The Circus Girls, 1949

There’s something about this photo story that I dug out of the LIFE archives that makes me want to pack up my website and join the circus. Shot by the acclaimed photographer Nina Leen in 1949, we find our sassy subculture of circus girls in Sarasota, Florida, dubbed “the home of the American circus”. You…

Automania: The Warehouse of Pop-culture Relics

Bill Saveira, or ‘Jingletown Bill’ used to be a car salesman with a ‘maniacal obsession for old cars’. Today he is the founder of Automania, the film industry’s go-to treasure chest for just about anything, from a fleet of 1960s police cars to a life-sized Indian cigar store sculpture– yes, his collection is that random…

Vintage Muse du Jour: Lauren Bacall

Sometimes I get a little … well, bored with today’s celebrities. And then I start looking for a silver screen starlet to re-discover. With that unmistakable “one is not amused” sultry gaze and those unforgettable eyebrows, today I pick Lauren Bacall… If looks could kill … (or melt your heart)… Lauren was 19 years-old when she…

Found in the Trash: A Box of Otherworldly Notes

You know why the internet is awesome? Because you can share the experience of someone discovering a mysterious treasure. Reddit user TramStopDan documented and shared his recent experience of unlocking and discovering the contents of a box which his friend found discarded on the street next to the trash. When he managed to open it,…

So Wes Anderson’s Brother is an Illustrator and he’s Awesome

Yet more Wes Andersonia to keep us going until the release of The Grand Budapest Hotel, it seems as if the talent pool in the Anderson family spread further than we thought…. Welcome to the world of Eric Chase Anderson, little brother of Wes, with just as big of an imagination. In college, he also wanted…

5 Off-Beat Reasons to do a Weekend in Belgium

MessyNessyChic and the team (of two) took a winter weekend break from Paris and hit the road for Belgium, visiting Bruges, followed by Antwerp. And since we had such an awesome time, we thought we might share a few travel notes from our off-beat finds… 1. ‘Secret Bruges’ Bruges had me fooled. I was waiting…

The Vault

The Last Days of Doel: A Ghost Town in Purgatory

When we headed out of Antwerp, following the road signs to Doel, we didn’t even know if it would still be there when we arrived. The small town was supposed to have been wiped off the map more than a decade ago when it was officially scheduled for complete demolition. This is one ghost town…

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

13 Things I Found on the Internet Today (Vol. XLVI)

1. Found under the carpet “Pulled up the carpet at the house, and guess what I found”– submitted by Reddit user Nnewel. 2. Unseen Photos Of Rolling Stones Discovered At US Flea Market Lauren White, whilst rummaging around her local flea market in Los Angeles, California, stumbled upon a collection of 23 photographs…

The Oil Man

“I‘m a pimp. I sell it and I’ve still got it. So that makes me a pimp.” Step into the world of Jim Rodgers. He’s in one of the oldest professions and he’s doing it the ‘old school’ way. In fact, Jim likes everything old, except his women. Filmed in Kilgore, Texas in the good…

The Last Japanese Mermaids

For nearly two thousand years, Japanese women living in coastal fishing villages made a remarkable livelihood hunting the ocean for oysters and abalone, a sea snail that produces pearls. They are known as Ama, and if you’ve dipped into Messy Nessy’s archives, you will have already met the few ladies still left in Japan that…