Judy's Affordable Vintage Fair

And affordable it was!

(I would've liked to post this sooner by the way, though unfortunately I've been a bit ill. Feel free to send cards and grapes.)

On Saturday I ventured over to Aston University's union for some vintage shopping. As a BCU student, I felt a bit like I was on enemy soil- hence me not asking anyone where the union actually was and subsequently getting a little lost (even though I've been there before!).

There was also a little simmering resentment at how pretty the Aston campus is. It's build around a gorgeous lake (well, not a lake, somewhere between that and a pond) complete with little duckies. Aww.

This was the first vintage fair I've been to under the 'Judy' brand. I find this rather confusing as the web domain is 'vintage fair' which I thought was the 'other' big one, usually held in the Custard Factory when comes round to Birmingham.

Anyway, same brand or not, I instantly sensed that this fair was a little different.

The first thing that struck me was how big it was! It was easily as big as the one held at the Custard Factory and not nearly as busy. There's nothing like being shoved and squashed by other stressed, sweaty shoppers to wind me up.

The thing I liked about this fair was the variety of stuff on sale. One thing I loved were the stands holding baskets of old watches, hairpins, toys, charms, keyrings, earrings... I could go on. These were cluttered together by signs reading, 'everything 50p' or £1 in some cases.

If I'd been wearing boots, I would've filled them; despite the undoubtedly painful, barefooted walk home...

I refrained from collecting bags of stuff and managed to walk away with this simple hair comb for 50p

 

There was a great haberdashery stall too, selling vintage buttons, thread, wool, plus lace and velvet trim.

There were also a couple of stalls selling old postcards, maps and photos very cheaply. I'd have loved a few old black and white photos of some beautiful 50s ladies to frame, but couldn't escape the fact that most of the photos were really personal.

I was really chuffed to pick up this 1938 French fashion paper magazine.

My basic grasp of French tells me that the title reads, 'the small paper of fashion'- I think.

It really is gorgeous; I plan on framing it and hanging it in my room. I'd loved to frame some of the inside pages as there are some beautiful coloured illustrations- though I don't think I have the heart to dismantle it.

'For the thin women'- rules me out then!

I picked up some presents for my friend's birthday too, which I best not post incase she sees!

If you see a vintage fair bearing the 'Judy's Affordable' brand, I'd highly recommend going- I was really impressed.

I'd say the fair was definitely more 'affordable' than others I've been to; there's some great bargains to be had.

That there Judy, whether fictional or real, sure knows what she's doing- well done!

Foxy

x

Adventure down south

So waaay back on the 5th September, I headed to Landan town to stay with a friend for the duration of my week's work experience with Mizz magazine- in Tunbridge Wells.

Quite a set-up having to get down to London, to travel to Tunbridge Wells but at least that way I could stay somewhere for free, even if it did cost me £12 a day to commute- cheaper than Travelodge for sure!

London is a shopping paradise, that's a given, but a (severe) lack of funds and time meant that I didn't really have an opportunity to make some great purchases.

So, because it's pretty disappointing, I'll get my London observations out of the way now.

I was staying in central Covent Garden (rather swish, I know) and unfortunately only had time to quickly pop into the two vintage shops near where I was staying.

Blackout II

The nearest was Blackout II, which was literally a few doors away.

Blackout II is the embodiment of the expression, 'quality over quantity'. A small shop, although according to the website it has an upstairs (missed that one), it's like an Aladdin's cave filled to the brim with vintage bits and pieces.

The window display

I found the selection of bags and hats most impressive. They were mostly high quality accessories from the 20s to 50s- a far cry from some of the stuff you usually find in COW.

As the shop was really small, I couldn't really take any pictures inside so here's a photo of some of the hats taken from their website:

These were kept on mismatched vintage mannequin heads on a shelf which ran around the whole shop. The effect really was fantastic.

Picture also courtesy of Blackout II online

The jewellery was impressive too. There was tons of costume jewellery covering the surface by the till- if brooches and clip on earrings are your thing, this is the place to go!

Blackout II's selection of clothes were something to behold too. You could describe the shop as 'proper' vintage- everything is of high quality as is generally older than the stock of most bigger vintage shops.

Women's clothing was mainly pretty daydresses from the 40s and 50s and were priced around the £40 mark- well worth paying for the quality.

They also had quite a good stock of evening dresses which could be hired out too.

If you're fed up of warehouse-style vintage stores choc-a-block with gear reminiscent of C&A in the 80s; It's well worth squeezing yourself around Blackout II's tightly packed space.

Rokit

I also spotted Covent Garden's Rokit store on the walk back to my accomm (didn't realise that there are 4 at the time!).

Rokit have a pretty strong online follwing as they sell through their website too, so I was already aware of the brand and was dying to take a look.

The first day I made it back from Tunbridge Wells early enough to catch them before closing I was straight in there.

In a funny sort of way, it was more depressing browsing the rails in Rokit than it was at Blackout II, even though Rokit was the cheaper vintage shop.

I guess because I know it's the sort of place I could usually afford to shop at, but as I have zero monies, I couldn't indulge my habit.

Rokit is very reasonably priced- well, most items are. I thought the denim jackets were quite expensive at around £45 (my vintage Levi jackets both cost under a tenner); however most of the clothes were pretty cheap.

I thought the shoes in particular were very good value- they were mostly under £15 in the sale and there were loads to choose from.

I decided that if I'd had a spare tenner, I would've bought one of the awesome gold animal rings displayed in a big cabinet.

I'm sure they were £10 in the shop, but the website tells me otherwise at £15. I think this tiger one is my fave.

I might order one soon, but I reckon there's loads of these knocking about as they're most likely cheap vintage deadstock costume jewellery.

ebay?

Foxy x