Hello and welcome! My name is Michelle and I love old stuff… and I’m a hopeless romantic! I have an insatiable fascination with anything from the Victorian, Edwardian and Post Edwardian eras. This began from the time I was a girl watching Little Women with my 2 sisters, then a young adult watching Pride and Prejudice on repeat, to now a mom of 2 looking forward to seeing the film release of Downton Abbey and the updated version of Little Women! Eeeee! Who’s with me?
For a time, I lived in the UK and one fateful Christmas morning I was gifted with my first Victorian/Edwardian Autograph Album. For those who are not familiar (because I sure as heck wasn’t), young girls and even boys were given books with blank pages to fill with scraps, photos, to press flowers in and have friends contribute beautifully written well wishes, poems, drawings as well as watercolor paintings. As you can imagine, opening one of these albums is quite a magical experience.
They’re like time capsules of an era gone by and although the original owners are no longer with us, much of the personalities, artistic talents, and even humor still shine through the pages. I consider myself to be quite empathic and the energy that these books hold is very visceral.
After collecting these vintage autograph albums for many years now, I couldn’t help thinking what a shame it was that more people couldn’t see the beauty that is contained within them! Even my friends and family, who have had the pleasure of reading through and admiring them, have expressed the same sentiment.
Along with the feelings I get while immersing myself in the books and media of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the visual aesthetic qualities of these eras has always appealed to me artistically (along with many others it seems). By trade, I am a graphic designer and artist.
Having said that, I have decided in addition to sharing the treasures contained within these books with you on Instagram, I will also be creating casual apparel, accessories and gifts featuring imagery from them and other artwork from that time.
Which brings you to my shop and begins my journey to bring these magical books out of their storage box and into the light of day through Vicky and Eddie! If you’ve made it this far, thanks so much for taking the time to read my long intro!… and if you find some interest is sparked, please feel free to follow along on Instagram and let’s see how all of this goes!