Today, we meet Messy Nessy's most unusual muse du jour: Susan Bennet, AKA the real Siri. In the early 2000s she did a hefty chunk of voice work for an intermediate company – unbeknownst that, years later, it would be used to create the personality of the iPhone assistant technolo … | Continue reading
Traditional cloaks in Largo da Matriz square, Sao Miguel Island, Portugal © Steve GivenSomewhere in between the Handmaids Tale and the Grim Reaper, there were the unnerving ladies of the Azores Islands. "Enveloped in their large hooded cloaks, the Azorian women seems to flit abou … | Continue reading
There are two kinds of people in this world. Those who furnish, and those who decorate. “My apartment is something that has evolved over time,” says New York City interior decorator Sean McNanney, “Ultimately my main inspiration is an Upper East Side classic six transported to We … | Continue reading
1. Ukranian Railroad LadiesLike something out of a Wes Anderson movie. Ukrainian Railroad Ladies is a series of portraits of women who work as traffic controllers and safety officers at railroad crossings in Ukraine. The women spend their long shifts in the li | Continue reading
Just when I think I've seen all the vintage photos there are to see of Paris, I get lucky and find a stack of treasure hiding away in the archives to share with you. So today, we're using our virtual backstage pass to snoop around the iconic Palais Garnier. Classical ballet as we … | Continue reading
Viruses won't stop the days getting longer or the flowers from peeping out of their buds, nor will it silence the birds that serenade us into Spring. In a moment plagued by anxiety, as always, we're here to guide you to hidden places away from the crowds and take your mind off th … | Continue reading
A German Parcel-gilt Silver and Enamel "Adam and Eve" Cup and Cover, Lazarus Posen, Frankfurt, circa 1900. Sotheby's There is arguably no more iconic, big-bling accessory than ye olde goblet (if only we had a dollar for every time someone in Game of Thrones took a saucy sip from … | Continue reading
We've spent a lot of time geeking out over post-apocalyptic scenarios here; there's an entire category dedicated to "abandoned" places when and if you need it, zombie/ disaster movies are admittedly one of my favourite genres, and I've often wondered how I would fare in such sce … | Continue reading
History is its own, curious commodity in the United States (where we are notoriously good at razing architectural treasures), and what makes this home – known as "the Turtle House" – so special. A rare pearl nestled in the Hudson Valley, New York, it was constructed in 1822 and j … | Continue reading
1. Purse Lost in the 1950s Becomes an Unexpected Time CapsuleIn 2019, a custodian at the North Canton Middle School was repairing lockers when he discovered a bag wedged behind a piece of detachable metal. Although dusty and dirty, the contents of the purse were well preserved. T … | Continue reading
1. Purse Lost in the 1950s Becomes an Unexpected Time CapsuleIn 2019, a custodian at the North Canton Middle School was repairing lockers when he discovered a bag wedged behind a piece of detachable metal. Although dusty and dirty, the contents of the purse were well preserved. T … | Continue reading
Matthew Henson in his Arctic fur / Wikipedia "I think I'm the first man to sit on top of the world," is not something many people can boast, especially if they lead perfectly normal lives, say, working a desk job in the city in relative anonymity. But for many years, that was the … | Continue reading
@TwistedCopperForestForget those twee little dollhouses from your childhood, we're a tiny bit obsessed with the work of a truly twisted genius. Juli Steel is not your average miniaturist. A self-taught assemblage artist from Texas who goes by the alias of @TwistedCopperForest, li … | Continue reading
Meet the Fashion Brand for Lizards, Sexpots, and Three-Headed Babes. The lazily but brilliantly-named "Fashion Brand Company" was founded in 2018 by Penelope Gazin, and has been delivering deliciously irreverent, consistent apparel ever since. Like a sweater covered in nipples, o … | Continue reading
In 1968, a Finnish architect designed what would become a controversial but iconic example of mid-century architecture, inspired by the post-war futurism and space exploration. The Futuro house was all set for mass production around the world, marketed as the ideal "portable" ski … | Continue reading
Ron's Place. © The Caravan Gallery It's no secret that our favourite art lives on the fringe. So when a reader wrote in with a tip about a temple of Outsider Art in Prenton, England, that needed our help, we dove right in. Known as "Ron's Place," the house is a portal into one ma … | Continue reading
1. One of the last fully functioning former Woolworth’s luncheonettesOn Feb. 22, 1879, 141 years ago this weekend, F.W. Woolworth opened his first five-and-dime store, in Utica, New York. At its peak, Woolworth’s would have around 5,000 stores, and become a symbol of America, bef … | Continue reading
Back in 2013, we broke a story about a couple that bought an abandoned chateau and started a blog to share their journey. Widespread interest, longing and general FOMO (fear-of-missing-out) ensued on the internet. Several years later, we've found a similar fairytale. An architect … | Continue reading
Kay Nielsen knew his way around a fantasy. The Danish illustrator was raised in a “tense atmosphere of art” (his words) during the Golden Era of Illustration – a time when folks one-upped each another with books bearing golden spines and marbled end papers; elaborately illustrate … | Continue reading
The internet has officially discovered book nooks, AKA bookshelf inserts fashioned as portals to tiny imaginary worlds. BBC News and most recently Buzzfeed found out about the niche hobby, sending book lovers, miniature collectors and pretty much anyone with a penchant for quirky … | Continue reading
With the first signs of an early Spring, perhaps you might find yourself looking towards summer already and thinking about how you're going to spend it. With France as my oyster, I began my hunt for hideaways in the south when I stumbled upon a rare gem in the medieval village th … | Continue reading
The year is 1979. Thousands of people flock to a farm field in Vermont, and wait for their stilt-walking hosts to christen the "Circus Ring" field with their presence. When they do, it's in a parade of unbridled joy – a celebration of misfits, mainstream dissent, and all the fres … | Continue reading
Morocco at Christmas is like a good Spring for the rest of us. Temps range from 17 to 22 C, so heated pool weather and certainly ideal temperatures for hanging out in the desert or a tented hotel, I would always recommend Scarabeo camp outside of Marrakech. Or if you were to go b … | Continue reading
1. Margarita Carmen Cansino, the Brooklyn-born dancer who became Hollywood film idol 'Rita Hayworth'Born Margarita Carmen Cansino, her father was from a little town near Seville, Spain and her Irish and English mother performed with the Ziegfeld Follies.Rita HayworthDuring her ti … | Continue reading
On a seemingly ordinary street in South London, past the concrete tower blocks, the off-licenses and chicken takeaway shops, is a strip of seemingly ordinary Victorian terrace houses. But one of these houses is not like the other. Hidden away behind the most unassuming facade, is … | Continue reading
J.J. Grandville , 'A Comet's Journey' , Illustration from 'Un Autre Monde', 1844.Who made the little green spacemen, well, green? Long before the midcentury Space Race set the standard for collective extraterrestrial clichés, people were having out-of-this-world experiences that … | Continue reading
Once upon a time, a knight was really pissed off. He had just discovered that his wife took a lover, and naturally, sought revenge in a joust to the death with his rival. But even that victory wasn't enough to quench his rage, so he cut out the heart of his wife's lover and gave … | Continue reading
And here we were thinking that the New York World's Fair of 1939 and 1968 were impressive. Osaka knocked it out of the park in the 1970. The theme of the Expo was "Progress and Harmony for Mankind," and a total of 77 countries participate, including the USA and the USSR, with mor … | Continue reading
Al and Emily. ©Ari Seth Cohen Welcome to the world of Advanced Love, courtesy of photographer, author, and fellow bleeding heart, Ari Seth Cohen. Following the success of his Advanced Style universe, celebrating the sartorial flair of the senior set (in book and film format), com … | Continue reading
Care to join us at our first secret pop-up cinema in Paris?This month, we’re opening up the MessyNessy Paris HQ and turning it into a Keyholder Clubhouse for the evening. And we’re kicking it off with movie night on Wednesday February 26th! Drinks & nibbles start at 7.45pm. We’ll … | Continue reading
©The Victorian Mansion at Los AlamosAs unabashed lovers of the more-is-more mantra, we were destined to fall in love with "The Victorian Mansion at Los Alamos" – which is anything but Victorian, in a way. It can be a 1950s drive-in, or a Parisian escape; a pirate's lair, or a gla … | Continue reading
Turns out, even them hardened New Yorkers have a soft spot for romance. This week, Grand Central Terminal announced the impossible: it will be opening its doors for the night to one special, randomly selected couple this Valentine's Day for a romantic dinner for two beneath that … | Continue reading
There was another Hollywood that thrived once upon a time. From the 1910s to the 1950s, an independent Black American film industry catered to its own segregated audience, had its own African American directors, stars and studios. The movies they produced, the first alternative A … | Continue reading
Care to join us at our first secret pop-up cinema in Paris?This month, we’re opening up the MessyNessy Paris HQ and turning it into a Keyholder Clubhouse for the evening. And we’re kicking it off with movie night on Wednesday February 26th! Drinks & nibbles start at 7.45pm. We’ll … | Continue reading
Turns out, even them hardened New Yorkers have a soft spot for romance. This week, Grand Central Terminal announced the impossible: it will be opening its doors for the night to one special, randomly selected couple this Valentine's Day for a romantic dinner for two beneath that … | Continue reading
Mollie Fancher spent half a century in her bed. They called her "The Brooklyn Enigma," but she was born your average, middle class New York gal. That all changed in 1865, when she gained fame from a freak accident in which she fell out of a horse-drawn trolley, and was dragged be … | Continue reading
© MessyNessyChicIts recipe has taken thousands of years to perfect, and if we follow the forgotten trail, its secret history can lead us from the ancient tombs of antiquity to underground societies that paved the way for freedom of expression. Contrary to popular assumption, lips … | Continue reading
© MessyNessyChicIts recipe has taken thousands of years to perfect, and if we follow the forgotten trail, its secret history can lead us from the ancient tombs of antiquity to underground societies that paved the way for freedom of expression. Contrary to popular assumption, lips … | Continue reading
Kushino TerraceSometimes, it's the simple stories that stay with us the longest. Like that of Itsuo Kobayashi, a former Japanese soba chef born in 1962 who has recorded his meals in painstakingly detailed, hand-drawn food diaries of sorts for the past 32 years. In addition to rec … | Continue reading
© MessyNessyChicIts recipe has taken thousands of years to perfect, and if we follow the forgotten trail, its secret history can lead us from the ancient tombs of antiquity to underground societies that paved the way for freedom of expression. Contrary to popular assumption, lips … | Continue reading
You'd have to be searching for something peculiar to stumble across the Mayer Manor. Luckily, it seems you and I are always in search of something peculiar. Originally a 15th century monastery, later occupied by a wealthy tobacco merchant of the 19th century, the four-storey mans … | Continue reading
It's taken many names, shapes and forms over the centuries – the conversation chair, the courting bench, a tête-à-tête, a chaperone chair, the vis-à-vis, gossip chair or the indiscret. Considered the pinnacle of sophistication and style during the Gilded and Victorian age, if you … | Continue reading
©Reynolds Rl Est & AuctionMeet the Victorian gem that rolled right out of our dreams, and into the little city of Abilene, Kansas. The yellow brick mansion – boasting two dozen rooms and five storeys – is the ultimate Addams-Family-meets-Wes-Anderson fantasy. The "Lebold Mansion, … | Continue reading
While everyone and their mother went to Palm Springs during Hollywood's Golden Age, the real stars snuck away to Scottsdale, Arizona. Basking under the Sonoran Desert sun in America’s Southwest, Scottsdale has long been a hushed hideaway for Hollywood weekend runaways ever since … | Continue reading
©Reynolds Rl Est & AuctionMeet the Victorian gem that rolled right out of our dreams, and into the little city of Abilene, Kansas. The yellow brick mansion – boasting two dozen rooms and five storeys – is the ultimate Addams-Family-meets-Wes-Anderson fantasy. The "Lebold Mansion, … | Continue reading
Madge Gill in a dress of her own creation"Mediumistic Art." It's something we'd never heard of, until we uncovered the mysterious world of Mrs. Madge Gill. One of history's most important outsider artists, Madge tended to her garden, her husband, and her children in what appeared … | Continue reading
Bamonte's. Nacho La Puente / FacebookThe Irishman is Martin Scorsese's latest ode to the Italian-American East Coast, and the unflinching mobsters who held its purse strings in the 1970s. It's also an utter delight for the New Yorker at heart: Robert De Niro, Joe Pesci, and Al Pa … | Continue reading
Fleetwood Mac's Jeremy Spencer (standing) before leaving the band. On a Monday afternoon in 1971, Jeremy Spencer – Fleetwood Mac's then-lead guitarist – popped out of the band's Los Angeles hotel to grab some groceries. It was the last time they saw him, reported Rolling Stone, b … | Continue reading