Rail full of the joys of spring

I'm very excited about this Saturday's Dandy and I've been working away on my rail all week. While we were up in Scotland I decided that I would theme my rail from now on to make it more cohesive rather than just offering up a random motley mix of vintage & retro threads. I've been very much inspired by the spell of gorgeous weather and the veritable explosion of greenery in the park. I'm bringing a plethora of flirty cotton dresses made for springtime strolls in the sun, chic retro frocks that are perfect for garden parties and BBQs and a whole bunch of festival worthy frocks & separates for those who want to sort out their festival wardrobe early.

Here are all the garments (bar the gents) that will be featured on Frocktasia's full of the joys of spring rail at The Dandy Lion Market on Saturday :)

 Close-ups of details, prints and labels...

If you're in the Kentish Town area on Saturday please pop in and have a wee natter and a rummage. There's a fabulous line-up of traders this month, most of which have a feature folder on The Dandy Lion FB page, so  you can check them out there if you so wish. There's even going to be a stall selling wigs, how cool is that?!

Happy days!

Here are a few pics that Leslie snapped at last months Dandy featuring me, my little stall  and some of my fabulous fellow traders :)

I'll leave you with a fabulous tune by SOUL II SOUL, enjoy :)

May the sun shine on your path and happiness fill your heart!

Loads of love,

Jennie

xXx

Just call me Pippi Longstocking

Yesterday saw Frocktasia's second outing at The Dandy Lion Market.

Granted I almost killed myself getting there carting a huge big case on wheels with my rail strapped onto it and another huge bag on my back. Who said being a vintage market trader would be easy or glamorous, not me anyway that's for sure. It is hard graft but I like it that way.You get a special feeling of smugness after managing to travel from A to B on public transport, laden down like a donkey ..like you've done something pretty special, akin to walking up Ben Nevis in your bare feet for instance ;)

Anyroad I survived and got there early doors too, so that I could give Aiden a quick hand with the bunting.

I took quite a few pics of the day but after I got home I realized that I'd had the camera on some silly setting, so the majority of my pics came out either overexposed or blurry which needless to say was rather annoying but such is life, it doesn't always work out the way you want it to.

Here is my wonderful friend Leslie next to her rail of vintage loveliness and her dapper son Erik that helped out with the leafleting on the day. Leslie is not only the organizer of the Dandy and a fellow vintage seller, she's also a magnificently creative soul. You can check out some of her wonderful wares on etsy HERE.

Another fellow vintage peddler La Maison Pearl was my stall neighbor for the day and gave me some smashing tips on what London fairs are worth doing.
Thay had some cracking stuff on their stall and I was very tempted to bag this wonderful colour explosion of a frock...

This gorgeous chick was trading at the Dandy last month but she was on one of the downstairs stalls so sadly I forgot to mention her in last months post. The Jewellery Garden creates a stunning array of fabulous jewellery with a special emphasis on holistic crystals & gemstones.

I met the lovely Amanda of the The Prettiest Thing last month. She was back with more of her tremendously funky and very useful items. I think this wonderful woman can turn her hand to making anything, just check out her impressive FB albums HERE. I hope Amanda will be there next month cause my Oyster card holder decided to disintegrate this morning and she makes totally brilliant ones.

Also returning sellers from last month was Bright River & Gorgeous Jewellery.

Bright River sells beautiful cards and prints and is run by a very lovely lady called Claire Shannon and Gorgeous Jewellery sells splendid handmade jewellery and is run by husband and wife team Sue & Mark.

 When I was perusing the product pics of Juliet Rose Soaps before the market, I just couldn't wait to smell them in real life. These handmade soaps look good enough to eat and smell absolutely divine. Like myself Juliet is a newbie to the market scene and it was actually her first ever foray into having a stall.
I think she did herself very proud, just look at her fabulous display and the soaps did not disappoint  they smell just as good as the look. You can buy a bar in her on-line store right now.

There was more fragrant goodness for the body at yesterdays Dandy too. Brown Angel Fragrances were there with a wonderful array of beautifully packaged homemade natural lotions and potions. They also have an on-line store where you can purchase their lovely goodies.

The three gorgeous girls behind Triptych Designs & Wheels and Butterflies  are architectural students with an interest in quirky design. They make fabulously unique jewellery and I loved their  amazing display. You can buy their stuff on-line HERE & HERE.

This lovely lady is called Gillian Bull and she was selling a mighty fine collection of vintage bric-a-brac and home wares...

This next chick was another newbie to the Dandy with her funky stall The 3R Crafts. She makes both decorative and useful things with upcycled materials like cork and cans. You can check out her FB page HERE.

 Next up are the lovely peeps from Genuie scarves. They were offering up a vast range of stunning hand painted scarves made from 100% Mulberry silk. These fantastic scarves are a colourful treat for the eye and feel amazingly lush against the skin. The Genuie team have an on-line store where you can purchase their beautiful wares.

 Dapper chappy Roderick Barker-Benfield is the brains and creative talent behind Rodology handmade jewellery. I'm so gutted my camera was on the wrong setting cause I would have loved to have captured his wonderful work in a sharper picture to do it justice. He's got an on-line store where you can marvel over his fantastic pieces, especially check out the cufflinks. Roderick said that they are his best selling item and I am not surprised, marvelous stuff.

These two lovely ladies were selling vintage compacts, cases and a whole heap of other lovely stuff on their one off stall. A friend of theirs is a dab hand at crocheting so they'd brought along some of her creations too. I was especially impressed with two pairs of mittens that had been knitted with wool that their friend had spun from the molted hair of her angora rabbit. I did take pictures of them but because my camera was on the wrong setting they came out all blurry. Hopefully Leslie got some pics, if she did I'll add them later.

In the smaller picture you can see the lovely Juliet of Juliet Rose Soaps rocking a fabulous frock.

Downstairs we had Shonel of Poetic Solace with her awesomely funky jewellery stall. I only briefly caught up with her as she was setting up and the picture I took was...you guessed it very blurry. So if you want to see Shonel's lovely face you'll have to check out last months Dandy post. She's been keeping herself very busy this month, doing regular markets. If you want to check out her wares she's got a fabulous store on etsy HERE.

I hope I haven't forgotten anybody this time. 

As I was on my own, I didn't have that much time to wander around with my camera, it's much nicer when you have a stall buddy at hand. Mark very kindly came around at five to help me with packing up and carting home, which was much appreciated...especially by my back and arms ;)

Today I've been feeling like someone gave me a right old kicking last night. I guess that if I'm planning on doing this on a regular basis there is only one thing for it...get fit!

Frocktasia's next market will be Can't Buy Me Love at The Boogaloo in Archway on Saturday the 27th of this months and then I'll of course be at the next Dandy Lion Market on Saturday the 4th of May.

If you see anything in my for sale or preview albums on the Facebook page that you'd like to purchase directly from me just give me a shout, I ship worldwide.

For next months Dandy I've decided that Frocktasia has to stop procrastinating and pull her proverbial straw to the stack as regards to spreading the word about The Dandy. So the Friday before the market I am scheming a "leaflet bombing" of Camden in full dress-up :)

People need to know about this market and its fabulous sellers!

This was yesterday's Dandy ensemble:

Vintage 50s floral dress, 90s lurex jumper, 80s boots, tights & crochet & soapstone heart earrings.

Hope you've all had a fantastic weekend :)

I'm burying my face in my First Aid book in preparation for my course next Saturday but I'm hoping to get a couple of hours over the next few days to catch up with all my faves in the blogosphere.

Loads of love,

Jennie

xXx

My Dandy preview post

I've been very busy these past few days getting everything ready for my stall at The Dandy Lion Market this coming Saturday.

Even though it's still intermittently snowing and the temperatures are no where near spring like I have thrown caution to the wind and gone for a rail full of sunny frocks and spring wear...to hell with winter I say!

Perhaps I was inspired by the bravery displayed by some peeps in Edinburgh, chicks wandering around bare legged in mini skirts and chaps wearing short-sleeved shirts and no jackets in sub zero temperatures.

Here in London people are still piling on the clobber and I can honestly say that I have not seen so many furry hats on peoples heads this side of Easter before, it is really rather bonkers!

Oh, spring where art thou? I'm more than ready for you dear!

Here's the collection of fabulous vintage clobber that I shall be bringing with me on Saturday...

I'm bringing a few of my handmade accessories too...

A smattering of close-ups for the first volley of vintage...

There's a whole heap more :)

 Close-ups...

I'm bringing awesome prints for the gents too...

 Close-ups...

I'm going solo this month as Mark is working the weekend, so I can't bring as much stuff as I wanted to. I've tried to mix it up so that there's something there for everyone. I am perhaps bringing too many frocks and not enough separates this time around but what can I say more than there is a good reason to why I chose the name FROCKTASIA ;)

If you happen to be in the Kentish Town area on Saturday it would be lovely if you could swing by and say hello. You can check out all the other fabulous sellers that will be there on The Dandy Lion Market FB page.

I'm knackered now ;)
Hope you've all had a fab week.
Friday tomorrow, huzzah!

Loads of love,
Jennie
xXx