Interiors: Period drama

A love of the Fifties informs the striking look of jewellery designer Angela Hale's shop and home. Chloe Grimshaw steps back in time. Photographs by Josh Pulman

Angela Hale's favourite things are vintage clothes, handbags, Fifties records and furniture. Out of this eclectic mix of enthusiasms has sprung an idiosyncratic jewellery shop in a tiny arcade off London's Bond Street. Away from the corporate faces of Prada, DKNY and Calvin Klein, is a quirky, stylish gem of a shop. Nothing there costs more than a few hundred pounds and there are goodies to be had for a couple of crisp tenners. Angela knows that the fun of dressing up is putting on beautiful, sparkling costume jewellery that doesn't need to cost the earth. She remains unfazed by her celebrity customers, who have included Kate Moss and Helena Christensen, and is equally jolly and friendly to whomever comes through the door. "The shop is a large part of my social life," Angela says. "A lot of people pop in for a chat and a lot of my customers have become friends. It's all been quite an interesting experience."

The shop is located in one of London's "forgotten" arcades, the Royal Arcade. Many people have heard of it but wouldn't know where it is. It's not a tourist haven like Burlington Arcade and it hasn't been smartened up. Angela let me in on the decadent history of the arcade, where nearly all of the shops were by royal appointment to Queen Victoria. "There were little perfume shops, flower shops and chocolate shops. A lot of shops were bought by wealthy men for their mistresses. All sorts of naughty goings-on used to happen upstairs. The shops were just a bit of a farce, but all that's changed now."

When she moved into the premises, Angela completely redecorated the shop. There was Elastoplast-pink hessian wallpaper on the walls, which was covered over by a scene painter friend, Robert Cook, who painted blue and white cloud effects instead. For the finishing touch, Angela hung from the ceiling "a big, camp chandelier that looks like a big earring". She sourced original Edwardian and art deco display cabinets, made from brass and mahogany, in which to display the jewellery. Upstairs she created a little salon area, with gold chairs and books, where people can sit down, have a cup of coffee and, of course, look at beautiful jewellery.

In keeping with the trends this summer, Angela has designed a range of multi-coloured jewellery to go with the vibrant shades that we will in theory be wearing all summer. The way the jewellery is displayed is reminiscent of a market stall that you just want to rummage through. Some of the customers behave as if they were in the pick'n'mix section, as Angela describes: "Sometimes you get two or three customers in together and they all start egging each other on and saying, 'Oh, that really suits you!' They're almost like little children in a sweet shop deciding what to have. I like it when that happens."

Angela claims that initially she neglected her home because she was putting so much effort into the shop. She has just spruced up her flat in Finsbury Park, however, so that now every room is a different colour, with a royal blue carpet throughout. I asked Angela how she had the confidence to place such clashing colours next to each other. "I just used my instincts and chose colours that I thought would suit the space," she says. "I think it's a happy coincidence that they all seem to work well together. The hallway is painted a Schiaparelli shocking pink, so that it's quite bright and fun when you come in. The kitchen is bright yellow, it's very primary - they used to use a lot of primary colours in the Fifties. Yellow is meant to be a happy colour, it's meant to make you feel cheerful."

The spacious sitting room is her favourite, and is painted a light Wedgwood blue colour, similar to the shop with its sky blue clouds effect. It has a lot of original Victorian features: a large bay window surrounded with wooden panelling, the original cornice work and a pewter Victorian fireplace, with the original tiling and marble surround. Angela had bookcases made, "because I had so many books all over the floor and I don't think you can ever have enough room for your books".

Her collection of mirrors, mostly from the 1950s, is displayed around the room, including one shaped like a guitar and another depicting a martini glass and cocktail shaker, hanging over the boat-shaped drinks cabinet. Angela "would love to live in a bigger house because I'm quite obsessive about collecting bits and pieces, a bit of a magpie. I think because I'm limited for space I have to be quite careful about how much I buy. I'm always seeing fantastic things in shops that I wish I had the room for."

Angela collects objects and furniture from the Fifties, in particular from France and Italy. In her opinion they are more elegant than most English and American design from the period. Having said that, she is currently reupholstering her parents' 1950s three-piece suite from Maples in Tottenham Court Road in a cherry-red Dralon, ready for her sitting- room. One of her favourite pieces of furniture is a French coffee table, topped with smoky black, kidney-shaped glass and supported on three tapered black legs. Angela also collects a lot of Murano glass from the Fifties and Sixties and yearns for one particular Italian designer. "I think one of my biggest dreams would be to have a piece of furniture by Piero Fornasetti," she says. "He's my absolute idol. I have one piece, an ashtray, which someone found in a flea market and gave to me. Half the fun of collecting is going to flea markets, just tracking things down"