Lodekka vintage shop (on a bus)

Check this blog out!



It's from a vintage shop that's situated on a bus! In Portland, Oregon, USA.

What a wicked business idea, am so tempted to start looking for a vintage bus to buy!

http://www.lodekka.com/

Edwin x

Hungerford Vintage Fashion Fair

A new event for August 2011!The first ever Hungerford Vintage Fashion Fair comes to town on Saturday 20th August at the Town Hall. There will be up to 20 stalls with the usual Blind Lemon standard and attention to detail. There'll be menswear, womenswear, accessories and jewellery, all vintage and all pukka.

For more info on what Blind Lemon do please click through to the website; http://www.blindlemonvintage.co.uk to find out more.

Edwin x

Tommy Nutter exhibition

What a reason to visit the Fashion and Textile Museum in London! 20th May to 22 October 2011

There's an exhibition on the work and life of Tommy Nutter, the legendary Savile Row tailor.

Tommy opened up his shop and business in 1969 along with master cutter, Edward Sexton. before too long the shop was patronised by rock stars and aristocrats all looking to get a piece of bespoke tailoring Nutter style. This exhibition looks at a range of suits that are placed alongside social contexts to enable you to see the impact this man had on the staid (at the time) Savile Row establishment.



There are also workshops and talks. Check out the Fashion and Textile Museum's website JUST HERE.

Oxford Bags baby!

I found this article online about Oxford Bags last year, it's from  fashionencyclopedia.com

Young people attempted to set themselves apart from their elders and establish their own fashion styles in the 1920s, a trend that continues into the twenty-first century. In 1924 at Oxford University in Great Britain, a small group of male students began wearing trousers that never would have been worn by their fathers. 

These pants were loosely fitted and featured extremely wide legs; at their knees and cuffs they measured between twenty-two and forty inches wide. They came to be known as Oxford Bags, named for their excessively baggy appearance and the institution of higher learning from which they originated.

I haven't got a pair of these (yet), Hayley is very glad to know.

 

For more on Oxford Bags please click JUST HERE

Personal thoughts on charity shops selling vintage

I like charity shops, they raise vital funds for research, palliative care and more

I like charities. They provide much needed services that the public sector can't or won't.

I love vintage. It's green, makes you look unique and I make some money from it.

Just to set the scene I thought I'd write the above.

What I'm not so keen on is charity shops pretending that they're vintage shops by jumping on the selling vintage bandwagon. I was in rePsycho on Gloucester Road the other week talking to the very elegant and glamorous Diane and checking out the latest offerings from Tim and Andy.

Diane was telling me how a newly opened charity shop just up the road had been slagging vintage shops off by  stating that they were cheaper. This irked me as well.

There are some very good reasons why there is a price difference between charity shops selling vintage and vintage shops. 

Charity shops pay reduced rents and business rates.

Charity shops are staffed by volunteers.

Charity shops don't have to pay for their stock.

Vintage shops pay commercial rates and rent, have to pay for staff and have to pay for their stock.

Plus vintage shops are staffed by people who know what they're talking about in terms of designers, era's, how to care for vintage pieces and much more. We know what we're talking about. Charity shops won't get that much vintage given to them either. 

So there I was; a little cross with charity shops whilst being aware that they do such good work and have to raise funds.

Hmmmm.

The Aloha Shirt

 

 Not even tucked in, blazing and bold, here's the aloha shirt!

The missionaries might have denounced extravagance and nakedness, the craving for vivid colors, tropical textures, and sensual shapes couldn't be suppressed. Within two centuries a modest workman's shirt grew into the trademark wear of Hawaii.

But the history of this shirt reflects the growing pains of a nation and the true Hawaiian aloha shirt has become increasingly hard to find.In the late 1920's and early 1930's tourists, always looking for exotic souvenirs, fell for a fad of the young islanders, unusual prints. Artists and tailors spotted a serious business. The name "aloha shirt", registered in 1936, soon labeled a flourishing industry.

To read more about Hawaiian shirts please click to this site HERE.

Antler magazine - an issue on vintage

Open publication - Free publishing - More art

Marks & Spencer in the 1950s

British fashion history records that Marks & Spencer produced the best ready to wear chain store clothes in the fifties and quadrupled their profits at the same time.  Their clothes were not the least expensive, but they were the best value for money.  The quality became so high in the 1950s that limits were set on production as everyone wanted the affordable stylish Paris inspired 1950s glamour.

You can read the rest of this article from one of my favourite vintage websites; fashion-era.com by clicking HERE.

Debrett's Guide to the Modern Gentleman

Today the notion of gentlemanly behaviour is not nearly as clear-cut as it once was. The time is right to re-examine and redefine this most mercurial of definitions of masculinity, so Debrett's has assembled the essential handbook for the modern gentleman.

 

An eclectic range of topics includes: the rules of tailoring; successful seduction; the new chivalry; classic cocktails and martinis; how to fly in style; cuisine to impress; tipping and taxis in far-flung places; and how to dress for the board room, the beach or the golf course. This compendium of masculinity is complemented by rare pearls of wisdom from...

 

http://astore.amazon.co.uk/blindlemonvin-21/detail/1870520777

 

Enjoy the read! I certainly did.

 

Edwin

 

 

February's Myopic Citrus Newsletter Published

That's right!

The latest Blind Lemon Vintage News (called The Myopic Citrus) was published last week.

With articles on lacemaking, Miles Davis the style icon and the beauty of vintage makeup plus the usual vintage blog and book of the month!

What's not to like?

http://conta.cc/hQqJsq

Edwin x