When the Eiffel Tower was a Parisian Startup Laboratory

During the pandemic, the Eiffel Tower has been undergoing a fresh paint job ahead of the 2024 Olympics that harkens back to its golden hue of the early 20th century. But at that time, the Eiffel Tower was more than just an attraction: Gustave Eiffel was using his new tower as his personal laboratory of…

Another Reason to Check Your Attic: Priest Holes

Once upon a time in ye olde England, it was illegal to be Catholic. In case you need a quick refresher: King Henry VIII needed a male heir to the. He blamed Catherine of Aragon (his brother’s widow and the first of his six wives) for not bearing him a son. On these grounds, he…

Refine your Moodboard with this 1970s French Fairytale

These are a few of my favourite things about a 1970s French musical called “Donkey Skin”: A giant cat throne, a surreal banquet with candy-coloured flora, a snow globe grave, talking roses and parrots, Catherine Deneuve as a Disney-esque princess, the deeply saturated colour palette, fashion tech ahead of its time, oh and pretty much…

13 Things I Found on the Internet Today (Vol. DXLVII)

1. The Flintlock alarm clock that ignited gunpowder to wake you up Start your morning off with a bang. Made in the 1600s. Found on Museum Archive. 2. Eerie, Indiana, a 90s TV show dubbed “Twin Peaks for kids” It featured two young kids finding all sorts of odd happenings and people in their hometown,…

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Vacation House Hunting in the South of France

It’s becoming an annual tradition to take a summer trip down south with my girlfriends and this year is no different. We’re six friends with a similar budget (around 65 euros a night per person), looking for somewhere charming for one week with a pool, a good kitchen for cooking and space to dance under…

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Take Five with our Dream Catching Artist Du Jour

Aaaaand relax. Turn on some Sade, put your feet up and make yourself comfortable in the dreamscapes of 3D artist Maciek Martyniuk, also known as Yomagick. Here at the MessyNessy HQ in Paris we’re awaiting news of another partial lockdown, so we could use a little brain-soothing escape right about now… Yomagick’s prints are available…

The Not-So-Straightforward Story of Women and Trousers

Not-so-fun fact: Until January 31st of 2013, it was illegal for women in France to wear trousers. It made headlines at the time when a 200 year-old law requiring women to ask police for special permission to “dress as men” or else risk being taken into custody, was finally revoked. The law had been kept in place…

The Palatial Ruins of the First Western Black Monarchy

Once known as the ‘Versailles of the Caribbean’, its hollow ruins are one of the few lasting remnants of a forgotten royal court – the first Black monarchy established in the Western world that rose from the ashes of the Haitian Revolution. The brief reign of the first and only King of Haiti is both…

13 Things I Found on the Internet Today (Vol. DXLVI)

1. Scottish Island For Sale with an opening bid of £80,000 Deer island is located on the west coast of the idyllic Scottish Highlands, uninhabited rugged, approximately 11 acres. More details found here. 2. This Website where Strangers Upload Recordings of their Windows Views Sounds a little bit like MessyNessyChic’s own Style Spy! Open a…

Practice Your French While Time Travelling through Paris

In my ongoing quest to help bring you to Paris by any means, today we’re diving into one of my favourite resources for revisiting la vielle ville (the old town). The ‘Institut national de l’audiovisuel’ (INA) is a repository of all French radio and television audiovisual archives and within their Youtube channel, you can find…