Derby Affordable Vintage Fair

We had such a vintagetastic weekend!! With another action packed double bill of vintage fairs how could we resist a little mention to all those who came to our Derby and Leeds fairs. With over 500 of you Derbyshire Daves and Debbies rushing to snap up a vintage bargain at Derby University. We had a really stylish mix of customers, from mums and daughters, students, 50s fanatics and bargainistas. Here's a lovely selection of images taken by our new resident photographer Kera Robson

And how could we forget Leeds. Our home for the past 5 years and a real highlight of our vintage fair calender. We hosted a photoshoot for Red magazine before the doors open so for those of you who are fans please buy the January issue out in mid December. I also shopped for our Chanel competition winner, the lovely Alice won £100 to spend in the fair and she certainly turned out to be a bargain hunter, with a lovely leather skirt, blouse, dress, 2 purses, rosary beads and a silk scarf all snapped up with £33 left in her pocket. Now that's what the Affordable Vintage Fair is all about.

A few of my favourite finds..

A few weeks ago I was talking to the lovely Nadine from The Skinny and telling her all about the huge collection of vintage dresses I have gathered from my vintage fairs. Most of them are from the 50s or 60s and each have come from one of the many city we visit, all are from individual traders, and I make a point to snap up at least 10 dresses from each season we move our fair around the country. As these dresses become more rare to find I thought I'd share a snippet of what I have with you lovely blog readers.

So, here's a selection of my favourite dresses...

Yes Sarah this one is Horrockses but not as nice as yours..

A lovely 1950s number I picked up from our Cheshire fair..

One of my favourites, I wore it to Vintage at Goodwood this summer

A Glass Onion special, summery and perfect with flats..

This one is hand made and has the best flower print I have ever found..

Bought from the lovely Vintage to Vogue at our Durham fair..

A cheat dress as I actually picked it up in New York a few years ago..

1950s print - Marnie Fogg would be proud..

Picked up at my York fair from Tramps Gems..

Another great print and all those colours... I never wear all black!

That's all for now folks, Kieran will be signing in tomorrow to tell you all about our weekend fairs and what's coming up..

Until then,

Judy x

Rainy day in Manchester

Well yesterday Judy and crew rolled into Manchester, the rain did not stop those vintage lovers queueing inside and out ready to get their hands on some fantastic vintage bargains!!This was the first time we'd visited Sound Control and with 3 floors of vintage goodies to trawl through, I am glad I was working on the door all day!! One thing which did indeed keep me entertained (as well as you friendly Manchester folk) was the fabulous DJ! From the Jesus and Mary Chain to the Kinks, myself and my partner in crime for the day, the lovely Valentina, were bopping on our seats all day!Speaking of you lovely Manchester folks, you really are bloody lovely!! And very eager to show me your vintage goodies! I was very jealous of the snowflake jumper and mini suitcase! And then I was jealous of this giant suitcase:

And this one!!

I had wonderful chat with this vintage lover about our shared obsession - Mad Men!!! She was a Joan fan and as muh as I love Joan, Peggy is my favourite! She got this brilliant original 1960s pattern so she could make her very own Joan Holloway (I reuse to calle her Harris!) creation!

And finally these three ladies went away with bagfuls! It really was the fair for suitcases as I felt a bit sad as this gorgeous tan vanity case walked out ofthe door!

Anyways, short but sweet!! Hopefully we will be back in Manchester soon with more vintage delights!

Bethnal Green's Affordable Vintage Fair

As bags are packed, cars are loaded and all of our vintage best bits are selected for the capital, we just wanted to remind you that we will be setting up shop at Bethnal Green's York Hall this Sunday [24th] Catering for all tastes and covering all bases, we are going to be bringing you stellar stock spanning the 20s to the 80s, antiques, jewellery, intricate accessories, fabrics, haberdashery and a designer piece or two. Whether you're looking for blouses, vases, furs or collectibles, we're set to impress. Here's a tiny taster of what's on offer this weekend...

Ecclectic is the word! The dramatic cape on and blue and white geometric jumpsuit are courtesy of Victoria and Albert vintage, trading at the weekend [the jumpsuit is actually a Biba creation, demonstrating that you truly never know what you might find at Judy's Affordable Vintage Fair!]

Additionally for a perfect Sunday soundtrack, why not take the time to enjoy the musical stylin's of fifties trio the Scarlet Starlets booked-in especially for the event! Perfect tunes for perusing, check them out on http://scarletstarlets.com/ As the picture demonstrates, all aboard vintage fans!

Our FINAL surprise is that the lovely ladies from LeKeux vintage salon will be on hand to quoff and buff you everyway from Sunday, all for a reasonable fee. If you like the look of the Starlets above then these ladies are for you. Here's their price list...

Hair

Taster - £10

Full Curl/ Style - £20

Make-Up

Lips/Eyes - £5

Taster - £10

Full - £20

Manicures

1950s polish/ 1940s crescent/ 1920s layered - £15

Tutorials from £25

Special Events styling from £35

Wowzers. To book an appointment with this lovely bunch, email: info@lekeuxevents.co.uk posthaste!

Manchester and London double Bill this weekend

Yes folks, the countdown has begun for Judy's Affordable Vintage Fair to roll into Manchester on the Saturday and London on the Sunday. We have two very special vintage fairs in store for you all. Here are the flyers to give you the low down..

Saturday 23rd October
Sound Control, 1 New Wakefield Street
Manchester, M1 5NP
Opening Hours: 12:00 - 17:00
Entry: £2/ £1 NUS/OAP

Saturday 24th October

York Hall

5- 15 Old Ford Road, E2 9PJ

London

Opening hours 11:00 - 4:30

Entry: £2.00

Weekend Shenanigans!

Greetings Loved Ones. Just a quickie here as we power through this Monday afternoon. Whilst I'd rather wait for the pictures to speak a thousand words [arriving circa Wednesday] York Fair was a hoot, with nearly 1300 of you pouring through the doors and a jolly good time had by all

Additionally, nearly 150 of you generous souls bought raffle tickets to raise money for breast cancer charity 'Haven' and so, in gratitude, I doth doth my hat to you! We're happy to announce that we'll be returning to York shores for a nightime xmas x-travaganza [hohoho, what a joker!] before Christmas. Ivy, brass bands, mince pies and vintage, if that's not CLAUSE for excitement, I don't know what is!

Additionally over the weekend, we got a mention by those eagle-eyed fashionistas at the Topshop blog. Have a butchers here....http://insideout.topshop.com/blog/2010/10/little-black-book.html

Finally, for anyone feeling the gravity of Monday rolling on their shoulders, take a look at this article by favourite procrastination station cracked.com about the woes of being a Hipster...http://www.cracked.com/funny-4573-hipster/ We here at Judy HQ don't endorse any sort of subculture bashing [even if you favour a Poirot moustache and headband all year long] but the Hipster circle of life made us titter....

Keep it real vintage fans,

xVx

The Joy of Ebay

Seen as I've been poorly sick and dying this week with the horrible bug which seems to be sweeping South Yorkshire, I thought I might let you into my world a little bit. Well when I say my world, I mean my imaginary world which I live through ebay! Having been an avid ebayer for many many many years I am a little bit obsessed with searching the listings for no particular reason. Subsequently the list of items I am watching currently stands at 376, none of which I intend bidding on, I just like to see what the go for! From obscure dinner ware patterns (Meakin Poodles, Midwinter Savannah) to fabric designers (Marion Mahler, Lucienne Day) to furniture makers (G plan, Kandya) I just can't stop looking at stuff! So I thought I'd run you through my top 5 watches at the moment in true High fidelity style and in no particular order, here we go!

1 - I love all things 1950s in case you hadn't noticed and I've always fancied one of those darling little wicker handbags so I've been watching this:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Vintage-50s-60s-White-Wicker-Poodle-Bag-Bamboo-Handles-/110596532448?pt=UK_Women_s_Vintage_Clothing&hash=item19c01128e0Poodle-Bag-Bamboo-Handles-/110596532448?pt=UK_Women_s_Vintage_Clothing&hash=item19c01128e0

with a starting price of £35.00, no bids and postage at less than a fiver you could potentially get this for under £40.00! I love the slightly wrong poodle and the gorgeous handles, what more could you ask for!

2 - To be completely honest, most of my watch items are dresses! So I thought I'd pick a couple. This first one is a Horrockses gem!! It is actually the same print as my pink Horrockses number with the Bolero, but in a different shape. I absolutely adore it! The large pockets at the side just finish it off beautifully:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=350402949027&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:ITWAX:IT

Interestingly, it was listed last week with a starting price of about £30.00 if i remember rightly and a reserve, it ended with a few bids at £35.00 reserve not met. It was relisted at 99p and no reserve and now it's at £59.54 with a couple of hours to go. If I had the money I would definately splash out on this, if not just because it matches my other!

3 - This dress is an absolute beaut!!! Just look at it!!!

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/RARE-VINTAGE-COUTURE-40S-50S-ROSES-DRESS-FULL-SKIRT-/260676028442?pt=UK_Women_s_Vintage_Clothing&hash=item3cb180881a

The cut, the print, the pleats! an absolute stunner, but at £100 with 14 bids and more than an hour left, it makes me wish I had the caas to buy all 3 of those 1950s beauties from the Lincoln fair! Sometimes you can find a bargain on ebay, but they are getting rarer and rarer now unfortunately! It used to be that you get get 50s dresses for £15 - 30 on ebay, those days are gone sadly! Luckily the lovely stall holders at Judy's still induldge me!

4 - One thing I don't seem to be able to go a day without searching for is '1950s kitchen', I'm not sure why, you get alsorts! Curtains, kitchen units, clocks! But when I saw this I almost wept:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/KITCHEN-cabinet-50s-50er-KUCHE-CUISINE-50-formica-/260669096805?pt=UK_Antiques_AntiqueFurniture_SM&hash=item3cb116c365

Oh what I wouldn't give for this!! Anything but the £940 asking price plus the £220 postage from Germany! The listing is beautiful, so many pictures, theres formica on the to and inside the cupboards, the little feet it stands on and the baby blue and yellow colour are enough to tip me over the edge! I do fear I am showing my true colours here but ah wel, if anyones going to get it, surely it's you lot!!

5 - And finally, just to show I'm not a completely self obsessed head case, I do have things on my watch list for others!! For Christmas I want to get my brother an amazing Christmas jumper, I found this beauty:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/vtg-ICELANDIC-CHUNKY-KNIT-FESTIVE-XMAS-JUMPER-MEDIUM-/360301351751?pt=Men_s_Clothes&hash=item53e3a25347

Looking at the listing I thought, hang on a second, I recognise that man!! It's only the lovely Princes Vintage Mr, of Princes Vintage who frequent Judy's fairs and have slipped into this blog on more than one occasion previously! Also, I want the jumper to match my brothers amazing navy blue with orange lining original 70s parka I got him last year form....yep, you guessed it! Princes! So coincidences aside, I was watching this unawares because it is so 1970s bad family photograph that I think he'd love it! Who knows, I may bid!

Anyways, I feel I've shared something very personal with you today, is a persons ebay watch list as personal as say, their diary? their record collection? I certainly have some guilty pleasures in mine, and I'm sure you do!