Lou Lou's Bournemouth Vintage Fair

We were in sunny Bournemouth this past Sunday and had such a wonderful time! The fair was held at the Pavillion Theatre with some fantastic views of the seafront. We thought we would share these pictures of all the many treasures we came across on the day. We will be back after August so do keep your eyes peeled for dates over on our Facebook Page

https://www.facebook.com/Bournemouthvintagefair

Lou Lou's xx

The Leeds Vintage Fair: What's in store?

Oh we are TOO excited for The Leeds Vintage Fair this Sunday! So we thought we'd get in the vintage fair mood early by bringing you a taste of what's to come this Sunday at Leeds Town Hall...

(Pick your jaw from off the the floor!)

Entertaining all of you lovely vintage hungry fans will be one of our favourite DJs in the North with his frightfully fab orange mini DJ booth! Expect swinging retro tunes to accompany your shopping trip!

The first TEN people in the queue for our vintage fair will receive their very own Vintage Fair tote bag for free FREE I SAY! So you gotta get down early if you want in :)

Tilly's North Wing will be bringing you an exceptional collection of vintage dresses from the 50s through to the 80s. The £10 rail went down a treat last weekend in Newcastle (I picked up a couple of frocks myself) and I expect it will be doing the exact same thing this Sunday!

USED Vintage will be bringing you a top notch selection of sunglasses ready for the bank holiday sunshine! My favourites are these round, white mod style sunnies. 

 The Marvellous Tea Dance Company are going to completely ruin your bikini diet with their scrumptious cake selection. But if you're exceptionally self controlled then I'm sure you'll need a cuppa anyway!

We will have a troupe of Leeds Swing Soc swing dancers performing for you throughout the day both in and outside the venue! So if you're queuing outside (with your possible free tote bag) you'll be thoroughly entertained doing so as they'll be ready at 11:45 to perform on the courtyard!

One of our traders Little Old Me have just set up online selling their enviably large collection of 40s,50s,60s and 70s dresses to the masses! If you're after something really very special then you absolutely must pay us a visit this Sunday. 

Le Keux Cosmetics and Hair Salon will be at our vintage fair. Not only offering pin curls, beehives and half moon manicures but Le Keux also have their own range of retro cosmetics! We love this vintage style advert they've done for their hot red lip paint. 

Bang Bang have out done themselves with these incredible 3 pieces. They are seriously limited edition and they've been flying off the rails, so you'd best get down to our fair early before they all go!

                                   

So! If you weren't already buzzing to come down to our event on Sunday I really hope you are now!

Make sure you follow us @leedsfair and check out our Facebook page!

Gina x

Get Vintage Fair Ready

We are in full swing again over at The Vintage Fair and a mammoth weekend of fairs has left us all pretty dazed with another three this weekend! And though we have our regular fairs, new ones are popping up all the time, so what if you're a Vintage Fair virgin? How do you go about looking around these many many stalls and making what could be your first vintage purchase? And though maybe you're a seasoned shopper, you might pick up a helpful hint or two. Let's get ready to rummage.

Before you do anything - do not go with an idea of what you want to buy. Every fair is different and you won't be able to predict exactly what could be on offer. So keep an open mind!

Before: Underwear

• Same rules as any other big shopping trip, wear a nude, strapless bra. You have no idea what you might find! That strapless 80s disco number might not feel or look the same without the right underwear on! 
• Big pants. Personally, I like to wear control pants, especially if I'm after a tight fitting dress/pencil skirt. I don't want to try it on without the solution to the lumps and bumps at hand.
• Leggings/opaque tights are a nifty idea when you might be trying all of your vintage finds on in a communal changing area. Not essential by any means, but this may make you feel a bit more comfortable. 

Multiway from Marks & Spencer £22.50  - an essential!

Before: Ready to go?

• For quick and easy shopping get some cash out before you arrive at our event. Though some of our traders do take cards, most are cash only. If you forget, don't worry, ask very nicely if they'll put your chosen item to one side, run away to grab cash and show us your stamp to get back into the fair. 
• Bring a black/tan leather belt with you. lots of 50s dresses or 80s reproductions need nipping in at the waist for full effect. Even if it's just to get an idea of the shape you could create. 
• If you can help it, don't bring too much bulk with you. We want your shopping experience to be as easy and pleasant as possible and lugging stuff around with you means you might miss out on some treasures. 
• Are you going out on Saturday night? Even if you don't usually wear vintage, you could get made over by one of our vintage hair and beauty salons. Keep a keen eye on the facebook events so you can get an advance booking! 

You're at our event - now what?

• Take your sweet time and take it all in. These events can be quite daunting, especially if you've never been to a vintage fair as there are so many different items on every stall (in the best possible way!) so maybe don't snap up the first thing you see as you might find something better along the way. 
• Get thrifty. You might not usually go for maxi dresses but if you love the print then get it shortened into a knee length dress and keep the fabric to make into a scarf or a skirt. You've got to get into the thrifty, DIY mind set! This dress from one of our fairs is a really good example as the bottom of the dress would make a great skirt.  

• If you'd like to try something on, ask the stall holder's permission and then make your way to the designated changing area. Or if it's just a jacket, coat or jumper you can try it on there and then - easy! Please bring all items back to the stall you picked them up from, because that's darn helpful!
• Don't be scared to talk to other people if you're unsure about something. Ask the stall holder for suggestions or talk to the other ladies in the changing room - everyone is super friendly. 
• Take a break and eat some cake. If you're on your feet all day, concentrating, beady eyed looking for your next vintage gem then you'll surely be needing a brew and a cake! Our vintage tea parties bring the very best home made sweet treats to our fairs and more often than not, by the end of the day, there's none left! A very popular addition to our fair. 

After: Spread the word!

• When are we back? Make sure you sign the mailing list on your way out!
• We love to hear back from you. If this was your very first fair we'd particularly love to know how you got on and what you purchased!
• "Like" us on Facebook, follow us on Instagram (thevintagefair) and twitter (@vintagefair) to be sure you won't miss out on future events. 

See you soon and we hope you find some beauties. 

Gina x

What's In Store at Shoreditch this Saturday...?

We have a huge vintage packed weekend coming up in not one, not two, not three but FOUR cities across the UK! We are coming to Shoreditch, Oxford,  Brighton and Nottingham this weekend (phew!) with a plethora of vintage clothes, accessories and jewlery, cakes, tea and pretty china, the very best vintage hair and beauty salons as well as some fabulous retro performers! So we are going to do a bit of a teaser post on what's happening in Shoreditch this Saturday 27th April...

First of all, how could we not be excited about having the fabulous Lipstick & Curls with us for our Shoreditch fair? These girls do the hair and make up for many a retro bride as well as Bernie Dexter for What Katie Did! Versatile is the word! Check out these lovely dos that we found on their gallery for some inspiration. If you're wanting to get an appointment with the salon, please e-mail info@lipstickandcurls.net

Highly Desirable Objects are joining us on Saturday with some very handsome looking jewelry. I absolutely love these brooches, especially the ship, it would look smashing on my new mac collar. Tapestry bags are always going to be a winning purchase so get your hands on this delicate purse on Saturday for your night out outfit.

Gin Lane have an Etsy full of pretty frocks, including this amazing Jean Varon white and purple trimmed maxi .

Vintage Fair favourites Wolf & Moon will be returning with their geometric perspex designs. This is just a small selection of what they will be bringing to the jewelry hungry masses on Saturday! There's never been a better time to invest in a statement necklace, pop it on over a done up shirt collar and you've made your outfit.

Miss Kingsley will be there with some bright and beautiful vintage frocks. We love this 50s rainbow skirt, perfect with a petticoat! Or if 50s isn't your era then we love this floral 60s secretary style dress, tan belt to cinch in your waist and you're Mad Men-done.

Now we don't have a video of the exact troupe of swing dancers but just for fun, check out this awesome energetic bunch of crazy cats! Shoreditch, get yourselves to the vintage fair to sit back, have a cup of tea and a cake and watch some Lindyhop!

Talking of tea and cake, we've only got one the best tea parties around, Mabel's Vintage Tea to serve you their delicious victoria spoonge topped with fresh strawberries amongst other sweet treats.

Looks like you'll be more than sorted for pretty vintage jewelry this weekend in Shoreditch with a table full of gems from Vintage Lady. Some Like It Holy have these awesome 40s repro dungarees on offer, fight the 90s grunge kids with the original! Kipper and Bow are bringing this adorable French 1950s cosmetics purse,  so pretty and special.

Vintage Child be bringing some of these incredible 70s/80s frocks on Saturday! This powder blue 80s waterfall maxi is gooooooorgeous.

And that lot is just a smidgen of what will be on offer so roll on the weekend! Lookout tomorrow for what we have to show off in Brighton!

Gina x

The Southampton Vintage Fair: Blogger Challenge

Well, well, well! We are absolutely shattered after a storming weekend down south in Southampton and Bournemouth with The Vintage Fair. But you hear enough about us championing our fairs (well, they are fab) so we thought we'd give one very lovely fashion blogger £50 to spend in Southampton so she could show you just what we have to offer. Meet Emily from Lab Geek Chic.

Hello vintage darlings!

What a Saturday I have had! A Saturday packed with gorgeous little things, vintage treats and all round bygone glamour at Southampton vintage fair. The lovely people that run the fair had a little challenge in

store for me: to find and style a vintage look for £50. Now, being that I got to keep the whole ensemble, this was quite naturally my favourite kind of challenge!

I was so taken in by all the beautiful things that it was only after thirty minutes of compulsive rummaging that I actually stepped away from the clothes long enough to become aware of what an amazing setting I was

in. The fair is held in Southampton Guildhall which is such a perfect venue for bringing a bit of grandeur to any drizzly Saturday afternoon. However, soon I was once again quite perfectly lost in my little treasure

hunt. One of the most exciting things about this challenge was the opportunity to try something I wouldn’t normally go for, I’m the sort of girl that generally can’t be torn away from twirling skirts and dresses but

today I found myself drawn to a particular pair of shorts. Styled a bit like tap shorts and recycled from a damaged fifties dress they lured me in; then when I found the silk lining I knew they had to be mine. Next up I had to find a shirt and the Laura Ashley cream silk blouse that materialised from a packed rail was simply too lovely to ignore. At only ten pounds it's not only lovely but also my bargain of the day and it had a

wonderfully early 1900s feel to it. To finish the look I chose an elegant black velvet purse complete with a delicately embroidered peacock. Whilst the selection of items I chose came from a range of eras I wanted

the overall feel of the outfit to reflect my love of late twenties sophistication and opulence but with a modern twist, but I’ll leave the success of that for you to decide. 

Challenge complete I couldn’t resist the temptation of a few little luxuries and it was a 1940s silk kimono embroidered with flowers and birds from Pretty in Vintage that caught my eye first. I’m wearing it as I

write this and let me tell you: it is just divine! It makes me think of those perfectly turned out 1940s film stars sat preening at their dressing tables surrounded by ornate perfume bottles. Speaking of film stars this

brings me to my second little luxury which is a peach coloured silk girdle from the 1930s that once belonged to a french actress. It is so soft and the tailoring is sublime – every bit as exquisite as pieces from favourite

modern lingerie designers like Agent Provocateur if not more so! That’s all for today but thanks for reading and I hope you had as much fun at the fair as I did!

Kimono from Pretty in Vintage

(£65) and peach silk girdle from

Mabel’s customised and vintage

clothing (£25).

Emily from Labgeekchic Xx

Do you want to take on the next blogger challenge at a fair near you? Please e-mail your blog URL, city and why you'd love to take on our challenge to blog@thevintagefair.com.  

The Birmingham Vintage Fair: Party Season

We had a triple whammy of fairs this weekend. Oh yes! And not only the usual vintage fashion fairs in Birmingham and York but our Something Old Wedding fair debuted in Manchester at Whitworth Hall. But we're not all lucky enough to be getting married in a vintage wedding gown, so there were two fabulous fairs in Birmingham and York for the rest of us!

Have you signed up to our mailing list like this young lady did? Make sure you sign up when you visit us to be in with a chance of winning £50 to spend at the next fair in your city! Not bad for a couple of useful vintage information filled e-mails eh? 

The festive season is creeping up on us like there's no tomorrow and all I could see around me was sequins, pretty dresses and glam accessories. Our fairs prepare you for a very fabulous retro Christmas where you really look the part. I found you some of the gems, so take note and get planning your party get up!

A vibrant stand out beaded cover up from Marney's vintage, easily dressed up or down. But a talking point nonetheless.

This 60s sheer sleeved beauty was in the middle of being purchased as I snapped it! The little black dress will never die! Especially with that embellished low V neck. Larvly.

If black just isn't your thing, but gold is, then this little 70s dress would have ticked your boxes. All the glitz of the party dress but with a unique colour palette to boot.

Horrockses! Horrockses! I spied a beauty! Every now and then a lovely label comes our way and whoever snapped this one up did good. Monochrome late 60s maxi for the elegant party go-er.

Sticking with maxis but fast forwarding a few years to the 70s and the age of sparkly spangly lurex! I adore lurex even though it's a little itchy and (let's be honest) a tad sweaty it looks incredible! This maxi says Abigail's Party all over it. Gorgeous print.

Keeping things bling, this teal dotty shift had me all gooey eyed. An 80s repro of a late 50s style but with added sparkle! Would look classic with black courts and fur. 

But it's not allll about the dress. You need some equally festive bits and bobs to accompany it, such as this eagle necklace or this little red velvet purse. If you're wanting to channel mrs claus then this purple velvet white fur trimmed bolero screamed christmas. Rocking 50s glamour this year? Nothing like a string of pearls to set off your outfit (except maybe some red lippy!).

Bulky coats, parkas and macs just won't do for the vintage lady on her work do, oh no. But this 60s leopard print faux fur cape is ideal! I fell in love. Swoon.

Wanting something a little more day time friendly? These welsh wool capes are everywhere at the moment and a monochrome pattern is hard to come by, especially with a nifty zip fastening. A real find.

So now we've got the dress, the accessories and the glam cover up! The hair and make-up is a whole other blog post coming your way soon!

We had a few stunningly dressed visitors this weekend, but I have to say these two topped my list! Two ladies with tea and cake in Birmingham and magnificent hats! 

If you're free this weekend pop to our Christmas fair in Sheffield where we will have even more traders ready to glam you up for the party season, vintage style. We will be at The Town Hall (next to the peace gardens) 12-5pm and if you pop down at 3:30 you might just hear me sing some of your favourite festive tunes...!

Gina x

The Manchester Vintage Fair

It was vintage mania in Manchester at Whitworth Hall on Saturday! You patiently queued out in the cold so you could get your hands on some vintage goodies, that's dedication for you.

Now, before I carry on talking about how fantastic and stylish you lot are (Were you snapped by me? Keep reading to find out) I must tell you about my run in with BBC Radio Manchester! Manhunt is a Saturday programme presented by Emma Goswell and Chris Holliday where they have to uh..Man hunt! In this instance they had to hunt us at The Vintage Fair and do a little task: beehive my hair in 1 minute and 30 seconds. No mean feat. You can listen back to the programme for the next four days here. We are right at the end at 1:47-ish. And no, I didn't say "couture" I really did say "kitchen"! Not a bad attempt for less than 2 minutes work, no?

We had a fantastic variety of traders in Manchester, everything from classy handbags like the one below, to upcycled homewares like this china plate cake stand and kooky handmade head pieces like these at the bottom. And here is one more shot of just how busy our fair was!

Books,lace trimmings, retro kitchen-ware and teacups galore! Yet another peek at the variety we had at The Manchester Vintage Fair. I'd pop that bunting style trimming on a plain T-shirt or ponti-shift dress as a cute collar. You could even turn your old books into secret hiding places by hollowing them out or turning them into kitsch Charlotte Olympia style clutch bags. And looking at the bottom right corner, well, I use my Hornsey flour pot for my receipts!

As usual I always look for some really special dresses and these three stood out to me. Left to right we have a blue water colour-esque 60s number, a green and gold brocade 50s prom dress and lastly a muted green lace 50s wiggle dress that screamed Mad Men. Thinking about the stories and women behind these dresses makes me love vintage even more, and by wearing vintage, you're just adding to that story. Look out for "how to date vintage" posts from me soon.

Manchester Street Style

Whilst you lot were waiting to get into our fair, I thought I'd grab some shots of the particularly stylish and vintage among you! Did I snap you? Let's start with our elegant vintage sirens, both rocking a red lip and a classic mac.

The best things come in pairs! Brogues, burgundy, leather, retro curls, polka dots and midi skirts. Trends galore.

You can't be a wall flower in a hat. This 70s inspired floppy number caught my eye as well as her cute shirt buttoned to the top. And contrary to what some people think, red and orange definitely go together!

Neon meets wallpaper print. Brilliantly simple yet eye-catching ensemble. A 60s inspired swing coat and psychedelic hand bag gave this young lady's modern outfit a retro touch.

You Manchester girls accessorize well don't you? My eyes were looking at all of your feet! Big russian style hats, patent brogues with lurex socks, maryjanes with fur trimmed socks and a beautiful 40s set with matching red lips.

But we can't forget the boys! I doubt his waves are an ode to the 40s, but we loved them with the beanie, and his admiring mate thinks so too! Aviator jackets and leather studded bags aren't just for the girls, a snug, bold look. Well done lads.

All in all we had a ridiculously tiring day, but in all the best ways! Thanks so much for making it one of our favourite fairs. If you're a bride to be, make sure you pop to our Something Old Wedding Fair in Manchester on November 24th at Whitworth Hall.

Gina xxx