Wee Birdy

Shopping in London: V&A shop

Over the past couple of years I’ve posted quite a lot about my favourite bits and pieces from various London museums and galleries, but I’ve never delved into any great detail about the actual shops themselves. So naturally, that’s about to change…

It’s a given that any gallery-goer’s journey will end in the designated shop space – in fact their presence (and the promise of a toy dinosaur) has been used as the proverbial dangling carrot to get many a child through the tedium of an exhibition itself. But some of the world’s greatest and most-loved museums and galleries (New York’s MoMA, London’s Tate Modern, Design Museum and the V&A) have evolved in such a way that their shops are a retail (and tourist) destination in their own right.

I must confess that I’ve been guilty, on more than one occasion, of making a specific gift-buying dash to the V&A shop, without so much as a peep in at any of the permanent collection galleries (I know, shameful behaviour!). But that’s because the V&A, in particular, offers up an expertly-edited line-up of gifts, accessories, books and children’s toys – all perfect candidates for being packaged up and sent away to friends and family far away.

There's also a dedicated bookshop, with subjects spanning the worlds of design, art, fashion, textiles, jewellery, photography and architecture. And they always have an extensive range of the most gorgeous cards:

The website is also an excellent source for all manner of design-led products and accessories, and autumn/winter’s new collection has just arrived online. I’m loving the cherry brooch by Francoise Montague, squirrel ring box by Jonathan Adler, and chirpy cicada brooch.

There's also a really lovely selection of luxe hairbands and headpieces, like this little pleated beauty ...

The shop is also particularly good when it comes to accessing a clever range of kids’ toys, games and activities, starting at pocket-money prices. I’m particularly fond of the vintage-style wind-up tin toys, like this circus elephant, and these Clifford Richards cat and fairy notebooks.

The V&A also have a brilliant prints service, where you can order any print from their vast collection in the size, format and paper of your choice.

Also keep an eye out for pieces from the Cherry on a Cake collection, a brilliant line of limited edition designer collaborations, making them perfect (read: non-crap) souvenirs for tourists and London newcomers alike. Inspired by the museum’s extensive collections, you can take your pick from a stunning Grayson Perry doll (at a super-cool £4000, wow) or a Concise Book of Patterns necklace by Comfort Station. Art and history has never been so wearable.

The V&A Shop
Victoria and Albert Museum
Cromwell Road
London SW7 2RL
Tel. 020 7942 2687
Nearest tube: South Kensington
Click here for a Wee Birdy map.

Opening hours:
Monday to Sunday 10am-5.30pm
Late night every Friday until 9.45pm

My Secret London with Imelda Burke

In the latest instalment of My Secret London, I caught up with Marylebone's organic beauty queen, Imelda Burke, owner and founder of Content Beauty/Wellbeing. She opened up her little black book to share some of her secret London gems...

Best for a books?
Books are an ongoing obsession – our house is covered in them. We’ve got everything from art and photography books to medical encyclopaedias - it’s quite an eclectic collection. I go to Donlon Books for the hard-to-finds. It has the best photography and art collection and books on subculture. It’s now got two stores - one in Bethnal Green and one in Broadway market.

For books to give your brain a workout, I love The School of Life. Their faculty have read their way through thousands of books to bring you a carefully edited selection. They have the best categorisation of any bookshop I’ve been to. Shelves are organized in the following topics:

How to turn over a new leaf
How to know you’re in love
How to be green on the cheap
How to be more creative
How to enjoy your own company
How to make the world a better place
How to find pleasure in everyday things
How to understand your childhood
How to survive melancholy
How to find a job you love
How to think deeply about life
How to get on with other people

Charlotte Mann's hand-drawn walls at The School of Life.

Best for vintage?
The Peanut Vendor, a mid-century furniture shop based in Newington Green in Islington. It’s filled with wonderful, previously-loved pieces of furniture and homewares as well as design classics. Look out for G-Plan and Ercol classics.

Best for interiors and gifts?
Rob Ryan’s store on Columbia Road, Ryantown, would have to be my favourite. From tiles to prints, glassware and now cushions – we decorated the treatment room at CONTENT BEAUTY/WELLBEING with his ‘No other planet could be as beautiful as this one’ print.

Best for stationery?
I love a notebook and the best come from www.o-check.net. Their ‘Another Day, Cloudy Memory’ notebooks are sometimes available from twentytwentyone. Made from old-school heavy newsprint paper, numbered and fabric-bound.

I also love their cards, especially the ‘Spring Bird’.

Others I love are from the Monocle shop in Marylebone. Great linen-backed notebooks designed by the Monocle team in London and produced in Germany by Brandbook.

Best for kids?
Jabberwockie in Islington has the best clothes, gifts and shoes for kids. Great for presents, skincare and quirky Japanese ranges. Don’t bother with the mainstream.

Best for beauty/skincare?
That would be my own shop, CONTENT, of course! A selection of the best organic brands such as Dr Alkaitis and Pai Skincare and established near-natural brands like Ren and Nude. We also have one of the most extensive collections of natural perfumes and hold CONTENT wellbeing evenings once a month, which include food and wine tastings and tips for keeping healthy from our team of naturopaths.

Best London souvenir?
I think the best thing to take home from London is an appreciation for the diversity living in a large city brings and the energy it creates.

Best place to eat?
Saf vegan restaurant in Curtain Road.

Click here for a Wee Birdy map of Imelda's secret addresses.
Click here for more Secret Londons.

London shopping: Magma

Lacking inspiration? Feeling lost and parched in a creative desert? Just need to buy a cool gift for someone who’s got everything? Then head to Magma in Clerkenwell for an instant hit of creative refreshment.

This cool spot is a haven for design-types, stocking a wide selection of the latest books on graphic design, art, pop culture, typography, photography, fashion, film and animation, illustration, and architecture. The staff are friendly and knowledgable and can help steer you in the right direction.

But Magma is more than a book shop, with other fun and design-driven products such as stationery and accessories, badges and pins, and vinyl toys by Kid Robot and Nathan Jurevicius.

There is also a wall of the latest design, art and fashion magazines, including overseas and hard-to-find publications.

The front window displays a range of artist-designed t-shirts, like David Shrigley’s cute-n-tragic penguin with an arrow through his heart (£32) and A. Johnson’s (the guy behind the Robinson juice adverts) elephant spouting rainbow drops (£30).

The tiny cigarette-packet-style of classics by the likes of Tolstoy, Conrad and Hemingway make a great gift, as do the beautifully printed tea-towels and hankies by Sukie. The selection of children’s books are also carefully considered, featuring clever graphics and gorgeous illustrations (my personal favourite is Everybody Poos by Tara Gomi).

Magma has a new (non-book) store that has just opened on Earlham Street, which is dedicated entirely to products. Stay tuned for the review.

Magma
117-119 Clerkenwell Road
London EC1R 5BY
Tel: 020 7242 9503

Click here for a Wee Birdy map.

Opening hours:
Monday-Saturday 10am-7pm

Nearest tube: Faringdon

For more shops in East London, click here.

London market stalls: The Ladybird Lady at Broadway Market

I was brought up on a steady diet of English Ladybird books (amongst other classics like The Very Hungry Caterpillar, Dr Suess, Where the Wild Things Are) and I can still recall the 1970s illustrations from the "Learning with Mother" and "Talkabout" series’ that captured and entertained me as a toddler (funnily enough, pretty tea sets, delicious cakes, a bag of sweets in shiny wrappers). As a consequence, I was also a child growing up in Australia who knew how to play conkers. (Not a terribly useful piece of knowledge in a beach-side regional town.)

So I was just a tad excited to discover The Ladybird Lady’s stall at Broadway Market, with a terrific selection of hard-to-find vintage Ladybird books (from £1 to £10), as well as vintage buttons, toy cars, kids’ games and vintage door handles. It’s a bit of a bower bird’s nest, but a very lovely and nostalgic one.

The Ladybird Lady
Saturdays, Broadway Market

Click here for a Wee Birdy map.

Nearest tube: Bethnal Green Station
Nearest train: London Fields BR

For more market stalls and shops on Broadway Market, click here.
For more shops in East London, click here.