Christmas has gone and has left you with the wrong presents, while the after-Christmas sales weren’t really as good as you expected? Don’t worry, you have almost the whole week to organise yourself and make sure you don’t miss the London Vintage Fashion, Textiles & Accessories Fair, taking place on Sunday 11th January at Hammersmith Town Hall.
The event is the brainchild of antique dealer Paola Francia-Gardiner and Alberto Ricca, who under the name P & A Antiques have been organising throughout the last few years many exciting events.
During the late 70s, Paola bought and sold vintage fashion, building a great network of dealers and contacts. When in the mid-to-late 90s the sales of the vintage fashion market dramatically dropped due to changes in trends and dealers were left with unwanted stock, Paola decided to launch an innovative fair that offered visitors not only vintage clothes, but also accessories and clothes. The event was very successful and it was replicated throughout the years. Indeed P& A Antiques organised during the last nine years around 12 vintage fashion fairs a year, as well as other fairs dedicated to antique textiles, tribal art, decorative antiques and even a contemporary designers’ fair. Paola's brilliant intuition got her the merit of having coined the term “vintage fashion”. The London Vintage Fashion, Textiles & Accessories Fair takes place every four to five weeks and it’s a definitive source of inspiration and one-off bargains as it features hundreds of vintage fashion dealers from the UK and abroad selling under the same roof items - from clothes to shoes, from hats to costume jewellery, textiles and trimmings - spanning from the 1800s to 1980.
Prices are obviously more competitive than in shops and at auctions and the atmosphere is relaxed and informal, so the fair definitely offers the chance to make a bargain for everybody and to meet like-minded fashion lovers, but also fashion and costume designers or fashion students. The fair is also open to non-dealers who are usually able to sell vintage clothes and accessories they may have found in their attic at a special designated stand.
Are you looking for that very special present you didn’t get at Christmas or haunting for a bargain? Are you a vintage addict desperately searching for that perfect item to create your unique look or are you simply too skint to buy anything but still want to take a few notes on fashion history? Well, try not to miss this week’s vintage fashion fair at Hammersmith, chances are you’ll find there what you’re looking for.
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