Wee Birdy

Wee find: Nathalie Lete in London

As some of you may know, I’m a little bit in love with French artist Nathalie Lete’s vibrant and whimsical illustrations, which adorn many a lovely bag, notebook and pendant necklace. It’s all about birdies, bunnies and fairytale flowers sprouting up and frolicking around clichéd Parisian souvenir landscapes – naive art at its best.

Her website offers a glimpse inside her Paris studio – looky here:

I first stumbled across Lete on a trip to Paris a couple of years ago, and have since discovered that quite a few places in London stock a variety of Lete’s loveliness.

Lapin and Me in East London has just stocked up on an assortment of sweet trinkets for Christmas, like this amazing Paris snowglobe, as well as scarves, chocolates and badges. Check out the page dedicated to Lete products on the online shop, and don’t miss the limited edition Mimi and Lili handmade cats.

Over on Cheshire Street, meanwhile, Mar Mar Co stocks a range of Nathalie's ceramics and prints.

But if you're after Nathalie's collection of extraordinary custom-made rugs, head over to Caravan on Redchurch Street, where you'll also find more stationery and some rather lovely ceramic pots.

Nathalie has also created a range of milky-glazed ceramics for Parisian ceramist Astier de Villatte, and you can find them in London at Designers Guild on the King’s Road.

And with Anthropologie opening its Regent Street doors on October 23 (the excitement!), Londoners will be able to access Nathalie's exclusive range of ceramics and furniture. And naturally, there's plenty of birdy designs to choose from. Swoon!

Wee find: Tatty Devine's Pearlies

Loving the Pearly pieces from Tatty Devine's AW09 collection, Button Up, which pay tribute to the East End's royal dynasty of Pearly Kings and Queens. Reflecting the hand-crafted and emblematic hallmarks of a traditional Pearlie's costume, there are hand-stitched buttons adorning heart brooches, anchor necklaces and bow earrings, starting at £18.

If you love all things Pearlie, then you might want to check out this incredible exhibition of Pearlie portraits (see top and below) by photographer Harry Dutton. It's currently on show in Tatty Devine's Brick Lane store. Just look at the detail in those costumes!

Tatty Devine are donating £1 from every sale of a Pearly King brooch or necklace to charity through the Pearly Kings and Queens Association. Gorgeous graphic jewellery - and a perfect London souvenir!

Tatty Devine
236 Brick Lane
London E2 7EB
Tel. 020 7739 9191
Opening hours:
Tuesday to Sunday 11am-6pm
Nearest tube: Liverpool Street

Click here for a Wee Birdy map.

Shopping in London: M.Goldstein

As much as I love my modern, minimalist boutiques with carefully-considered stock and refined aesthetic (A.P.C’s new flagship store on Dover Street is a great example), there’s something about the thrill of finding treasure in a real magpie’s nest, where the approach to visual merchandising errs towards the chaotic rather than the simple and streamlined. This is what you can expect to find at M.Goldstein, a small vintage shop on Hackney Road, just at the bottom of Columbia Road.

The name comes from the former 1930s owner, a newsagent who by all accounts was no stranger to East London’s shady underworld at the time. A jumble of antiques, paintings and the odd human skull, M.Goldstein is today the brainchild of Nathaniel Lee Jones and Pippa Brooks (formerly of Shop at Maison Bertaux in Soho – how we miss you so! But these days you can find Pippa blogging at Madame Says).

It’s not overly or self-consciously styled - in fact, Nathaniel describes it as a bit of a work in progress. There are old drums hanging from the ceiling and mid-century grocery boxes stacked on top of the cabinet, with a Victorian skull sitting on a Gothic stand in the corner.

Taking pride of place is a cabinet of curios, which on my visit was filled with a collection of tiny bird skulls, bird eggs and um, dead birds, as well as some really lovely vintage jewellery, hair combs and mantillas. It’s all rather like stepping into the old office of a mad, fashion-loving scientist.

I also found a seaside entertainer’s jacket form the ‘30s, some vintage straw hats in the style of Dior’s New Look, and a pair of Eley Kishimoto heels (from Pippa’s personal collection). Nathaniel and Pippa have also started to produce their own small run of garments, like some lovely shirt dresses as well as some screen-printed tees (like this lovely violet number featuring Quentin Crisp).

Fingers’ crossed there’s more on the way from this creative duo!

M.Goldstein
67 Hackney Road
London, E2.
Tel. 07905 325215
Nearest tube: Old Street
Click here for a Wee Birdy map.

Opening hours:
Thursday to Sunday 10am-6pm

Click here for more shops in East London.

Bird is the word: A week of giveaways

I’m back with one final giveaway for a lucky Wee Birdy reader: an amazing Nathalie Lete prize pack, valued at £36.95, courtesy of London boutique Lapin & Me.

One of my favourite new shops in East London, Lapin & Me specialises in all things fine, French-y and feminine, with a strong illustrative element. I really love the selection of pocket-money goodies for kids, as well as the extensive line-up of cult dolls. Get the full Lapin & Me shop tour here.

Lapin & Me also stocks an extensive selection of products by French artist Nathalie Lete, which feature a vividly-painted Parisian world populated by bunnies, birds and flowers.

The Nathalie Lete prize pack includes a best-selling Parisian shopper, valued at £16.95; a toiletries bag, valued at £13.50; and a super-sweet notebook, valued at £6.50.

To be in the running for the prize pack, simply leave a comment telling me your favourite thing about Paris. Don’t forget to leave your email address so I can contact you if you win!

Please note that the winner will be chosen at random (either picked out of a hat or by a random number generator – TBC) and all competitions close on Friday 24 July at 6pm (British Summer Time). Winners will be announced on Monday 27 July.

Thank you, Lapin & Me! If you love the look of the shop, why don’t you:
- check out the online shop here;
- peek inside the East London boutique here; or
- become a fan of Lapin & Me on Facebook here.

Bird is the word: A week of giveaways

Today marks day five of the Wee Birdy blogiversary giveaway, and I’ve got some very special prizes from London design legend (and Wee Birdy favourite) Rob Ryan.

As some of you may know, I’ve posted extensively about Rob Ryan’s work over the last two years, so it’s a delight to welcome him back to the nest. He’s very kindly donated two of his bird-themed tiles for a Wee Birdy giveaway, valued at a total of £48.

Rob is a prolific designer and illustrator, and his paper-cut designs (and heart-felt prose) have appeared on collaborations with British Vogue, Liberty, Fortnum and Mason, Paul Smith and Earnest Sewn.

A shopping trip to London isn’t complete without a visit to his Columbia Road store, Ryantown, which opened just last year. All of his work is produced nearby in his East London studio, and it’s packed with his screenprints, tiles and t-shirts, as well as an ever-changing selection of gifts. A recent addition, for instance, are these cute sailor-print t-shirts. (Check out my full Wee Birdy shop tour here.)

To be in the running for this very special prize of two Rob Ryan tiles, simply leave a comment telling me what you favourite Rob Ryan print, product or collaboration is - and why. Don’t forget to leave your email address so I can contact you if you win!

Please note that the winner will be chosen at random (either picked out of a hat or by a random number generator – TBC) and all competitions close on Friday 24 July at 6pm (British Summer Time). Winners will be announced on Monday 27 July.

Thank you Rob! If you’re as big a Rob Ryan fan as I am, why don’t you:
- Check out his Etsy shop;
- Read my full shop tour of his shop, Ryantown;
- Check out his blog here; or
- See what’s new in Ryantown via the blog here.