The Real Life ‘Indiana Jones’ Was Just as Cool as You Think.

He said he “was born under a lucky star”. Yet, Roy Chapman Andrews, that good ‘ole American chaser of bandits, dinosaur eggs and lost civilisations, was always the kind of man who made his own luck. He charmed a generation of daydreamers with his stories of the Gobi desert — and that hat —and while there’s…

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

And Now, Abandoned Dollhouses for your Inner Demon Child

Forget those twee little dollhouses from your childhood, we’re a tiny bit obsessed with the work of a truly twisted genius. Juli Steel is not your average miniaturist. A self-taught assemblage artist from Texas who goes by the alias of @TwistedCopperForest, like us, Juli has a weak spot for the forgotten and unloved things of…

UFO Moving Day

I‘m a fan of most of the design that came out of the sixties, but if there’s one thing I just don’t get, it was the Futuro House. Designed in 1968 by Finnish architect, Matti Suuronen, fewer than 100 examples were built, inspired by the post-war futurism and space exploration. It has become an iconic…

The Time Capsule Brooklyn Barbershop that Could

The one charm about the past, said Oscar Wilde, is just that: it’s the past. But clearly, he never met Tony Garofalo. For over half a century, Tony has been behind the wheel, or swivel chair, rather, of the little Brooklyn Barber Shop that could… Quietly sandwiched between a deli and car service shop, you…

How did the Heart Become the Symbol of Love anyway?

Once upon a time, a knight was really pissed off. He had just discovered that his wife took a lover, and naturally, sought revenge in a joust to the death with his rival. But even that victory wasn’t enough to quench his rage, so he cut out the heart of his wife’s lover and gave…

The Little Provencale Hotel with More Important Art than Most Museums

Paris has the Café Flore, Venice has Harry’s Bar, New York had the Stork Club. There are some places that just had that “je ne sais quoi“, a power to lure in the world’s most fascinating people where legendary conversations, untold flirtations and scandalous altercations took place at candlelit tables in the corner by the bar. Nestled in the…

How did the King of 20th Century Fashion Disappear into Oblivion?

They compared his legacy to Picasso’s and called him the “King of Fashion” in America and Le Magnifique in Paris. He liberated women from corsets, dominated Belle Epoque fashion with his lavish draped designs and was the first French couturier to commercialise his own perfumes, now an industry standard marketing concept. Paul Poiret should be a…

Get in the Mood for Lurve with the Best Cookbook to Come out of the 80s

There were some things that were just accepted in the 80s and Barbara Cartland’s cookbook was one of them. Published in 1984, The Romance of Food features over 170 pages of kitschy technicolour plates that were all photographed at Cartland’s own Hertfordshire estate (the former home of Beatrix Potter), using her own antique porcelain and knick-knacks alongside the food.…

The Girls We Should Thank for Kickstarting Hollywood

Did you know know that half of all the films copyrighted in between 1911 and 1925 were written by women? A hundred years ago women were involved in nearly every aspect of production and held key positions in the industry. Alice Guy-Blaché, a Parisian secretary, was the first person believed to have directed a narrative film.…

The Secret History of Lipstick

Its recipe has taken thousands of years to perfect, and if we follow the forgotten trail, its secret history can lead us from the ancient tombs of antiquity to underground societies that paved the way for freedom of expression. Contrary to popular assumption, lipstick was in fact genderless for most of its existence, and as…