India’s Paradise of Street Graphics

I found a Flickr account today that had my eyes going like a pinball machine. It’s called the Meanest Indian and the photographs remind me of the legendary Steve McCurry’s work in India. Meena Kadri is the lady behind the camera, who lives in New Zealand where she runs a graphic design company but frequently returns…

The Vault

The Haunting Magic of Ghost Buildings

Here at Messy Nessy Chic, we love all things curious, nostalgic and with a touch of wonder to them. And what could be more intriguing than a ghost building… A ‘ghost building’ isn’t a haunted mansion or a spooky house……in fact it isn’t a building at all! But rather, ghost buildings are the outlines of…

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

Keyholder Login

America’s Beauty School Dropouts: A Brief Compendium

We miss the days when estheticians waxed eyebrows in a Paul Bunyan-ready cottage, perfected their perming skills in a nondescript clapboard shack, and barbers painted their 1969 Volkswagens to match their salon. More than mere institutions for a cute ‘do, the beauty schools and barber shops of yesteryear were visible extensions of major cultural shifts.…

Before They Disappear: Suburbs of Australia

We see a lot of small town America lost in time, holding on to its kitschy nostalgia, refusing to upgrade, but I was given a tip off to a Flickr account documenting a place on the opposite side of the world that’s equally characterised by ghost signs, mid-century homes and a disappearing community. Photographer Warren…

Here’s an Instagram Account dedicated to finding Forgotten French Ghost Signs

Instagram has become one of my favourite resources, probably because I’ve trained my digital eye to know exactly what I’m looking for while scrolling endlessly through accounts, allowing me to pinpoint more places on my wanderlust map like a visual mood board of things I love. Make sense? Well anyway, it’s a great travel tool and…

Abandoned Toys ‘R’ Us Stores are Kind of a Thing Now…

They say kids only play with iPads and smartphone applications these days, but is that entirely true? The best-selling toy of 2016 was a furry mechanical robot creature called Hatchimal that arrives in an egg, hatches and then evolves as you play with it. So kids still want toys, but do they value that experience of buying them…

I Live in a Ghost Town

“I was tired of the capital. Too much noise, too many people. And I couldn’t stand my neighbours. I wanted a change of scenery, and especially of life.” If only I could construct my own little French ghost town to escape to. Thibaut Derien created one through his photography project “I Live in a Ghost Town”. From…

The Lost Art of Street Typography

I wonder if in the old days, they found their hand-painted typography and artisanal signs as charming as we do today? Maybe they found it a nuisance; all those different fonts competing for attention as you walked down the street. Personally, I’d love nothing more than to time travel down my local high street and see…