Monday 26 October 2009

Tea of the week: Anthropologie's tea bag curtain

Well, I can't possibly imagine you haven't seen this already - but just in case, this is a photograph of the tea bag window display at Anthropologie's London store - the top two photos are by The Fabric of my Life, and the bottom image is by Susannah Conway, both of whom have lots more photographs. Of all the round-ups I've read, I thought that this one at Domestic Sluttery closely echoes how I already feel about the US store, so it was not surprising to me that there might be some similar issues here (quality v price, for example). Did anyone visit over the weekend? I will reserve judgement until I visit myself, of course, but until then I can still appreciate the fantastic window dressing and merchandising - from what I've seen online it looks much more innovative than any of their US stores I've been to - I'm sure the merchandisers who work there are totally thrilled with their new jobs!

19 comments:

She Draws said...

I love that!! Tea pig and Asda both sell tea bags in silk triangles, they are so pretty and the contents is not as fine at your usual teabag and they smell pretty fabulous too! I always thought it would be nice to have a few hanging about and maybe that wasn't such a crazy idea after all.

Anonymous said...

Oh that looks great. Talk about recycling... Don't think it would work out so well if I tried to recreate it at home

Anonymous said...

Thank you for featuring my photographs Lynne! The tea bag display is amazing, very innovative and appropriately British! I feel the same way about the price v. quality issue though, which disappointed me a bit, as I had so wanted to spend lots of money there, but a lot of the items seemed rather overpriced (I often feel the same way in urban outfitters).

Alex said...

Ooh, I adore tea but used tea bags? Erm, I'm not so sure...

LMB said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
LMB said...

As an American currently living in England, I am continually shocked by the price discrepancies between what U.S retailers charge in the States and what they charge here…The first time I saw Abercrombie & Fitch’s UK prices I thought that there was a mistake in the numbers- their merchandise is MUCH less expensive in the U.S. Same thing with Banana Republic…Yet, then again, I am thrilled that Anthro is now here & will probably find myself there, buying cute, overpriced that I don’t really need, very soon…I am also interested to see the difference in styling and merchandising that you’ve mentioned. Urban Outfitters, which is owned by the same company as Anthro, is also very different here in terms of how the stores look & the overall merchandising. Very interesting.

Jen Holtkamp said...

i love anthro! but if the prices here are really what everyone's been saying i'll wait til i visit the states to shop :)

Anonymous said...

I went on Saturday and I thought that it was lovely but, yes, oh-so-expensive. Still, it is such a beautiful space - I loved some of the props more than the things that were actually for sale! The home stuff is especially lovely, and marginally less expensive than the clothing. Marginally! It's definitely worth a trip though, and it's only a short hop from Zara Home, which sells a lot of pretty things too, and is much better priced!

Ms. B @ Millie Deel said...

Wow, I'm sorry to hear from everyone that the prices are so much more over in the UK. Makes you somewhat disappointed in the company.

Those tea bags are such an innovative idea!

Laura said...

Such loveliness and earthy styling. I get friends in the US to send me goodies over, too expensive here :(

Leslie N said...

Found your blog from SeriousEats.com. I love tea and beautiful tea bags. But used tea bags? ...not so much.

I'm not a decorator but a pretend decorator which tons of paint chips, books, and stuff pulled from magazines. But my husband and I can't even decide on a color for the bathroom.

I'm really an umemployed librarian who's wondering why I can't I get this gig?

Apt. #34 said...

Totally brilliant. Yet another reason I've got to get over to the UK!

leah said...

I'm a massive fan of anthropology so I could not wait for the London store to open.
I went on opening day and I was so so annoyed about the pricing compared with the US! devistatingly so in fact. some of the prices are simply not justified, especially in a recession. However, the store had literally just opened and it was packed so I will give it another go at a quieter time so I can have a proper wander round in a more relaxing atmosphere. I may also wait for the january sale, as the Union square store does fab sales!

Anonymous said...

Hello there, i'm new to your blog but felt a need to write a post after reading some of the feedback about the new Anthropologie store in London. Being one of the Display co-ordinators for the store, i wanted to say thank you for your comments for the tea window i helped to create! It took over 1300 tea bags, we were really happy with the result!

Conversation Pieces said...

Love it! Hadn't seen it yet...1300 tea bags is a lot! (Imagine how much tea that would make!!)

Sarah said...

Oh I love Anthropologie. I've spent a lot of time in the US and always lamented the lack of this gorgeous shop in the UK and am so glad to hear London finally has one! I'm currently in Australia so obviously completely out of the loop so good to hear about it via your lovely blog. The price differences between the US and UK are very cheeky though!! Tut, tut!

alisha said...

Anthropologies could easily be my favourite shop back home in the US, so I was excited to check it out for myself last Saturday. My comments echo most people's here. I considered the store expensive in the States, but not prohibitively expensive. Plus they always had some good sales. But the prices in the Regent Street store were out of control. £200 for a skirt? C'mon. Still, it's worth it to go to be inspired and then try and recreate somehow at home. Though I'll leave the teabag curtains to the pros...

Down Comforter said...

Definitely an original idea :) They do have some of the best merchandising out there.

Amanda said...

From what I see, it's not just Anthropologie.
Living only in Canada, I see differences between prices and items in the same stores that are in the States.
Urban Outfitters, H &M, Sephora.
The product lines aren't as good and they are more expensive yet it's nowhere near as far as London.