XMAS ADD-TO-CART SPECIAL
Xmas party season is now in full swing and there isn't one person we’ve bumped into and splurged the words ‘ok we must get together before xmas!’... But in between these mulled wine catchups we will be making time to sashay between exciting shows rounding off 2022 including Hamed Maiye at Harlesden High Street; New Contemporaries at South London Gallery; Alia Hamaoui, Hawazin Alotaibi, Shamiran Isitifan and Zein Majali at Studio Chapple’s new permanent space; Billy Fraser at Sherbert Green; Paul Becker at Mackintosh Lane; and Hajar Benji at TJ Boulting.
This week, for those who need a little guidance for festive gifting, we give you our add-to-cart special xoxo
Mowalola x Bratz dolls
Feicia and Jade from the Bratz universe get the complete Mowalola treatment in this iconic collaboration. Complete with two full outfits, accessories and their very own miniature bundle bag. Our inner tween is screaming rn!! Now we just need these outfits to be released in human sizes, please!! £65, but sadly sold out, here
No xmas like a plasticine Gary Card xmas
Nothing says bouji London Christmas like an artist-designed hotel tree. For us, Gary Card’s creation for the Sanderson Hotel a few years is yet to be beaten. Entirely constructed from plasticine versions of his smiley, gaudy figures, it screams JOY way more than warm fairy lights and burgundy velvet accoutrements. Not technically available to purchase, but we’re sure Gary is open to DMs and commissions?
The Sims Cookbook
If you, like us, spent your childhood satisfying the needs of your sims, it’s time to dust off those wooden spoons and get stuck back in with the Unofficial Sims Cookbook. We’re still not quite sure what Lobster Thermidor is, there are no motherlode shortcuts, and think Baked Alaska looks a bit gross, TBH, but that won’t stop us from reliving that childhood nostalgia and having a crack at mastering the Sim’s cuisine. Order here for £14.99.
‘Your yellow galoshes!’ the King remarked. ‘Beautifully chosen.’
We’re making like David Hockney at the Order of Merit lunch by wearing warning sign-yellow Crocs this yuletide. But to make it extra festive we’re deciding to go for the fur-lined versions that are bound to make taking the cardboard-stuffed recycling bins out, or sneaking in a crafty menthol in the garden, feel like going on holiday. Available here for £54.99
Mark your diaries x
Editorial Mag have released their annual calendar, with an artist creating an artwork for each month of the year. Featured artists include spittle faves Jack Jubb, Nick Bierk, Leon Xu and Gitte Maria Moller, among many others! Order here for $36.
Mary queen of Scots hairy Mary kilt
Designer Rosie Barton whips up shirts, skirts and dresses from her London studio, under the moniker Hairy Mary. Made with repurposed materials (your grandma’s tablecloths make a strong appearance), these maximalist garms are set to make you stand out at the Christmas dinner table. Ten percent of profits go to Maggie’s Centre, Oxford, which provides cancer support to people in the local area. Available to buy or custom order here, prices starting from £125.
A lemon-flavoured snowman on a garden chair
San Mei gallery do online stores like no other. We have our eyes on this happy/sad sculpture by Benjamin Arthur Brown—if we’ve been good this year, it’s going to be prime position at the entrance of our spittle new years pardy <3 x
Kit-Cat Clocks
We’ve never knowingly purchased something from an Instagram Ad but this clock is where we’ll make an exception. Where on earth we first saw these Kit-Cat Clocks we have no idea but the joy they spread now comes in an array of millennial-friendly colours as well as natty (Vivienne Westwood-esque) pearls. We’re channelling The Kit-Cat creed in 2023: Put a smile on everyone’s face; Love in everyone’s heart; Energy in everyone’s body; and Be a positive force in everyone’s life! Mum, if you’re listening, I’d like one of these in my stocking. Available here for $69.99
Dilara Findinkogulu Anne Boleyn necklace
Dilara Findinkogulu reworks the necklace featured in Anne Boleyn’s most iconic portrait, which is in the collection of the National Gallery, London. Now available in every letter of the alphabet, show the gallerina girlies that you know your way around 16th-century British portraiture as well as you know your way around 21st-century relational aesthetics with this pearl and gold-plated piece. Get yours here for £165.
Buffalo Zine + mags that make us gag
One of our go-to festive rituals is visiting Good News on Berwick Street and buying a stack of magazines to read over Xmas while drinking natural wine from Oranj and eating stacks of St John mince pies (pre-ordered, of course). Hot on our list this year is the nearly sold-out Buffalo Zine featuring Hotel Chelsea (putting the ‘hot’ back in hotel, appaz) including spittle faves Natasha Stagg, Precious Okoyomon and McKenzie Wark; as well as the new Kaleidscope with its ‘(Un)Official Preppy Handbook’ and Flash Art’s Gaetano Pesce-designed cover xoxoxo available here for £40
NOTES FROM THE BEACH - ABMB recap :)
After a whirlwind week in Miami, we are back, broke and a little sunburnt. Our stand-out booths were Ishi Glinsky at Chris Sharp; Sophie Reinhold at Sophie Tappeiner, and Kerlin’s booth was full of surprises. Works which caught our eye included Malcolm Morley at Sperone Westwater; Tony Cokes at Greene Naftali; and the ever-brilliant Borna Samak works at JTT and Sadie Coles. Miami is known for its design and the booth furniture did not disappoint – special mention to Pippy Holdsworth’s mosaic-ed set. Fashion-wise, Bottega bags were everywhere (sadly no leather jeans on show), fuschia and orange were the stand-out colours of the moment, and the all-important comfy fair shoes took a distinctive croc-shaped turn this year (see above!). Raf Simons was spotted perusing the fair – enjoying his early (semi) retirement no doubt – and at the exhibitor party Marc Spiegler was seen serving margarita’s to the gallerists behind the bar, apron and all! Maybe this is his post-Basel calling?
PARTING SHOT
Eggnog mulled wine and… Pilk?? Lindsay Lohan has sprung out of retirement this year with a much-anticipated straight-to-Netflix hallmark movie! Seemingly she is utilising this opportunity to maximise her returns, and so Lohan is taking Pepsi adverts to honestly quite horrifying places by promoting a controversial alcohol-free cocktail. Serve this to your most hated family members as a sick Christmas joke. Stop trying to make Pilk happen!!
see ya again soon xoxoxo