NYE in style

Above: A, post-midnight, in her gorgeous Topshop dress. Hats are model's own...

Yes, I know I'm a it slow on this but in between all the packing, moving, unpacking and cleaning, I’ve hardly had time to think about New Years Eve. Fortunately F’s party came up trumps, not only for a rather hangover-inducing night, but also for cracking outfits.

A, a creative kindred spirit with whom I have a market stall at STB, was rocking a beautiful pale pink dress from Topshop, above. With tiers of black lace and teamed with black opaque tights, A looked gorgeous. Gold and pink party hats complimented the look...

Steve, pre-midnight, looking rather dapper in handmade tank and striped shirt combo

Another shout-out should go to Steve, of Hynd's blog, for his creative and original outfit. Steve isn’t always as eccentric as his red and white striped shirt paired with aqua blue tank would suggest, but he can always be relied upon for a good party outfit. I believe he borrowed the knitted tank from his father, (handmade by his mum), the shirt is his own, as are the jeans. I can only wonder about the navy blue duck tie...

Regular posts to come once internet/new flat situation has been resolved...

Epic photos courtesy of F and R.

Not So Super Market @ Start The Bus

Today was the 'Not So' Supermarket event at Start The Bus and my first attempt at selling my homemade wares. A and I got there early to secure a spot, set up our stall and selling everything from videos and fairy cakes to button hair grips and fabric brooches.

Bringing A's rail this time was a stroke of genius as it gave the punters a chance to skim through our unwanted clothes and vintage bits and bobs, and it wasn't too terrifying to put together either. We used old scarves as a table cloth and tried to arrange everything to be as eye catching as possible, see pictures above and below.

Events such as this and the Jumble Sale are great but they do attract some cool shoppers and sellers, which sadly we were not! Once again we were very excited, even more so this time as we had both made lots of accessories. Everything, from setting up the stall to having customers comment on (or even touching) or stock was exciting, and ha us in fits of giggles, as did a poorly constructed paper plane!

Taking a peak at other stalls, A and I agreed that our table/rail look like one of the best at set to work trying to lure shoppers in with smiles and cakes. After a slow start A's old clothes were soon flying off the rails and I sold a pair of Hong Kong coin earrings and a treasured Breakfast Club video.

Sadly I didn't sell much more than that, except for my pink fairy cakes which were very popular as they were undercutting the competition by about 60p (something I didn't realise until I noticed the owners of the other cake stall giving me evil looks).

Lots of people were interested in the plectrum earrings and button hair slides but unfortunately many wanted something slightly different to what we had with us. A couple of people also commented that they might try making their own which was frustrating but understandable; after all, that's how I found myself staying up till 1am sewing buttons onto hair grips!

Even thought I didn't sell that much I had such a great time and both A and I are really into the idea of having a regular stall once I'm back from America in December - a great opportunity to sell some of our handmade bits and bobs as potential Christmas presents.

If you can't wait till December then check out the next Jumble Sale on 18th October and the next 'Not So' Supermarket event on 1st November.

Above: Our stall in all it's glory.

Above: A selection of hair grips and earrings, including my faves: the Barbie shoe earrings.

The bestseller of the day: vanilla fairy cakes with pink butter cream icing.

Whistle While You Work...

Ahead of the 'Not So' Supermarket on Sunday, here are a few sneak peaks of how I've been spending my evenings. I have stabbed myself with needles, pins and and scalpels far too many times than should be necessary for a budding jewelery designer! Fabric rosettes, barbie shoes and buttons are making an appearance in this debut, ramshackle collection...

Coins and buttons and shoes, oh my!

The treasured box of buttons, courtesy of good ol' Nan!

Sunday Jumble @ Start The Bus

Today I attended my first Start The Bus Jumble Sale as a participating seller. Ok, so that is not strictly accurate: while I normally love a good rumble in the jumble, today I was helping another fashion forward friend try to sell some of her old clothes.

At Start The Bus, pictured above, Sunday afternoons are all about relaxing with friends, drinking cider and tucking into roast dinners. On the third Sunday of the month that all happens in the setting of the Jumble Sale. Stall holders pitch up while hungry and hungover groups look for a quiet corner and comfy seating. The venue is the perfect place for this odd mish-mash and attracts lots of young, savvy shoppers looking for vintage pieces and quirky accessories, such as faux retro Ray Bans and worn out Converse Hi-tops.

Unfortunately for the four of us it was our first time so it took us a while to set up, throwing the occasional wary look at the other sellers who were clearly regulars at the whole thing. While I was neither strictly buyer nor strictly seller, I got surprisingly into the whole thing; helping to set up the stall, checking out rival stalls and trying my best not to scare potential buyers away by watching their every move (always helps a sale I find).

I think we got quite a good spot because this pillar, below, gave us a shelf at eye line that would grab the attention of passers by. The only downside was that, with the clothes in an L shape none of us were visible on both sides!
I must admit that we found ourselves splitting our time between standing vigilantly at the stall and running around to see what bargains we could find for ourselves! Two of the girls came back with purchases within minutes of setting up the stall (gorgeous brown leather doctors bag, black and gold strapless dress and a pair of grey heeled brogues)! While I was tempted by a pair of flat black brogues I did manage to control myself. The shoes were only £4 but a size 4 and since I'm 4 and a half I didn't want to risk it...

It was amusing watching shoppers drift from table to table. Some walked right past us while others lingered to mull over the H&M chunky pendents and the rather gorgeous long teal knitted cardigan from Miss Selfridge. A white polka dot t-shirt got snapped up quite quickly while several girls also perused a chunky night cream hooded jumper. Several of the regular stall holders had loads of vintage clothes which seemed to sell like hot cakes (which also did quite well), something to bear in mind for next time.

Sadly I had to leave half way through before I even got to make a sale but the whole thing was very infectious: we had such a good time that we're going to collaborate on another stall next time, morphing it into a super stall using the powers of vintage, homemade dresses and jewellery and fairy cakes - surly a winning combination!?