Retro To Go

Luxury luggage often seems the sole property of the impossibly rich, but just because an item is functional doesn't mean you can't make it look stylish on any budget. This Cheetah Flight Bag is a perfect example, and it has some sassy fifties chic thrown in too.The bag is from Jasper Conran's designs for Tripp, and sells itself on its classic but fiesty design....

With so many 80s fashion trends undergoing revival on the high street, it doesn't have to be the more obvious ones you choose. Eschewing the neon and leggings, body-conscious dressing is a great way to a classic eighties chic.This Lace Ponte Dress from Oasis captures a subtle eighties look with style, using a form fitting sheath dress as the basis....

If you missed out on the exhibition of the same name a couple of years ago, then the book “Joe Colombo – Inventing the Future” is a most have for any fans of the pioneering designer. This beautiful hardback book has 320 pages, featuring 300 images including reproductions of Colombo’s hand-drawn sketches, floor plans, objects and interiors....

  The Cassina Kanu Chair doesn’t look the most inviting in terms of comfort, but it is certainly a stylish piece to look at. Combining attractive curves with American black walnut finish, gives the chair a retro look which belies its recent creation in 2008 by Konstantin Grcic. It is also available in maple stained white or black....

Ella Doran's new Geometrical Repeat range includes the company's first ever wallpaper design. The pattern is a softer take on op-art made from subtly shaded pyramid shapes. The design has been digitally printed onto wallpaper which costs £110 a roll. If either the price or the look of that is too much, it's also available on table mats, coasters or a tray....

Want a quick visual primer on key design icons? Well then you may be interested in this print of Jen Renninger's Modern Design Deck. The deck allocated a celebrated designer and a depiction of one of their famous works to each letter of the alphabet. This print shows 30 of her original illustrations for the deck (yes, some of the letters have more than one designer attached to them) going from...

US retro brand Heartbreaker are best known for their fifties styles for women, but their 60s reproduction pieces are as accomplished as the best brands. This Fifi Babydoll Dress is a perfect piece of vintage styled clothing that doesn't put a foot wrong.The babydoll style instantly sets this squarely in the mod sphere, and plenty of the detailing gives it that uniquely mid-sixties British look....

Barry Murphy returns once more to trawl the TV and radio guides (so you don't have to), finding anything worth tuning into this week. All listings are for UK terrestrial TV, Freeview and national radio, with the shows running from Friday 20th November to Thursday 26th November 2009. Highlight of the week Another disappointing listing this week I'm afraid, not much here to highlight....

If the Giant Flower Pot Pendant Lamp featured last week is just too big, both physically and price-wise, then how about this Café Lamp? Available in a choice of red, cream or silver, the style suggests 1950s cafes. The lamps are made by a family-run Welsh metal spinning company that used to specialise in making miners lamps but is now turning this expertise to making lighting fixtures....

Only the coldest of hearts could fail to be melted by a Charlie Brown Christmas but if watching this classic film isn’t enough then the USA Urban Outfitters is selling the soundtrack on vinyl. The LP features 12 tracks played by the Vince Guaraldi Trio who composed numerous other scores for the cartoon series....

Back at the start of 2008, we mentioned that a relic of old East Germany, the Trabant car, was being remade as an all-new eco car with a retro twist. Well, true to its word, Herpa and IndiKar have delivered a working prototype - the Trabant NT.Reworked by former VW designer Nils Poschwatta, the new version keeps the character and feel of the original, but ditches the weak points (duroplast structure,...

Retro items are easy to come by for just about every corner of your home. But beds? Well, they're not so easy to find. Which is why the Retro midcentury-style bed by The Sleep Room is more than worthy of a mention.Yes, it's a bed designed for a midcentury-influenced room, complete with angled oak legs and a tapered headboard for that period feel, along with beech slats and a choice of...

A large number of people dedicated to retro sartorialism stick with one era and do it well, but for some of us it's hard to narrow our wardrobes down to just one decade or trend. This Sequin Palm Top from Marks and Spencer is a great choice for the latter, thanks to its combination of both fifties and eighties style points.Playing on the 50s love for all things tropical and Hawaiin,...

For retro chic there's nothing more effective than keeping your clothing choices simple and classic. Great Plains, as the name suggests, have got this design idea perfected with this Wool Cashmere Coat.Letting the luxurious blended fabric do the talking is what makes this coat, with a stunning off-white shade unblemished by over the top detailing....

The design on these coasters has clearly been influenced by Scandinavian folk art, featuring a pair of green birds. The other element of the design is a white Christmas bauble, making these coasters ideal for this time of year, although the design is subtle enough and not in overly Christmassy colours, so you could probably use them after the festive season has passed....

Regular readers will know that we are fond of a cup of tea and equally keen on Orla Kiely’s designs. So her range of products featuring the Tiny Teacup print is a sure fire winner with us. The pattern is part of the Autumn/Winter 2009 Etc range, and is available in a two colour ways, the multi coloured pictured here and the Ink, which is shades of blue....

Andy Warhol's famous Banana has been used on tons of products from bags to watches to dishes but here's a very simple idea I don't think we've covered previously: banana sweets. It's not tricky to work out what it involves – yes, it's the design printed onto a banana-shaped tin that contains lots of little banana-shaped sweets....

Beards are something approaching hip once more in the modern era, but it's the original era of the bearded rocker that has inspired the Original Series Collection of t-shirts by Kulte.Take your pick from Mick Jagger (pictured over the page), Paul McCartney and for the first time on a t-shirt (as far as I know), great lost Beach Boys talent Dennis Wilson (above)....

We often feature Heals on this site, not least because it offers up design classics and new items with retro twist (like the Slice chest and side table by Wales & Wales pictured above for example). If the prices are usually a little rich for your blood, now is a good time to buy - as there's 15 per cent off everything as part of a Christmas shopping promotion.When we say...

I'm not sure about Liam Gallagher's Pretty Green label. At one point, we got invited down to see the collection, then that invite seemed to be rescinded, followed by our requests for advance images being ignored. Which worries me slightly - and leaves us having to give our opinions on the new range based on the small shots that are now available on the Pretty Green site....

The approach to winter is probably not the best time to go looking for a linen dress, but when it's this cute and retro it's worth snapping up. This Linen Mini Dress by You is a chic little sixties inspired number rarely found on the high street.With a well cut a-line shape, complete with a feminine waist accent and capped sleeves, the shape is perfect for a mid sixties style....

Clutch bags might not be the most practical of handbag choices, but when they're done well they conjure up a retro feel instantly. This Gold Dot Clutch by Paparazzi takes vintage inspiration and adds a thoroughly modern twist to create an ideal evening accessory.With a chic gold and black colour palette, this bag keeps classic and simple with a vintage metal clasp frame style....

  At first glance these Animal Hands Tattoos really reminded me of the children's TV show Fingerbobs that ran in the 70's, with the grey mouse and that nice man with the beard.The box contains 8 temporary tattoos and would be a great stocking filler for Christmas, with huge potential for Boxing day puppet shows and much jollity.The tattoos are safe and simple to apply with water, buy your set from...