BBC London radio 15th October

Postmodernism!

Grace Jones wearing a... maternity dress!

post·mod·ern·ism/pōstˈmädərˌnizəm/

Noun:

A late 20th-century style in the arts, architecture, and criticism that represents a departure from modernism. (Just in case you were wondering) The V&A shop always has lines reflecting its current exhibitions, and postmodernism is the name of the game until 15th January. There's furniture, like this set of Carlton shelves designed by Ettore Sottsass for the Memphis design group in 1981. They were pretty rad in their time, pushing against the idea that conventional shapes and colours were the only options. £750 ...and a lot of jewellery, like this ring from a hand carved collection from Helveta Vyotlag, normally based in Brooklyn. She's a sculptor too, and she takes "the sculpture out of the gallery and shrinks it down to the body". Bright colours, oversized angular geometric forms, and the simplicity of modern Danish jewellery are all in evidence. This ring, like any coloured pieces in the collection (which includes a crazy yellow wedge ring - literally a wedge, and a green rhombus ring, yes, a literal rhombus), has been sculpted from poplar, and dyed.  Boulder ring, £50 ...colourful headphones fit the bill too, it seems, which is good, since they're colourful and cool: Spitfire Retro Headphones, £26 One of my favourites, due to love of using the postal service, are these 100 postcards: ...which at £14, is a bargain. Have a look online (www.vandashop.com) at all the other products, but one last particular mention for music fans is an album, a collaboration with the V&A and EMI...a selection of post modern tunes. Really! From 1970 - 1990, artists featured include Blondie, David Bowie, Heaven 17, and Culture Club...   *** Cabinet of Curiosities Ben Pentreath Ltd (www.benpentreath.com) is a shop in Bloomsbury (17 Rugby Street) who specialise in searching out beautiful particulars for the home. It's a small shop which sells linen, furniture, lights, vases, antoques, a menagerie of lovely things from all over the world.  For instance: orange juice glasses, £8.50 Boat of Life letterpress print (using traditional wood and metal type), £25 Aardvark manifesto, letterpress, £25 and these plates by The John Derian Company, New York, which are created by artist John Derian from collages of antique fruit, flower and animal prints, ledgers that are hundreds of years old, and letters. They're re-printed and pieced together in layers under glass. Quite beautiful: £38 £45 currently out of stock, sob, my favourite, but ask. £38 Well, from 19th October to the 5th November, there will be a magical change, and the shop will suddenly be filled to the brim with 'curios' designed by Ben Pentreath and artist Bridie Hall. They tell me the Cabinet of Curiosities will be a marvel, and we should expect "handcrafted interior objects, which includes intaglio boxes, decorative decoupage, serious sets of geometric solids and country-house scented candles". Good for - eek - Christmas presents. I'm informed by one very diary-conscious and organised friend that Christmas is only 10 weeks away, so now I feel justified in using the word. I have determined to start planning and doing things early this year, to avoid the scenario that happened last year - making lots of Christmas cards too late to send any. That's what's called big ambition, small sense of time. *** I mentioned the Museum of Everything last time, when they were in Selfridges (they still are, until 25th October). But I failed to mention their own shop (shop.musevery.com), which was an oversight, to say the least. It's a little shopping pond of pure quirk. Go there for things you don't necessarily need, but would like. Such as: a card for any occasion, £3 a card for a specific general sort of sorry. Sad, but handy. £3 Tom Wagener print, £80

There are also clothes, homewares, more prints, crayons, notebooks. Almost everything.

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Frieze Art Fair

I can hardly leave out Frieze (friezeartfair.com) - on until Sunday in Regent's Park, there are over 170 galleries, and thousands of pieces of art for sale (1,532 actually). If money isn't burning a hole in your pocket, it's just a good excuse to see a LOT of art. Don't miss the sculpture park outside either. For a virtual tour before you go, have a look here (virtual.friezeartfair.com)

Caravan shop

...a favourite haunt of mine on Redchurch Street, has moved, but it's a secret where to for now (as soon as I know, I'll tell you). In the meantime, you can still buy some of the lovely stock online (www.caravanstyle.com). Like this pineapple candle holder that you can put on a plain wall to make it stupendous: 

             £89

or these, my all time staples for post-able presents (they come wrapped in a bijou little package that fits in an envelope) - and, many times, they've become personal gifts to myself...

              angel wings for candles. £5.50

Let us know when you have a new address, Caravan! 

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Shoreditch Vintage Fair

             not as mean as it seems

For fans of clothes and accessories from bygone eras, today is your day. From 12-5pm at Shoreditch Town Hall, 380 Old Street, there will be 50 stallholders selling all kinds of vintage goods from the 1940s to the 1980s. Enjoy!

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Sample sale

Today! It's the London Designer Sale, happening in Hampstead Town Hall Centre, 213 Haverstock Hill. Until  6pm tonight you can get up to 80% off labels that include: Aquascutum, Belstaff, Burberry, Calvin Klein, Coccinelle, Carniani, Chloe, Dior, Dolce & Gabbana, Ferragamo, Fendi, Jimmy Choo, Marc Jacobs, Miu Miu, Moschino, Patrick Cox, Prada, Sergio Rossi, Thomas Pink, Tods, Vivienne Westwood & YSL… 

BBC London 3rd September

Starting off with something that was happening AS I SPOKE. The North London Vintage Market is happening today in Crouch End (St Mary's Parish Hall, Cranley Gardens, Park Road). It opened at 10am, and goes on until 4.30pm, and many of the stallholders from Spitalfields Antique and Vintage Market have decamped north for the day, so well worth a trip. There are 22 dealers, and an array of vintage happenings, from clothes to jewellery, to clocks and lamps and anything else you might fancy.

It's £1.50 to get in, and up the road at Ally Pally they've organised tea and cakes while you rest your weary feet and look out over London on this glorious day.


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Skandium on Marylebone High Street is one of my main window shopping destinations, and I'm always watchful of what they stock. Apparently, behind the scenes, the owners Chrystina Schmidt and Magnus Englund have been collecting vintage rare Danish antiques, and are now offering them for sale in a new shop which is called Republic of Fritz Hansen. (FH is considered an iconic Danish design brand, and this is the first shop and showroom in Europe so it's quite a coup). They're also selling modern Danish accessories which are likely to be too tempting for window shoppers across London.

Crucial details:

Republic of Fritz Hansen
13 Margaret Street
London W1W 8RN
020 7436 1838

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Next, Mary's Living and Giving shop in Primrose Hill opened last year. It's the third of it's kind (the others are in Westbourne Grove and Parsons Green), and it follows the same principles - high end vintage / second hand clothing, in excellent condition, and all the profit goes to Save the Children. It's a new brand of charity shop. And while by its very nature you're not going to find some sort of designer label there that the charity shop owners haven't heard of and charge you £1, you will be guaranteed that you don't have to sort through rubbish to get something good.

This shop is taking part in a treasure hunt which 14 shops all along Regents Park Road will be participating in from 10th to 18th September. It's a lovely idea - each shop will have a sculpture by the artist Nina Mankin which will hold clues and secret messages that will provide the keys to the esoteric questionnaire that treasure hunters have to fill out.

Every shop will have its own theme - so, for instance, the Mary Portas shop is all about dressmakers and tailors and material ...poignantly, maybe, because that shop used to house the materials of The artist's father. Which is why the treasure hunt is called "where I once played" and is all about memory and nostalgia.

Maps and questionnaires can be Collected in advance if you like - and have a look online for all the details and information about Nina Mankin's work.. www.ninamankin.co.uk or contact the Primrose Hill shop on: 020 7586 9966.

***

Then, from the west of the city straight to the east, and it's the E17 designers who always seem to be busy. This time theyre putting together an art trail on Sunday 11th September. It's the seventh year they've done this, and they promise all sorts of artistry and delights, from prints to cakes and handmade goods.

It's at the Asian Centre near Walthamstow tube, costs £1 to get in (for which they promise a goodie bag btw) and all the details are on www.east17arttrail.co.uk

***

And even though I balk at the mention of anything festive in the last vestiges of summer, I have to point you to a potential Christmas present before it's too late. If you know the kind of person who'd appreciate a designer briefcase, then you need to go to www.secretsales.com, register, and shop the sale (before Sunday) of Lanvin accessories. That way, you'll be able to buy a leather Lanvin briefcase not for £390, as you would in a shop, but for £47. Which seems like a bargain, if you know the kind of person who'd appreciate it...


***

But back to what's actually happening today, on this Indian summer. Yesterday the Museum of Everything opened at Selfridges. The Museum of Everything is a London contemporary art collective which burst on to the scene in the Frieze Art Fair in 2009. This Exhibition #4 is for untrained and unexhibited artists, who have physical, mental, or developmental disabilities.

James Brett, the founder of the Museum of Everything says they're sometimes known as 'invisible artists' because they're often unrecognised by the art establishment, because they can't explain what the art they've created 'means'. Selfridges say it's going to be the biggest art project ever undertaken in the history of Selfridges. The whole shop is being taken over - the windows, the signs within the store, the Ultra Lounge, Selfridges exhibition space... the 200 works make up the largest presentation of art by unintentional artists in the UK.

And because it's Selfridges, there is a collaboration with a famous name too; the Shop of Everything has got together with Clements Ribeiro to launch a fashion collection - you'll find that in the Wonder Room's Concept Store, along with products from Everything Ltd, a collection of bespoke delights with prints from the exhibited art works.

Open until October 25th; have a look at www.selfridges.com for all the information and lots of pictures.



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Some advance notice - next Saturday, there's an Affordable Vintage Fair happening in York Hall (on Old Ford Road, Bethnal Green), that one that's usually famous for boxing. The word 'affordable' is always appealing, isn't it? Even if it turns out not to be the type of affordable you were hoping for.

 If you're an early bird, go at 10.30am, and pay £3 to get in before the crowds. If you like a lie-in, go after 11, pay £2, and find a bargain somewhere amongst the stalls from 50 traders around the country. They'll be selling vintage clothing and homewares from the 1920s all the way to the 1980s, and promise designer vintage, too, from YSL, Ossie Clarke, and Biba.

Have a look at www.vintagefair.co.uk for more info.

***

And, finally, this month's bargains...


The London Designer Sale is happening on 9th (1pm - 9pm) and 10th (10am - 7pm) of September, in the Music Rooms, 26 South Molton Lane. You can expect up to 80% off these brands: Aquascutum, Belstaff, Burberry, Calvin Klein, Coccinelle, Carniani, Chloe, Dior, Dolce & Gabbana, Ed Hardy, Ferragamo, Fendi, Francesco Biasia, Gianfranco Ferre, Giorgio Fedon, Giuseppe Zanotti, Gucci, Harry‘s of London, Jimmy Choo, Marc Jacobs, Miu Miu, Moschino, Patrick Cox, Prada, Sergio Rossi, Thomas Pink, Tods, Vivienne Westwood & YSL




The Sample Hunters Sale will be happening at the same time, from 8th - 11th of September at the Old Truman Brewery (visit www.samplehunters.co.uk for opening times). They promise up to 90% off a plethora of labels, including these people - you may have heard of them: Burberry, Stone Island, Belstaff, Luella, DKNY Jeans, Hackett, Hugo Boss, Ralph Lauren, Armani, Juicy Couture, French Connection, Twenty8twelve, Joseph, Thomas Pink, See by Chloe, Vivienne Westwood, Duchamp, Oliver Spencer, Aquascutum, Gieves and Hawkes and Missoni.

BBC London 9th July

Hello people! This is a very practical blog today. I'll fill in the whimsy later - you know, all my thoughts and bits and pieces, but for now, here are all the raw facts. Which, I feel, is probably what you're really after anyway.

First off, I interviewed Kate Pietrasik who is responsible for the fantastic unisex children's clothing company Tootsa MacGinty, just launched. 

Then to Elliot & Tate, another new company. It's original Danish furniture this time, carefully and expertly resorted by the two craftsmen who set it up. Oh, deviating from raw facts, can't help it. Here's their website.

Next, Bookish England, by people who love all things bookish and book-related. A great collection of all things literary (this includes confetti hearts made from Mills & Boon pages, so don't think you have to have the intellect of Tolstoy to shop here; it's fun). Website is here.

Then the Chelsea Theatre Boot Sale. No car needed. Have a look on their site for all the details.

And the Leytonstone Festival was hot on the heels. Click here for everything that's going on; I mentioned a couple of fun things like the Alfred Hitchcock Cycle Ride (info here) and our old friends the E17 Designers, who are having a market on July 16th. As part of it, there's an Art Trail (all happenings revealed here) until 17th July if you want to find out about local artists, including Jay Hudson who is LITERALLY knitting a year...

Also, the existence of Secret Sales website. Just a case of signing up, and getting bargains...

Sample sales next.

Designer Sales UK Summer Sale. Today, Chelsea Town Hall. Up to 90% off designer labels.

Sample Hunters sale. From 21st - 24th July. Also to 90% off designers; £1 entry, Truman Brewery.