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« September 2007 | Main | November 2007 »
A true icon of 20th century design, the Serpente table lamp by Elio Martinelli is still available over 40 years after its first appearance.
Designed in 1965 for Martinelli Luce, this snake-like table lamp features a swivelling metallic upper arm and a rounded white opal methacrylate diffuser, responsible for that very bright glow.
Sat in many modern design museums, it can be sat in your living room for £450.
Another way of using up surplus vinyl sleeves - the Artyfakt recycled record CD case.
Yes, there is a certain amount of irony at work here, but there's no denying that this is a very smart case. There's a number of records to choose from, with this one using Ray Charles' Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music LP. The box holds around 12 CDs in jewel cases, with a tortoise shell-coloured handle to carry it round.
You can pick it up from Etsy for $48, which is around £24. Here's hoping they can make some 45 cases in the same way.
Find out more at the Etsy website
The novelty phone died out sometime in the mid 80s - until now that is, with Tesco (of all people) bringing one back to the high street in the form of the Mybelle stiletto shoe telephone.
Yes, a phone like a classic stiletto shoe, featuring an adjustable ringer volume and last number redial. The number pad, as you can see, is in the middle of the 'shoe'.
Ideal for adding a bit of cheese to your living room, it retails for a very affordable £14.95.
Find out more at the Tesco website
Via Shiny Shiny
The Duncan Mug is not named after the designer or any past celebrity of that name, but it is a reference to ‘dunking’ that quaint British habit of dipping one’s biscuit into one’s tea.
These mugs are so called because at the bottom of each one as a mould of a favourite biscuit that reveals itself when you finish your drink. Available in a choice of three classics, Custard Cream, Jammie Dodger or Shortbread, the mugs are made of white earthenware
Pedlars are selling from for £12 each.
A little short notice, but if you are able to get to the John Smedley factory shop or you happen to be in London, the company is having a clearout of slight seconds and end of range items.
There are always classic knitwear bargains to be had, so it is well worth the effort. Details of the events below.
Saturday & Sunday 3rd/4th November:
John Smedley factory shop, Lea Mills Matlock Derbyshire DE4 5AG
Time: 10am until 4pm.
Prices from £10 for slight seconds and end of range styles.
Monday 5th November:
London College of Fashion,off Oxford Circus, central London
Time: 10am until 6pm.
Current season sample styles at clearance prices.
Browse the current range at the John Smedley website
A few months back, we featured the initial range of Flavia Del Pra lamps. If you liked the look of them, but couldn't quite find one right for you, there's a new range now available to order.
And the new set certainly matches the old ones for bright and bold design on both the ceramic base and fabric shade, all inspired by flowers, traditional lace and Oriental forms and typified by the two new lamps above.
You can order now, with small lamps retailing for £300 and the large lamps (which are one off pieces) selling for £360.
Find out more at the Bodie & Fou website
The Ideal Home show is 100 years old - and to celebrate, the 2008 show will have much for the future, but also a touch of the past.
The show will feature the usual full-size builds of cutting-edge design (like the one pictured here dating back to 1971), including the Ultimate Eco House and an ostentatious luxury of the Dream House. But it will also feature Century Street - a recreation of houses from different eras, pulled from the shows archives, not to mention some art deco style, psychedelic sofas, retro cars, kitsch gardens and classic advertising. That alone sounds like it's worth the admission fee.
The Centenary Ideal Home Show is held at Earls Court in London from 14th March - 6th April 2008. Tickets are available now.
There's been a huge surge in vintage-inspired fashion at the moment, which is a bit of a double edged sword for retro lovers. Firstly, it's a massive pain to see people wearing retro style badly, but at least it does mean there's an awful lot more affordable choice around.
These Mary Janes from Joie Shoes have me thanking the surge of retro loving fashion types. Delightfully retro, these bubble toed shoes come in three colours of leather, my favourite being this vintage cream. A well crafted pair that will never go out of style.
10th November sees the return of the club 13th Floor to The Albany in London. This popular club night has been running for just over three years and has moved from being a quarterly event to once every two months.
The music policy is anything danceable from the 1960s, with particular emphasis on pop, garage and psychedelic rock. Recent playlists include artists such as The Sonics, The Seeds and as you would expect The 13th Floor Elevators, but thrown into the mix you’ll often find more mainstream poppy numbers by The Dave Clark Five, Herman’s Hermits and The Hollies.
Club Founder Dan Maier is also not adverse to playing songs by the Beatles, the Stones, the Kinks and the Who, which other clubs stay away from as being too obvious, which results in a club night with a great variety of music to please both lovers of the obscure and those who are coming to the club for the first time with little knowledge of sixties music.
13th Floor, The Albany, 240 Great Portland Street, London on 10th November with special guest DJS Northern Roses. Further details on the website.
Another weighty work from Taschen - the A-Z Of Modern Architecture.
Described as 'an unprecedented architecture encyclopedia', this two-volume book covers 566 architects and movements from the 18th to the 21st century, with a biography of each, along with important works, historical context and their general approach. And of course, plenty of images of really striking architecture from around the world.
If you have any interest in buildings of the modern age, this should be worth checking out. Taschen are retailing it at £160, although Amazon are selling it for £105.60.
Find out more about the book at Amazon.co.uk
Very simple, but very effective - that just about sums up this Paul Rand Dada poster from Habitat.
It's actually a book cover (unsurprisingly for a book about the Dada movement), designed by the noted American graphic artist in 1951 and reproduced by Habitat as this 50cm x 70cm poster.
And you can pick up this little piece of history fairly cheaply at just £15.
Find out more about the poster at the Habitat website
More retro Christmas cards, this time from Paperchase, which is selling these 50s-style charity Christmas cards.
Three good points here. Firstly, that design, which is colourful and quirky, with 50s-style graphics. Secondly, these are charity cards, with 45p from each pack going to Hearing Dogs For Deaf People.
And finally, the price. This is a pack of 10 cards and it retails for just £2.75, so a real bargain too. You can pick them up from a Paperchase store or from the Paperchase store at Amazon.
If you're not familiar, Sir Terry Frost was an early and influential British abstract artist - and this PVC bag uses a detail from one of his images.
That image is Orchard Tambourine. The bag itself uses just dome of the 'patches', printing them onto a cotton drill bag using a hard-wearing PVC coating.
It's sized at 30 x 34cm, so pretty large. And it's available from the Royal Academy of Arts for £25.
Find out more at the Royal Academy of Arts website
As we're on a dark wood theme, it's perhaps a good time to flag up one of the smartest small-size radios around - the Vita Audio R1 DAB/FM radio.
You can get it in a variety of finishes, but the two for me are the wood finishes - walnut and cherry (pictured here). Not just pretty faces either, the radios have DAB and FM reception, clock and alarm, 10 station presets, information display, cool dial control and gold-plated outputs.
Sized at 17 x 13 x 13cm, you can pick one up for £159.99.
A dark wood and chrome combination always ticks the boxes for us, so we're quite taken by the Morton walnut veneer console.
That dark wood is walnut and matched up with the chrome frame and minimalist sliding drawer, it really does produce that late 60s Merrow look.
Sized at 76 x 120 x 45cm and ideal for a variety of purposes, you can pick up the console online for £330.
Want to really make a feature of a feature wall? You could invest in this scratch and sniff pop art wallpaper, courtesy of Flavor Paper.
If the pop art-style bright blue background and contrasting yellow of the bananas don't grab the attention of your visitors, the ability to smell the bananas on display surely will. The paper is hand screen printed, with each roll around 27 inches wide and 15ft long.
The downside, as you might have guessed, is the price. It retails for $360 per roll, which is around £180. But to balance that out, a part of the profits goes to the Human Rights Campaign and you'll probably be the only person on the street with intentionally-smelly wallpaper.
What do you buy for the man or woman who has everything for the kitchen? A pair of Onion Goggles perhaps?
Yes, you can buy such a thing - and even better, they're shaped in the style of 1950s glasses and available in colours from black to pink. How do they work? Well, they offer a seal against the vapours that make you cry when peeling an onion, something we could all do with when chopping.
You can pick up a pair online, priced at $20 (around £10).
Find out more at the Violet website
There's a distinctly vintage feel to these handmade Daisy Bags.
That's probably down to the bright colours or possibly that daisy design, but more likely, the fact that it is made of that 70s staple, felt. The whole bag is made of felt, including the long strap and the design.
And if you like that idea, these bags are available to order online in a choice of colours, priced at £55.
Find out more at the Purves & Purves website
Its Halloween tomorrow which means trick or treat-ers. Probably most kids today are hoping to be given cash for their efforts, but the traditional reward is sweets, which seems like a good excuse to order this Retro Sweets Hamper.
It is filled to the brim with sweets from yesteryear including sweetie necklaces (still stylish!), Parma Violets (you either love them or hate them), Wham Bars (is anything naturally that colour?) and candy cigarettes (not the most politically correct for a child).
The filled hamper costs £30 and for an extra £7.95, you can have next day delivery so it will be with you in time for Halloween if you order now from I Want One of Those.
Whilst they probably won’t replace George Nelson in our affections as our favourite clock designer, Nextime are still producing a number of designs worthy of our attention. The latest to catch our eye is the Choc Wall Clock.
It is a simple design with clear numbers on a warm toned wood clock face. Retailer Tick Tock Clocks claim it would look good in any modern room, but we’d add that it would look better in any retro room!
The Choc Wall Clock costs just under £60 from Tick Tock Clocks.
If you're making a playlist for Halloween and don't fancy playing Michael Jackson's Thriller 14 times, head over to Electric Roulette for the site's top 10 alternative Halloween songs.
Obviously, the likes of Screamin' Jay Hawkins, The Cramps and The Sonics won't be to everyone's taste - but who can resist a bit of Cliff Richard during a pagan festival?
And if you know of any more, leave a comment with them.
Check out the top 10 Halloween tunes at Electric Roulette
Everyone needs a peacoat for the winter and for looks, this newly-launched Fred Perry limited edition peacoat is right up there.
Slightly shorter than the usual peacoat and with a higher collar, otherwise fairly typical with side pockets, button cuffs and the double-breasted fastening.
It's black only, made of 80 per cent wool and 20 per cent nylon. The one downside is the price - a rather hefty £295. Maybe worth waiting for the December sales - when it gets really cold and the coat hopefully gets a markdown.
Find out more at the Fred Perry website
It might be well over 60 years old, but the Poeten Sofa by Danish designer Finn Juhl is still an incredibly eye-catching piece of furniture.
It was made by Juhl for his own home in 1941 - and I'm guessing that home was tall and not that spacious, judging by the proportions of the sofa. If that's your place too, this current version is incredibly well-made, with hand-sewn upholstery and legs available in several different types of wood.
Sold in a choice of fabric shades, the Poeten is available to order for £4,598.
Find out more at the Lollipop Shoppe website
Christmas just isn't complete without at least one viewing of It's A Wonderful Life - and it's back again in November as a Collector's Edition DVD.
If you've somehow missed it previously, Frank Capra’s 1946 classic tearjerker stars James Stewart as George Bailey - a man who has spent his entire life working tirelessly for the benefit of the people of Bedford Falls, keeping everyone safe from evil local businessman Mr. Henry F. Potter (Lionel Barrymore). Eventually, lost money causes George's downfall - and he contemplates suicide. But a guardian angel comes to his rescue, showing George what the world would be like without him.
50p from sales of the DVD will go to the Samaritans - so you'll also be doing your bit for charity, as well as picking up a must-own movie. It is released on 26th November, retailing for around £13.49.
Internet shopping is undoubtedly convenient but you still can’t beat the feeling of finding a little gem in person, in a second-hand shop or car boot sale. But searching for those treasures is time-consuming and often you come away empty handed. Equally, there are the big design shows, but those can be daunting, expensive and not so retro-friendly. So here is an alternative way, Midcentury Modern, a show that brings together 65 dealers and designers under one roof.
It is being held on Sunday 18th November at Dulwich College, a large 1960s building that makes an appropriate location for the show. As the name suggests, the show covers both the best in design from the last century and the future. Dealers in fifties, sixties and seventies furniture and decorative arts will be downstairs, whilst cool products from new British designers, including Retro To Go favourites People Will Always Need Plates, will be selling their wares upstairs. Prices range from £10-£10,000 so there should be something to suit your tastes and budget.
Modern Century Modern in association with Elle Magazine, Sunday 18th November, 10am - 4pm. Christison Hall, Dulwich College, Dulwich Common, London SE21. £5. Pay on the Door. £7 early entry from 9am for trade with a business card. Further information can be found on their website.
Relive the first (and indeed best) Rocky movie with this Rocky 1 Minimates Box Set.
Yes, these are miniatures of Workout Rocky, Mickey, Adrian and Boxing Gear Rocky (complete with a piece of meat to punch). And if you like these, you'll be pleased to know the same people are issuing a Rocky 2 set next month too, which adds Apollo Creed and Paulie into the mix, as well as a special Rocky and Adrian set.
The sets retail for $14.99 (around £8).
Not where you are, but here (in less-than-sunny Manchester), it's been pouring down for the last three days. Time for a waterproof - and a good time for the Lyle & Scott limited edition Vintage Windbreaker to become available.
This is straight out of the company's archives and limited to just 1,000 pieces worldwide. Three colourways available (including the two pictured here), each featuring a split colour design and featuring the distinctive Lyle & Scott eagle on the breast.
Made from a lightweight nylon, they retail for £69.
Find out more at the End Clothing website
Lucienne Day designs are all the rage right now, with Spirografica pulling off quite a coup with an exclusive range of Lucienne Day handmade cushions, selected in conjunction with the designer herself.
Lucienne herself has selected the designs which she feels are the most appropriate for revival, including iconic designs such as Calyx, Spectators and Flotilla. The front of each cushion is digitally printed onto linen/cotton and each colourway is then carefully matched to the original fabric.
The cushions are handmade and filled with an 18” feather filled cushion pad. They retail for £70 each, but should prove a good investment.
A nice mix of styles on display with the Spiro angled table lamp.
The lower half (the arm and base that is) are very much in a modernist style, right down to the classic switch on the base. But the actual light has more of a 70s look about it. Saying that, the two go together well, whether you go for the table lamp in cream and chrome or black and chrome.
It's sized at 70cm x 20cm, priced at £97.50.
Find out more at the Graham & Green website
Just to show you don't have to spend a fortune to get a piece of smart design, here's the B&Q's Rainbow space age light shade.
It's incredibly eye-catching and ideal to finish off a room with a space age feel. It's also lightweight, made of brushed aluminium and easy to hang - just clip it on.
It can take up to a 100w bulb and is an absolute bargain at £18.98.
Yes, it's rapidly approaching that time of year when everyone expects a Christmas card - and you have to go and find something that isn't too tacky to send. Well, let us save you the trouble with this rather smart 1950s Baubles Christmas cards.
Designed by Phoebe Moore and available online from the V&A, the cards offer up a 50s-themed design that's very festive, but not too cheesy. And you'll get bonus points for being eco-friendly, with the paper made from sustainable sources, the envelopes made from recycled juice cartons and the wrapping created from cornstarch.
A pack of 10 same design cards with plain white envelopes retails for £6.
Find out more at the V&A website
"A chair is a chair, is a chair, is a chair ... but a seat does not necessarily have to be a chair. It can be anything as long it is ergonomically correct. A seat could even be a small and soft Pony on which you can 'ride' or sit sideways."
So said the designer Eero Aarnio and low and behold he designed the Pony Chair in 1970. Whilst this chair obviously will appeal to children with its oversized cartoon-like form, it is actually large enough for adult use, if you so desired.
Vertigo Interiors are selling the Pony Chair for under £200 so it might not be an authorised version (USA based sites like Nova68 are selling them for over $2000), but it looks pretty much the same and if you are buying for a child, they probably won't mind.
The perfect way to brighten up a dull wall is to invest in these Inke Heiland Vintage Wallpaper Wildlife wall graphics.
Created from 60s and 70s wallpaper, these animal silhouettes comes in kit form, complete with paste and a brush. All you have to do is decide where you want them. There's a good range of creatures to choose from, including giraffes, monkeys, lions, elephants and birds, but if you see one you like, you'll have to be quick - each wallpaper is limited, so each animal is effectively a limited edition.
Especially great for kids' rooms, you can pick them up online from Supernice, prices vary depending on your choice of creature.
Whilst out shopping today, I noticed (and indeed bought) TV Film Memorabilia magazine, which claims to be a publication for 'fans of TV, film & collectables from the 1960s to the present day'.
And while not everything in there appeals, it's certainly worth a browse, especially for fans of 60s TV. The current issue includes an extensive feature on The Avengers (and classic collectables and merchandise), vintage tie-ins from Adam Adamant, Monkees memorabilia, Batman vs The Green Hornet, a feature on 1967 and various buyer's guides for vintage items.
It does occasionally go a bit too sci-fi geek for my own tastes (and there's the worry that future issues might go a little too far that way), but this first issue is certainly worth a look in your local newsagents. It retails for £3.
Looking for a change from the usual selection box at Christmas? These vintage pin-up chocolate bars could get a few pulses racing.
Actually, the images are pretty tame, coming from a more innocent era, but with burlesque big business right now, they're sure to have a wide appeal. 12 bars in total, sold in a presentation box and with each wrapper hand-glittered to add a spot of glamour. Or if you want to give them individually, there's room on the back of each bar for a personal message.
Available online, you can pick up a set for £8.
£200 is a but much for most people when it comes to books, but if you are a fan of classic architecture and interiors, Taschen's Modernism Rediscovered by Julius Shulman might just about be worth it.
Shulman is a legendary architectural photographer, making California's Modernist homes world famous in the 1950s. This book set, the follow-up to Modernism Rediscovered from 2000, takes things a step further, offering three volumes featuring 400 Modernist architectural gems from the US and places as diverse as Mexico, Israel, and Hong Kong. Not just the exteriors either, there's also some superb photography of period interiors, along with the fashions of the day, courtesy of the residents.
Add to that an extensive biography of Shulman, the words of the man himself and a rather smart slipcase to keep all three volumes safe and you just might be tempted to part with the cash. Especially as Amazon is heavily discounting it right now - down to just over £102.
It might not be cheap, but this classic Verner Panton Onion pendant light will certainly impress your friends and neighbours.
Dating back to 1977 and reissued by Verpan, the light fitting is available in the white shown here or in brushed metal, both using vertical strips to create that 'onion' effect (although personally I think it's nearer garlic) as well as impressively diffusing light around the room. And of course, your design cool.
The one downside is that price - a rather hefty £945 - bulb not included.
Good news for fans of classic Hammer movies - the pick of the film posters have been officially reissued.
The posters are back in print to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the release of The Curse Of Frankenstein, with 12 classic images available over a period of time. All are of the original 'quad' size, litho printed on 170gsm paper and sold in a heavy duty black glossy tube.
The first four of the 12 available are The Curse of Frankenstein, Countess Dracula, Vampire Circus and our favourite, The Legend Of The Seven Golden Vampires (pictured above). The remaining titles will follow over the coming weeks - and if you subscribe to buy them all, you will also receive a free copy of The Curse Of Frankenstein/The Mummy poster. This will not be sold separately.
All retail for £19.99 each, with postage and packaging free to anywhere in the world.
Find out more at the Posters and Stuff website
Via Cinedelica
Simon Carter is perhaps best known for cufflinks, but he also does an interesting range of clothing - and that currently includes this Simon Carter 60s-style floral shirt.
That floral pattern is a Liberty floral print in 100 per cent cotton, which gives it that late 60s vibe. Adding to it is the cut, which is very fitted and a single cuff.
I've spotted this (and other similar designs) in Selfridges, but you should also be able to find them in House of Fraser and the Simon Carter flagship store in Covent Garden, London. Price is around £60.
Made for kids, these ABC wooden blocks could also add a nice pop art feel to your home.
Available from ethical shopping site Green Apple, the blocks are 1.75 inches square and made from highly renewable and sustainable basswood, coloured with child-safe inks and finished by hand. The set includes 27 blocks providing 4 complete alphabets, 3 sets of numerals, and 27 different animal pictures.
And once your child gets bored of them, you create make a Peter Blake-style installation of your own! The set retails for a very reasonable £15.
Find out more at the Green Apple website
And thanks to Kavel for the tip off!
It seems an odd thing to ask, "Have you girls ever wanted to dress up like a stylish Charlie Brown?" but for lovers of the classic comic strip now's your chance.
Grabbing obvious inspiration from Charles M. Schultz' Peanuts, Isaac Mizahri has designed this one off sequinned dress which is on sale now on eBay.
As part of the MetLife Snoopy in Fashion project, it's one of many dresses lending inspiration from the cult classic. All the proceeds go to charity, so you're allowed feel extra smug on top of all the comments this one could grab.
Memory sticks are a new invention and you’d have thought pretty hard to give a retro spin, but that is what the manufacturer to these VW Memory Sticks has done.
There are four options available – a VW Camper Van in red or green and a VW Beetle in pink or blue. When in use transferring data, the headlights flashes, which is a nice little feature.
The downside is that they only hold 256 MB which isn’t the most generous at the price of £18.99. They are available to buy from the Lazy Bones website.
Barry Murphy returns once more trawl the TV and radio guides (so you don't have to) to find anything worth tuning into this week. All listings are for UK terrestrial TV, Freeview and national radio, with the shows running from Friday 26th October to Thursday 1st November.
Highlight of the week
30 years after its first appearance on BBC's Play for Today, Mike Leigh's play Abigail's Party gets the BBC 4 treatment on Sunday 28th October, with a night of programming celebrating this 70s suburban classic. As well as a re-showing of the original, a new hour long documentary explores the enduring appeal of the play with contributions from cast and crew. And if that's not enough, Abigail's Party Pack provides music and fashion tips for anyone wishing to stage their own re-enactment. Get some light ales - as a chaser.
2007 is fading away and organised types may already want to plan ahead with a 2008 calendar. And what better way to prepare for the future than with a calendar that harks back to the past, as does the "Fabulous 50s Advertising" Calendar.
As its name suggests, each month is illustrated by a magazine advertisements from the 1950s for electrical goods, homewares, and beauty products, and they are rather fabulous.
You can order one for £9.99 directly from the publisher teNeues.
