Minimum Mouse at Clothes Show Live 2013

Last Thursday we set up camp at Clothes Show Live at the NEC for the third year running, for another crazy week of fashion madness. Since we are Birmingham based, Clothes Show is pretty much a home from home for us, but we never cease to be amazed by the size and scale of the event. It really is huge, with different areas such as the new 'Vintage Avenue', the Beauty Hall, Style Boutique and our home, the Offbeat Boutique. And it's busy. Busy, busy, busy! The whole place gets packed out with fashion hungry ladies hunting for a bargain.

We had lots of fun at the event as usual, with people loving our jewellery lucky dip, and James's amazing leopard print suit. We also managed to cram in some shopping, picking up bargains at Models Own, Barry M, Bomb Cosmetics, and having a good old rummage in the vintage area, where James picked up an amazing printed shirt from Trunk Junkies Vintage.

Can you tell which one is the real Alex?

James modelling our furry leopard print hat

Alex's face was everywhere, she even made it into the official show guide!

Steph and Alex ready to serve!

Lucky Dip at the ready!

Girls getting a go on the Lucky Dip in exchange for joining our mailing list.

We spotted a few celebs too, Proudlock from Made in Chelsea had a stand just a stone's throw away from us, and we saw Amy Childs and Jamie from Made in Chelsea about the place and Misha B from X Factor bought some sunglasses from us. We also saw Caryn Franklin speak about her new initiative to promote healthier attitudes about beauty in the fashion industry, which was really interesting. We even had our stand filmed for an S4C children's programme which is airing on Friday (Tag at 5pm if you're interested!)

Caryn Franklin speaking in the Heat Radio area

Welsh TV channel S4C filming on our stand.

As usual, the show in the fashion theatre was a highlight. This year's theme was 'a weekend in the country' and it was the usual blend of catwalk and dance with some amazing clothes and dazzling lights. So much fun!

 

So after our crazy week, today we're catching up on sleep and taking it easy. But we're pleased to announce that we have already confirmed for 2014, so hopefully we will see you all there next year!

We're An ASOS Marketplace Boutique!

Exciting news! After dabbling a little in selling on ASOS Marketplace for some time, we have finally decided to take the plunge and launch as a full on, super shiny, brand spanking new boutique. We've been working hard with our lovely model Alex to snap lots of lovely new season vintage clothes, with inspirations from bold and brash streetwear to early nineties Clueless style preppy chic, via seventies girl about town loveliness. We'll be adding lots of new items every week, and our jewellery and accessories collections will be on there soon as well!

So, keep your eyes peeled, to be the first to find out when we add new stock, click 'follow' and we'll show up on your personal ASOS feed. Plus we'll love you forever!

Here's a look at a few of the items available now...

Autumn Dates!

It's that time of year when summer is drawing to a close and our attention turns to bringing out the autumn stock and getting back on the road. I was just taking a look at our calendar for the next couple of months, and exhausted myself! We are going to be all over the country between now and Christmas, from Exeter to Glasgow and most places in between. We're excited to be visiting some new places, taking Minimum Mouse north of the border for the first time and hitting more universities than ever before.

So, I hear you cry, when are we coming your way? Well, wonder no longer... (click for more info)

September
Saturday 7th - Leicester Vintage Fair at the Cathedral
Thursday 19th - St Mary's University College Vintage Fair, Twickenham
Saturday 21st - Bristol Vintage Fair at The Passenger Shed
Sunday 22nd - Exeter Vintage Fair at The Corn Exchange
Thursday 26th - University of Northampton Vintage Fair
Friday 27th - Judy's University of Leeds Freshers Vintage Fair, Student Union
Saturday 29th - Judy's Lincoln Vintage Fair, The Engine Shed
Sunday 30th - The Leeds Vintage Fair, The Town Hall

October
Wednesday 2nd - University of Kent Vintage Fair, Canterbury
Thursday 3rd - Royal Holloway University Vintage Fair, Egham
Saturday 5th - Southampton Vintage Fair, The Guildhall
Sunday 6th - Bournemouth Vintage Fair, The Pavillion
Tuesday 8th - Nana's Vintage Fair at Staffordshire University
Saturday 12th - Wolverhamption Vintage Fair, Wulfrun Hall
Sunday 13th - Cardiff Vintage Fair, City Hall
Saturday 26th - Scarborough Vintage Fair, The Spa
Sunday 27th - Cheltenham Vintage Fair, Town Hall
Monday 28th - University of Manchester Vintage Fair, Students Union

November
29th-1st December - Girls' Day Out, Glasgow SECC

December
6th-10th December - Clothes Show Live 2013, NEC, Birmingham

We still have a lot more dates to confirm in November and probably some for December too, so we'll update you again soon. Hope we will bump into some of you on our travels!

New Season Looks from Minimum Mouse

Forget the snow and gloomy weather and get ready for summer 2013!
The festival season is just around the corner! Go floral with a pastel cropped blouse and a pretty headband made at Minimum Mouse head quarters. Pair with some acid wash Levi shorts and a must have vintage satchel and the look is complete. If it gets a bit chilly complete the look with a cute knitted cardigan or denim jacket.

 Still looking forward to the summer! Focusing on the retro comic trend that has appeared on the high street. We have picked out this Minnie Mouse  vintage Disney vest and created two looks. Firstly teaming the vest with a pair of  on trend blue polka dot peg trousers and accessorizing the outfit with a bright statement bowler hat gives the look a smart edgy feel. When the temperature rises and the sun starts to shine style the top with a pair of Levi shorts and some white sneakers keeping the look casual.

Vintage Valentine Giveaway

The lovely jewellery you could win

We're getting into the Valentine's spirit this year by treating one lucky Minimum Mouse fan with a special romantic treat with our Vintage Valentine Giveaway. You can enter on our Facebook page, until 14th February at 8pm. We'll be notifying the winner by email.

But on to the important details - the prize! We've put together a nice bundle of goodies inside this very nice vintage leather handbag. The handbag looks gorgeous in dark chocolate brown with a goldtone clasp and shoulder strap. I picked this bag for the giveaway because it is great quality, in very nice condition and it is a classic style that will suit most people - whether you like to go for a classic ladylike look or something much more modern, I could see pretty much anyone looking great with this bag.

And what's inside the bag? We've put in a cute scarf with little cupids, a pair of classic sunglasses (again, chosen because they are a style that suits pretty much anyone who tries them on) and five pieces of Minimum Mouse jewellery. A large cocktail ring with a purple coloured centre, a little stag ring from our new collection (which isn't even online yet!) two classic love themed necklaces- the quirky love spinner and little Je T'aime charm necklace, and finally a red rose brooch.

The total retail value of the prize is £50, and it would be a great treat for yourself or for someone special! Get your entry in here. Good luck!

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

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?

Shop Update: Aztec, Geometric and Quirky New Jewellery

Zip Bangles, £6 each

We had a bit of an update at the shop this week, lots of lovely new jewellery pieces available to buy now, with many more to come in the next few weeks. It was certainly well needed, if you've ever shopped at our stall at a vintage fair or festival you will know that we actually offer a much bigger range of jewellery than you can see in our online shop at the moment, and we're hoping to change that. Over the next few weeks we're hoping to have our full range available at your fingertips, all at great prices and with free UK postage. In the meantime, check out some of these cute goodies in now. Lots of on trend goodies- hints of aztec, navajo, and geometric styles with some crosses, spikes and colour thrown in for good measure. All you need for a fresh A/W 2012 look.

Aztec Triangle Necklace, £12

Geek Glasses Necklaces, £6 each

Pastel Triangle Necklace, £7

Cross bracelets, £5

Colourful Spike Necklace, £8

Watch this space for updates on mens and womens vintage clothing and cute new accessories that will be hitting the shop soon too!

Minimum Mouse at Clothes Show Live 2011

Our stand - it wasn't this quiet very often!

We're just recovering from one of the busiest weeks of our lives - Clothes Show Live 2011! This fashion behemoth sets up camp once a year at the NEC in Birmingham (which conveniently happens to be just down the road from our house) so this year we decided to take a chance and be a part of it. Our little stall was part of the Anita's Vintage Fashion Fair area which, though I am biased, was one of the best areas of the show - full of unique treats and with a more laid back and less corporate vibe than some of the areas.

Vintage Jewels

More of Anita's Vintage Fair

It was a long 6 days - with screaming girls, pumping beats and bargain hungry shoppers everywhere, we were tucked up in bed by 10pm most nights! Not being a viewer of Hollyoaks or TOWIE I was quite amused by the regular stampedes of girls chasing after people from these shows, but I was more appreciative of the free Haagen Dazs and Diet Coke being handed about from time to time! It was interesting too, as the people who came to shop at our stand were often not our usual market and hadn't really shopped for vintage before - we had many questions like 'have you got this in another size?' or 'have you got more of these?' and some interesting comments from people who struggled to understand that the clothes had been worn before, but for the most part the people we met were enthusiastic and friendly, and it was quite exciting to see people taking their first steps into vintage fashion.

Our neighbours were the superb Le Keux Events & The Vintage Salon, who were offering vintage hairstyling and makeovers, and were also doing demonstrations about vintage hair on the Inspiration Stage. See below for a picture of my sister Elise, who came along to help us out on some of the days, having had her hair and make up done and looking very glamorous.

Also next to us were the lovely folks from Vintage Life Magazine, Trunk Junkies Vintage, Kate and Aud, Love The Baroness, Your Vintage Life and Borderline Vintage and over in the purple zone were our friends from Syd & Mallory - you need to check all these folks out, they're amaazing!

All in all it was a rollercoaster week, but an amazing experience!