Appendage

Appendage is so named, I presume, because they sell appendages (e.g. Brooches, jewellery, scarves and so forth, rather than limbs). The stuff in here is fairly nice, it mostly has quite a ‘craftsy’ feel to it, I.e. chunky jewellery made of felt, embroidered purses and so on. Although the stock is alright, my major qualm with it is the price. It’s all so expensive! A couple of felt bangles, for example, will set you back about 24 quid! My mum like some handbags they had in here, so I went in at Christmas to investigate getting one for her, and they were around £150. They were nice, but not that nice. Another very bizarre example: they are currently selling these little ‘books’ of small robin pictures. They are essentially a strip of paper with bits of robin clip art, which has been folded up and put inside another bit of paper. They are selling these for £10. Who the hell wants a bit of paper with some robins on for a tenner?! There are two other things which get up my nose about this shop — quite literally. One is, the last two times I have been it it has smelled of fish. The second is, the staff do that thing that I find particularly annoying of saying about whatever items you are looking at ‘Oh those are lovely aren’t they.’ It just annoys me, because I’ll be the judge of that! Of course they think it’s lovely, they chose it to be in their shop! For all they know, I might be looking at it and thinking ‘what the hell is that, it’s horrible, who would ever buy it?’ It’s presumptuous, not friendly, and if I am thinking horribly things about their stock I then have to smile wanly at them and pretend I like things I don’t in order to be polite.

Silk scarves
Button necklaces
Knitted hats
Hand-​sewn bags
Cute cushions
Unusual ceramics
Fascinating textiles
Felt tea-​cosies
Gorgeous glassware
Wonderful woodcuts
Magical mosaics
Seagull screen prints
& Flickering fairylights
Established over two decades, Appendage is a Brighton institution that stocks a lovely mix of accessories and home décor from local and national artists, designers and craft-​makers. There’s no dominating style, just a genuinely eclectic and colourful selection of styles, textures and materials from glass, wood, paper and ceramics to silk, cord and yarn. If you’re looking for something original and made with love, this is a great place to start.