Shoegazer Visits: Anthropologie, London

(photo: print&pattern)

I had been looking forward to the opening of Anthropologie’s first UK store (on Regents Street) for a while and was so excited to finally visit it last Friday. The shop is beautiful, absolutely stunning. The displays, the products, the presentation – everything is delicious! The shop even features a living wall up the staircase (watered by rain water collected on the roof apparently).

(photo: print&pattern)

My only gripe with the shop is that everything seems so ridiculously overpriced. True, most of the clothes are exquisite and deserve their price tag, but seriously – who in their right mind would pay almost £25 for a single tea towel?! Or £14 for a simple knitted bird with one eye missing? I wasn’t expecting the prices of their small items of homeware, decorations and gifts to be so steep and was left a little disappointed as I’d wanted to grab a few Christmas presents for people. Humph. Oh well, bring on the winter sale! Still, if money is no object for you and you love to surround yourself with gorgeous things, Anthropologie is a true gem on Regents Street!

(photos: print&pattern)

If money is an object – well, it’s definitely worth visiting for the displays alone. A giant whale, a grizzly bear, a fabric tree... cupboards full of lovely china and mugs, rusty old keys hanging from the walls, big jars full of jewellery for you to rummage through... you can’t see me, but I’m drooling like Homer Simpson over Duff beer.

My photos:

Pic 1: A giant whale hangs above the delicate china displays.
Pic 2: Attention to detail! The dripping wax and the product information on stained old paper held by forks...

The Jewel Theif

Time for some shop love! The Jewel Theif is nestled away in Brighton Lanes (on Dukes Lane - near M.A.C and Ted Baker if you fancy sniffing it out) and is a tresure trove of contemporary jewellery design. Since browsing the shop and their website I've come across a range of very different and very unique jewellery designers.
The one that caught my eye and drew me towards the shop in the first place was Tina Lilienthal, a German-born, London-based designer who graduated from the Royal College of Art in 2003 with an MA in Goldsmithing, Silversmithing, Metalwork and Jewellery.
Tina uses a broad mix of metals, fabrics and plastics to create her unusual pieces. I love the skulls - they look so smooth and almost have a quality about them as if they were a character in a stop-frame animation film. Also, her brilliant strawberries and cherries look good enough to eat! My most-craved items are the skull with antlers (see below) and a perfect red heart with a blank silver scroll across it (can't find a picture of this but trust me, it's lovely!)
Tina Lilienthal's work:
I'll be posting some more Jewel Theif finds soon!

Shop lust

If I ever visit New York again, I really want to try and track down Pearl River Mart - this shop looks so jam packed full of lovely things! These photos are from Danielle Thompson's blog - Thompson Family Life. The lanterns and the paper garlands and all the colours are delicious! They also sell Cram Cream products, vintage oriental posters and tin toys...