Thursday, February 10, 2011

Latest articles from Retro To Go

Latest articles from Retro To Go


eBay watch: 1970s Crayonne Moon space age table lamp

Posted: 10 Feb 2011 09:56 AM PST

Crayonne

I'll be honest, I don't know much about the design, but I like what I see in this Crayonne Moon table lamp.

Crayonne is the maker and if the cryptic listing reads correctly, it was sold in Habitat in the mid-1970s. Turned off and it's a cool piece of period design, turn it on and you get a rather nice glow.

It's made of white plastic with a chrome strip to the side and is described as being in 'vintage working condition'. Still some time to go, it's currently up for £1.

Find out more at the eBay website

Dexter’s World “Subliminal Thatcher” Print

Posted: 10 Feb 2011 07:01 AM PST

Subliminal thatcher 
Still on an Eighties words theme, although at the opposite end of the price scale from the cards below, is Dexter's World "Subliminal Thatcher" print.

York-based artist Dexter bills his work as trying "to make sense of the 21st Century by recreating the recent past", which he does by creating pieces consisting of hundreds of words (product names, television programmes, band names, songs, films etc). In this piece, he has added some clever shading over the 80s words, so that the portrait of Margaret Thatcher can be seen casting an ominous shadow over the picture, just as she did over the decade.

The print is available at either a 90" x 36" or 126" x 36" size through LondonArt. The asking price for the larger size is £2,550, but LondonArt allows you to make an offer on any piece, so you could be lucky and get it for less.

Neon Eighties Cards

Posted: 10 Feb 2011 06:40 AM PST

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Stormy Knight Cards has produced a set of greetings cards that hark back to positive exclamations that were particularly popular in the 1980s (although undoubtedly some people do still say these things even now).

The Neon Eighties Cards feature speech bubbles with either "Brill", "Cool", "Ace", "Fab", "Mega" or "Yeah" in them. To add to the 80s feel, they are rendered in garish neon colours. The cards cost £2.50 each. There is also a matching gift wrap set containing three sheets of wrapping paper and three gift tags, priced £6.95. If the designer happens to read this, I'd be quite interested in a Sixties version with with "hip", "groovy", "far out" etc.

The cards can be bought from Stormy Knight Cards via Not on the High Street.

Adidas Stan Smith 80s trainers reissued in blue

Posted: 10 Feb 2011 06:07 AM PST

Stan

Not exactly the rarest of styles, but the Adidas Stan Smith 80s trainers are back in an eye-catching shade of light blue.

As you might have guessed, this is the 80s variant of the original 70s shoe, which is still the bestseller of the Adidas back catalogue. The 80s update coming with a slightly different sole unit and shape, but still distinguished by ther dots instead of the stripes.

This latest version has that light blue nubuck upper, with some darker blue and white contrast detailing, all of which will be available to buy from March. You can pre-order now at Crooked Tongues, £70 being the price.

Find out more at the Crooked Tongues website

Via His Knibs

Blossom and Bill tea towel

Posted: 10 Feb 2011 05:34 AM PST

Blossom and bill
We've featured so many Blossom and Bill products on this site, it's hard to believe that it's only now that they are making an appearance on a tea towel

Yes, ISAK's retro couple are finally ready to help you do your dishes. Their charming features have been depicted in four bright colour schemes. Take your pick from brown, blue, pink and green. There's even four suitably cheery mugs to match. 

The tea towels cost £9.95. 

Buy them from Illustrated Living

London Folk Mugs from Our Workshop

Posted: 10 Feb 2011 05:29 AM PST

Folk mugs

Got your London traybag and lunchbox? If you really do love London town, you're sure to want to complete your collection with these London Folk Mugs from Our Workshop

Far removed from tourist tat, these mugs are actually quite classy little fellows - in fact they remind me of the work of Kenneth Townsend and his London series of tiles from the late 60s/early 70s. Each mug features a simple illustration of three characters of London - the Yeoman, the Royal Guard and a policeman - beautifully depiciting their iconic outfits, and their fine moustaches. 

A mug costs £12. 

Buy them online

Cornflower blue porcelain teacup trio

Posted: 10 Feb 2011 04:49 AM PST

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This beautiful cornflower blue porcelain teacup trio dates to the mid-twentieth century, and is perfectly decorated with hand painted blue flowers on green stems. 

It's the ultimate in tea-party chic to be accompanied by dainty cakes and cucumber sandwiches or to add an element of 1950s vintage elegance to a room.

Both plates and the large teacup are in excellent condition and available from the aptly named The Oxford Tea Party for £4.99.

Book rest lamp

Posted: 10 Feb 2011 04:19 AM PST

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Make bed time fun again and create a good talking point with this book rest lamp from Urban Outfitters.

Any book fan will recognise this common sight of a discarded book, mid-way through reading, and this quirky lamp, is the perfect retro gadget so you never lose a page again.

Get yours online or in store at Urban Outfitters for £40.

Umbra Condolisa Side Table - in the shape of a modernist house

Posted: 10 Feb 2011 12:56 AM PST

Mod_house

One of our more popular recent posts was the Umbra Fishcondo, which was a fish bowl shaped like a modernist house. Well, not only is there a version for your goldfish, but there's a similar design for you to enjoy now, with the Umbra Condolisa Side Table.

As you might have guessed, it's by the same design team of Luong & Cheng, this time offering up a larger version of the modernist-inspired dwelling, as well as a version that has frosted acrylic cut-out windows within the high gloss wooden structure, plus some shelves for your bits and pieces. It also has a removable lid for last-minute hiding of your living room rubbish at short notice.

A new design for 2011 and standing around 48cm tall, it sells for £216.

Find out more at the Panik Design website

Don't Be So Quick to Overlook the Maserati Grecale Folgore

If the GranTurismo Folgore is a guide, this Grecale Folgore could be surprisingly competitive. The EV GT was one of the year's best surp...