Although I’m a Londoner born and bred, a little part of me remains forever in Leeds as I have close family there. It’s not often I get the chance to visit Leeds city centre in fleeting visits, but when I do there’s one shop that’s always on included: Rose & Co.
We’re lucky now to have a plethora of vintage / kitsch shops across the UK, and this is one of my favourites, with retro clothing, cute smellies that make Lush products look and smell like a teenager’s deranged chemistry experiment and a welcoming atmosphere in an apothecary setting.
Here I list five lovely goodies – or groups of goodies - that can be snaffled up at this treasure trove of 50s nostalgia. Rose & Co’s website is a bit of an awkward design to navigate, with teeny tiny text and a chunk of product catalogue still missing, but you get the general idea. I’ve had to substitute a couple of the best pieces – largely in the lingerie and hosiery section – as these aren’t yet online, but I urge you to go and see them in person.
A £10 box of haberdashery bits and bobs themed by colour: pink and green, black and pink, coffee and cream or red, black and gold. Of course you can find these things separately, but if you’re looking for an easy mix of buttons, bows, ribbons and lace to tart up a top or jazz up jeans, it’s a good place to start.
If you’re totally over cupcakes as a foodstuff (or, like me, always think the half pound of buttercream you end up scraping into the bin is a waste), here’s a way to get all the aesthetic pleasure of them without having to indulge: soap! In cake form! In a cake box! Or on a cake stand! How many more times can I write ‘cake’ in one description?!
Originally developed by Caroline Rose in the Aga at home but somewhat honed since then, these are some of their bestsellers. Although not exactly cheap at £5 each, they have lovely elegant packaging that I can see making them popular stocking fillers. For more choice, there’s an £8 <a href=”http://www.rose-apothecary.co.uk/acatalog/copy_of_Hat_Box.html”>gift set of three half size tins</a> available too.
Is it weird for a woman to get all excited over reproductions of classic shaving bowls and Edwardian shaving mugs? If so, sign me up for weird. I think they’re beautiful. It’s a shame my husband will never be tempted away from his electric shaver. Pah.
How can you not love a place that has luxury velvet catnip mice among the offerings for humans?! Sadly my luxury velvet-furred cat would disembowel this in about ten seconds, but if you have a more moderate furry killing machine, I’m sure they’d appreciate this to nibble on and bat hysterically.
You can find Rose & Co in the County Arcade of the Victoria Quarter of Leeds and also, I’ve recently discovered, on the Main Street of Haworth, West Yorkshire.