Cruise Control: Retro Turntable Love With Crosley

With my deep vintage yearnings, it will come as little surprise to learn that I absolutely love vinyl. I'm not a music snob at all, but vinyl does sound so much better to me; it's clearer, smoother and you can really hear the distinction of the instruments.

I've always been lucky because all my boyfriends have owned a record player/ turntable so I really had no reason to buy one for myself. Some of my favourite moments have been spent lying on the ground, eyes closed and drifting off as the record player played some of my favourite artists. The musings of Otis Redding, Nina Simone, Etta James, Sam Cooke, Pavement, Whiskeytown, Bob Dylan, Pixies, Carpenters, The Velvet Underground, Sonic Youth, and, and, and, gave me escapism, and going through the sleeves finding the next record to play always filled me with joy.

I was always a little sad to leave the record player behind when a relationship ended (maybe more so than the actual guy, haha) and I would always rue not having one of my very own. I never had the chance to sample the wonders of the collection from my last romantic spell, but his face would light up when telling me about a rare vinyl find he found for pennies - I wanted that experience too so decided I was going to buy my own. 

I of course immediately started looking at vintage players but became increasingly frustrated at only finding either extremely expensive ones, or ones in serious need of repair; not to mention the amps, etc to go with it! When a friend asked if I had heard of Crosley, I admitted that I hadn't. I used the ever trusted Google and came face-to-face with the world of Crosley. I was blown away as the entire website was dedicated to reproducing vintage stylings in the form of record players, jukeboxes(!) and radios - I was in vintage-inspired heaven.

As I did not want to ship from the US, my search then turned to UK sites which stocked Crosley. Urban Outfitters have an array of Crosely and I was finding it hard to choose, but then I headed to Amazon and although it had far less choice, I immediately knew what I wanted. I'm easily distracted by bright colours and patterns, but for something I wanted to invest in and keep for a considerable time, I wanted a design that was simple and classic, but with a Retro edge. Enter:

Isn't she beautiful?! I can't help but do a happy sigh wherever I look at her. The Crosley Cruiser is a wonderfully compact turntable that is designed as a handheld suitcase to make it easy to carry and move around. It's so incredibly light! My little eight year old cousin was strutting around my living room with it as happy as Pooh with a new pot of honey - as was I!

As I touched on earlier, it would have been so easy for me to have gone for a bright floral print, but I fell in love with the Orange block colour. It's simple and classic, but Orange screams Retro and the shade isn't too bright to be garish. This will go with pretty much any decor I happen to have over the years which is key for a statement piece, I really couldn't be happier.

For a basic home turntable, it really does have everything: 3- speed, stereo speakers, headphone facility, and RCA output. This is all I need to enjoy a rare relaxed weekend at home. You do need to note that there is overhang with anything larger than a 7", but as long as you have a spacious surface around the surrounding area, you'll have no issues. Depending on the type of turntable you get, if ordering from Amazon you'll be paying under £100, and under £150 if buying from Urban Outfitters, and all come with a UK plug.

I seriously can't wait to start trawling through charity and vintage shops to find records for my collection!

'til next time.

Love and hugs,

Isha

xxx