Category: Books

Categories / Books, Film and TV, Toys and Games

80s colouring book by I Love Mel

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80s colouring book

We've featured a surprising number of colouring books on the site over the years: architecture, sneakers, Warhol and even Joy Division. Now you can get out your favourite felt tips, and maybe a few fluorescent markers too, for this 80s colouring book by I Love Mel. 

The latest in Mel's Colour Me Good range of colouring books, this book features some of the decades most famous symbols of pop culture: there's the Brat pack, Simon Le Bon, Jim'll Fix It, Phillip Schofield and Gordon the Gopher, alongside favourite 80s toys such as Mr Frosty and the humble roller skate. 

All those memories and the book costs just £7. 

Buy it online

via How to be a Retronaut

Categories / Books, Women's Fashion

Knitting Vintage by Claire Montgomerie

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Vintage knitting
If you were inspired by Marnie Fogg's book on Vintage Knitwear and want to be able to recreate some of the looks yourself, there's another book you might want to invest in: Knitting Vintage by Claire Montgomerie.

The book features 30 knitting projects relating to trends and knitwear looks dating from between the 1900s and 1980s and reinventing them to work as part of a contemporary wardrobe. There's plenty of visual inspiration too: as well as plenty of images, there's a look at how different classic knitwear styles have been reinterpreted over the decades. 

With 176 pages, this seems like a bit of a bargain, especially as you can currently buy it for £9.79 from Amazon. 

Categories / Art and Photography, Books, Travel

Beautiful Britain vintage notebooks

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Beautiful britain notebooks
Chiming perfectly with current trends are these Beautiful Britain vintage notebooks.

The cloth bound notebooks are decorated with the distinctive book cover artwork of Brian Cook, produced for the Batsford guides to Britain from the 1930s through to the 1950s. There are four different designs to pick from: The Face of Scotland is shown above, or you could go for The Landscapes of England, The Spirit of London or The Inns of England. Perfect for taking on your own travels around the UK. 

The notebooks are all selling for £6.29 each, with the exception of The Landscapes of England which you can buy for £5.29, all from Amazon.

Categories / Books, Design and Interiors

Furniture & Interiors of the 1960s by Anne Bony

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Furniture & Interiors of the 1960s by Anne Bony is another great book to have on your Formica coffee table.

The book looks at that most radical of decades, where designers experimented with plastics, and inflatable furniture was mixed with Victorian influences. Featuring 300 key designs, by the likes of Eames and Harry Bertoia, the book offers a great insight into the bold designs of the period, as well as some great photographs to feast your eyes upon.

Buy it online from Amazon for £28.

Categories / Books, Women's Fashion

Scarves by Nicky Albrechtsen and Fola Solanke

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Scarves
If you were interested in the Ascher pop up studio we featured earlier in the year, this new book on Scarves by Nicky Albrechtsen and Fola Solanke should provide plenty of fashionable inspiration. 

Published by Thames and Hudson, the book looks at 250 examples of women's scarves designed and produced over the course of the twentieth-century, especially when scarves reached the height of their popularity in the Forties and Sixties. The 304 page book contains pieces by huge fashion names ranging from Paul Poiret and Elsa Schiaparelli to Gucci, Zandra Rhodes and Hermes. Through its colourful photographs, the illustrates a slightly different take on fashion in the last century. 

The book is currently on sale for £19.75 from Amazon.

Categories / Books, Design and Interiors

Plastic Dreams: Synthetic Visions in Design by Charlotte and Peter Fiell

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Plasticdreams 
When I think of plastic in design, I tend to think of 1960s space-age pieces, but its importance actually spans the past 150 years rather than just one decade. Plastic Dreams: Synthetic Visions in Design looks at the influence the material has had over that period.

The book charts the use of plastic from the mid-nineteenth century to the present, but of course it covers a lot of our favourite design periods in between. It features over 120 landmark designs, including Wells Coates AD 65 radio from the 1930s and Konstanin Grcic's MYTO chair, a modern design that we’ve featured here before on account of its retro looks.

Plastic Dreams is available to buy from Amazon, priced £23.70.