Muse du Jour: Bollywood Bad Girl Zeenat Aman

It’s 1971, and a smoke-filled set overflows with hippies tapping tabla drums, eyes glazed over and glued to Zeenat Aman, who bursts into a groovy rendition of a Hare Krishna chant, dancing with no one but herself, and suddenly, it’s easy to see how she turned India on its head with one jerk of her…

What We Can Learn from a Bollywood Blockbuster about Periods

“The curse. Bloody Mary. Time of the Month. Shark Week. Code Red. Aunt Flo.” All over the world, euphemisms exist to discretely convey those four simple words: “I have my period”. In the media, the word ‘period’ was not mentioned on television until the 1980s and it seems the western approach for combatting period stigma is…

An American Impressionist in Paris

We think of the Impressionists and we picture landscapes, dreamy outdoor scenes, or Degas and his ballerinas. But there was no shortage of Impressionists dedicated to the survey of interiors, and perhaps the most prolific among them as it happens, was an American who mastered the art of French style – Mr. Walter Gay… He…

We’re Soon to be Dining in an Abandoned Metro Station in Paris

It’s finally happening. A sleeping ghost station in Paris’ revered 6eme arrondissement; just a few steps from iconic French cafés and the world’s first luxury department store; a forgotten metro stop is finally going to be transformed, slated to become the city’s hottest new underground restaurant. If this all kinda rings a bell, it’s because in 2013,…

10 Inspiring Bookshops around the World

If you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost; that is where they should be. Now put the foundations under them. – Henry David Thoreau Just some shops that sell books that I think are worth crossing oceans for… 1. Libreria Alta Acqua, Venice, Italy A little sign outside says,…

The Vault

Inside the MessyNessyChic Clubhouse in Paris

I think it’s finally time I showed you around behind the scenes of Messy Nessy Chic. If you follow me on instagram, you probably know that I recently moved out of my bed and into a real office. I’ve spent the last few months obsessively making it my own personal hub in Paris and I…

Pssst! You've stumbled across content that is exclusive to Nessy's Keyholders.

There’s a new way to access the really special stuff from Messy Nessy Chic …

Hidden beneath the surface layers of the internet, there’s a place where we keep our most secret addresses, untapped archives, creator’s inspiration, collector’s guides, explorer’s manuals, obscure research and much more… And it’s made for our keyholders only!

Apply now to unlock the Vault

Keyholder Login

Botany and the Forgotten Sexual Revolution

Sex and botany– two words rarely found in the same sentence, but there was a time when the study of botany was considered so obscene that books on the subject were censored for women; branded dangerous and unsuitable for her delicate sensibilities. Gardens and greenhouses became an enlightened woman’s secret haven of discovery, expression and temptation. While today’s scientific…

The Great African American Escape to Soviet Russia

In pursuit of the African American story abroad, we often look to 1920s Paris, where jazz was first introduced to the French and Black culture was embraced with open arms. It’s a more familiar story than the one about Soviet Russia opening its doors to thousands of Black Americans in the 20th century, where they…

Phone Home from London’s Original Red Phone Booth

They’re bright red kryptonite for tourists who can rarely resist a photo opportunity with London’s iconic phone booth, but few take their admiration further to find out just how they came about. The first London telephone boxes, or kiosks, were known as K1s. Introduced by the UK’s Post Office in 1921, they were considered to…