London’s Christmas lights and windows
London was all a-glitter tonight with Carnaby revealing a super-retro Christmas lights display, but first up was Liberty and its brilliant Christmas windows.
It was a bit of a creature-feature with a giant birdy in one window (complete with a raft of bird boxes) and Mr and Mrs Foxy (and baby Foxy) sitting down to Christmas dinner in another, but I particularly love the Coronation/Rule Brittania set-up, which features the most incredible collection of royal memorabilia.
The next window transported us to a rather nostalgic suburban scene with the Quality Street scattered under the sofa, fruitcake piled up on the occasional table, and kitsch toys under the tree. Aaaah…so cosy.
The British heritage obsession combined with all the witty foxy-hunting-lodge references is of course a nod to Luella Bartley, who has stepped in to ‘guest-edit’ Liberty’s Christmas collection this year.
It’s celebrated in Luella’s Christmas Grotto (on the Carnaby Street side of the store), and it’s really difficult not to love all of her special picks, from the badger egg cups and goldfish hankies to the Shepherd’s diaries and Liberty-print hair bows. All of the Rubbish finger puppets are there, too. You can look at Luella's picks online here. Such a genius idea.
And then just outside Luella’s Grotto awaits Carnaby Street and its kitsch-tastic super-sized pink deers and lights…
It's beginning to look a lot like a (very retro) Christmas...
