Sarah Lund's Amazing Jumpers

We've heard a lot of talk lately of a certain Danish detective who has been getting a lot of attention for her impressive knitwear. You'd almost think she shops at Minimum Mouse...

I've been totally captivated by all the Scandinavian drama that the BBC have been treating us to over the last couple of years, Borgen, The Bridge, Wallander, I have lapped them all up. But the leader of the pack has to be The Killing, and it's not just the twist laden plots and unflinching noir atmosphere that has made it such a Danish delight, it's the jumpers! Ever since the series started to pick up fans left right and centre, there has been much talk of Sarah Lund's wardrobe. She's a socially inept, hard working, dogged detective with no time for fashion, and yet she has managed to become something of a style icon with her chunky nordic knits. What's quite funny is that it is because she's not interested in fashion that she's remembered for her outfits. Once Sarah's absorbed in her latest case, she seems to forget to change her jumper for the rest of the series, meaning they are forever imprinted on the memory of the dedicated viewer. The original Series One jumper is by Gudrun & Gudrun of the Faroe Islands, and you can buy the very same one, but it will set you back a sweet 280 Euro. Who knew the Danish police force paid so well?!

We love a chunky Icelandic or Norwegian knit, the kind that had their heyday in the 1970's and are perhaps something of a 'so bad it's good' vintage treat. We have been offering them up to our eBay customers ever since we opened our virtual shop doors in January 2007. So it's nice to find them getting the attention they deserve, all thanks to this pillar of Danish law enforcement.

Here is Miss Lund in some of her fabulous knits...

And if you'd like to have a Lund style jumper fest, here are some of ours...

We reckon she would be proud to be seen in any of these knitted delights, don't you? As these jumpers are original vintage, our selection is ever changing. You can see our current collection here. Most are sold on auction, starting at just £19.99.

January Sales at Sheffield Vintage Fair

It was the first vintage fair of the year, for us anyway, and while we were raring to get back into it for 2013, we weren't too impressed by the many tonnes of snow that was dumped over the north of England the night before. We were greeted by a very snowy view on the morning of the fair and we were worried that we would have trouble getting there, and that even if we did, no one would turn up. Fortunately, the hardy folks of Sheffield don't let a few inches of snow keep them from their vintage bargains, and the fair was lovely and busy.

There were January bargains aplenty too, with most stalls having discount rails, bargain bins or some kind of offer. We had a £10 jumper rail, and were offering two for £15, and this went down really well. Other top sellers were floppy hats, collar chains and print dresses. If you missed this one, the next one is on March 2nd, and if you're not Sheffield based, see our events page to find out when we'll be coming to a town near you.

There were lots of stylish shoppers, which is usually the case at vintage fairs, and it got us thinking. We're at vintage fairs all over the country every weekend, and we see so many well dressed people and lovely things, we really should cover them more on the blog. I used to write about vintage fairs regularly on the blog but it got a bit repetitive after a while, it was always something along the lines of "We went to *insert city name* vintage fair this weekend, we had a lovely time, here are some pictures of cupcakes, clothes rails and stacks of suitcases". So from now on, we're going to try and cover the fairs more regularly on the blog, but we're going to try and have a more interesting angle for each post. We're not exactly sure what form this will take yet, but hopefully it will be worth a read. So watch this space!

The ever fabulous Jeny and Amber

Winter Street Style Photoshoot with Jemma Dodd

You can buy this lovely aran cardi here

One of our favourite photographers, Jemma Dodd, contacted us recently to say she was working on a wintery street style shoot, and asked if we wanted to get involved. Hell yeah! We got even more excited when she popped round with her stylist for the shoot, Sian, who has a very lovely blog called Tea An Toast. They had pulled together a gorgeous moodboard inspired by street style, with a casual and cosy look. Their ideas seemed so in tune with our current collection- chunky, cosy knits, layered up army jackets and shirts, 1970's leather bags and of course, a cute festive jumper here and there! We're so pleased with the results, what do you think?

Some Moments From 2012, some plans for 2013

I know we're well into January now and our gaze should be firmly fixed on the year ahead rather than looking back, but I just wanted to take a minute to have one last look at 2012, which was quite a big year for Minimum Mouse. We learned a lot last year, went on many adventures and met some amazing people, and I hope we'll be able to continue in that vein in 2013. One last little look back can't hurt...

We celebrated our 5th birthday in cold and grey late Janurary 2012, which was exciting and a milestone to celebrate, but also made us wonder where all that time went! If Minimum Mouse was a baby he'd be in school by now! Wowzers! And that means we're about to celebrate another birthday...

A lovely sunset at The Big Feastival

Some minor celebs shopping at our stand at Students Live (do you recognise them?)

Shoppers at Manchester Vintage Fairs

We got about a lot this year, four festivals (Beach Break Live, Wilderness, V Festival and The Big Feastival), two major exhibitions (Students Live at London Olympia and Clothes Show Live at the NEC) and a whopping 55 vintage fairs saw us travel the length and breadth of the country. We racked up a lot of miles, but more importantly, had a lot of fun. And spent a bit too much time in random hotel rooms.

One of our many, many road trips

We kept offering great vintage clothing of course, keeping our selection eclectic, varied and fun, but we also expanded our range and began offering some great new products that we sourced from some lovely new suppliers. So now, when you want that must have bowler hat to go with your cute vintage dress, you can now pick one up at the same time. Great!

So what's on the menu for this year? Just this - offering you more great vintage, designing more lovely jewellery, sourcing more great accessories and always offering great customer service. We're keeping it simple. Because sometimes, the simple ideas are the best.

Have you got any big plans for the new year?