Angels Big Vintage Sale

No, that isn't a jumble sale. Not quite! It was the site that awaited us at the Angels Big Vintage sale, in Wembley on Saturday morning. Yes, we were up at the crack of dawn to get down to London for this event, held by Angels The Costumiers, a company who supply costumes to all the big TV and film companies. It was a bit of a treck, and queuing for two and a half hours in the freezing December morning was quite a feat, but all in all I think it was worth while. I had fantasies of picking up a selection of stunning 50's prom dresses, but once we managed to get in most of that stuff had gone (some people queued through the night, and anyone who did that deserves the reward of first pick!), but we did manage to pick up a fine collection of men's tailoring, some of which we'll be offering for sale to you lovely folk! It was fun to see all the innapropriately dressed vintage fanatics in the queue - mini dresses, feathered hats, torn to shreds jeans, laddered tights and super high heels were all seen and surely not ideal for the occasion, but you have to admire the dedication to fashion! On leaving the sale people looked even funnier, sporting bowler hats, fancy dress bits and bobs, sheilds and armour!

I'm sure we'll be back if they do it again, through I'll be taking a flask of coffee for the queue!

Comme Des Garcons for H&M

This week we were very excited about the launch of the long awaited collaboration between cult Japanese label Comme Des Garcons and highstreet giant H&M. We certainly weren't disappointed when it came! Take a look...



Comme Des Garcons was formed by Rei Kawakubo in Japan in 1969 and has gone on to become a cult high fashion label. Kawakubo's designs are challenging and conceptual, for example her 1979 collection became known as the 'lumps and bumps' collection, as it was designed to make the wearer look deformed! Always different, Comme Des Garcons has pushed the boundaries of retail in recent years by opening pop up 'guerilla' stores which open in centres such as Berlin and London for a number of weeks, only to disappear again without trace.

The collaboration for H&M is particularly interesting as there is a contradiction between H&M, the multinational, high volume fashion company, with the avant garde, comparatively small scale Comme Des Garcons. H&M have said that Rei was "thrilled about the fabric quality" of the garments, and has produced a capsule collection which embodies this seasons trademark Comme Des Garcons themes, but also iconic Comme Des Garcons styles, such as polka dots and sharp tailoring. As Charlie Porter from iD Magazine has commented, "[Comme Des Garcons] don't play the same game as everyone else does" and have a fanatical following which has grown with them over the years. This collaboration with H&M has allowed people on a wider scale to enjoy the Comme Des Garcons style, and the collection is made up of "classic pieces that will last longer than a season, longer than a fashion moment." (Charlie Porter).

On the opening day of this collection there were 15 hour queues outside the Harajuku, Tokyo branch of H&M, and much of the collection had sold out in London by lunchtime, and had created quite a stir, as the Telegraph describes, "The queue began to build up from 5am and by 8 o'clock, more than 200 people were waiting for the doors to open [at the Regent Street store]. Close to 300 gathered outside the nearby H&M store in Oxford Circus. As the eager customers shivered in the cold, H&M staff passed around Japanese-made hand-warmers."

For those of you who weren't lucky enough to grab a piece of this collection while it was still available in stores, all is not lost! We have three pieces available for sale, the black trench coat which you can see at this link - http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=300273958954&ih=020&category=15724&ssPageName=STORE:PROMOBOX:NEWLIST#SLIDESHOW

The cut away prom dress - http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/COMME-DES-GARCONS-H-M-Black-Velvet-Prom-Dress-8-BNWT_W0QQitemZ300273962176QQihZ020QQcategoryZ15724QQtcZphotoQQcmdZViewItemQQ_trksidZp1713.m153.l1262

and the black polka dot shirt - http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/COMME-DES-GARCONS-H-M-Black-Polka-Dot-Shirt-12-BNWT_W0QQitemZ300273968705QQihZ020QQcategoryZ15724QQtcZphotoQQcmdZViewItemQQ_trksidZp1713.m153.l1262

Cheers friends! xx