Merry Christmas!

Ah, its that time again, there's a certain "fizz" in the air (and in the alcohol)-everyone is racing around to buy novelty things that will be in the loft by January 3rd and wondering if 15 pints of milk will do them for 2 days. I loves it!

Christmas seemed to start early this year with the lights being switched on by that local celeb and ex-Python Mr Cleese. We stayed open late enough to see the swathes of people clutching glow sticks and sporting cold, red noses. Since then it's been a shopping frenzy as everyone begins looking for "The Perfect Gift". We made sure we had some vintage sparkles in stock for those who were looking for something a little different, or wanted to jazz up that LBD for the Christmas party!

As an "also"...we recently had some amazing 1920's, 30's and 40's pieces in. We tend to be very picky when it comes to pre-1950 clothing, we see an awful lot of it that is essentially unwearable-badly marked or with holes etc. Our ethos has always been about "wearable vintage", your vintage should be able to be mixed with a good quality modern piece. However, these pieces came in and they are immaculate. Literally, pull them (carefully!) from your wardrobe and put on, they are that good. So exciting. A few items have gone already, obviously, but if you're passing-just pop in and i'll be happy to show them off!

So, back to Christmas-we are forecast snow, but nothing as yet. I know it causes havoc, but it does look pretty! Maybe a gentle dusting, please Santa...In the meantime, hope one and all are home and happy and looking forward to the holidays! Merry Christams one and all!!

Private Vintage Club

Phew! Been a while since I blogged but what with getting married (yay!) and jointly organising Bath's launch of the first Private Vintage Club night, things have been a bit busy!

Just a small taster of what our guests were treated to last Thursday at the Private Vintage CLub - the girls (in part provided by the glamorous Shoot DHS model agency (www.shootdhs.co.uk), run by the impossibly fabulous David Hill-Souch) were consummate professionals. They showed Scarlet Vintage's gowns off to perfection and did the same for the gorgeous Hannah Dulcie undies, which we were all desperate to purchase!

As the guests arrived they were treated to complementary champagne by BUTTLERS (www.buttlershk.co.uk), our lovely, toned waiters and a goody bag provided by ourselves and those masters of avant garde style as modelled on the runway, Artizan Hair of Bath (www.artizan.co.uk) Make up was designed and executed by the brilliant talents of Sophie Bee (www.sophiebee.co.uk), Lucy Aitchison et al

Later our boys gave out some delish canapes (mini cream cakes) to keep the guests refrshed whilst the girls got ready for the next show which consisted of a mix of vintage and underwear, think fur coat-frilly knickers!

We were also in the company of several top class photographers; Piers Cunliffe, Marc le Galle, Bertrand Vessier, Alexandria Reynolds (of Vintage Doll Magazine), David Hammond and Tim Baker. Add to that several well respected bloggers and Josh Micheals, cinematographer-we were well served for talent! Unfortunately cannot fit everyone's pics here-but rest assured you will see them around in the near future!

A good night was had by all, with everyone asking-"when's the next one?!"

Festive Road....

Finally this week saw the opening of the famous Canary Cafe in Queen Street. The original Canary Cafe closed down about 20 years ago and has been sorely missed since then. I regularly get asked, "Where's The Canary? I've heard so much about it!" It was an institution in Bath and has now rightly been reinstated in a new guise. The walls have been covered in a creamy yellow and each large window is decorated with fresh yellow flowers. The old swing sign is moving once again in the wind and the smiling waitresses are handing out wholesome sandwiches and homemade cakes to the hungry customers. We started the day off right by indulging in two of their cupcakes (which were heavenly and baked on the premises, no food miles to worry about here!) and now is the mammoth task of resisting popping back for more sweet treats!

I am so pleased because Queen Street has become a proper little Festive Road (Mr Ben reference...showing my age..);

I present....
The Canary Cafe,
The Wild Cafe (hearty, locally sourced food cooked in front of you),
Rare and Vintage Guitars (what those boys don't know about real music and guitars, could be written on a guitar string!)
The Raven (lovely established old pub-great for pies!),
Haringtons Hotel (bijou and elegant town hotel)
No 12 (THE interiors destination for those in the know)
Bo Lee Gallery (edgy and interesting art. very cool)
Officina Tessile (Italian tailors who are "sew" good!)
oh, and a little boutique called Scarlet Vintage....

Perhaps its time to have a wander off the beaten track and explore Bath's historic side streets, they really make this amazing city what it is...xx

Confetti, lipstick and Jean Shrimpton.

Wow, great day with the guys and girls involved in today's shoot! The genius behind Shoot DHS agency (David) approached the shop with the idea of doing a Jean Shrimpton styled shoot around Bath. Of course, we jumped at the chance. Apart from the fact that I am probably The Shrimp's number one fan, I just love those striking 1960's looks that were ubiquitus back in the day. The two girls chosen (sisters) had the perfect doe eyed, elfin looks that fit with the bright colours and bold poses of that era.
David and the gang first shot Sarah and Alice in a pink mini dress with daisies appliqued on, and a white 1969 handmade Guipure lace dress, with wicked sleeves. Then we moved on to a more beachy, colourful couple of dresses that would match their orange lips (thank you, the lovely Sophie Bee) and bouffant hair do's (courtesy of the brilliant Phil at Artisan). The final looks, shot in a local cafe were straight out of Breakfast at Tiffany's-all long elegant evening gowns, glittery clutches and clip on jewels.
Everyone worked spectacularly well together including the very talented photographers Piers Cunliffe, Lee Martland and April Samantha. Can't wait to see the final shots!

In other news...the sale is still on and going great guns! Some ridiculous bargains to be had as we try to make space in the shop for more pieces that arrive on a daily basis. Had a couple of stunning would-be wedding gown just in too. In case you were looking for that something a little different for your big day. One of them (1950's), after we had had it cleaned, had what looked like a small pink mark. On closer inspection, we realised it was confetti, still trapped in the folds- a mere 60 years later....that just about made my day.

Til the next time you lovely people....xxx

Vintage scooters, Bath Life and It's Darling!

Well, here we are again!

Hope you like this little photo, just an example of some of the great shots we got from our 1960's "Scooter Girl" shoot in Bristol. Loads of fun and some amazing vintage mopeds!

Just so you're in the know, The Scarlet Sale yesterday and we've already had a lot of positive feedback. We are so massivly overstocked (with more pieces coming in every day!) that we felt it only right to have an exclusive sale event. It may not become a regular occurence, so I'd get some incredible bargains whilst you still can.

We were lucky enough to be featured in the latest edition of Bath Life in a lovely double page spread which you can view online at their website www.bathlifemag.co.uk or try and snaffle a copy from your local coffee shop! Take a look if you can, I think the guys at Bath Life have done a fantastic job of showcasing Marc Le Galle's fantastic photographs and the team's amazing work from the Corsham Court shoot last month.

We have also been featured on a couple a cool blogs, most notably www.alicias-blog.com and www.hatirose.wordpress.com. Always nice to see bloggers and lovely to read their views on our little boutique!

Next up for us is the It's Darling Fair (www.itsdarling.blogspot.com) at the Guildhall on the 16th July. Lets hope its a sunny weekend so all you vintage and craft enthusists will pop along to see us!

On the 17th we have another photoshoot to attend with a bit of an Alice in Wonderland theme going on....more details once we have completed it, but another exciting development I think!

Just took possession of a huge amount of gorgeous 1960's pieces, all kept lovingly in their original garment bags,perfect for summer weddings and in keeping with Vogue's prediction of a 1960's resurgence next season! If I can let them go (I kind of have to!) they will all be on our shelves by this weekend.

See y'all soon I hope!

Fairs, photoshoots and fun!

Gosh, sun is finally here! Yay! Let's hope it stays eh? Especially as we have a busy few weeks coming up. First up this weekend is another photoshoot in Brizzle with a few glamorous lovelies getting involved and the super talented Sophie Bee (www.sophiebee.co.uk) creating amazing make up.

After that we are participating with a couple of choice fairs that are coming up-this is a first for Scarlet, we never got into the whole "vintage fair" world before and thought it was time to try our hand!

First up is Pimp Me Vintage at the stunning Stourhead Gardens on Sunday July 3rd, 2pm to 9pm. This is being held in aid of CLIC Sargent charity and looks to be a good bash! If the weather is good it will feature stallholders from far and wide, live music, a retro bar and a beauty parlour-a mini Vintage Festival! We can't wait!

Next up is the It's Darling Fair (www.itsdarlingfair.co.uk) Saturday 16th July 930-5pm at the historic Guildhall, Bath. A great regular fair that encourages local artisans and traders alike. This time it will also offer vintage make overs in the Pop Up Parlour-how much more girly and exciting can you get vintage-istas!

Well, that's all for now-oh, and a few more pieces on the website too (and my left leg is cracking walnuts, as they say...) One of our new pieces came from an actress (which one, my lips are sealed!) who has given us a Belville Sassoon beaded dress to sell. Its very sparkly and very glam, perfect "make an entrance" dress!

Enjoy the sun (any sun!) whilst it lasts! xx

All change at Scarlet, Vintage Mini's and Marilyn Monroe....

Well, we finally did it-we finally expanded the shop and made a new posh changing room! Yay! Took a bit of doing, but we got a man who can in to do the heavy stuff and then I flounced in with a can of paint and did the finishing touches (like you do). So, we've created a large new rail at the back of the shop to take more of our dresses (which is lucky as we just had a delivery of about 5 full skirted 1950's dresses). We also moved our deco mirror so it gets the full attention it deserves.
And I am so pleased we now have a large, luxurious changing room with gorgeous mirror and relaxing chair (all I need to do is add a cocktail bar and i'd never get people out!)
We also recently took a trip to The American Museum (www.americanmuseum.org) to see the Bath Spa Uni exhibition on the Legacy of Icons. Super cool! A little vintage Mini Cooper, some great dresses (ok, some of them mine!) and some brilliant magazine cuttings from 56' to 66'. Whilst we were there we thought it rude not to take a peek at the Marilyn dresses on show at the temporary exhibition. Wow. Just Wow. Amazing. Admittedly, I spend a lot of time explaining to people that the blonde bombshell wasn't a size 16 in today's sizing, but even I was shocked at the size of the dresses, teeny!! All your favourites are there; the cream full length gown from The Prince and the Showgirl, the red sequinned one from Gentleman Prefer Blondes and the rique black beaded one from Some Like it Hot. Heaven, I was in heaven. What was most poignant was all her trinkets; the champagne bucket, the pill bottle, the tea caddy from when the door was closed and she bacame Norma Jean again. A sad end to a lovely lady, but what beautiful gowns she has left us behind.

And, interestingly, the sparklers on show at the exhibition weren't diamonds, but rhinestones...