This Abandoned School became his Personal Mansion (but you’re invited)

Okay, this probably sounds creepier than it really is. In Japan’s Iya Valley, considered one of the country’s most beautiful but unexplored regions, a remote elementary school was abandoned for nearly a decade, before Yohei Aoki came along and made it his home. Since 2017, the former office worker has also been welcoming off-beat travellers…

13 Reasons New York isn’t Dead (& Could Never Be)

No matter the circumstance, “life finds a way” in New York City, to quote the wise words of Jurassic Park. This city always had an almost reptilian talent for regeneration, from the Great Depression to the rough ‘n tumble 1980s to that fateful day on September 11th. Now, Covid-19 is the latest crisis to put…

The Vault

The Paris September Guide for La Rentrée 2020

September, which Parisians call La Rentrée, is in our opinion, one of the best months of the year. It’s when Paris comes alive again after the summer drought, everyone’s back from their holidays with a golden glow and eager to mingle. It’s more important than ever to get out into the city and support our local…

Pssst! You've stumbled across content that is exclusive to Nessy's Keyholders.

There’s a new way to access the really special stuff from Messy Nessy Chic …

Hidden beneath the surface layers of the internet, there’s a place where we keep our most secret addresses, untapped archives, creator’s inspiration, collector’s guides, explorer’s manuals, obscure research and much more… And it’s made for our keyholders only!

Apply now to unlock the Vault

If you're already a Keyholder, login here to continue reading:

Before Playboy, Came “La Vie Parisienne”

A pair of clandestine, gender-bending lovers are about to embrace at la brasserie. A fashionable young woman in a barely-there dress is partying the night away in the cabarets of Paris without a care (or a man) in the world to ruin her fun. A curious eye would be intrigued by the risqué illustrations of…

A Guide to Beirut’s Small Shops & Hidden Gems

It seems as if all we’ve seen of beautiful Beirut lately are images of devastation. Not so long ago, it wasn’t hard to convince people to take a glamorous vacation in Lebanon. It was a playground for movie stars like Brigitte Bardot, Omar Sharif and Peter O’Toole. The Beirut harbour was host to the Queen…

How to Do “Cottagecore” in Paris

August is summer’s final hurrah. The moment when sun-baked Parisians pour back in to the city from vacation, and maybe, just maybe, plan one more summer escape. Something pastoral, but close to home. Something “cottagecore.” Don’t know the term? It’s rising internet slang for all that is effervescently au natural. Think gingham tablecloths, and cottages…

Remembering NYC’s ‘Secret’ 82 Drag Club

Bedazzled drag queens, mobsters, and Errol Flynn playing a piano with his errr … manhood? It was just another Saturday night at NYC’s “82 Club,” c. 1955. Tucked inside a nondescript door at 82 East 4th Street in Manhattan, “82” declared itself the “gayest rendez-vous”on the town in every sense of the word, falling somewhere…

Let’s House Hunt for that All-American Utopian Commune. Just in Case.

We do love a good plunge into worlds apart – filled with utopian goat herding, secret society conspiracies and hippies living off-grid on the fringes of society. Of course, the line between commune and cult is famously slippery and plagued with crackpot messiah tendencies. The more modern and optimistic term for the idea of a…

Nearly 50 Years On, a Forbidden Seaside Ghost Town is about to Re-Open

Imagine a millionaire’s resort; one to rival St. Tropez, Italy’s Portofino, or Miami’s South Beach – abandoned overnight. Imagine the luxury hotels suddenly emptied of their guests and left to slowly decay, the boutiques, bars and nightclubs reclaimed by nature, sunbathers replaced by sea turtles nesting on the deserted beaches and the once vibrant holiday…

An Arctic Seaside Town they call “The Paris of the North”

As the mainstream media continues to ask if this is “the end of tourism”, wondering how they’ll reinvent an industry that does so much damage, we thought we’d just pick up where we left off before the pandemic; pointing to off-beat destinations and sticking by our longtime motto: Don’t be a Tourist. Today, we’re pointing…