diff --git a/scrapy/contrib_exp/newitem/adaptors.py b/scrapy/contrib_exp/newitem/adaptors.py
index 4121180d3..f2c782610 100644
--- a/scrapy/contrib_exp/newitem/adaptors.py
+++ b/scrapy/contrib_exp/newitem/adaptors.py
@@ -1,4 +1,3 @@
-
 from scrapy.utils.misc import arg_to_iter
 from scrapy.utils.python import get_func_args
 
@@ -28,7 +27,7 @@ class ItemAdaptorMeta(type):
         cls._field_adaptors = cls._field_adaptors.copy()
     
         if cls.item_class:
-            for item_field in cls.item_class.fields.keys():
+            for item_field in cls.item_class.get_fields():
                 if item_field in attrs:
                     adaptor = adaptize(attrs[item_field])
                     cls._field_adaptors[item_field] = adaptor
@@ -36,7 +35,7 @@ class ItemAdaptorMeta(type):
         return cls
 
     def __getattr__(cls, name):
-        if name in cls.item_class.fields:
+        if name in cls.item_class.get_fields():
             return cls.default_adaptor
         raise AttributeError(name)
 
diff --git a/scrapy/contrib_exp/newitem/models.py b/scrapy/contrib_exp/newitem/models.py
index afa1105ce..e3f769263 100644
--- a/scrapy/contrib_exp/newitem/models.py
+++ b/scrapy/contrib_exp/newitem/models.py
@@ -6,10 +6,10 @@ class _ItemMeta(type):
 
     def __new__(meta, class_name, bases, attrs):
         cls = type.__new__(meta, class_name, bases, attrs)
-        cls.fields = cls.fields.copy()
+        cls._fields = cls._fields.copy()
         for n, v in attrs.iteritems():
             if isinstance(v, BaseField):
-                cls.fields[n] = v
+                cls._fields[n] = v
                 delattr(cls, n)
         return cls
 
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@ class Item(ScrapedItem):
 
     __metaclass__ = _ItemMeta
 
-    fields = {}
+    _fields = {}
 
     def __init__(self, values=None):
         self._values = {}
@@ -34,8 +34,8 @@ class Item(ScrapedItem):
         if name.startswith('_'):
             return ScrapedItem.__setattr__(self, name, value)
 
-        if name in self.fields.keys():
-            self._values[name] = self.fields[name].to_python(value)
+        if name in self._fields:
+            self._values[name] = self._fields[name].to_python(value)
         else:
             raise AttributeError(name)
 
@@ -44,7 +44,7 @@ class Item(ScrapedItem):
             return self._values[name]
         except KeyError:
             try:
-                return self.fields[name].get_default()
+                return self._fields[name].get_default()
             except KeyError:
                 raise AttributeError(name)
 
@@ -52,6 +52,11 @@ class Item(ScrapedItem):
         """Generate a representation of this item that can be used to
         reconstruct the item by evaluating it
         """
-        values = dict((field, getattr(self, field)) for field in self.fields)
+        values = dict((field, getattr(self, field)) for field in self._fields)
         return "%s(%s)" % (self.__class__.__name__, repr(values))
 
+    @classmethod
+    def get_fields(cls):
+        """Returns the item fields"""
+        return cls._fields
+