I am such a moron- cameras and fairs DO NOT mix for me!!! I charged up the batteries the night before and then the next morning when I went to take a photo of my stall, found the memory card was not in the camera!!! ARGH!!!!:usegun:
Anyways, it was a good fair- it was weird not having Harriet and Edwin there to chat with but Kim (serenejane) was there though!. The vibe there is a lot different that Edwin's fairs (I love both fairs but they are just atmospherically different to each other, not a bad thing, just different)- more older women shoppers with money to spend. There were quite a few students and they were spending about £15-£30 on 50's- 70's dresses. Many of the young people came with their mothers though who also helped them to buy things too. I had one mother write a cheque out for two hats for her goth daughter!
My high end Edwardian things like the Sahin bust form corset (the corset to a well known antique clothing dealer) and the Edwardian cycling boots went to older women.
The stuff that sold was a good combination of high and low ened items, my bargain bin was nearly empty but most people seemd a bit less worried about prices at this fair.
The venue, <a href="http://www.qhotels.co.uk/hotels/leeds/the_queens">The Queen's Hotel</a> was VERY nice and posh and the fair was pretty much packed with customers right to the end of the day.
I went shopping too!! Because the prices were all mostly retail prices, there wasn't that much to choose from to resell unless you specialized and found a seller that didn't really know about an item. There wasn't alot of older Victorian things either, probably only a handfull of dealers selling earlier things. It was mostly 40's and onwards right to the 80's (not much 80's though). Lots of stuff to buy for yourself though.
Found a pair of suede 1940's platforms (UK size 3 1/2), a 1930's satin girdle, a 1930's satin longline NOS longline bra from Germany in a 36Cish (I'm 36F and the band is fine but the cups are a bit squished for my boobs), a 1950's blue cotton summer boned bustier top which fits me but is a bit tarty for my tastes so it will go on C&C and a 32" bust Twilfit strapless boned bra. Those are all going on C&C.
My own prize finds for myself was a pair of 50's stilettos in a UK size 8 with also my NAME as the brand stamped inside!!!!!!!!
They were made in Italy and are made from taupe colored leather with cut out sides and white cut outs at the front. They aren't exactly my name (Leila) but is spelled Laila which is the other way you can spell my name. Who cares, it's my name inside and they fit!!! LOL, the dealer who had them was sitting beside us and we were chatting to her all day when at the end of the day, pulls out the one shoe to show me (she didn't know it was my name inside). I couldn't believe it when I saw the shoe! She said that she forgot to bring the other so she said that she will post me the other shoe and I can write her a cheque for £12 + postage when it arrives (bargain!). So for the time being, I have one shoe on
The other prize find for me was a c. 1957 princess seamed high shelf bust dress made from white nylon with printed purple bouquets of flowers on it. There are even purple SEQUINS sewn on the bouquets too!! I found it on a rack when I was walking around after setting up before it opened up to the trade buyers and thought, this dress will fit me. Low and behold, it did!!
I was already wearing my vintage 1960 Global hourglass wiggle dress but I decided to change as I felt like wearing my crinoline (which luckily I packed for display).
Luckily too, I had on my What Katie Did bullet bra on too as the bust on the dress is very high and pointy, the bullet bra put my boobs to the required shape and height!!
It was a bargain too, £30! It was £40 but I notced some brown splotches at the side of the skirt and the seller hadn't seen them either so he knocked £10 off the price.
It was a good day for buying and selling and I'm booked again for next February!
Lei
