London Weird and Wonderful Shops
Shopping, the British high street is the default destination for most of us. Reliable and dependable, the high street provides all our essential requirements in one clean sweep. However, if wonder and excitement are what you’re after from your shopping experience, then you need to explore a little further and luckily for you we’re here to help. Tucked off London’s high streets are some hidden shopping enclaves with weird and wonderful products to tempt the inquisitive. To let you in on our little secrets, The Curiosity Cabinet has selected its top 5 weird and wonderful shops for Art Wednesday readers.
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London’s most weird and wonderful shops are multi-functional stores which simultaneously work as exhibition spaces, shops, cafes, and are often artworks or curiosity cabinets in themselves. They are one-stop shops which stock a cross-over of antiques, fashion and interior products, providing an all-encompassing experience for the shopper. Below are a selection of stores which are bound excite and intrigue the curious in all of us.
Darkroom
As the name suggests, Darkroom is a lab of creative experiments. Combining new design, indigenous and African jewellery pieces with sculptural ceramics and textiles, Dark Room houses pieces that are simultaneously functional and decorative. The necklaces may be either worn on the body or hung on the wall as an ornament. The well curated environment is a perfect space to peruse the sculptural ornaments, and for contemporary designers to showcase their jewellery, accessories and objects.
Wonderful – Sotis Shallow Large Bowl. This dark, moody ceramic bowl initially appears as a solid vessel yet it is so finely thrown that it is actually light as a feather. The textured, grain-effect of the exterior directly implies organic elements, but the dark, black colouring is obviously the result of the human hand. £275
Weird - Many of the objects sold in Dark Room have a similarly geometric style of clean lines and ethnic influences. This ‘Navajo Black’ Native Line wall hanging is a fine example of an object which is both geometrically bold in its design and materially delicate in its composition. The soft effect of the exposed warp threads and use of brass, gold and silver provides a stunning feature to this intricately woven tapestry inspired by the American Southwest. The tapestry’s designer, Justine Ashbee, is influenced by traditional Navajo patterns indigenous to this mountainous area and the rise and fall of the triangular pattern in this piece is reminiscent of a mountain range. £425
52 Lamb’s Conduit Street, London, WC1N 3LL.
Pelicans & Parrots
Oddly beautiful best describes the intriguing mix of vintage fashion, industrial furniture and antique interiors in stock at Pelicans & Parrots. A global treasure chest of wonderful discoveries, where the new and the old interact seamlessly, Pelicans & Parrots is an intelligently-styled store which lures you into its seductive world. Most of the pieces sold defy categorization, from a beautifully-constructed Ostrich feather headdress from Trinidad, a Tribal monkey skull in a Victorian dome, to a pair of late 80′s electric blue high-wasted ski pants.
Located on the edge of Stoke Newington and Dalston, that part of town where you never know what exciting discovery is next, Pelicans & Parrots has monopolised Dalston’s main stretch by opening an interiors based store and Pelicans & Parrots Black, just down the road, carries a highly-curated range of vintage fashion.
Wonderful - Ostrich feather headdress. Recalling the 1920s costumes of Les Ballets Russes, an Ostrich feather headdress from Trinidad exists as both fashion and art depending on the context in which it finds itself. Whether as a dramatic adornment or a piece of object art, the impressive array of shocking pink feathers, will excite even the most conservative shopper. £295
Weird - Taxidermy peacock. For the curiosity shopper this peacock is the perfect piece. Its exotic cobalt blue and sea green feathers are holographic in their intensity, demonstrating a perfect specimen of the awe-inspiring beauty found in nature. £995
Pelicans & Parrots Black: 81 Stoke Newington road, Dalston, London N16 8AD
Pelicans & Parrots: 40 Stoke Newington Road, Dalston, London N16 7XJ
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