THE ASSEMBLY VINTAGE STORE, LONDON

The following photographs are of a vintage store in London named The Assembly, which my daughter Corinne visited yesterday. She loved the layout of the store as it is in a huge warehouse with masses of space to exhibit the items for sale. Luckily she didn't buy anything this time !

There has never been a new fashion but its old.
Geoffrey Chaucer (1342-1400)

WATCH OUT FOR THE VINTAGE SINGERS TERRY WOGAN

How many kinds of sweet flowers grow in an English country garden?
We'll tell you now of some that we know and those we miss you'll surely pardon
Daffodils, heart's ease and phlox, Meadowsweet and lady smocks,
Gentian, lupin and tall hollyhocks
Roses, foxgloves, snowdrops, forget-me-nots,
In an English country garden.

Alternative second verse:

How many insects find their home in an English country garden?
I'll tell you now of some that I know and those I miss you surely pardon
Dragonflies, moths, gnats and bees, Spiders falling from the trees
Butterflies sway in the mild gentle breeze
There are hedgehogs that roam and little garden gnomes
In an English country garden.

I can hear you all singing from here!

Where's this all going ?

The lady in picture above has bought this floral dress to exhibit at Hampton Court Palace.
She shows vintage flowers, wears vintage clothes and hires a Morris Minor car for the day. Sounds great fun doesn't it?

Quote from Mae West 1892-1980

"You can say what you like about long dresses, but they cover a multitude of shins."

MORE VINTAGE FASHION FOR YOU

We have several new fashions in our increasingly popular vintage shop and the following are just a few of them. Unfortunately we haven't space to show you them all so why not pop in and see the rest for yourself.


This late 50s/early 60s Marks and Spencer button-through dress will have been very popular in its day being cool, attractive and sensible. A teacher may have worn it in the classroom, an office worker at her desk or a bride to be when meeting her future mother-in-law for afternoon tea !

How about this pretty little 60s shift dress for those hot summer days (or even those hot summer nights?)

This very bright 70s maxi dress if ideal for a summer evening party and as maxi dresses are now all the rage, you can be modern and vintage at the same time.

VINTAGE HEAVEN

These two pictures are of a vintage store named The Garage which my daughter visited in Berlin recently. Just where would you start to look? I would have to spend a week there and probably clean out my bank account too.
LOOKS LIKE VINTAGE HEAVEN TO ME!

BERLIN

GETTING MARRIED ?

This beautiful wedding dress is perfect for any blushing bride and will soon be sold I am sure. So why not give us a RING !

ABERGAVENNY MUSEUM

Yesterday I popped into Abergavenny Museum to check out their exhibition on the
1950s and 1960s. It was a very interesting couple of hours and they have some excellent clothes from these eras. I would strongly recommend anyone who is in the Abergavenny area to pop in to the museum and have a look for themselves !

Misc. Abergavenny Museum

The Abergavenny Museum is looking for vintage stories for a new exhibition:



Contact the museum to tell them your story!

THE WELL DRESSED WOMAN

Another quote from 'The Household Guide' which is probably more appropriate to this Blog:

To earn the reputation of being well dressed is the ambition of every woman. To be well dressed, she may have to cultivate her taste, as every-one is not lucky enough to be blessed with a natural dress sense.

OK, OK I'm putting the book away but I'll be back !

Vintage Books: The Household Guide

I have been reading a book called 'The Household Guide' which was printed in 1941 and thought you might be interested in some of the contents.

Under the title 'The Happy Housewife' is this Daily Time-Table.

7am - Rise. Draw curtains. Open windows. Clean sitting-room and dining room.
8.15 am Prepare breakfast. If your husband or other member of the family has to
leave home before 8.45, leave the sitting-room until after breakfast and
serve breakfast at the required time.
8.30am Serve breakfast.
9.00am Turn down beds. Clear away breakfast things. Wash up and return everything
to its proper place washed and ready for the next meal. Tidy sitting-room
if not already done before breakfast. Tidy kitchen premises.
10.00am Do your shopping. Limit yourself to perishables to save time and on
Friday or Saturday purchase all groceries and other stores.
11.00am Make beds. Clean bedroom or bedrooms, stair-case if you have one, and hall,
bathroom etc.
12 noon Prepare midday meal and lay table.
1 pm Serve midday meal.
2 pm Clear away, wash up and return everything to its place, ready for the next
meal.
3 pm Clean kitchen premises. Set and cover tea-table, wash out tea-cloths and
finish any odd jobs. Prepare everything as far as possible for the evening
meal. Spend 30 minutes or so attending to your toilet, your hair, hands
etc., looking over your wardrobe, and seeing to immediate necessities.
4.30 pm Free to entertain or rest or attend to children, if any.
6 pm Prepare evening meal and prepare bedrooms for the night.
7 pm Serve meal.
8.30 pm Clear way, wash up etc.
9 pm Free again !!!!!!!

The good news is IT'S THE SAME AGAIN TOMORROW

*New Stock* 50s Green shimmer dress

A shimmering green dress from the 50s which, I am sure, will soon be worn on a special occasion by a very discerning lady.

This beautiful parasol was donated by a very generous lady who called in to the shop on Friday of last week. It is absolutely gorgeous and would grace any bride on her wedding day! We have already had a tremendous amount of interest in it so if you are thinking of tying the knot soon I suggest you hurry down to Vintage Vision !

SOME QUOTES FROM HAY ON WYE

I have been given a list of quotes from customers and volunteers which were said during our 10 days in Hay on Wye and which we thought you might like to share.

Our first classic quote was from one of our founder members when she asked "Is there a Greggs in Hay". Now anyone who has ever been to Hay would just know that there wouldn't be a Greggs there as the winding streets and cute shops (including bakeries) just aren't suitable for a Greggs. So B? you can't have your cake and eat it I'm fraid !

Saturday, 29th May was our busiest day of the whole festival and we had in excess of 185 visitors. We took several photographs of happy and beautiful customers and our
70s platform boots certainly atracted alot of attention with one lady saying that her husband designed such boots in the 70s and she felt sure he may have designed those.
Also we overheard 2 ladies saying that the shop was the best they had seen about which we were very pleased considering the shop had only been thrown together for 10 days.

On Sunday our Betty Draper style housecoat was grabbed from the model by an Irish lady who was working in Paris so watch out for it on your next visit to the Eifel Tower.
A lady from New Zealand bought a full length Laura Ashley dress to wear on her sheep farm in New Zealand hoping to play at being Jane Austin!

On Monday we had a giggle when a lady bought a beautiful black velvet dress after being told by another customer it looked nice even with the lurex decoration. She had liked it because of the lurex decoration.

A lady from London invited one of our volunteers to attend a networking event at Westminster and invited me to open a pop-up shop in Covent Garden where she has got an exhibition space.
Very Eliza Dolittle.

On Tuesday and Wednesday we sold mainly Laura Ashley floral dresses probably because of the summer weather.

Thursday and Friday were also very busy days with lots of interest in the shop.

On Saturday a lady confessed that she had her sister had worn Welsh tapestry capes as children and found them very warm.

Sunday was a tidy up day with all hands on deck to bring any remaining clothing back to our Abergavenny shop.

Hope you have enjoyed our days in Hay and we really look forward to seeing you all again either in Abergavenny soon or in Hay next year.

EVENING ALL

Whoops sorry Ossifer !

Just heard that the local police in Hay on Wye had our shop name as VINTAGE VENISON - must have thought we were a load of old deers!

SEWING CLASSES AT VINTAGE VISION

We are happy to say that our very popular sewing classes are starting again on the
16th June at 7 pm until 9 pm. Because of the popularity of these classes it is adviseable that anyone interested calls into the shop and pays a £5 refundable deposit or contacts us by e.mail.

We would love to hear from you so don't forget to GET IN TOUCH !

WELSH ASSEMBLY 'GREEN DRAGONS' SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT CHALLENGE

Vintage Vision has been shortlisted for the £10,000 Welsh Assembly Sustainable Development Challenge 'Green Dragon' grant that will be awarded at Hay on Earth this week.

The Hay on Earth 2010 programme was launched by Jane Davidson on the 28th May at the Festival.

Vintage Vision has been shortlisted in the 'Business and Enterprise Award' catagory, highlighting ideas for sustainability projects that show leadership, innovation and more than a little flair.

Lots of hard work has been done for our networking and presentation day tomorrow,
3rd June and we are encouraging our supporters to call in during the afternoon 'free session' to offer support.

We look forward to seeing you at Hay tomorrow afternoon (Thursday) - or just drop in to our Hay shop at 48 Lion Street.

Great times at Hay !

Our Hay store is doing extremely well as you will see from our photographs. We have met some amazing people and all seem very impressed with our range of vintage clothing. We have had comments such as "What a fabulous shop", "Wish you were here permanently" and "Best vintage store I have ever been in". We were extremely pleased to meet Mrs Florence who is one of the original founders of the Hay Festival and mother of Peter the current director when she came shopping with a friend over the Bank Holiday weekend.


Many of our customers were from London and the Midlands all saying they wished they had stores like ours in their home-towns.










It is a fantastic atmosphere to work in and has been a most enjoyable experience for all concerned. Hope to be in Hay again next year !