For the first time  in over  hundred years Old Spitalfields Market will be opening it’s doors on Saturday. Great news for collectors and lovers of vintage – Every month the market will be host to two distinctly different vintage markets.

Spitalfields Market is a great London institution – in a huge old Victorian building with a metal and glass roof, surrounded by cool shops and restaurants – the center of the building is filled with traditional market stalls and 100′s of eclectic independent traders selling their finest wares. [Read more...]

Seeing as it’s approaching the season to be jolly – I shall be posting over the next few weeks some cool Vintage-y places to go in December. Sorry non Londoners – im keeping my eyes peeled for decent stuff elsewhere  -  please let us know if you know of any great Vintage days or nights out!

Dennis Severs House in Spitalfields is an amazing and unique experience. They always have a wonderful Christmas  installation and run a series of Silent Nights – you go at your own pace on a sensory exploration of the different rooms and floors for the house. Each room takes you back to a moment in time between 1724- 1914. The attention to detail and period makes the visit a domestic history lesson as well stepping into an artist’s canvas. The late Dennis Severs was an artist who lived in the house and spent years re creating each room to stimulate your senses….It really is a magical experience. Get your Christmas booking in soon – they run out of slots quickly (or you can go on Sundays without a booking)

From now until Christmas we hope to inspire you each week with a new vintage gift idea from Retropolitan.

For our first suggestion:  A gorgeous 1930s copper teapot.

This has a beautiful Art Deco style and a shiny copper patina…I can visualise  a Josephine Baker genie coming out of the spout after rubbing!

Perfect to use though – inside the teapot there is white ceramic lining, all nice and clean and ready to use.

At £49 this could be the perfect gift for a tea lover, style afficionado or Dear Aunty Polly…who you havent got a clue what to buy!

Buy directly from our webstore here.

This is our very favourite fair of the year.  Book it in for a  great Sunday outing – 20th November at Dulwich College. If you are a vintage or design lover – then this show is heart stopping! Up to 100 of the very best of the UK’s vintage dealers (including little old us) showing off  their beautiful Midcentury Modern furniture and homewares….

[Read more...]

As we have quite a bit of this stunning Scandinavian art glass in stock – I thought I would take a little blog bow to this iconic Swedish manufacturer – one of the  few great 20th Century glass houses still standing. The story begins properly  in 1898 and grew rapidly in the early 20th century.   Orrefors attracted and trained some of the greatest Scandinavian designers and many of the leading glass blowing techniques still used were developed here.  [Read more...]