Saturday 26 April 2014

Lily’s and Violet’s take on Lily & Violet Vintage!!!


Lily & Violet - Totally Unique, Totally Gorgeous 
The Lily & Violet Vintage venture has been so named because of our ‘angelic’ girls….( and if you were reading our very first Ooodles of Poodles you would already know this!!). ….(and if you know Lily and Violet, you will also know that we have used some ‘poetic licence’ in this statement!).  Lily is 7 years old and a bit and Violet is very nearly 8. 
After hearing the two of us planning, wheeling and dealing and taking them around numerous ‘vintage’-type destinations over the past few months we thought you might be interested to hear what they think of our new vintage venture adventure!!!
Lately, ‘Lily & Violet’ has cropped up in conversation on a very frequent basis in our homes and so both our girls have got the idea that this new venture is named after them.  Well, actually they don’t think of it as being named after them but more belonging to them!!! 

When we pass by the shop they both shout “that’s our shop!” and they both think they are famous because they will have a sign!!   We have to take some of the blame for this and we have been encouraging them....And, they have got some very clear ideas about what we will be selling and their personal involvement…
Shortly after we had towed the first caravan home, Violet was heard to say “Hey Lily, my mum has got a new caravan!!!!” and Lily replied “So has mine”!!!! 
There was almost a falling out at the very first hurdle when they discovered that there was actually only one caravan…. We did try to explain but in the process have managed to make quite a few promises about when they will have their very own caravans!! 
It would seem quite reasonable that they have their own Lily and Violet vans but that could be a little way off….. And now they are both getting a little more discerning over exactly what they want out of their own caravans….  
Lily’s will definitely have a bunk bed and her pet cuddly toys will be stored in their ‘cages’ underneath the seats!!!! Lily is only expecting to use her caravan for going away on holiday or if she can’t get to the real Vet!!  
Violet’s idea is much more practical - she would like to use her caravan as a bedroom where she doesn’t have to clean up !!! The only people allowed in Violets caravan will be Violet herself and big sister Indi. (We think Violet is just trying to earn some brownie points with here!! It is doubtful Indi would actually be allowed inside!!)
So ‘vintage’ - what do you think it means??? 
Well, to us vintage, in terms of caravans, is pre 1980s and with the all important glass windows. And, in terms of the clothes it is anything from the 1950’s (or maybe a bit before!!) to the late 1970’s.  
We asked Lily and Violet what they thought….
Lily - “Well, anything old fashioned and used in the olden days but not really nowadays”
Violet - “Old - really, really old like the caravans”
When pushed on how old vintage is then both girls suggested that we were vintage!!! (They could be right but surely ‘Nan’ or ‘Dad’ would have been a better answer).
As you know the Lily & Violet Vintage boutique will be Totally Unique and Totally Gorgeous.  We asked Lily and Violet what they would sell in the shop if they were in charge…
Violet - “Old fashioned vintage caravans - so that if you buy one you wouldn’t need to clear up any mess”
Lily - “I would sell old toys - I have got lots of old fashioned toys that I could sell in my own corner”
We think that Violet has got a really good point !! Your caravan could be your own personal haven where your ‘mess’ stays exactly where you left it - without getting added to or trashed!! 
We probably will not be able to display a caravan in the shop, but each caravan will come with her very own transformation book so maybe we should have these in the shop?? - what do you think??
Lily’s suggestion that she has lots of ‘old fashioned toys’ is not strictly true. ‘Lots of toys’’ is definitely true and ‘old’ could be true but I have a feeling that Lily is thinking in terms of months and not decades!!
See - Perfect Fit!!
Both Lily and Violet have seen the sorts of things that we will be selling in the shop and we are constantly faced with cries of “oh, can I have that??? I really like it and it fits - see?”. 
We now spend a lot of our time answering the “is this vintage??” question. 

Both of the girls are now getting pretty clued up and they are both expert caravan spotters - “There’s a caravan!! - Oh, no good!! it’s got plastic windows.”  or (as happened in a charity shop recently) “There is a vintage coat behind the curtain, Mum”  Shop Assistant - “Yes, being an animal charity shop we didn’t want to put real fur on display”. 
Sadly, Lily also seems to think that:
vintage = dirty 
and Violet thinks: 
vintage = dead or extinct 
Even more sadly, in some cases they could both be right and fairly frequently one or the other of them is right!! 
Although you might be faced with the odd bit of ‘dead’ (I don't think we have ventured into extinct...) at Lily & Violet Vintage, we hope that you will never find ‘dirty’ - if you do, we will have failed and will need to know about it right away…..
If you have kids, big or little - ask them what they think ‘vintage’ means… and we would love to hear their answers!!
 Mary & Lisa x 

2 comments:

  1. Would love to see a copy of the transformation books in the shop. Do the buyers get one with the caravan?

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  2. We like the idea of the buyers getting one with their caravan - along with some blank postcards to keep us up to date with their adventures and a retro pic-nic box to get them started! What do you think??

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