Going Live!!!!

For the past few months we have been busily gathering stock, securing premises, renovating caravans, planning our shop opening and very importantly sorting out our branding and web site.

The ‘branding’ - yes, this is what the showcasing of our business is called (we didn’t know that either!) - well that was something that would be quite easy to do wouldn't it???  We thought “how hard can it be??”.  Surely, it is just a case of putting together a few words and a few photos, decide what the sign above the shop and on the web site should look like and there you have it!! Half a days’ work  at most….

How very wrong we were!!…

Our Lady in Red - She helped shape our thinking

Firstly, we needed to decide on the look and feel that we want for Lily & Violet Vintage. This was really the easy part for us because we knew that we wanted something glamorous and opulent looking, but also something a little bit quirky - as you know, this is no ordinary vintage venture!

So next up was researching lots of other web sites and shops just to try and figure out what we do and don’t like. This resulted in quite a lot of ‘days out’ scouting the local high streets for inspiration....

Honestly, that is what we were doing!!...   Although we were occasionally distracted and ended up ‘shopping’, we were (for the most part) very focused.  
No, really - we really were!! We only bought a couple of pairs of shoes and the odd scarf or two between us!!!

Next up - agreeing the content for the website…We are having all the usual - About Us, Contact Us, Clothes, Caravans (if you call that usual) etc.. That bit wasn’t too bad but filling it up with words and pictures was a whole different matter….

The words…

We have spent hours pondering over the wording, is it too twee? does it sound too ‘friendly’ ? Are we just talking rubbish?  And the answer to all of these was (at times) yes!!  

You would think that words would come quite easily to us - those that know us personally would never expect either of us to be stumped for a word or two!! But actually, sometimes we were!!  And, other times we just wrote gibberish (mmmm?!?!)

Lovely Models
 - Rubbish Photographer!!

The pictures…

Oh come on!! We can all take brilliant photos, can’t we?? With today’s new-fangled digital technology, of course we can all take a few great photos of a few great outfits! 

No, no no - it is so much harder than the professionals make it look!  Firstly, we shot into the light (wrong!!) Then the outfits were for Winter (wrong!!)  Then the day was overcast (wrong!!) Then the indoor light was too harsh (wrong!!)  - you get the picture - ha... ha...That said we are improving with age (in every respect but particularly in the photographer stakes)!

We have had a number of photo shoots and have now got a great ‘look’ - but this has been a long road and we are improving all the time! 

The branding aspect of setting up Lily & Violet Vintage has proved to the one thing that has really shaped our thinking and helped us to understand what it is we are all about. It has made us consistent in what we are doing and has meant that we have not gone ‘off track’.

Luckily for us, we have the most fantastic designer you could wish to meet.  Kirsty McGibbon of Sharper Marketing has been our guiding light!  And this is no overstatement - she has completely understood what we are trying to achieve and translated this into a fantastic web site, created our logo, designed our business cards, created our facebook page…the list goes on….

We really need you all to go and have a look at our web site and tell us what you think of it.  It has links to our facebook page, our Oodles of Poodles blog (you are reading it!!) and to Pinterest. This is particularly cool because it means that we can take snaps or our new stock and upload them to our Pinterest boards and you can all see them right away. And we have mood boards for the caravans so you get a glimpse of what is inspiring us!!!

If you, or anyone you know of is looking for this sort of thing, we cannot recommend Kirsty highly enough. Don’t try and go it alone - speak to Kirsty.  She is based in Stroud and can be contacted through her website http://sharper-marketing.co.uk  or you can let us know and we will be very pleased to put you in touch..

We are totally thrilled with our website and everything that goes with it.  Thank You Kirsty!!  We would really love to know what you think too so please put a note on here or on our Facebook page and let us know what you think of it…

Mary & Lisa x 

Yay ….. Aaarrrrghhh - It’s Market Day for Marj!!!

Before………

This morning we are feeling just a little bit nervous!! Today is market day and we have decided that the time is right for Marj's grand unveiling.  

The forecast for today is….you’ve guessed it! - rain!!!! And it has been chucking it down all night!! Luckily, Marj has been water tested on a number of occasions recently and has survived the bombardment of weather that Mother Nature has been able to throw at her.  So, we can’t let a few potential (hopefully!) showers put us off!!  We are more worried for us than for Marj….

Marj is taking everything in her stride - her paintwork is looking as lovely as the day she was painted, her cushions have been plumped, her curtains have been straightened and she is ready to be unveiled to what we hope is her adoring public!!

As you know, Marj is the first of the Lily & Violet Vintage fleet and she really is our baby.  When we first got her she was just a little bit hard to love (a little bit battered and tired looking to say the least), but with all of the tender love and care she has received, she has blossomed into something very special!! 

I guess this morning we will find out what others think of her…

We spent the day yesterday making sure that Marj is ready for her grand unveiling, but that has done nothing to calm our nerves.  

We will be putting Marj in place in just an hours time and hope that some of our friends and followers will stop by to take a look and say hello…… 

Now, have we got everything???? Memory is not a strong point for either of us so we survive with randomly scattered lists - the list for today is pretty short: 

• Marj (she is essential), 
• the photo record of her transformation (to aide our memory and show you all the before and afters), 
• chairs (we aren’t as young as we used to be!!),
• our business cards (we have to keep reminding ourselves that Marj is for sale :(  and that we are actually in business). 

Personal number plate too!

Life is just so much fun though, it is easy to forget that we are supposed to be working!

OK its time! - we are off to Dursley Farmers Market with our little Marj….

And after……

Phew!!! That was such good fun!! 

Our experience this morning just goes to prove that we are not totally mad!! 

All set up at the Market

Maybe the concept of the rescued vintage caravan is a bit ‘out there’ (especially a caravan that has a name and is really one of the family). But when you step inside Marj your imagination runs wild!! 

Marj had a blast meeting everyone and finding out how they would incorporate her into their daily lives!! She is a complete star and loved by everyone who sees her. 

Thank you to everyone who stopped by and made our morning so special.  We have been overwhelmed by the support we have received and are so pleased that you all love Marj. That said, Marj is one special lady and so we aren’t really surprised at everyone’s reaction to her… but still very, very chuffed.

Any time is Cocktail time with Marj

The only thing we could have done better was to give out totally tropical cocktails and had some grass-skirted models… 

Actually, I do have a vague recollection of the promise of a grass skirt and coconut shells….. you know who you are!!!

You can check out more pictures of Marj on our shiny new web site www.lilyandvioletvintage.co.uk 
Mary & Lisa x 

The Quest For The Deckchair

Now, wouldn’t you think that everyone (or at least everyone’s mum & dad) will have a battered old deckchair lying around at the back of the garden shed? Probably covered in cobwebs, with a bit of tatty fraying striped fabric and a bit of a rotten frame. You would think that, wouldn’t you????…

But no!, when we needed a couple of old deck chairs to work a bit of magic on and make look wonderful in a Lily & Violet Vintage way - we couldn’t find any anywhere!  We got lots of “aw, if I had known you wanted any I wouldn’t have taken those old things to the tip” and “I’m sure we’ve got some old deck chairs lurking at the back of the garage - oh, no, wait a minute, we put them out for the bin man.”

So, Lisa put a request out on Facebook and signed herself up to the local selling sites. Ha ha, now she is inundated with useless stuff for sale all over Gloucestershire - but you never know there might be a rare kind of deckchair in amongst them!  

These sites are probably really very useful and help people to offload their stuff to others - but they also mean that you get 500 notifications of prams for sale… Anyway, that didn’t work and we found no old deckchairs in need of a new home.  And we had no responses to Facebook requests…nada!!

Weston Beach Maybe??

We needed to hit on a new strategy in the quest for the deckchair….. We made a couple of calls to Weston-Super-Mare council and a few others - all to no avail. (Our thinking here was that old deckchairs used on beaches probably get scrapped and so this would be a good source of the not so perfect chair.)  We haven’t totally given up on the beach traders being a likely source of chairs so we have a few beach trips out planned in the next couple of days - all in the name of ‘work’ you understand!! 

With the weather now taking a turn for the better, we are pretty certain that there will be a few sheds and garages being given a once over and all the old garden furniture being replaced with new rattan stuff from Homebase. If this is you, please bear us in mind!! - we need your old deckchairs. (hopefully you have got the message by now).

We are planning to give our old deck chairs (when we find them!) a bit of a overhaul and use them in our caravan photoshoots and in the Lily & Violet Vintage boutique.  We have got some brilliant fabric in mind for them!! Where would you go to buy stripy fabric for your deckchair - yep, of course - www.deckchairstripes.com!!!!! There is a .com for everything!!! They do have some seriously funky fabric - so if you don’t fancy handing over your old deck chairs to us, then get and revamp them yourself!!! 

Ouch - Bruised for weeks!!

I recently took a trip to Cattle Country with Lily and some of our friends.  It was my birthday and so when we sat down for our packed lunch, I was given the pride of place, head of the table seat!!! How lovely!!! - and guess what it was??  Yep, a lovely striped deckchair!!! But unlike the vintage versions it had no fixed seat.  The result - an embarrassed me !!! (well, I would have been if I was the type to get embarrassed!)  Obviously, no one had their camera fixed on me at that particular moment, so the event was recreated (too many times) - and, on grass to save my delicate posterior from the stones (ouch)!! I did cause quite a stir sitting down onto the deckchair and going straight through!!

We have managed to get hold of some ‘spanish chairs’ at Wotton Auctions and for now we are using them as stand-ins for the deckchairs. We don’t really want to resort to buying new ones so are scouring anywhere we can think of for the vintage variety.  If you see any, let us know!!! 

Oh, and if you happen to go to Cattle Country anytime in the near future, be very, very careful of the deckchairs at Barn 2!!!

 Mary & Lisa x 

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 

Marj and her Electrickery

Imagine….you are now the proud owner of our Totally Tropical Marj and you can use her for just about anything…..  She could be your own hobby room (maybe you have a secret obsession with those Lidl weekly bargains for obscure crafty things and need somewhere to explore your creative side…) Or, maybe you are the proud parent of a budding garden fairy who would love to have their very own

Fancy yourself as a Festival Goer??

garden hideaway.  Just maybe you fancy setting off for Glastonbury in vintage charm with tropical style, receiving admiring glances from fellow festival goers.  Or maybe, you are going to put Marj to work and set her up as your vintage nail and brow salon…. The possibilities are endless, so who knows?!? You do!! 

Are you dreaming yet?!?  So, hold that thought…..

Over the past few months, whilst working on our Totally Tropical Marj, we have had many many discussions about the type of power we think people may need in their caravans.

We are hoping that, if we explain it all to you, (as far as we understand it!) you could let us know what you think - bearing in mind what you plan on doing with Marj. So, here goes….

Traditionally, caravans were powered solely by gas (apart from the road lights that would be powered from the towing vehicle). The gas would generally power the cooker hob, grill and fridge (if there was one) and the internal lighting.  Some caravans also came with gas heaters. 

Whilst in the process of transforming Marj, we decided that the gas lighting could mean nothing but trouble.  For one thing, gas light mantles and accessories are now quite hard to come by and we are not sure how useful or safe a gas light would be.  So, we have opted for no gas lighting.  

Marj had a mixture of electrical installation - 12v for her lights and 240v for her sockets.  12v will work off a battery, so in a caravan you would have something called a leisure battery that would be concealed under one of the seats and used to power the lights and with the use of an inverter, possibly the sockets too (but it would depend on what you plug in as to whether it would work).  

We have pondered for many an hour over the requirement for 12v power.   If you are at a standard sort of caravan or camping site you can usually book a pitch with electric hook up and negate the need for using a leisure battery.  At home, if you have an electricity source outside or the ability to plug in to an internal home socket you will not need 12v supply.  

But, 12v power could be useful if you have no other source of electricity. So when you are at Reading festival or Glastonbury (or Glastonbudget - look it up - its brilliant….) then you could make use of a leisure battery for your lights.  But, do you really need this ??? Wouldn’t it be just as easy to use portable lights or torches ???

In the end we decided that Marj would have 240v electricity supply for her lighting and sockets and gas for her hob and fridge. If you want lights and don’t have electric then get a torch!!!  - And then along came ‘The Boatman’ and he has made us think the whole thing through again…

We love The Boatman

The Boatman is Jeremy and he is one of our favourites !!! We have mentioned before that our vintage adventure has led us down many an interesting path and we have come across some very brilliant people….well, Jeremy The Boatman is one of those people.

Getting the electrics in the caravan sorted is not the sort of job that most electricians are used to doing.  As fate would have it, one day I was stuck at temporary traffic lights in Dursley idly reading the sign on the car in front - “The Boatman electrical fault finding blah blah, “ - when it suddenly dawned on me that this person could be just who we need.  So, after a short period of stalking, The Boatman was persuaded to come and meet Marj, Hilda and Rita.  Being a boatman he ‘got it’ right away - he was even used to calling the vans by their names! 

Now, used to living on a boat, Jeremy was all too familiar with the need for electricity when no mains power source is available - yep - the leisure battery to the rescue! So, together we have hit on what we think is a brilliant plan….  When you buy one of our caravans, she will come with mains powered 240v lights and sockets and no leisure battery.  However, if you wish the lights to be converted to 12v this can be done as a ‘bolt-on’ and likewise if you want light and socket conversion.  

Dreeeeaaammmm, dream dream dream - If you owned Marj, where and what do you think you would use her for?? What source of power do you think would be most useful?

We would be really interested to know what you think.

 Mary & Lisa x 

Marj - Glorious and with a Totally Tropical Taste!!

You may remember that Marj was our second baby bought from an advertisement in a classic car magazine.  Although, she was our second baby we decided that she should be the first of our girls to get the Lily & Violet Vintage transformation!

Marj is a 4 berth (bit of a squeeze) 1977 Sprite Alpine and when she first came to us she needed quite a little bit of love and care to make her the beautiful van that she has become!  

Marj when she was first rescued

She has had a whole catalogue of works done including a new side panel, complete internal restructuring, new electrics, new gas, new foam seating and cushions and new upholstery, new flooring, new external electrical fittings, new skylight, new door locks, new window capping, new internal lighting complete re-sealing and water testing.....
Phew!!! have we really done all that?? 

And of course, interior and exterior painting and decorating (our favourite bit!!) - actually, Lisa did quite like the window frame cleaning bit and is an expert at wielding the wire wool…

Understated???

Being ‘girls’ we chose all of her paint, fabrics and wallpaper before we had even started! When our website goes live (very soon) you will be able to see the caravans that are in the pipeline and the ‘mood boards’ associated with each of them. 

Des (the lovely upholsterer from Berkeley Sofas and Chairs) thinks we are ever so slightly mad when we show him the swatches we have!  But everything always turns out as expected - Totally Unique and Totally Gorgeous.  Actually we think Marj is a quite understated for us, but we would love to know what you think!! Please, let us know..

See - Palm Trees!

Marj is now ready for her big unveiling!! We have worked really hard to make sure that Marj will not disappoint.  She is absolutely beautiful (even if we do say so ourselves!) And of course she has a totally tropical taste! All of her paint is from Little Greene as is her wallpaper and the fabric is (for the most part) Designers Guild.  We are particularly fond of the fabric used in some of Marj’s curtains - little palm trees!!! soooo cute.

Marj has just completely surpassed our expectations and could now live up to the name we originally had in mind for her - Marjorie.  But who needs a Marjorie when you have got a Marj??? We have decided that Marj can only ever be Marj for us - changing her name now would be like changing the name of one of your children (do people do that ??)

Marj - Gorgeous and Totally Tropical

This week Marj has been the subject of her very own photo shoot and she really is a very special little caravan.  Whoever become the lucky new owner(s) of Marj will really be getting a whole lot of loveable caravan.  

Both of us want to keep her but we can’t - it would mean the premature end of a beautiful relationship with the amount of jealousy that would be involved!… (but, it is going to make us both very sad and there will be many tears shed when she leaves us). It is amazing how these vans each take on a personality of their own and become part of your life! - no, honestly, they really do!!!

She would make a brilliant extra room in the garden and is also perfectly towable  - so maybe she will become a festival goer or a hobby room or a play room or a room to hide your teenager (or for your teenager to hide out)…

If you think you could offer Marj a loving home then her requirements are very few….She has become very close to the rest of the Lily & Violet Vintage fleet and postcards sent yearly (at least) will be a condition of sale.  Whilst Marj is not expensive to keep, she does need a gas bottle for her hob and fridge and electricity for sockets and lights. 

Whilst she is quite capable of surviving without any others of her kind, Marj will thrive the more time you can spend with her. She needs company and is a very sociable little caravan, she loves life and is keen to do some sightseeing (but only if you are). Really, all she needs is love (and a little bit of silicone now and again!). We don't want her to sit alone in a field to get damp. None of us would like that - it would be heartbreaking!! 

A caravan is for life not just for holidays!!

We think that we may need to do a home visit prior to relinquishing her and we may require references.. (not really!! - actually, we might…) !!

Mary & Lisa x 

Do You Know What Katie Did?

Newsflash!!!! 

The Lily & Violet Vintage Boutique will not only be selling vintage clothing that is Totally Unique and Totally Gorgeous, we are very proud to announce that we will also be offering What Katie Did lingerie.  

What Katie Did are the world leaders when it comes to vintage style underwear - who would have thought it? - the silver screen glamour of the ‘40s and ‘50s available right here in the sleepy town of Dursley.  

Beautiful Lingerie For All

Wake Up Dursley!! - it’s high time each and every one of us put a little glamour into our lives - and what you wear underneath is sure to radiate through to the surface… So whether its a corset, a waspie, a merry widow or plain old (actually, not so plain) bra and knickers, come and have a browse at this beautiful lingerie!

The other week we were lucky enough to visit What Katie Did in their Portobello store, where we were taken through the whole of their range.  This really is beautiful underwear that we are sure every woman will love!  We are going to hold seamed stockings and tights as well as a selection of bras, knickers and shapewear. So if you need a bit of waist nipping, bum shaping, hip smoothing, suck it all in, underwear  (and, lets face it - most of us could do with a little help every now and then )…. then you know where to come!!!  

What Katie Did - The Boutique

One of the main lessons we learned on our visit was the varying techniques on getting into some of this lovely underwear - there is definitely a knack!! “cross one leg over the other and wiggle”, “ready? breathe in” … but the results speak for themselves…. the merry widow will give you that lovely accentuated nipped in waist, whilst the corselette will suck it in and smooth it out!

Then we got onto the varying styles of bra - bullet, cone…..The question we have been asking ourselves is how do we know what you would like to wear?? The answer - ask you!! So, are you ready to bite the bullet or is the balconette where it is at??? Let us know what you think.. We have gone ahead and placed our first order but we are hoping that you are all ready for this glamour revival and that our second order will follow quickly  - so tell us what sort of things you would like and we will do our best to oblige..

We are now fully versed to offer advice but we are not trained to take measurements… so we will be encouraging you to try them all on - just make sure you allow enough time.  There is no way to hurry an hourglass!

So, if you didn’t know before, now you do!! 

What Katie Did

We just know you are going to love it!! 

Mary & Lisa x