1. BBC TV Set DesignsDo recognise them? Find the shows they belong to in the BBC Archives via Present & Correct. 2. Perhaps Bandstand Architecture is due for a Comeback?1930s’ architecture comes to the parks of Whitehaven (above) and Sw | Continue reading
Photograph by Ana Santl courtesy of Bellerby & CoGot your passport handy? Today, we chat with the founder of London's Bellerby & Co., one of the world's last remaining globemakers. Fancy a globe the size of a comet? They can make it. How about one crawling with medieval monsters … | Continue reading
One of these days, I hope to see this 500 year-old ghost town, perched precariously on top of a giant rock, sitting in a canyon somewhere in Yemen. I'd also like to see the world's oldest skyscraper city, known as Yemen's "Manhattan of the Desert". And then there's that island of … | Continue reading
Let's go back for a moment to the swinging sixties in London's Notting Hill. Portobello Road is the main artery of the hippie movement, heaving with bohemians musicians and freethinking "freaks", as they're known to the establishment. Jimmy Hendrix hasn't yet taken a fatal overd … | Continue reading
A contemporary "corn dolly" crown / Messums LondonAnd now, for a DIY project at the intersection of spooky and cozy: the corn doll – which isn't always in the form of a doll, mind you. That term is shorthand for any kind of straw artwork, be it a horseshoe or a crown, a dog or a … | Continue reading
(Metrpolis, 1927)Who dictates Time? Depends on who you ask, and in what century. Like us, you probably rely on a Western, 365 day calendar to tell you that today, it's such and such date in 2020 AD. But if you asked a French Revolutionary, "Year 1" began in 1789. And if you asked … | Continue reading
1. For those with an appreciation for Striped AwningsA little booklet from 1923, found on the Internet Archive. 2. The 1956 Inter 175A Berline Micro CarThe Inter was designed and built by an aircraft company. The French engineers at | Continue reading
Dr. Colleen Darnell. Image courtesy of Dr. Colleen Darnell. Somehow, she transported us to a balmy summer night down the Nile river in the middle of a pandemic. Our latest virtual fireside chat brought us to Dr. Colleen Darnell, a time-travelling 1920s fashionista and groundbreak … | Continue reading
You'll see it in the The Godfather, in Francis Ford Coppola's infamous horse head scene. It was the enviable house of Whitney Houston's character Rachel Marron in The Bodyguard. Even Jackie and John F. Kennedy stayed there during their honeymoon, and later used it as his West Coa … | Continue reading
It's exercise! It's dance! It's an excuse to throw on a pair of rayon flare pants! As weekends begin to feel somewhat meaningless in a quarantined world, with few faces to see and certainly no place to go, here at MessyNessyChic, we could all use something to look forward to. Nig … | Continue reading
Melanie Griffith and Joan Cusack in Working Girls (!988)I'm on the brink of cutting my own hair, and I can't be the only one. I've been imagining that coming out of lockdown is going to look like the 1980s for hair all over again. And it got me thinking – there must have been som … | Continue reading
1. These Downloadable coloring sheets inspired by Wes Anderson MoviesWe featured artist Jordan Bolton's poster work on 13 Things before, but he's kindly offering these colouring sheets to download for free and help us pass the time. Find the colouring sheets here, via My Mode | Continue reading
If you were to journey to Jewett, NY today, you would find yet another semi-abandoned white hamlet, deep in the hillside, ramshackle and in need of a facelift. Nothing out of the ordinary to the naked eye, but delve further into this particular dwelling's history and you'll disco … | Continue reading
Why did they sell Manhattan for $24 worth of beads and trinkets? That's one version of the story anyway, about the legendary transaction between the European colonisers and a once powerful indigenous nation. The Dutch called it "New Amsterdam", and then it became "New York" under … | Continue reading
Brent Underwood at his ghost town, Cerro Gordo. Photo Courtesy of Brent UnderwoodIn 2018, Brent Underwood and his pal, Jon Bier, spent their life savings on the purchase of a California ghost town, "Cerro Gordo" – and life has never been the same since. Underwood's virtual tour o … | Continue reading
Forget Atlantis, we want to know more about the mysterious, ancient Cucuteni-Trypillians, who were not erudite space lizards, despite their name, but Neolithic humans whose settlements were so advanced, and so vast, that they pioneered the concept of the city as we know it in Eas … | Continue reading
Shall we for a moment, imagine an alternate reality where Shirley Chisholm became President of the United States in 1972 instead of Nixon. As the first African American woman in Congress, as well as first woman and African American to run for President, Shirley campaigned under t … | Continue reading
Shelley Duvall She was the woman wrapped in a fairytale. You may know her from classics like The Shining (1980) or Annie Hall (1977) or perhaps you know the sound of her warm voice saying, "Hi, I'm Shelley Duvall..." during the intro of a magical "Faerie Tale Theatre" TV hour she … | Continue reading
1. The Vibrant Artwork of Turkish Tobacco AdsFound in this Flickr Album.2. Istanbul, 1948Photo by Maynard Owen Williams for National Geographic. Find more like this in Nat Geo Found. 3. The first Black airmen to fly across AmericaJames Banning | Continue reading
Young Lydia Corbett, otherwise known as Sylvette David © Francois PagesIn April of 1954, a young Sylvette David became one of Pablo Picasso's most iconic, if not enigmatic muses (if you haven't read our article of her story, we suggest you do that first and come back). Who was th … | Continue reading
Millennials grew up with it on after-school shows like Saved by the Bell and Pee-wee's Playhouse. "A shotgun wedding between Bauhaus and Fisher-Price," critics called it. The bizarre and brazen postmodernist movement was definitive of the 1980s and their jagged, candy-coloured de … | Continue reading
If you were to journey to Jewett, NY today, you would find yet another semi-abandoned white hamlet, deep in the hillside, ramshackle and in need of a facelift. Nothing out of the ordinary to the naked eye, but delve further into this particular dwelling's history and you'll disco … | Continue reading
John Evans. ©johnevansnyc / InstagramNew Yorkers have a special relationship with trash, which is as much a fixture of the cityscape as the Manhattan skyline. Not to wax romantic about littering, but some of that, shall we say, "street ephemera" – the lost tickets, photos, busine … | Continue reading
1. An advertisement from Bell Telephone 100 years agoHow the phone failed to make the Spanish flu crisis bearable, full article found on Fast Company. 2. Restaurant Sleepovers of World War IIDiners are tucked in to bed in the basement of 'The Hungaria" restaurant on Lower Reg | Continue reading
©Bullocks Wilshire, Los Angeles, CaliforniaIt's a spring afternoon in 1936, as you pull up to the doorstep of 3050 Wilshire Boulevard in Los Angeles, California. The valet takes your car, the doorman tips his cap, and suddenly you find yourself in the belly of 230,000-square-feet … | Continue reading
© Davoud D.It almost feels like you've clicked on something you shouldn't have and suddenly, a door to internet Narnia has opened and you find yourself roaming the aisles of a huge maze of glass cabinets, overflowing with an insane amount of objects. You've stumbled into the cabi … | Continue reading
© The Ugly TrucklingStay at home. Don't travel. Social distance. These are the rules we need to abide by in order to get through this surreal pandemic bringing the world to a standstill. But what if your home was on wheels? What if you could safely stay at home while driving thro … | Continue reading
She became famous overnight with a strange furry teacup that mesmerised the art world in a way that no woman had done before. In a time before shock-seeking art became the norm, Meret Oppenheim was a pioneer; a force of nature who had all the Surrealists of Paris speaking her nam … | Continue reading
Jean Cocteau's Villa Santo Sospir. ©barlowandbarlow / InstagramAt this very moment, a drunken Dionysus naps in the doorway of a villa overlooking the French Riviera. In another room, the head of Apollo keeps guard of a marble fireplace, and Diana the Huntress rounds up her nymphs … | Continue reading
1. An online museum of plastic lost at seaIn 1997, nearly 5 million bits of Lego, much of it sea themed, fell into the ocean when a huge wave hit the cargo ship Tokio Express, washing 62 containers overboard. Among the pieces lost were tiny minifig heads, their faces now mostly b … | Continue reading
Alexander J.E. Bradley in the catacombs. © Alexander J.E. Bradley In case you missed the carrier pigeon memo last week: we held our first Keyholder Video Event, and kicked it off with a live Q&A with the fabulously entertaining Alexander J.E. Bradley – an artist and urban explore … | Continue reading
Fascinus from Pompeii showing a phallus A day in the life of Ancient Rome wasn't a cake walk. If you were going to make a decent life for yourself, you had to be tough. You didn't wear your heart on your sleeve – you wore a penis fascinus 'round your neck, prayed to the gods, and … | Continue reading
The saying is we're 'living in strange times', right? But just how "strange" are we willing to admit we're becoming too? The nature of the worldwide lockdowns has us all looking out of our windows significantly more, searching for something or someone to uplift, inform or enterta … | Continue reading
The costume of Apollon, performed by Louis XIV. The cool thing about being royalty, is you get to go all out on your hobbies. Enjoy miniatures? Not as much as Queen Elizabeth II, whose miniatures collection is truly eye-watering. Into beauty and self-care? Not as much as 17th cen … | Continue reading
1. A Human Torpedo, 1967They were used as secret naval weapons in World War II. The basic concept is still in use. The Italian Navy experimented with a primitive tiny sub carrying two men as 1918 and this craft did have some success. The first truly practical human torpedo was t … | Continue reading
Treat yo self! With some of us going into our second week of lockdown, here at MNC, we're trying to find ways to get excited for the weekend by finding alternatives to our outdoor adventures and social soirées. Picking up where we left off with our 20 Things to Do at Home instead … | Continue reading
What will you wear to your first social event when the lockdowns are over? Are you daydreaming about that moment yet? When you finally get to open your closet and put together an outfit that doesn't involve a stretchy-pant combo. Here's hoping this worldwide confinement will chan … | Continue reading
Books aren't fair weather friends. No matter what, we can always rely on the words of the authors we love to taste life twice (so says Anaïs Nin, who sure lived a spicy life). Now, more than ever, it's our turn to help support the guardians of these words: our cities' independent … | Continue reading
"The Balcony" by Édouard Manet, 1868-1869As the world stays home, we would like to opt for a new euphemism for life in quarantine: Nesting. Last week, we dove into the plushy world of retro conversation pits. Today, we're pivoting to the glory of the balconies – which have become … | Continue reading
1. The longest car in the world (100 ft long, 26 wheels, jacuzzi & diving board, king-sized water bed & helicopter pad)It was called "The American Dream", built by California custom car guru Jay Ohrberg... began life in the late 1980s at Ohrberg’s Hollywood Cars shop. Ohrberg sel … | Continue reading
It's 1976. You kick off your platform clogs, pour a brandy, and snuggle up with your moustached companion in the cutting edge of groovy hangouts: the conversation pit. Arguably one of the most divisive home design features of our time, the conversation pit holds a very special pl … | Continue reading
Not to brag, but I went all over the world today – before I'd even stopped for lunch! In these unprecedented times, when one of our greatest passions – travel – is taken away from us, it calls for a back-up plan. And that my fellow explorer, is armchair travelling. In addition to … | Continue reading
Frida Kahlo paints while bedriddenIn around 1603, a poet had a decision to make. With a plague underway in England, he could choose to answer to fear, or answer to the muse. Luckily for us, the writer – one Mr. William Shakespeare – decided to put pen to paper (quill to parchment … | Continue reading
Where do I begin? Or a better question – how can I help in a time like this? Together, we’ve built a truly unique community of people that shares a very particular mindset. So let’s stick to what we’re good at and put it to some use. For the past decade here at MessyNessyChic, we … | Continue reading
1. These Incredible Miniature GreenhousesAll created by Lady Jane. Check the gallery here. 2. Design an 18th Century WigIn the late 18th century, women's hair styles went crazy. The V&A invites you to create and share your own hair-raising design o | Continue reading
Let’s make a pact this weekend. A move to keep calm, carry on (funny how that suddenly doesn’t sound so cliché again, right?), and remember to see La Vie en Rose. That’s precisely why I’ve whipped up a little “Keep Calm & Stay Happy” playlist for your pleasure and relaxation, fi … | Continue reading
After a long and frosty winter, Springtime rolls around to pull New Yorkers out of hibernation and into the sun – which won't stop from shining, no matter what news headlines arrive. But as we gear up to enjoy the unfurling al fresco cafes and new exhibits, New Yorkers are being … | Continue reading
Okay, so things have escalated quickly. Whether you’re hunkering down at home or just avoiding crowds for the moment, we’ve been putting our heads together at the MNC HQ to make life a little easier for you. Sure you can catch up on a juicy novel and watch Netflix to your heart’s … | Continue reading