What is a curiosity shop exactly? Well for us here at Londonist we think of a curiosity shop as containing all the mysterious joy of a junk shop with all the otherworldy mystique of an exotic antiques emporium.
By rights London should be full of these kinds of places. As it is, we're stuck with a bunch of dusty, cardigan-wearing Antiques Roadshow wannabes who think that anyone under the age of fifty is a hoody-wearing yob.
And don't get us started on all those 'ironic' overpriced 80s furniture boutiques up in Shoreditch.
Which is why we're quite excited about Paul Smith's new shop: 9, Albemarle Street.
According to the blurb Mr Smith's new venture is going to be full of original antiques, art and curiosities sourced from around the globe with potential finds including "a 17th-century ornate mirror to a Sixties couture necklace or a collection of Domus magazines from the Forties"
It might be a bit of a selfish venture for Smith (who is a self-confessed collecter/hoarder and probably won't care too much if this place turns that much of a profit or not) but maybe sometime soon if we can save up enough to have Sunday breakfast at the Wolseley before moseying down to before Albemarle Street and buying...ooh, a pair of cufflinks or something, then maybe we can live the dream just for a little while.
