It’s a well-known fashion dictum that, when the economic climate is gloomy, hemlines start to come down. So, when it comes to our homes, what should we make of the return of the sleek, stylish mirrored furniture that was in vogue during the great depression of the 1930s? Reflecting dressing tables, chests and cabinets are everywhere this summer, with retailers from Laura Ashley (www.lauraashley. com ) to The White Company (www. thewhitecompany.com ) introducing new ranges and relaunching old favourites in their autumn collections.

Why this sudden passion for the shiny stuff? Glamour aside, reflective surfaces have a chameleon-like capacity for mixing with other styles and eras. They can make small rooms seem much larger. And, for all the bling of silvered glass, they come in the simplest of shapes, so they feel unfussy. Like the perfect party guest, mirrored furniture can light up a room without being attention-seeking.

The best new arrivals are by Julian Chichester (www.julianchichester.com), whose elegant designs draw on the style of past masters such as Jean-Michel Frank, the Parisian designer and decorator of the 1930s and 1940s. Chichester’s trademark is luxury texture combined with simple contemporary forms. High-lights include the Temple vanity desk (£1,292.50) and chest of drawers (£1,426), a handsome combination oféglomiséglass (the back of which is coated with gold) and subtly gilded wooden moulding.

If spending a four-figure sum seems steep at this time of belt-tightening, check out the clever designs by Graham and Green, another purveyor of subtle glamour, but a few price points down the scale – and several notches funkier. “We love 1930s and 1940s design,” says Antonia Graham, mother of both the firm and its creative director, Jamie. “On a trip to Vietnam, we saw something with slanted drawers, and Jamie took that as the inspiration for this.”

“This” is a substantial square-set chest with plain drawers slanted outwards towards the bottom edge and finger holds underneath. The design, called 50s Angled, cleverly avoids the main drawback of mirrored furniture – smeary finger marks – and has been a bestseller since it was launched last summer (three-drawer bedside cabinet, £299; www.grahamandgreen.co.uk ).

Charlie Ford, personal shopper at the Design Centre, in Chelsea Harbour, reports booming interest in mirrored items. At home, she decorates bookshelves, tabletops and walls with mirrored plates from markets and secondhand shops. “I think a bit of foxing and a few imperfections add to the beauty,” she says. She steers clients towards low-gloss, lower-maintenance pieces.

Vaughan’s Madison lamp (£423; www.vaughandesigns.com ), for example, is veneered with faux vintage mirror strips, while its new tables, with mirror and “silver metal finish”, are extravagantly distressed and verdigrised (from £899). Not a fingerprint in sight.

For the real vintage deal, there are a handful of specialist dealers. Bernadette Lewis has been selling 1940s French mirrored furniture for almost two decades. Her Notting Hill store (www.bntantiques.co.uk ) is crammed with occasional tables (£1,200), chests of drawers (£2,800), picture frames (from £100) and jewellery boxes (£150-£350), all veneered in thick, deeply bevelled slabs of vintage mirror. “Modern glass is so thin. It doesn’t have the quality,” she scoffs with Gallic contempt. “The postwar idea was to create something glam-orous that didn’t use expensive exotic woods. The mirror is feminine and not so costly. I believe it was popular in Paris brothels. Can you say that?” Yes, we can.

So much mirrored furniture is clearly destined for the boudoir, it’s refreshing to see the butch 1970s American designs at Talisman (www.talismanlondon.com ). A huge mirrored console (£3,600) and a brass-edged buffet table (£3,600) are monumental works of sculpture as much as places to store your china.

Ligne Roset (www.ligne-roset.co.uk ) has another masculine twist on the mirror theme. Its occasional tables, Glaçon (£453) and Palette (£685), which consist of moulded ceramic cubes and curved forms respectively, smothered in smooth platinum enamel, look for all the world like a molten mirror.

Precious metal £2,900

A new design for Nicholas Haslam by Paolo Moschino, this Venetian-style bedside cabinet (H83cm x W80cm x D40cm) has an unusual foxed finish, achieved by using silver leaf under glass. The flat-fronted handles are the perfect finishing touch, and the delicate round ends contrast perfectly with the plain, square-set shape. 020 7730 8623, www.nicholashaslam.com

Shine on £685

Designed by Pascal Mourgue, this Palette occasional table/stool (H35cm x W65cm x D34.5cm) is made from moulded earthenware with a platinum finish. It’s available in a range of other colours, with prices starting at £427. 0870 777 7202, www.ligne-roset.co.uk

All the Raj £225

This traditionally styled Indian white-metal coffee table (H47cm x L91cm x W61cm) has scalloped edges, cabriole legs and escargot feet. It is handmade, using traditional methods, in a small workshop on the subcontinent. www.grahamandgreen.co.uk

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