A Becksondergaard scarf is a definite need for a womens outfit....

To be honest.. one for each outfit is a need, in our opinion. 
Can't have too many nice scarves?

With their love for colours and Scandinavian simplicity Becksondergaard gives a playful twist to their scarves, with their well thought out colour palettes and bold prints.

A bold scarf like one of these can change a simple outfit so easily, into something that bit more eye catching. Easy Peasy.


So... Which are your new favourites?

1. ...?

Summer Star Blue Sky

2. ...?

Summer Star Green Tint

 

3. ...?

Twilight Star Elephant

 4. ...?

Twilight Star Blue Moon

 5. ...?

He Loves Me Marzipan

 6. ...?

Sky of Butterflies Sand Ginger

 7. ...?

Sky of Butterflies Harbour Blue

 8. ...?

Petit Amour Cat Grey

 9. ...?

Ombre Fleur Highlight Blue

 10. ...?

Supersize Nova Waterfall

 11. ...?

Supersize Nova Bark

 12. ...?

Grande Magnolia Cat Grey

 

13. ...?

Grande Magnolia Light Grey

 

 

Our Personal Favourite: No.5 He Loves Me Marzipan

This scarf comes with its own matching tote bag. Cute little set.

  

MATT & NAT: Which is your favourite?

These beautiful bags and purses arrived to us on Friday! They're in our shop now. And, will be on our website soon.

Matt & Nat say:

"We get to experiment with bag shapes with some ground rules: no leather. Simply put we don’t like hurting animals and we care about the welfare of the planet. No serif fonts either, they hurt our eyes. No meat in the office but lots of vegan cupcakes. A mandate to use eco/recycled/upcycled materials wherever we can has led to recycling plastic bottles for linings, the use of cork and secret future plans to upcycle bicycle tires.

We are MATT & NAT, our values are love, authenticity and responsibility. We are inspired by the textures and hues of nature, we will do our best to protect."

Have you seen our New Window Display!?

"Cycle To Work"

Here are some examples of the items we have used in our new window display:

1. Newgate Wall Clock | Bubble Cream  £65

2. New York Taxi Bookend  £18.95

3. Anglepoise Lamp | Type 1228 Lime Green  £95.95

4. Orla Kiely Cushion | Linear Stem Slate Blue  £39.95

5. Happy Jackson Doormat  £24.95

6. Scrabble Mug | C  £7.95

7. Manifesto A4 Notebook Love What You Do | Wild and Wolf  £12.95

8. Ella Doran Mug | Cameras  £9.95

9. Cyclopedia: It's all about the Bike Book  £16.99

10. Ella Doran Mug | Artist Tools  £9.95

11. Ella Doran Placemats | Bikes of Hackney  £55

12. Pantone Mug | Graphite 2336  £9.95

13. Pencil Sharpener Desk Tidy  £15.95

14. Pencil Sharpener | Camera  £21.95

15. Newgate Alarm Clock | Covent Garden White  £21.95

16. Cavallini Wrap | Les Bicyclettes £2.95

17. Chrome Lobby Phone | Wild and Wolf  £59.95

18. White Scandiphone | Wild and Wolf  £41.95

19. Simon Spilsbury Print | Man and Bike  £29.95

Welcome Paul Smith Fans, to the new print for Spring/ Summer 14!

Paul Smith Men's 'Mini on Location' print. 
NEW For Spring/Summer 14.

Paul Smith has given it's iconic Mini-on-location print a richer rework for the new season. With a fresh colour scheme. Well done Paul Smith you never disappoint us! 
 

----

The Mini was photographed at Rufford Country Park in Nottinghamshire. In the Hometown of Sir Paul Smith himself!

Situated at this park is Rufford Abbey, a country estate. If you have the chance I would definitely recommend to have a look. Been here before and is lovely to walk around. The grounds are extensive, with lots to explore. 

Here are some examples from his new range:
(They'll be on our website very soon. But, they are in our shops now though!)
 

 





This is part of our display in our Quiet Street Shop (Downstairs) - - >











Rufford Country Park: 
Just to prove its beauty to you and why Paul Smith chose to do the photo shoot here. 
Some lovely attractive photos for you....

New Year Resolutions For 2014

Welcome to the New Year 2014! Hope you all have had a great one so far!

I thought I'd try and help you out with getting these resolutions of yours running smoothly and on the right track. Here are my main three I'm planning to involve this year...

*Starting the Gym.*

To get that christmas dinner tummy off. To start your New Year healthy... I'm going to tell you what my ideal gym set is going to look like.... It will hopefully give you ideas too.

Go for a Anorak theme!

Anorak Shopper | Kissing Rabbits £21.95

Anorak Bath Towel | Rabbit £24.95

Anorak Toiletry Bag | Rabbits Medium £15.95


And don't forget to get a new waterbottle too!

Fire Extinguisher Water Bottle in Red | Wild and Wolf £9.95

Little Miss Sunshine Water Bottle | Wild and Wolf £9.95


*Take care of your skin.*
Eat more healthly is a starter. But, it matters which products you use too. I recommend some Burts Bees good'ness; Natural, earth friendly products.

Daily Moisturiser, Facial Cleanser & Body Lotion is always a good starter kit.

Burt's Bees Sensitive Facial Cleanser £9.99

Burt's Bees Ultimate Care Body Lotion £11.99

Burt's Bees Sensitive Daily Moisturising Cream £14.99

*Brighten up your home.*

Give the house a burst of colour or a bit of quirky fun. To give you a change for the year. Not looking at the same old, same old everyday.

Bring instant colour to a room with Pantone. http://www.bloomsburystore.com/search?searchterm=Pantone

Pantone Coasters | Set of 6 £16.95

Pantone Chair | Fuschia Pink £38.50

Pantone Tin | Red £14.95


And for that quirky fun.. Definitely need one of our adorable animal heads. Above the fireplace? Above your bed? In the kids room?

These are my favourites:

Animal Head | Elephant £65

Animal Head | Fox £49.95




Have fun with the New Year Resolutions anyhoo!

Bath Christmas Market

The Bath Christmas Market is open and we have our usual spot in Abbey Square by the Baths. Come and see us in hut no. 10. The stalls are as beautiful as ever but this year there are 150 huts to explore. Grab a mulled cider and a bag of hot chestnuts, have a ride on the carousel and soak up the magical atmosphere. The market is open until Sunday 15th December.

Stocking fillers for girls and the evolution of the Christmas gift

How much do people spend on a Christmas stocking these days? We found this fascinating infographic looking at the financial evolution of the Christmas gift and could not resist sharing. A little girl's Christmas stocking holds much more in the 21st Century. The average spend on a child at Christmas has increased from less than half a percent of the monthly  income 100 years ago to 5% of monthly income in 2012.

Image source: MoneySupermarket;

We may be spending a lot more on children at Christmas but the little surprises that go into a stocking still need to give value. We have collected a varied selection of gorgeous gifts for girls that are bound to delight. Have a look at our Pinterest board for inspiration.

Have a Mary Berry Christmas

Bath officially declared Christmas open this week when Mary Berry turned on the  lights in the city. We were delighted to welcome Mary into the shop as Bloomsbury Store was used as a cozy base for the media interviews.

Mary chatted to young customers and perused our products for foodies including this cute cookie stamp.

Mary Berry has done a lot to rekindle the Brits love of baking. We have a fantastic selection of quirky cookbooks for the foodies in your life. Check out our Pinterest board for some inspiration.

Stocking fillers for boys

When it comes to stuffing a Christmas stocking you would expect the contents to have changed a great deal since the 1950s. This comparison of stocking fillers for boys over the last 60 years might surprise you.

1950s
In the 50s and 60s a little boy's Christmas stocking might contain: a Matchbox car, action figures or toy soldiers, Silly Putty, Hornby or Scalectrix accessories, Lego, Mr Potato Head, a card game or top trumps, a bag of marbles, a Slinky, a yo yo, crayons or pencils, a magic trick, a comic book, a selection box, an orange and a sixpence.

2013
These days the sixpence has been replaced by mobile phone credit top up cards, computer games have replaced Scalectrix and trainsets, and the orange is only included by the more nostalgic stocking stuffers, but many of the gifts have stood the test of time.

Action figure : Tintin Figure
Silly putty : Planet Putty
Lego : Lego Storage
Card game : Gruffalo Pairs Game
Marbles : Kaleidoscope Bag of Marbles
Slinky : Ridley's Springy Toy
Yo yo : Ridley's Yo Yo
Crayons : Octonauts Set of 24 Crayons
Magic Trick : Magic Linking Rings
Comic book : The Complete Tove Jannson Comic Strip Book

For more boys' stocking fillers, have a look at our Pinterest board.

A book festival for food lovers

As well as selling unique gifts and accessories, Bloomsbury stocks an eclectic selection of books. It is only fitting that we should, inspired by the style and wit of the Bloomsbury set and the impressive literary heritage of Bath.

  

With independent book shops, literary events and festivals throughout the year, there is always something to excite book lovers in the city.  Topping and Company Booksellers  recently launched The Autumn Book Festival which runs until the end of November. As well as an array of novelists, biographers, humorists and nonfiction writers they have arranged some fantastic events in association with The Great BathFeast, inviting celebrity chefs and food writers to talk about their books. Guest speakers include novelist Joanna Trollope, crime writer Ian Rankin, rocker Brian May, the Great British Bake Off’s own Mary Berry and travel writer Bill Bryson.

Bloomsbury Store might not be able to compete with Topping and Company or Mr B’s Emporium but it is the place to find all the classic Tintin books  and is renowned for its selection of art and design titles. Lovers of the Great Bath Feast will also find some gems on our shelves.

Have a look at our Pinterest board for some recommendations.

A brief history of cufflinks for dapper gents

According to the International Cufflink Association decorative cuff fastenings have been around since the time of King Tut with hieroglyphs depicting chain and stud type fastenings on the cuffs of well-dressed ancient Egyptians. Cuff links were introduced in Europe in the 17^th century when slits were first cut into sleeves but the term cufflinks did not appear in writing until 1788.

Cufflinks as we know them were made popular by regency dandy, Beau Brummell who insisted that they were the only piece of jewellery a gentleman needed. The fashion soon spread throughout society along with the shirt and tie. The cufflink used to be a necessity but in the 1930s sewn on buttons became the fastener of choice.

Modern dressing could have meant the end of the cufflink but there are so few opportunities for masculine adornment that the cufflink has survived. No longer a necessity, they are now treasured items able to inject wit and style into any gentleman’s outfit.

There is a cufflink for everyone and every budget. The wearer can hint at interests and passions with novelty cufflinks or demonstrate style and discrimination with their choice of quality cufflinks made from precious metals and jewels.

For wit, we recommend Tatty Devine’s Swallow Tatoo Cufflinks which reveal your inner biker, even when you are dressed in a suit and tie.

Simon Carter’s stylish Silver Knot Cufflinks,  hark back to the silk know fastenings of 19^th century France 

and for high fashion you need look no further than Paul Smith’s Ministripe design from his Autumn and Winter 2013 collection.

For more cufflink inspiration along with a selection of accessories for dapper gents, have a look at our Pinterest board.