out their new outfits and let me know what you think.

Will you?

Do the happy-hippy shake?

I do appear to be a little pie-eyed in this photograph, which is curious - because I wasn’t aware of any physical side-effects from my deep inhalations of oxygen. Apparently, this is meant to be relaxing, to slow down the breathing and calm the mind – the perfect antidote to a frenzied French fashion fair… I’m not even sure which flavour my oxygen was, but I’d certainly have preferred to try a little from the bottle (below) that was mysteriously hand-labelled ‘aphrodisiaque’.





I was wondering if oxygen is classified as a drug as I wandered around the Wellcome Collection’s new exhibition, High Society, which is on from today until 27th February. Standing in the midst Mustafa Hulusi’s amazing four screen video installation of poppies growing at Afyon, in Turkey, is enough to make anyone feel light-headed.







The emergence of the illicit drugs industry is a very disturbing trend, and this fascinating show of information, artefacts and artworks relating to drugs and the drugs industry “invites the visitor to question our modern attitudes in the light of other times and cultures.”

Talking of other cultures, we’ve got a curiously psychedelic lucky Buddha water globe at ShopCurious. This would certainly make an unusual gift, or an interesting present for someone who's got a very sad addiction: collecting traditional Christmas snow domes.





The weirdest thing is that when you give this quirky curiosity a shake, the water inside looks strangely as though it’s filled with smoke, or am I dreaming? I’m sure the smoke is totally harmless, but nevertheless, this Buddha looks unusually happy…








Anyway, I’m curious to know if you've had any harmlessly happy, hippy experiences? Now please don’t be shy…

Will you?

From gift to heirloom: collecting for posterity

This month our theme is collecting and I’ll be suggesting some ideas for unique and unusual gifts that aren’t just for Christmas.

I was recently asked to list my top tips for creating an heirloom legacy by a fascinating new magazine called Eulogy. You can read the magazine online, including my article, Heirlooms: A Legacy of Love - a ten point check list for buying collectable items with the potential to become a valuable legacy for your family or loved ones.

Best of all, I got to hear from world renowned fashion designer, Zandra Rhodes CBE, about her heirlooms and the legacy she plans to leave to the public via her Fashion and Textile Museum in London. You can read the whole interview on the Eulogy Magazine website.

"Fashion has only relatively recently been considered as an art form in its own right and of interest from an historical and investment perspective,” so talking with fashion museum founder, Zandra, was very illuminating. It was especially useful to hear her expert advice on what to look out for when collecting vintage clothing.

Collectable curiosities and antique finds with provenance are also becoming increasingly sought after as gifts. It makes a refreshing change to receive something with timeless style that doesn't get thrown out as soon as it goes out of fashion.

And, talking of provenance, earlier this week I received an email from a kind lady in the north of England about a pair of 1930s retro prints by Lilian Rowles at ShopCurious. She identified the baby in the blue print (left) as a relative of Lilian Rowles, who was born in 1933, and who apparently only had dark hair until she was 9 months old - which dates the picture to between 1933 and 1934. What’s more, the baby’s daughter now runs a fabulous vintage shop called The Cloth Shed – and you can read more about Lilian’s artwork on her charming blog.

Anyway, I’m curious to hear about your heirlooms and the legacy you’d like to pass on to future generations – do you have a collection of your own, or any items of special provenance you’d like to tell us about?

Do you?

Bags of DIY style

As part of its Great Transition initiative, the New Economics Foundation (nef) recently held a panel discussion on how to survive financial crisis, climate change and soon-to-be-declining global oil production. One of the speakers was Dame Vivienne Westwood, who helpfully suggested that we stop buying clothes for six months and wear a towel instead of a coat. One of her shrewd observations was “It’s all about do-it-yourself at the moment.”




The DIY design trend has been gaining ground for quite a while now. I’ve participated in this myself, by creating a small range of unique accessories for ShopCurious, including these ‘curiosity clutch bags’, which are made from pieces of recycled vintage fabric, decorated with exotic ‘found’ curiosities - like old brooches, carved jade and unusual pieces of jewellery.

If there’s enough interest, I may create a larger collection – but only using materials that might otherwise be thrown away, or remain unusable unless re-fashioned into new items like these. Anyway, if you buy one of my DIY bags, at least you won't feel guilty about wasting valuable resources, plus you'll be helping to keep small craftspeople employed.

By the way, you can hear the podcast of Dame Viv’s speech on the nef website, although for some reason when I tried it didn’t seem to be working. I hope you have better luck than me.

Will you?

Accessories for the afterlife?

Are you planning to visit the forthcoming exhibition at the British Museum? From 4th November, Journey through the afterlife: ancient Egyptian Book of the Dead will present and explore the ancient Egyptian beliefs about life after death, via an amazing collection of artefacts and papyri.

I recently read that an ancient papyrus in the Brooklyn Museum served as a manual for a doctor treating a snake bite, though he probably omitted the magical incantation that would have been spoken whilst the remedy was being applied. Despite their obvious dangers, snakes were sometimes worshipped as deities in ancient Egypt, and mummified cobras have been found amongst the millions of other animals in great animal catacombs.





If you’d like your own snake charm, we’ve some curiously Egyptian style accessories at ShopCurious, from vintage snake jewellery to Thea Cadabra’s individually hand crafted, colourful leather snake belts and hand embroidered snake ties from Or Wot.









We’ve also recently acquired some uniquely stylish antique pendants featuring pharaohs and scarab beetles. These are original Czech glass pieces from the ‘Egyptian revival’ period of the mid 1920s, which are highly collectable. Also new in is a vintage 1950s retro mirror compact, featuring a pharaoh’s head.







I’m not sure if any of these will help you in the afterlife, but you never know...

Do you?