What Sells???

We absolutely love the fact that our customers are Totally Gorgeous and above all Totally Unique - they have to be because they want to shop with us!! Why be a lemming and follow the crowd when you can wear something as individual as you are???

Oooo - goodies arriving!!

We have had great fun putting together the initial stock to open the Lily & Violet Vintage Boutique, but without actually having a shop it was all a bit like shopping in the dark...

I don't know if you have ever tried shopping for someone that you don't know, have never met and have absolutely no clues as to their age, stature, likes etc. etc.  Well, it is quite hard and so most of the time we shopped for ourselves!!  Over the course of a few months we think we got pretty good at it but the real test was throwing our doors open and letting all of you decide...

What is great about being in the Boutique is watching someone walk through the door and immediately judging the type of garment they will go for - only to be proved completely wrong when they walk into the changing room with their choices!!!! And then seeing someone have a complete change of identity when they try things on!!! - we love it!!  It really does go to show that you never can tell.

And then there are the men!!.... The male of the species invariably follows the female quietly around the shop; nodding in all of the right places and looking relatively interested.  But when their female goes into the changing room they suddenly become much more vocal and for the most part are intent on encouraging more adventurous clothes.  Needless to say, very little encouragement is actually needed!!  -  Well done those ladies!! There is definitely a degree of manipulation going on there!!  Of course it was his idea to go for something a bit different......

So, what have we sold ??? Were they the items that we thought would fly off our rails or are they the more unusual and quirky items that we thought could be a bit of an acquired taste??

You have surprised us, amazed us and delighted us by your non-conformist quirky tastes and your eye for quality and detail...

Gorgeous!! - Gone!!

Our favourite cream wool swing jacket with the multi-coloured buttons - gone!!
The very unique hat with the pheasant feathers - gone!!
Gorgeous heeled brogues - gone!!
Stunning pink malia sundress (just lovely) - gone!!
Mint condition lizard bag - gone!!
Orange organza sunhat - gone!!
Very unusual '50s button back top and skirt - gone!!
The fabulous orange palazzo pants - gone!!
The lovely metallic pouch bag - gone!!
All the sunglasses - gone!!
That Boa!! - gone!! (We hope you are putting it to good use Fiona!!)

Obviously the list could go on and on, but the point is that everything that we have sold has been as unique and gorgeous as the person who bought it!!! And we of course can't repeat any of the items that you see - once they are gone, they are gone!!!

We are keeping a list of things that you are interested in and will try to get things that you want to see, on to our rails.  We will keep our Pinterest pages up to date with our latest additions (if we get to photograph them before they are sold).

You do have to be quick though - this week the larger size dresses have sold within about 2 hours of being put out!!! Sometimes it is just luck.....

Mary & Lisa x 

Our Customers - Totally Unique and Totally Gorgeous

Would you believe that we have now been 'shop-keepers' for a whole two weeks?? And in that time we have met some absolutely wonderful, whacky, crazy people!! 

Most have got something to say about our Totally Unique, Totally Gorgeous Vintage Venture.....and we have found that it certainly takes all-sorts!!.....

Through our doors, we have had.....

The Doubters

"Well, I don't really see how you are going to make this work!! Do you know that you are just too far out of Town?? And you have got that lovely charity shop next door"

There always has to be at least one or two that would like to rain on the parade!!!

Bryony - Just too cool!!

The Debutantes

"Wow, I can't believe that Dursley has its very own Vintage Shop.  I wish I hadn't already bought my prom dress :( "

For those of you whose prom is next year, start shopping now.  We have had the pleasure of the lovely Bryony trying on outfits for next years Prom.  Clever girl!!

The Divas

"I love trying everything on" 

And we love seeing all of our clothes on bodies as well as hangers so we are more than happy to accommodate the odd trying on session just for the pleasure of seeing the beautiful clothes!!!

The Potterers

"oooo you have got some lovely things!! - I could spend hours just looking"

Please do come in for a mooch.  We love showing off our lovely boutique and are more than happy for all you browsers out there to come in just to see what we have.

The Reminiscers

"I can remember buying an outfit just like this one as my going away dress - this brings back so many lovely memories!!"

It is lovely to see some of our customers actually take a step back in time and recollect whole events that happened 60 years before!! Priceless.

The If Onlys

"I had one of those... and a hat just like that... etc.  etc.  If only I hadn't.....chucked it all out....taken it to the charity shop....."

Well, if everyone had kept everything, there would be no call for Lily & Violet Vintage!! But, there is.....yay!!

The "Just Passing By' Crowd

"I was just driving by and noticed your lovely windows and thought that I just had to stop!!!. What an amazing shop."

We are very glad to be stopping traffic!!! Have you noticed our changing window dresses??? We like to keep regular passers by with something new to look at, and new passers by with something lovely to look at!!

The Supporters

A true supporter - The lovely Rebecca

"It is about time Dursley got a lovely shop - may this be the first of many!! Very good luck to you in your new venture"

We agree that it is about time Dursley got something to talk about and that is what we are aiming for!!! The support we have received has been amazing - Thank You xxx

and last but not least......

The Del Boys

"Where do you get your stuff??? I have got some of this stuff in my wardrobe, if I bring it in you could take a look and see if you want to buy any of it..."  or

Could this be you - No!!!

"I have got a lovely 1980s wedding dress, do you want to buy it??" 

We can now spot this category a mile off!!!! We have been so overwhelmed with people wanting to sell us things that we are just saying no!!!!

Remember, our doors are open from 9.30am 'til 6.00pm Monday to Saturday, so please feel free to come in and have a mooch, try stuff on, tell us where we are going wrong, say how much you love our windows......Just stop trying to sell us your tat!! (even if it is not tat and is really very nice and probably a genuine 1920s flapper dress in absolutely immaculate condition or a virtually unworn 1950s Dior New Look dress... but its not  - so just stop it!!!!)

Mary & Lisa x 

Wow!!! What A Week!!

This has quite simply been an absolutely amazing week and we cannot thank you all enough for making it so special!!

The Lily & Violet Vintage Boutique has been in business for one whole week and there has hardly been a minute of that time when we have been alone in the shop....there has been a real buzz in the air and we are very chuffed to think that we have helped to create that.

Everyone that has walked through the door has had something nice to say - and it is all so lovely to hear!! It seems that the little 'ol town of Dursley has been just waiting for something to happen....and we think that we are just the start of that (and about time too!)

Totally Fabulous!!

We have had the pleasure of meeting some really lovely people this week and make some new friends along the way we hope!! We also kicked off our advertising campaign - albeit a bit low key for now.  We know that a few of you heard us live on Radio Gloucestershire this week and people came into the shop because they had heard us on air!!!

We have had a great time watching and listening to everyone's reaction to our shop and to the clothes we are selling.  As you know, every piece is totally unique and totally gorgeous and it has been really rewarding to see you emerge from the changing rooms looking totally fabulous.

On occasion we have been a little bit green eyed though, when one of our favourites looks fab and gets snapped up!!! Actually, that has happened quite a lot..... My favourite '60s shift dress - gone!! Those gorgeous red '70s shoes - gone!! The poodle scarf - gone!! The ostrich boa - gone!! This list could go on and on, so I'll stop now!!!!

Lily & Violet Vintage has had the occasional doubter too - but we really could count them on two fingers!! We know that Lily & Violet Vintage is going to be a great success and we will build our reputation to attract visitors from further afield. We know its what you want - and it is amazing to hear people walking out of the shop saying what a great time they have had - fantastic!!

Hana - a vision in pink!!

This week we have started #thronecam on instagram so when you are in town, make sure you are in our shop getting your mugshot on the throne!! For all you instagrammers out there, you can find us @lvvintagemaz and @lvvintagelisa.
This weeks offerings include the lovely Mrs Claire Hooper , queen of the throne, Uleygirl Nicola Davies (with whom we had a blast finding an outfit for a weekend wedding), and the absolutely gorgeous Hana and Rebecca Masters who were kind enough to try some of our special dresses on and looked spectacular in them!!! #if only.......

Breast Cancer Campaign

Our windows and boutique went pink for Breast Cancer Campaign on Saturday and we put our burlesque showgirl corset outside of the door.  It was getting quite a reaction from the bus that had stopped outside.  We would have loved to have been able to hear what was being said - it was funny,whatever it was!!  We love changing the view from the outside so we will be putting different clothes on the mannequins at very regular intervals.  Right now they have two of our very favourite dresses on - but then, they are all our favourites....it would be impossible for us to get it wrong...

Our doors are open every day from 9.30am 'til 6.00pm.  Come in and browse, have a mooch around.  And, please if you have been following us on Facebook read our blog etc, then introduce yourself - we would love to meet you properly!!

Mary & Lisa x 

"We declare the Lily & Violet Vintage Boutique OPEN"

OMG!!!!! We are ready to open the doors of the Lily & Violet Vintage Boutique!!!! We are soooo ready for this......are you?????

Getting ready for this day has been a really incredible experience - and we have loved every minute of it!!! - Even though we have been sick with anxiety for the past few days!!!  It is amazing to look around the shop that has now been transformed into Lily & Violet Vintage.  

As you know, we have handpicked all of the garments, accessories, shoes etc, and we have done exactly the same with the shop interior... Everything has been chosen especially for the look we wanted to create - and we think we have done OK!!

We managed to get the last few jobs done that we needed to... we probably missed a couple of price tags but nothing major was left undone - quite an achievement we think!!  

We attracted a crowd!!

The Cats That Got The Cream!

 So, we cut the ribbon at 10am and were so chuffed to see so many people there to wish us luck!! It all got a little bit emotional at that point, but there was no time to dwell on anything as we had a store full of shoppers!! And, shop you did!!

Our window displays were finally revealed as we cut the ribbon and they look pretty spectacular (even if we do say so ourselves!!).  We will be changing the mannequins very regularly and they will both be wearing pink next week as a show of support for Breast Cancer Campaign.  Our window theme is, of course, Lillies and Violets (what else??). Impressive impressionist we think!!!

Our fitting room was in use all day long and at 6pm closing time we still had people trying things on!!! Our first day could not have been any more perfect... Marj our Totally Tropical Caravan was gracing the Farmers' Market and receiving the attention she deserves, and the Boutique itself created quite a stir!!

What was really rewarding for us was to see people emerging from the changing rooms looking fabulous and feeling fantastic in the outfits they were trying on. Although we did have our eye on a couple of those pieces for ourselves.....(oh well, we will have to be quicker next time!!).  A few of our favourites have left the rails and are now gracing your wardrobes - just make sure you wear them!! and make the world a more unique, gorgeous, glamorous place!!

All of the comments we have received have been really positive. We were right .... Dursley is ready to ring in a few changes and we hope that we have contributed in some small way to that.

Bristol house 2014

Bristol House 1926

Everyone has said how pleased they are to see us in Dursley and what a different ambience we have managed to create.  We are offering a wide range of ladies vintage clothing and accessories but already we are being asked about adding to this.  It seems that the menfolk out there want a bit of a change too.......

Our doors will be open Monday to Saturday from 9.30am til 6.00pm.  We will probably review this in a couple of months time but would hope to stick with these hours and we plan to keep the caravans coming to the Farmers' Market once a month.

If you have got any suggestions for us, then please let us know..

Mary & Lisa x 

Its The Final Countdown!!

The Countdown Begins……..

Boxes everywhere!!

10……..With 10 days before opening we have been working our socks off to make sure that everything is exactly how we want it to be.  So we have all the stock in - (Phew!! at last you can move in my house!!!).  All of the shop cabinets etc have been brought in from storage.  It is all systems go…

9………So, we thought we knew exactly where all of the clothes rails and shop furniture was going to go… but, guess what??  When we started shuffling it around it didn’t look quite as we imagined!  But it was oh so close! So, after a couple of hours of deliberation we decided to flip all our ideas around and try a mirror image - and it worked!!  (And, we have managed to get a caravan in ;)

8………We put all of our boxes in our stock room and then started to fill the rails with the garments we wanted out first.  (You wouldn’t believe how much stuff we have got!!!!! )  We had already completed much of the labelling and measuring, but it still took ages to sort out. Then we got onto how to make it all look good - luckily Lisa is a pro at this and needless to say it looks AMAZING… 

7……….OK - thats today!! (scared / excited / shattered / emotional / excited / lucky / nervous / did we say excited??) We now have all of the wall hung stuff on the walls.  We were given a plate mirror and together with a couple of ‘rescued’ doors, it now looks absolutely fabulous.  We have wifi but yet have to try out ‘accepting card payments’.  And, we still have one light to fit - it arrived today but isn’t the right colour!!! AARrrrrrrggghhh.

6…..5…..4…..3…..2…..1     We will see next week if everything now goes to plan!!! This is the plan….although, it looks more like a massive to-do list!!

Slightly macabre - but we love them!

We have to finish a bit of labelling and still have to set out all of our hats, shoes, jewels and accessories.  Many hands will make light work of this one ;)    (come in and see what we mean!!)

We have our music to sort out. Sadly, we just won’t have the time for the old record player, or the cassette player that you had to press play and record at the same time if you wanted to tape anything! (remember those?) So we are going wireless techy…

Have you noticed how big our windows are???? They will be filled with a stunning window display (to be revealed on Saturday - to be made on Monday - fingers crossed our amazing plans work !)

Our sumptuous fitting room still needs a bit of soft furnishing to finish it off.  And the curtain tie backs need to be fitted - look out for them - they will not be like anything you have ever seen before!!!!

That must be about it…….We will let you know next week if the plan worked…

Wish us luck…..
Mary & Lisa x 

Introducing Marigold (soon to be the best exotic Marigold hotel / caravan)!!

Lily & Violet Vintage has been all about the shop just recently and we have not been spending as much time as we would like with our beloved fleet of vintage caravans :(

There are just not enough hours in each day to do all the brilliant stuff we want to do!!!

So this week we thought we would talk caravans and introduce you to Marigold (the newest addition to the family). And telling you about her will remind us of the work we still have to do…..and we can’t wait!!

Marigold - Just Rescued!!

Marigold is a true rescue caravan who came to us in the back of a skip!!  She is a very sad case of ‘caravan neglect’ and when we eventually re-home her it will be a very happy day!!! 

Marigold’s previous owners were past their caravanning days and didn’t really know what to do with marigold - so they left her - ignored and lonely :(

Marigold is a very exotic fold down caravan - a 1960’s Portafold to be exact.  She has been languishing at the bottom of a garden for many, many years and has a very impressive array of flora and fauna living and growing in and around her!!!  

A member of the Marigold family

She is a bit of a haven for spiders at the moment (making her a bit of a no-go area for Lisa!!).  And, she also has her very own bird life living inside!! - little Robins are nesting in her!!! That probably means that we will not be working on her for some time - at least until the robins have flown the nest! - much to Lisa’s relief (due to the spiders not robins)!! It also gives us time to plan what she is going to look like…..

We do seem to attract Robins and it is a bit of an ongoing theme for us.  Perhaps we were a bit too hasty in declaring our love of the Poodle…..a robin wouldn’t have worked though (although it does have its own flash of red - which we like).

Marigold is a 1960’s plastic construction that basically comprises of a trailer that forms the floor, 2 fold in sides, 2 fold in ends (one with the door) plus the roof. The roof was made with ‘wings’ and looks a bit like a ‘50s American car - this was so that you could store your all important dinghy in it…..an absolute caravanning must have for every family!!

The good thing about clip together plastic is that rust and damp are not an issue so, thinking positively, this should be just a repair and paint job.  It could never be that easy could it???

Obviously, this sort of construction is going to have an impact on the final ‘look’ for Marigold.  Lisa was loving the idea of a big chandelier but what happens when Marigold is folded down??? Can you hear the tinkling crystal…

Check out the gold quilted walls!

The inside of the caravan is really pretty special!! Marigold needs an awful lot of work but she still retains her gold quilted walls which were probably very sumptuous at one time.  When she is ‘ready for bed’ and her seats are converted, she turns into one gigantic bedroom - ok. gigantic is probably overstating it just a little!! 

So, what colour do you think Marigold should be?? At the moment we are thinking (predictably) oranges, yellows and golds. But we are open to suggestions - maybe she should have a woodland theme and we could paint in trees to replace the actual trees we remove… Or maybe she should be a vision of gold - simple!!  

And what about the inside? - should she have a retro feel (more in keeping with her era) or should we give her a complete makeover?? 

We would love to hear your ideas and you can take a look at the Lily & Violet pinterest boards to see our latest thoughts on the subject!! We have a little time before Marigold is due her revamp, so get your thinking caps on and let us know what you think!!

Mary & Lisa x 

A Sign of the Times

The time has finally come when we can show off to the world and have ‘Lily & Violet Vintage’ written above our shop front!!!! 

Luckily, we knew exactly what we wanted (and have known this pretty much from the start) - glittering letters in gold! What else???

Julie Vernon's Gromit - Love it!!

We were inspired by our very favourite Gromit - the gold mosaic one by the very talented Julie Vernon; the one that sat outside the Victoria Rooms in Bristol.  Stunning!!!  (Did you know that 10,000 tiles went into the making of this Gromit - probably about the same amount as our sign!!) 

Being a bit of a dab hand at the old mosaic herself, it was down to Lisa to come up with the goods and make our fabulous sign. And fabulous it most certainly is!!!! 

But making the sign was only the beginning - the fun really started when we went to put it up. You would never believe the stories we could tell you about the weekend we put up the sign…….

We started on Saturday and decided to spend the day cleaning the front up a bit, removing the old lettering and repainting the main board.  

Our first problem -  our favourite Bailey’s Paints shop didn’t have the right paint - Aarrgghh - How could that happen?? They always have every F&B colour known to…., well, mown to Messrs. Farrow and Ball (just not this time).  If you haven’t been to Bailey’s Paints, it is a bit of a decorating heaven!! 

They mixed us up some Little Greene paint - and it is an exact match!! So, next time you are told that F&B paints cant be copied, don’t believe them!!! 

Whilst visiting the paint shop it is compulsory to have a rummage through the antiques and salvage centre - brilliant little finds if you keep your eyes peeled and put your bargaining hat on!! - but it does make the paint a tad expensive - it is impossible not to buy that must have rickety step ladder with missing rung…. a snip at £120….they are antique after all…

Eventually we made it down to the soon to be Lily & Violet Vintage boutique armed with step ladders, fairy liquid, clothes, paint and brushes.  We had a bucket but no water. Nick (our fab new Landlord) - oooo Lord Nick maybe?? - was busy working on the floor just behind the door, so when we knocked requesting water he could only open the door an inch or two.  Our bucket is at least a foot across!!!

We popped in to the lovely ladies in Glow (fab hairdressers just up the road from us) who kindly gave us some hot water. At last we could get to work….

As we are on a bit of a slope, the step ladder that was perfectly fine at the top was just a little on the short side towards the bottom!! The situation was made all the more precarious with the addition of pedestrians!!

The mobility scooters - they really do motor along!! We spent a lot of time moving the ladder for them and their occupants, walking sticks, bags,baskets etc. etc. And every time  we moved the ladder they stopped exactly where the ladder had been to chat to us!! Lovely to be so friendly, but it made for slow progress!!

you'll have to imagine the scoot!!

We do love a scoot and thought we might have a window display with one at some point.  Probably more like a Lambretta or Vespa than a Mobility though….Picture the Eiffel Tower, a Lammy and a poodle - thats what we are thinking….

The Oldies - Dursley on a Saturday has its fair share of unstable walkers!!  We had never really noticed this before but they did seem intent on trying to knock us off the ladder when they grabbed hold as they ambled by!!

The Beepers - you know who you are!! All of your heckling and tooting made us smile but on occasion made us jump a mile!! (not very good when you are on the top of a ladder!).

Whoop!! Whoop!!

So, after scrubbing cleaning, peeling and repainting on Saturday, all that was left to do on Sunday was fix up the lettering!! Easy!! We had expert help from Bri and it went up like a dream!!

We are totally thrilled with the result. And we think that it gives you a very good idea of what to expect from the Lily & Violet Vintage Boutique before you set a foot inside the door.  We know from all of the amazing, wonderful comments that we have received that you like it too.

Next stop: moving in!!!! Soooooo exciting!!!

Mary & Lisa x