Make Do And Mend Year

Vintage fans, meet Jen. Jen is our first guest blogger and she's about to embark on a year of thriftiness. We are going to be checking in with her along the way but she's only just got started, so I'll hand you over to the lady herself.

"My name is Jen, I live in the South-West of England, with my lovely hubby, our two fantastic, amazing little boys-BigSmall who is nearly 4, and SmallSmall who is 1, and two crazy cats called Nigella and Clarrisa.
                                    
I started sewing just after our first little person was born, having never even touched a sewing machine before, and then discovered crafting of all sorts. Along the way I also found a new love when I stumbled upon the vintage and retro revival that is so big at the moment, and now I am a devout upcycler and vintage lover, so making and re-loving old and vintage items is very much a part of my life.

But then I decided I needed to take it one step further, and launched myself in to the challenge of My Make Do and Mend Year.
"My Make Do and Mend Year" is basically this: a personal challenge, to go a whole year without buying anything new. So I can choose to make, make do, or mend, but I can’t buy new. I can buy secondhand, pre-loved, re-conditioned, vintage, retro…just not brand spanking new. And it all starts on the 1st September 2012.

Essentially I'm doing this because Making Do and Mending is good for the planet, good for the bank balance and good for the soul! In our family, we are in the very fortunate position where we have nearly everything we NEED, and most of what we want. We really don’t need any more stuff. And the planet certainly doesn’t need any more stuff. And my bank balance could do with a break from buying stuff! It also dawned on me that the things in our house that I like the most, are the one’s that have taken a bit of thought and time and love (a bit like the children…), and not the instant fixes we've gone out and bought with little or no thought.
                            
If I can just stop for a minute before I buy things, and think ‘do I really need this?’ then I might buy less, buy better and spend less. If I don’t really need it, then I have to ask how much I want it, and if I really want it, then I should be prepared to wait a little bit longer and look a little bit harder, until I find what I want second hand, or can make something similar!

Hopes

That it will all be a breeze, we’ll sail through with no problems, making beautiful things, falling across gorgeous vintage finds, mending things in fiendishly clever ways, and stoically making do when this isn’t possible…
Seriously though-I hope that it will make us, as a family, more aware of what we’re buying. It takes out that instant gratification part of buying, as everything will involve more thought and planning.  In turn, I hope that this will make up more appreciative of what we already have, and what we do buy.
I’m looking forwards to having to be more inventive and there is a part of me that is really relishing the prospect of ‘making do’, and the challenge of thrifting and making and mending. Plus, it’s an ideal excuse for visiting vintage fairs and flea markets…!
                             
                                                                         

Fears

There is a tiny part of me convinced that on the 1st September, the boiler will blow up, the car will break down and the fridge will stop working, all at once and all in spectacular fashion.
I know I will really miss magazines. I love leafing through vintage and crafty mags, lusting after the gorgeous things, and adding to my ever increasing ‘want to make’ list.
I’m not sure I’m going to be very good at ‘making do’. I’m quite impatient and not very tolerant of things when they aren’t exactly as I want them. Hmmmm, can anyone spot a potential stumbling block here?!
And lastly, I’m already slightly worried about Christmas!"

Follow Jen as she embarks on her challenge, and throughout the year ahead, on the blog: http://www.mymakedoandmendyear.wordpress.com

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The Shoreditch Vintage Fair

Our promo team were out in force at the weekend, beckoning the good people of Shoreditch into our fabulous fair for a swift break from that awful awful sunshine...!

The Shoreditch Town Hall got my imagination whirring, all the regal dresses that may have swished and swooshed around the dance floor once upon a time, sigh. But it certainly makes for the ideal vintage fair venue, it's just this time, the beautiful clothes are waiting patiently on rails for you to snap them up! 

We must say, the traders today had some serious gold dust with them and you London folk must have gotten some serious finds. Let's have a look at some of the booty, starting with something for the boys. It was rich pickings for the lads at Shoreditch, with quite the variety of mens clothing. Everything from unique flocked jackets and tweed alike to rails of denim and checked shirts were on offer. This velvet number from Levinson Vintage is a showstopper and Gold Rush Vintage had rails and rails of stuff for the boys.

As always we had accessories and jewellry galore, my personal highlight was Vintage Reclaimed who are based in Nottingham with all these pretty vintage (working!) watches, all at £8 a pop. Sadly I was so bleedin' busy all day that I didn't get a chance to nab that blue one - sob! The Vintage Scene were back in London after a cracking fair in Hull last week with these collar tips (top left).

La Maison Pearl caught my eye as I saw this gorgeous wooden box bag for sale on their stall. I have been wanting one of these for months and months, I hope somebody snapped it up! They seem to be so rare over here with most of the ones on-line appearing in the US. Good find!

Shoes, shoes and more shoes. These beaded babies were from Collective and they were made for Thumbalina, I'm certain of it, but so beautiful. Vintage Child had tonnes of brightly coloured leather shoes, my favourites being these graphic patterned slippers.

Three of my other top Vintage Fair finds. Stunning gown from Birds Nest, heavily sequinned oversized cardigan from Lauren Eva (a serious steal at £28) and a classic repro swing dress from Betty Blue.

Well well well, look what we found! Only a whole entire rail of Ossie Clark crepe dresses in immaculate condition. There was even a Celia Birtwell number in there. This creme cover up was my absolute favourite, cinched in waist and so delicate. A winner. 

We had some very well dressed customers, just get a load of this lot. Were you snapped? I've devoted a duo photo to this couple. I think you'll agree they look super, super cool. And I must say, his girlfriend has upstaged him quite a bit in the style stakes but he made up for it by being French and hilarious.

Our tea party this week was held by Teaspoon and these cakes were seriously pretty things, not just scrumptious. Just look at all the decoration, I went for a coconut number and was not in the slightest bit disappointed!

Oh and how could I forget our Shoreditch Fair mascot, the tiny princess pooch, Villeneuve. She doesn't do the tube, darling. 

We hope to see you all again at Shoreditch Town Hall on November 17th. Not London based? Come and see us in  Nottingham on Sunday 16th September (that's this week guys!). 

Gina

x

The Hull Vintage Fair

What a day! On September 1st we welcomed a whopping 1800 people into the beautiful City Hall for the first fair of the new season. We had 30 stalls, Miss Poppy's Tea Party, The Vintage Hair & Beauty Salon and some live Burlesque dancers to boot. The queue was unrelenting (it was around the building until 3pm!) and I was starting to worry that I’d not get a chance to look at all the goodies myself!

Hull City Hall is a gorgeous space, which was lit up especially for our fair to show off all of our wares and finished off with a retro play list to accompany the crowds from stall to stall. But before you even got into the fair, you had to resist Miss Poppy's Tea Party and the bright, sparkly assortment of cupcakes! Not an easy feat, as most of our punters found out! Empty plates all round.

With all that extra lighting, it’s no wonder I was flitting from one jewellery stall to the next as it was all so glittery. My inner magpie had a field day. My favourite has to be this selection of necklaces from For The Love Of Kitsch, some really individual pieces and so beautifully presented. Then there are all of these kooky brooches from Itchycoo. You lot were spoiled weren’t you?

Sticking with Itchycoo, this had to be my favourite dress on offer in the entire fair (sadly my waistline disagreed) but look at all the pretty fruits and colours sitting at the front of this photo! A real statement piece, and only £20. Mooch Vintage had your next new leather handbag, each and every one of them in fabulous condition and all so bloody lovely.  Dolly Anna Does Vintage had a whole host of  reworked vintage clothes and accessories on offer, but I especially loved these little moustache earrings.

We also had a fair amount of quirky homeware in Hull, the stand out item for me has to be these garish 60s weighing scales. They are a certain conversation starter, don’t you think? Viva Vintage made their Vintage Fair debut with a selection of pretty cake stands and Nesthad me furnishing my dream room with retro radios, antlers and crockery.

Penny Feathers brought some delightful performances to Hull with her hot trio of Burlesque dancers. Every half hour these ladies owned the stage with their sparkly costumes, red lips and feather fans. A big shout out to one lady in particular as it was her very first public performance and believe me, you wouldn’t have known it! Absolutely amazing work from all involved. Bravo.

In summary, our promo girls looked a picture, I bought a new dress from Laura Ness, Lou a pretty cream typewriter from Alpaca and we had some very well dressed customers! We will see you again in Hull on November 3rd at The City Hall - we can’t wait!