Date Expectations!

The waiting's over! We're delighted to announce that the dates for the 2020 Dawlish Antiques and Vintage fairs have just been confirmed. 

They are as follows:

March 14^th 

April 11^th 

May 30^th 

July 18^th 

September 5^th 

November 7^th

Please pop them in your diary or stick them on your Peaky Blinders/Game of Thrones/cat/dog/fine art (delete as relevant!) Calendar.

Don't forget our last fair of 2019 on Saturday 14th December! It's going to be very Christmassy!

Retro-mendous News!

Very exciting news!  

We've always loved Hello Retro in Teignmouth, especially as every time we visit there are loads of cool and quirky 1960s and 1970s retro items for sale. We've picked up some amazing things there including a  'very groovy baby' Tootal tiger print necktie! 

Well, the last time we visited Nicola, the shop's lovely owner, asked if we'd like to put some of our fab clothes in the shop. Of course, being Hello Retro fans we jumped at the chance and over the last few days we've been collating some clothes which we think will fit right in and they'll be in Hello Retro from this Friday (November 29th), so don't miss out! 

Be there or be square!

Remember remember the 14th of December!

Why? Because that's the new date (it was November 30th...but Santa had already booked The Strand Centre for a crafty up) for the next Dawlish Antiques and Vintage Fair. It's closer to our favourite festive time so we're going to make it  extra Christmassy!

The Strand Centre will be decked out with a Christmas trees and all the trimmings, the stall holders will be wearing their favourite Christmas jumpers (that's news to them but hopefully they'll join in), there'll be mince pies for sale from the cafe and best of all lots of bargains to buy for all your Christmas pressies. Bring a sack and fill your boots! 

We can't wait!

Bags of bargains!

Saturday saw us hitting Totnes and Teignmouth. 

Another early start but well worth it as it gave us more picking time. Totnes first and we always enjoy having a rummage through the market, this time (amongst other things) we picked up a stash of 1930s paper bags (we're always after something a little different)!  

Then it was off to Teignmouth where we had a good look round the charity shops and visited our favourite antiques, vintage and retro shops too. Something for everyone and always a bargain to be found.

Of course a stop-off at The Jolie Brise (Spooneys of course!) was also included. It's thirsty work hunting for lovely vintage and antique items!

All You Need Is Glove!

Once upon a time Northampton was renowned for making leather shoes, Honiton was the place to be for lace making and Martock in Somerset was famous for turning out the finest leather gloves on planet earth (the area used to house an incredible 38 glove manufacturers!). Unfortunately as demand grew for fast fashion cheap poorly made clothes from overseas flooded the market and many long established British firms were sadly lost forever. 

Photo courtesy of The Martock Local History website

Given that we're always on the lookout for vintage 'deadstock', those items which never made it to the market all those years ago, and we couldn't believe our eyes when we came across some vintage leather and suede gloves manufactured by Burfield's, Glove Manufacturers of Martock. 

The gloves still have their original tag from the factory in pounds, shillings and pence and they're in immaculate condition.  As the the sign above the factory door used to say “This is where gloves of quality and superlative design are manufactured by Burfields and the Martock Glove Co.”

Photo courtesy of  The Martock Local History Group website

Burfield & Co, which was liquidated in 2017 and is now sadly closed, was a family owned business that supplied Dents and other high end gloves companies.The factory was recently featured on Salvage Hunters when Drew Pritchard purchased some of the glove making equipment. 

We don't have the equipment but we do have some of the gloves up for sale for just £20 each, which is a ruddy bargain considering how much new leather gloves cost coupled with the fact that...well...once they're gone you'll never sadly never be able to buy new Martock gloves ever again. For more details please contact us...we'd glove to hear from you. 

P.S. You can find out more information from the fascinating Martock Local History website right here!

Who Flares Wins!

Love it or hate it...70's fashion was so iconic!  

Flares, bell bottoms, maxi dresses, amazing fabrics which sound like something from a sci-fi movie (bri-nylon or terylene..anyone?), big hair..big heels...and even big pants...it's no wonder we have to buy it when we see it.

All of these fantastically groovy items are for sale right now so get in touch before they've all gone!

Ready..Deady..Go!

Every weekend we trawl the vintage markets, flea markets, antiques fairs and charity shops to find vintage treasure.  It's not an easy task as we have to look through a great deal of cheap fast fashion items to find the real gems.

Over the last few months however we've unearthed some super cool deadstock, items which have never been sold or used.  When some of the things you find date back to the 1960s and 1970s it's a miracle!

We recently came across a great stash of men's 1970s shirts, nearly 50 years old and still in their original wrapper, leather gloves which we reckon are 30 - 40 years old and have never been sold (as they still have their original sales tags and have come straight from the glove factory) and even ladies' pants in a variety of colours and with groovy packaging.   

All of these 'dead' cool items are for sale right now so contact us for more details!