The best shops in London to pick up an unusual gift
Be original and plump for an unusual gift
A salt and pepper grinder in the shape of comedy duo Cannon and Ball. A pair of trainers that double as weighing scales. A trip to Swindon.
These are all unusual and, frankly, atrocious gifts.
We're all put under increasing pressure to be original and this absolutely extends to that thoughtful little something you're called upon to pick out at Christmas and birthday time.
But where does the individual, the intriguing and the unusual finish... and the signed copy of H from Steps' autobiography begin?
Allow us to point you in the right direction...
There’s nothing unusual about an umbrella, in this city or anywhere else. But they don’t immediately spring to mind when you’re thinking of buying a gift. And perhaps that’s because they’re just so damn easily misplaced. But what if you were given a beautiful, handmade umbrella, complete with touching monogram? Would you lose that? We think not. So visit James Smith and Sons (founded in 1830) the umbrella specialists on the corner of New Oxford Street.
‘Hey where d’you get that Devo coin wallet, that David Bowie tee shirt, that Bauhaus-esque rubber apron and that William Morris china set?’ The answer to this one very long question is, ‘I got it all at the V&A Museum shop. A place where the weird stands next to the normal and gifts reside in the leftfield of gift-giving.’
Forbidden Planet
179 Shaftesbury Avenue WC2H 8JR
Comics Bookshops
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Comic books and superheroes have gone mainstream but that still doesn’t make transforming your living room into a replica of the interior of the Millennium Flacon any more normal – at least that’s what my mum keeps telling me. However, toys are normal - they’ve always been normal – and the range of adult (not that kind of adult) toys on offer at Forbidden Planet is vast. Casually stroll in, pick up a couple of WWF action figures, a Star Wars Storm Trooper mask and a Harry Potter wand or two and you’ve got yourself a great selection of unusual gifts to give.
Taxidermy isn’t everybody’s idea of a good night out, but who said anything about going out? We’re talking stuffed animals here. Parrots, pigeons, pigs (possibly), pretty much any stuffed animal would make for a great unusual gift and an equally great conversation starter. Starting with, ‘Why did you buy me a stuffed animal?’ Find the store on Essex Road, Angel.
