No, not the sadly-missed singer, this James Brown is a London-based illustrator – and his retro-styled artwork is available to buy on the General Pattern website.
Check out all the prints on the site, but we like the two above, Voodoo and Bags. The first is a two colour screenprint on zerkall printing soft white paper sized at 38.5 x 53 cm, which you can buy for £40.
The second print is a one colour Linocut on off-white sugar paper, sized at 40 x 50cm. You can pick that one up for £20.
Officially described as a ‘sofa bench’, we prefer to call it the Ikea Stockholm console table.
The idea of a sofa bench is for extra storage behind your sofa, but in its more traditional role, this console table offers slimline storage for a hallway or indeed any narrow room on its two shelves.
And being part of the Stockholm range, it offers a 50s-style mid-century look that should fit in effortlessly with your sideboard and period seating. Made of oak and designed by Ehlén Johansson, it sells for £149.
Everyone needs a notebook to record those moments of inspiration – and they don’t get more eye-catching than the Vintage Penguin Spines notebooks.
Take your pick from a large or small notebook, as well as a choice of blank or ruled paper, with the hard sleeve featuring the pick of classic Penguin paperbacks from their introduction back in 1935.
You can pick them up online, priced from £8.95.
Find out more at the Design Museum website
The classic Marmite jar has been given a pop art makeover in this range of crockery.
Mugs, tins, plates, egg cups and an espresso set all feature the famous jar but in a bright pop art palette. The plates, with the jar peeking up from the edge, are especially cool, but perhaps that won’t be enough to convince anyone who hates the yeast spread.
Prices start at £8 for a mug or 20cm plate, going up to £35 for the espresso set. See the whole collection online at Gifts to Go.
Originally published in 1957, "The Lonely Doll" is the first book by author and photographer Dare Wright and it became a cult classic.
It follows the adventures of a doll called Edith and her other toy friends, and illustrated with beautiful black & white photographs. The book has recently been re-issued so you don’t have scour secondhand bookstores for the original fifties version.
It is available to buy from Amazon, priced just under £10 for the hardback or less than £5 for the paperback.
The 1940s/50s inspired tailored dress look seems to be ever growing in popularity among both designers and the high street at the moment. While the designer options are perfect for parties, these more demure styles from Dorothy Perkins might be more of an office ideal.
The pleating at the neckline of the tweed dress makes the heavy material much more feminine, while the notched hem and gathered neck of the black piece add a much needed retro interest to what could be a fairly dull item. Both require a good fit to work best, but if you’re lucky enough to get that, you’ll have Mad Men chic in spades.
Find out more from the Dorothy Perkins website
