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

Name, number, a dress?

On Saturday, I popped out to Kings Heath for a spot of charity shopping- oh how I’ve missed it.

One thing I was on the lookout for in particular yesterday, was a dress to wear to my friend’s 21^st; the theme being ‘posh vintage’, right up my street methinks.

Now, I wasn’t really going charity shopping to get myself a dress, as this seemed like a pretty unlikely thing to find, but I thought it was worth keeping my eyes peeled.

Funnily enough I did see a handful of dresses. There were a couple I considered, but no changing room!  I wouldn’t like to say which charity shop this was in- as I’ve forgotten. Sort it out please (you know who you are, even if I don’t).

I did pick up this cute picture frame for £3 from the St. Mary’s Hospice shop.

 I also got this, er, box from PDSA for £2.

I'm not entirely sure what it's supposed to be used for. I plan on storing jewellery in it, it just seems quite small for a jewellery box. hmmm...

Finally, I picked up these great white and gold leather shoes for £3.99.

Sorry for my odd looking ankles- sock marks still intact!

They're not really suitable for the weather we're having at the moment but they were so cute I couldn't resist. Love the little wedge heel and the leather's so soft!

Hare and Hounds

And what a pleasant surprise to find that the Hare and Hounds vintage fair was on!  I thought these ran every second Saturday- obviously not! I never thought to check, but I'm glad I caught it.

I didn't buy anything, but it was nice to browse around. It's a lot bigger than I expected.

Selection of jewellery from Rock Follies Vintage

There were a few fancy dresses at the fair, though none really caught my eye.

Whilst by the Hare and Hounds, I popped into Top Banana Vintage to further my dress quest. I tried on a dress but it was a little too big. The trying on itself wasn't very pleasant; the shop's changing room doesn't leave much to the imagination!

Hello?

And so with no luck in finding a dress in Kings Heath, I headed back into town to COW (the Digbeth shop, not the overpriced one by Urban Outfitters, or 'COW2' as it's supposedly called).

I must've tried on about 10 dresses, but still nothing that took my fancy- the prices were pretty reasonable though.

To cheer myself up, I bought this massive, silly mohair jumper.

The tag said £26, slashed to £20, slashed again to £14- so I considered a steal; though I'm sure that's just some ploy on COW's part to make idiots like me think I've got a bargain!

I've got a rather exciting post coming soon about a new Birmingham vintage boutique so stay tuned people!

Foxy
x

P.S

You may have noticed my new header, but as lovely as it is I can't get it to stay in the middle! Nor can I get rid of the white space despite the image being plenty big enough. I can't edit html for shit. If anyone has any advice for me, feel free to dish it out!

And in the interests of not ripping anyone off, I designed my header building on images by Duchamp and mikebaird from Flickr. 

Another Birmingham vintage fair...

First comes an apology for being a shocking blogger (I'm also covering myself for the next couple of weeks here too!), but with the start of uni, a new job and shocking internet at my new accomm (are you reading Rooms4every1?) I've had a lot on my plate, which is quite ironic since I've pretty much been on the breadline.

Now I have my glorious student loan, I can get stuck into my shopping habit; however with the return of the student crowd, my internet has become non- existent in my new flat, something to do with about 20 people logging on to the same shitty internet.

All is not lost though; today I've been hooked up with Virgin Media's finest broadband (okay, the cheapest), which should be installed on the 16th October (bloody student peak season!).

So at this fine moment I'm sat on one of my uni's library computers, writing out this post. Nice to see that we've got some brand new iMacs- all of which are out of order. Quel surprise BCU...

Anyway, on Saturday I felt obliged to pop down to Birmingham's vintage fair- even in my brassic, pre-loan state.

Having worked the night before, teamed with an extremely hungover tag-a-long, I didn't manage to make it to the Custard Factory until 4pm- and yes, it finished at 5.

I'm unsure whether what I was met with was merely a result of my lateness, or whether the fair was generally not as good as it has been in the past.

The Old Library where the fair is held was distinctly emptier this time around; I was astounded by the amount of floor space- enough room to swing several cats.

Looking pretty empty

The prices seemed to have been jacked up even higher too. It was clear that vintage items fitting in with current trends were being flogged for all they were worth, and some.

These scarves weren't too pricey though

I saw an old aviator jacket for £75! It was huge, very similar to one of my Dad's I found at home, and I doubt many girls could've carried it off.

I had been lucky enough to find a tenner on a table the night before and took it as a sign from some greater force that I should go to the fair and buy something fabulous.

I struggled to find anything other than jewellery for under £10- oh so disappointing. I resigned myself to making do with a delicious cupcake, but found that these had all gone too!

(note to organisers: these sell out everytime, sort it out please!)

At least the £1 entry fee hadn't changed...

COW

I also spotted the new COW whilst in Birmingham's city centre. It's one door away from Urban Outfitters (very crafty placement COW).

I haven't been in yet but it looked pretty impressive. It looked fairly big for a second shop and was definitely prettier and better decorated.

May have a nosey on Thursday.

Foxy,
x

Birmingham Vintage Fair 12/06

The Custard Factory, Birmingham held another vintage fair today.

Last time the queue was huge! and I've been on my own today... but I still decided to wander down and check it out because they're always good.

I wasn't disappointed. There was no queue when I got there (queuing by oneself is not cool)and the place was rammed with vintage goodies.



I bought this cute vintage reworked dress by Salad. And yeah, I know I could've just got one at COW- but I liked it; also, the lovely lady on the stall let me go in her little selling station bit to try it on and even zipped the thing up for me, so how could I say no really...



(The dress was £12 by the way. Not bad)

I also bought these cool vintage sunnies for £4.



I love them but they're a bit big for my poor little head! Of course I didn't realise this until later when I was walking down the street in them, not managing to walk 5 feet without them falling down my nose! I'll have to try and tighten the screws or something.



I also got these cute polka dot fabric earrings for £4. I love big earrings and I love red and white together!



Unfortunately I didn't indulge my sweet tooth with any of the lovely cupcakes on sale today- on the inevitable summer diet!

Another highlight of the fair wasn't actually part of the fair itself...

The Saturday Flea Market (also held in the Custard Factory complex) is always a joy when the vintage fair is on.

Stall-holders know that there'll be extra people milling around and so pull out all the stops.

The Flea Market was packed today, so much so that it had spilled right out of the indoor location and took up much of the Custard Factory.

I saw it nearly as busy last week and just assumed that it was due to the nice weather. Maybe it's just becoming more popular!

In other news...

I'm having a clearout! It's that time of year again and I'm (supposed to be) packing up my things ready to move into my new student flat. So I'm selling a few bits and pieces on good old ebay.

Just wanted to let you know that I'm selling the vintage scarf I mentioned in an earlier blog post in case anyone liked the look of it :)

Birmingham Vintage Fair

If anyone attempted to get down to the Vintage Fair at Birmingham’s Custard Factory on Saturday, no doubt they’ll have been met with a huge queue like this.

Yes, the Vintage Fair was back in the ‘Old Library‘ and record numbers turned out to try and grab themselves a bargain. I’ve been to the fair a few times and have honestly never seen as many people in attendence!

I arrived at the Custard Factory at 2′o’clock and didn’t get inside ’til 45 minutes later! One of the girls on the entrance desk said, “it’s mad, it’s been so crazy”.

The fair ran from 12pm-5pm and held numerous stalls selling vintage and recycled clothes, accessories and more. Having stood in the queue for about as long as I was inside, I assumed that there wouldn’t be much left to buy! But luckily there was still plenty.

I bought two gorgeous necklaces and a cute back patent evening bag :)