Hull Spotlight: The Magpie's Den

 

I've covered a lot of cafes in my Hull Spotlight series - a very obvious clue as to what I spend most of my spare time doing - but I've not really covered that many shops even though there are some real gems in Hull. One that I stumbled upon completely by accident was The Magpie's Den, which is in Paragon Arcade in the city centre. Paragon Arcade is a really lovely place that houses an old fashioned sweet shop, a florist and a new cafe that may feature on here at some point because I do love me a good cafe. It's somewhere I don't go often enough, in fact the only time I really walk through there is on my way to Primark because that's just how basic I am and funnily enough, that's exactly what I was doing when I discovered The Magpie's Den. 

A couple of months ago I was on the hunt for a bag for my friend's wedding. I already had shoes and they were silver so I hadn't exactly set myself the easiest challenge - seriously, try and find a silver bag in Hull that's small, suitable for a wedding and not horrendously tacky. After scouring almost every shop I decided to head back to Primark to get one that I'd seen earlier and hadn't massively liked, but it'd have to do. On my way through Paragon Arcade I spied a cute looking vintage shop and decided to pop in on the off chance they'd have something. And there was sat (well, hung) a little silver beaded clasp bag with a little chain. It was exactly what I was looking for and I adored it and not about to let it go I asked the owner to save it for me while I ran off to get cash (FYI, they don't take card). I hadn't asked how much it was because I knew I just wanted it so I got out £30 just in cases. When I came to pay it was £4. I. Kid. You. Not.

Anyway, after that chance encounter The Magpie's Den is now high on my list of great shops in Hull. It's a small vintage shop, but it's not one of those vintage shops that inflates the price of things massively just because it's 'vintage' - as you may have guessed from my £4 bag. And if you don't live in Hull don't worry because some of their stock is actually available on Asos Marketplace here. As well as clothes there are also some of the cutest little knick knacks for sale too and the theme is very plant based so right up my street.

The actual shop is lovely inside - lots of plants, pictures and unique displays (the palette used as clothes storage is my personal fave!) and some of the pictures are actually paintings of the models used for the clothes and are by local artist Sarah (@drawingoout). The owner of The Magpie's Den, Lucy is absolutely lovely and in my opinion you can have an absolutely lovely shop, but it's the person or people behind it that really make it and when that person is welcoming and genuine it really makes you want to keep going back.

Have you ever been to The Magpie's Den?

Amy x