Feminist zines, neon skull hanging planters and heart-shaped barbed wire earrings – there’s something very soothing about feeling like your exact tastes are being catered to at Blunt Knife Co. I imagine it’s how my mother felt whenever Marks and Spencer did a sale on Breton tops and linen trousers, or how middle class white cishet men feel about…well, everything.
Journalistic neutrality is difficult when you’re presented with a shop selling everything you didn’t know you needed, wrapped up with a riot grrrl soundtrack for a bow, right before payday. “We’re our own demographic,” confesses co-owner Marian as Emma nods in agreement.
After a year and a half where the majority of our shopping has been online, there’s something about going into a well-curated shop that makes even the hardened anti-capitalist breathe a sigh of relief. And even though spending actually went up over the series of lockdowns, it’s not the same as going into a physical place.
