Bath fair

Thank you to all our stall holders for puttng on a really excellent fair . We had a very busy day and I know dealers both buying and selling thoroughly enjoyed themselves.... also we noticed that members of the public very often stayed all day and found wonderful things to buy. There will be alot of photos on the Fair website so please look at them ... anyone taking pics please send them in......On to november 23rd ... nearly fully booked...........

Last minute arrangements Bath

For all our stall holders......set up on Sunday from 7 if we are ready we will open up early but we only have an hour ourselves this time to finish the set up .... We presume anyone with specific requests has already made them ....there will be credit card facilities available......so enjoy yourselves


To all visitors we look forward to seeing you ....... there will be a fantasitc arrangement of items to buy ........ so stay along time and enjoy ........

Fully booked

The Bath Fair on Sunday 14th is fully booked with a wonderful collection of dealers ..... excitement builds .. I know I shall certainly be doing some shopping there....the really good thing is that the 23rd November Fair is also well on the way to being fully booked . after Sunday i will post just how many stands are left but its not going to be many ..... We have had a great advert in the Bath Weekly free paper and thanks to Susie from Bath one of our stand holders for sending both copies to me ... a good large advert which goes into the homes in Bath Free.....also the Bath Chron has had two weekly adverts in together with numerous other papers .... also Jim and i have walked the streets of Bath in terrible weather conditions putting flyers into houses bars , cafes ,,,,, so lets hope for a good one..........

Please take lots of photos of the fair and we will put them on our bloggs ..... ..

Back to Work

The summer , what summer . anyway back to work .
We start off with the ever popular Bath Assembly Rooms Fair September 14th . Starting at 9 oclock for Trade 10 pounds entry and public at 10 for 5 pounds ......We have a super fully booked fair with tremendous dealers showing a wide variety of great items..... this summer we have all been handing out flyers up and down the country and we are all set for a buzzing event ........Please send your comments and any photos of the fair to the bloggs or websites..

The next autumn Fair is the 23rd November and this is very well booked up already ... please contact me if you want to do this.....

Photos and pics of the summer and our new puppy Violet Elizabeth will be on the blog shortly .........

September 14th Bath Fair and Christmas

To all stall holders, please send your balances to Sallie by 14th July... please contact me urgently if this is not possible , there
is a long waiting list for this fair .........The flyers are all ready and are being distributed this month , adverts are in place and we have been talking to promoters , so we have begun the run up to the fair .... any questions about this event please email through the Ashley Hall website , all queries will be dealt with asap .

The Christmas fair is also in the process of being organised as this will be a very big event , many dealers have expressed interest in this one. NOVEMBER 23RD SUNDAY .. So put this in the diary and please book with Sallie when you know if you are exhibiting........

Victorian ballgown

Victorian gown

I found this wonderful example of a Victorian ballgown . French .... at Newark .... what an amazing dress......purple velvet this will be on my website very soon .....

This week .

Not so mad as last week but very nearly and its Thursday already ....Kempton excellent and amazing number of dealers passing through ,,,, getting up so early is really bad but its all over by 12 so home again early .....
This week off to Portobello on saturday and then Battersea vintage Fair on sunday so we all hope for a good fair and good weather.......

They may be photos of some puppies soon so watch this space all dog lovers.....

An exhausting week.

A car boot sale . Newark . Portobello and Chelsea Frock Me all in four days has left us a bit tired . Getting up so early for everything is the worst .a great fair at chelsea so well done Matthew ......Newark was Newark ,, quite busy .hot for a change and full of intersting things to look at and buy a few.

The early morning start to Kempsford is next so its good night in a minute and up before the bird song starts.........

horrible weather

Getting ready to go to Newark today and of course its raining and the lane is flooded again,,,It is unbelievable just how many times we have travelled to Newark in extreemes of weather whatever the time of the year........
anyway we hope its stopped by the time we set up on Thursday .....So nodoubt we will see some of you up there in the mud and rain..... ,,

Hello again

I am very impressed with my growing computer literacy if thats the right term . Two years ago i did not know how to start a computer ,being actually afraid of doing something wrong, which only comes from not understanding that you really cannot do very much wrong that cannot be corrected .... so today I have started another blog which will be linked to my own website .... www.luciaswardrobe.com which is in the middle of being extensively updated after a long period of neglect........so have a look later.

My website

I have been today updating my website which I should have done along time ago .... i still have alot more to put onto it but at last managed to take off sold items ... over the next few weeks it will have some really interesting items to buy on it , with a hope that it appeals t odesigners as well as those with an interst in ethnic and unusual design ..... so have a look ..www.luciaswardrobe.com.

Bath Fair as usual the reminder to dealers standing .please do not leave paying up your balance until the last moment ...

Also to bear in mind we have the Christmas Fair in the Assembly rooms in Bath on November 23rd a Sunday .... which we are sure will be a great event of vintage fashion , textiles and vintage inspired collections.... Bath always looks wonderful at Christmas and the shops always take great pride in their displays so this event will be very popular ...Please let us know early if you want to book . this time there will be simply booking a stand , as you pay you have your stand reserved,,,,,,...nopost dated cheques on this one as we have a very tight turn around for advertising and promotion.........

Getting up early

We just did our first ever Kempton , unbelievable as I have been trading many years ... Getting up at 2 in the morning was not easy as it all gets going at 5 .... it was good to see alot of traders and a rush to get into the building so more of that please. still recovering from such an early start but I am sure I will get used to it.

Bath Dealers standing at 14th september . please send me your post dated cheques so I can get organised for our bill paying please do not leave this until the last moment .....

Bristol dates to be announced we are looking at different dates ,,,, as we have a few clashes with other events and some bookings with exhibitions at Paintworks so hold this space everyone.,...

News And Bath Fair payments......

On Sunday I went to Westbourne Grove Fair at the 20th Century theatre ... It was an excellent fair with some interesting buyers ,,,,, Its always a good fair to do as the setting is great and not too big ....Also have been to a rather mad auction this week with so many lots in it that it was hard to see what was what ... i managed to buy a few pieces....So for the first time ever I am off to Kempsford ... I have never been there so this will be an experience. My stand is in the Gold building or Room not sure even where it is or what that is ....We have to get up at two in the morning to get there so watch this space,,,,,,,,


BATH September 14th ., I have sent out letters to you all asking for post dated cheques to be sent for the balance .. please do not wait right until July 14th ,,,, We have alot of organising to do and need to make sure all stall holders are definately attending ... There will be no paying for Bath on the Day of the Fair . all monies must be settled by 14th July ..... so please return your envelopes.......If we do not hear from you after that date we will presume that your stand is not required . there is now a waiting list of dealers and as each week goes by new people telephone us ,,,,,,Thank you .... .

A hot weekend

We seem to get all kinds of weather for our Bristol fairs except normal, we have had hail , gails ,ice and snow and this time a baking hot day ........Well done to all that came to sell and buy in the heat ,, a big thank you .......Some pics later ...

NExt weekend , I will be at Anitas Westbourne Grove Fair at the lovely Theatre in Westbourne Grove , a great venue so I am looking forward to that .....Sunday

Images of my new embroideries

Grumpy Doris

Happy Teddy

Last weekend

What a busy weekend . Portobello on Sat and Anitas vintage Fair on sunday ... I was very pleased with the interest in my new purchases of beautiful ethnic clothing . so onwards to this weekend and I am standing at Matthews new and exciting fair Memory Lane at one of my favourite venues ... Chelsea Town Hall . we all think this is going to be a fun event with a diffeent slant on fairs , new and innovative..So make sure Sunday is free to come to Chelsea ........

Two weeks to Bristol Paintworks Fair ...Really looking forward to this , some excellenr dealers with great stock which will make the fair again its usual high and interesting standard ....SAT 10TH MAY... see you there. ......

A great honour

We have been awarded a great honour. Ashley Hall fairs are now able to display the logo of The Association Of Vintage Fairs... this is only given to those who have been seen to be of worthy status. We have worked very hard this year and Ashley Hall approaches its first birthday , we have learned alot , made mistakes and worked hard .Look out for the logo .... a sign of proffesionalism and quality..........

Wonderful things

Today we went to a sale of textiles ,,, a wonderful collection owned by one lady , interesting superb things to buy . it makes it hard to choose when every auction lot has both quality and skill evident ......Unfortunately many of the ethnic peoples making these items are fast disappearing or changing the way they produce their clothing .... it wil not be long before all this cannot be found any more.

The weather today has been so lovely sitting in the garden on our return soon to enjoy a glass of red wine with Doris , our cat and Mr Cheese our next door neighbours cat formely known as Robinson.Some photos to follow as usual ......

Felix the cat and the pigs.........my treat to myself

Tulips and the border at Dena Cottage

The garden at Dena Cottage

wonderful colours and textures of the ethnic minorities

We went to Tetbury today and saw the new shop run by Prince charles ... called Highgrove,,, a superbly decorated shop selling some amazing things ,,, we were impressed...alot of organic produce and related tasteful items,,, of course...
Then onto Artique run by Gearge ,,, the most fantastic shop ...seling wonderful textiles and items from Afganistan and minority tribes and nomadic peoples .... I bought some lovely braid from India with paste stones and very higly decorated.the whole shop is a treasure palace of colours and textures and wonderful magentas and purples...... George was away travelling in India . a very interesting person....

Portobello and Paintworks.

I I had an interesting if not cold day at Portobello on saturday , there were very few dealers about but a large number of tourists especially Italians , I met a charming lady from Venice who bought some of my dresses to wear in the Italian sunshine , how lovely ....

The garden here is looking very beautiful at the moment as the tulips start to flower so we took some photos of our garden in Wiltshire which we will post tonight ....We are now just three weeks until the Paintworks Bristol fair so again if you are thinking of stalling please contact me asap as we only have afew stalls left .....

Trip to bath

Today I went to Bath to do some more flyering and advertising the Bristol Fair... The people I know in Bath are always so helpful , so a big thank you to Teresa of Vintage to Vogue which is in Milsom Streetin Bath , a great vintage clothing and textiles shop . she always promotes our fairs so well. The bars and cafes are always keen to put out flyers again which can only help ...

Sue has been working hard on events in the week of our Bristol fair that all connect up in interest and could make a really interesting weekend for stall holders and customers alike so read her latest blog up dates about the Stroud Textile festival...



Bath fair September 14th .,...... we have a large number aof stall holders who have paid deposits for the fair , if you would like to pay another small amount to the cost of your stand we suggest another 25 pounds would be a good idea and it breaks down the final balance......So I will be seeing most of you soon at various eevents ..... if that suits you .....

more photos

photos of things that I sell ......

Photos of things that I sell ......

These are images of the Chelsea Frock Me Fair and my unit at Portobello... this shows the kind of textiles and vintage clothing that appeals to me ....It can be anything from an early piece to a quite modern dress but everything I buy seems to be very decorative ..and I look always for excellent condition in the clothing or fabric....

Bristol 10th May Fair

Today we spent the whole day in Bristol taking leaflets to places of key importance , everyone was really helpful and keen to display our flyers. The Unis both in Bath and Bristol were keen to display our event and The American Museum in Bath ,Textile room was very pro active. The whole area was covered . We visited an interesting shop in the St Nicholas market in the old part of Bristol . Chrome and Cream , a superb shop selling 50s and 60s retro furniture and lighting , also some fabric ,, they too were really interested in the fair.Paintworks itself are doing a great job of advertising for us as they have their own mailing list for events, the Boccabar was very busy today and we left top up leaflets there. Unbelievably its only 3 weeks until our May 10th fair , time flyes ...This time we are hoping for slighly better weather than we have had on all our previous fairs which must have sewn all the extreemes of weather.

Ardingly

Tired after an Ardingly Fair which was reasonably well attended, the sun did keep shining ...but trade a bit thin on the ground,I found a few super items which are being pressed and ready for next weekends trading..... so back to Portobello on Saturday and ready for Anitas Battersea the following weekend ......

Starting leafletting in Bristol tomorrow for the Ashley Hall Paintworks Fair to be held on the 10th May Sat.So all unis and interesting areas of Bristol will be recieving a flyer tomorrow,,,,,,,,

This weekend

What a very busy weekend . Saturday at Portobello was great and Frock Me was superb , the fair attracted large numbers of serious buyers who spent most of the day in the fair buying and sourcing films and fashion houses plus the excellent buying capacity of the Chelsea public. We were all selling right up to the very end....It was also fun to speak to Yoko Ono which we think ranks very high on the celebrity list ....Matthews cafe was wonderful . had the most delicious sweet pastry , naughty but nice....

Will be posting pics of Portobello and Frock me later today or Wednesday as I am off to Ardingly tomorrow Tuesday ......I shall be standing in the Abergavenney building so lets hope the sun shines for us all .....

Ashley hall Fair news ..... Bath is now even more booked up after Frock Me..... so we well be reviewing over the next few days the number of available stands left ..... do not wait to book this Fair .... also November is now being booked.......
Bristol Paintworks is also being booked heavily again we will be reviewing the stand availablity today on this one and posting it ..... so again please do phone if you are thinking you might do the fair avoid disappointment.....

The Ashley Hall Cafe is looking at its menu and there will be some very tasty goodies for sale ...... but everything will be very reasonably priced to keep your costs down as dealers and buyers...... Sallie.

Frock Me on sunday

I am at Frock Me on Sunday ,standing at Matthew Adams Fair on the Kings Road Chelsea.... a great venue and a great fair ...... so this weekend its been busy packing up the bags and cases again.Matthew has created a wonderful fair with top dealers in a very relaxed atmosphere ..... the cafe is great, tea served in proper cups and saucers and fancy cake to eat what more can anyone want ... also it starts at a civilised time so no rushing around unpacking like a maniac....Hope to see you all there ...

Ashley Hall Fair News,,,,,, Bath is getting booking for November , as well as September the bookings have started for Nov.... shows how good this fair was... also Bristol has only a very spaces left so please contact me asap if you are wanting a stall,,,,,
I am starting my walking around both Bath and Bristol next week delivering leaflets to key places...... so anyone going to fairs please collect from me leaflets if I see you in London or Ardingly which is on Tuesday .... Lifes busy ........


Also the famous Ashley Hall cafe will be making its reappearance on Sat 10th May . after the success of last time we are preparing pizzas , quiche , and home made cakes with the top up the mug system in operation , those that did the fair know how this works, The first cup of drink costs slighly more then we top up for 50 pence per cup all day ... what a bargain.....

Bristol . March 22nd.

Some more images of the excellent standard of stock seen at Paintworks.......and the great cakes......

Bristol fair . March 22nd,

Bath 14th September

Please contact me very soon if you are wishing to do the Bath Fair on the 14th September . We know its ages away but due to the enormous sucess of the event stands are disappearing fast .......We are really pleased with feedback from our stall holders who have reported back very positively both with above average sales and the very friendly nature of the buying public and trade at the fair ...... we did receive alot of thank yous from dealers for having put on a lovely event which makes us feel good as well .I am posting tonight my pics of the last bristol Fair ..
We are still taking bookings for Bristol on May 10th Sat , so please contact me asap for a stand if you know you want to do the fair , we have just a few available places....... This time we hope for good weather so keep your fingers crossed......

This week .....

This week sees us at Newark International Fair in Newark obviously on Thursday . both Sue and I have stands there .... all we pray for is good weather , every time i travell up there the skys open or the gails start so lets have a good fair ....I still find it exciting seeing the different items and people that all turn up onto this show ground .... amazing french furniture ...textiles...... objects for any house or occasion ...
Then its Anitas Westbourne grove fair on Sunday at the theatre ... a great venue ... a busy week for many of us.....
Please remember to contact me if you are thinking about Bath , several more bookings this week and its in september. so dont miss out on a space at this superb Fair....
More news and pics later.....

Bristol fair

We had our fair at Paintworks on Easter Saturday ... a reasonable number came through the door but weather did not help .... A big thank you to all our stall holders again for the great displays and stock shown .... it looked really good and most people had a good day .I think our first attempts at providing cake and drinks went very well so we will continue with the addition of simple sandwiches next time as well . I will be posting some photos of the fair soon so watch this space.....Next fair 10th may . please get your confirmed bookings for stalls to me if you have not already done so ....Thank you

.Bath Fair..

Every day I am having enquiries about the next Bath Fair .... this to any stall holders who know they want to rebook and have not told me or said they would ring just e mail me . Its looking very full even at this stage of the year with a good 6 months to go .....I have already taken bookings from new people who obviously have been told how good it was.

Also please use this blog to make comments about the fairs and if you have any photos please send them in .....

Bristol

Bristol Paintworks Fair is on Saturday... so this week we are all focused on the final details..... lots of advertising has been done and all flyers distributed, so we hope for a good day . Lets hope the weather is better than the torrents of rain this weekend.

A very busy weekend was had by most of us in the trade. i hope you all did well , we had a fun time at Westbourne Grove always a super venue to trade in .....

To all our traders , remember you can set up on Friday but we need to leave at 5, as we have our little grandson staying and would like to see him . so you can come in at 7 in the morning on Saturday and get ready for 9 opening . refreshments will be available at a very reasonable price and credit card facilities available too.

hello

Ciao tutti ..... hello everyone reading the blog.... please make any comments you feel are helpful ... I know alot of you read this. and its good to know what you have thought especially regarding Ashley Hall events.

Again dont forget the fair at Westbourne grove , 20th Century Theatre ........... great fair , small , all great dealers with stock for wearing and design purposes. dont forget the cake.......This sunday
Today Jim and I walked the streets of Bristol put ting flyers in the colleges and student union buildings together with the Arnolfini Gallery . Watershed Cinema and Arts complex, bars and cafes were delighted to take leaflets so a wide variety of potential customers have been covered. Sue has been working on the paper adverts and we are up and running for next week . David has produced a great new flyer for Bristol so please everyone have a look .....we think it hits our customer base more effectively ..........We will be offering a small and simple variety of drinks and snacks for everyone so please check this out ... everything very reasonably priced.....

So look forward to seeing you all at Bristol Saturday the 22nd March.. Tanti auguri ... best wishes.....

Westbourne Grove Fair

A great fair to go to this weekend ..... on Sunday Sue and I are exhibiting at Anitas Fair at the 20th Century Theatre at Westbourne Grove , Portobello, We love this fair as its in such a great setting , a small fair in comparison to the big Chelsea and Battersea Fairs but full of great things and some super design ideas ,,, infact a dealers treasure trove.......So come along to it and shop in a great environment with
Anitas cakes and coffeee which if anyone has been and sampled these will know its the best chocolate cake ever,,,,,,

Bristol fair takes place in two weeks time .... please if you want a stall contact me very soon there is very little space left ... We look forward to a good day with again some really good dealers offering a wide variety of stock ......

Check out the website for our new flyer for the fair a great design by David ........

Bristol Fair

Everyone who came to Bath took a flyer for Bristol and alot of interest was generated for the Bristol Fair at Paintworks on the 22nd March. We look forward to a good fair again with excellent stall holders . credit card facilities will be available for stall holders again like Bath . I hope the reception is better this time as the signal was not good in the Assembly rooms........
For those interested in doing Bristol we have just a couple of stalls left so please contact me if you want to do it
Bristol will then be every two months , check the website for our dates , we are happy to take bookings for any of the dates , it helps us plan our fairs if we know numbers early ...... any comments please use this blog,,,,,
The next Bristol after this one is on the 10th May....obviously a Saturday.,,....

Bath Fair

What a superb fair . A really big thank you to all our stall holders who exhibited a fantastic arrangement of stock . it looked wonderful . Clearly the trade and public that came felt the same as sales were amazing. It was great to see tired but very smiley dealers packing away at the end of the day ,taking home alot less than what they came with . The fair was like the fairs we used to have in the good old days ... a great selection of good early vintage clothing , wonderful 20s dresses , 30s chiffons and super little print dresses . Fantastic textiles , jewellery , bags, accessories lace and trim , mixed with superb quality vintage and designer clothing ...... A treasure house of goodies. It was again great to be wanting to buy so much , that you had choice . no sales rails , no smelly goods , no unironed clothes ..... everything was beautifully pressed and displayed .... Well done all of you ........We look forward to the next fair in Bath on 14th of September . which is 90 % booked up ... shows how good this fair was...... Photos will be on the website very soon ... would welcome some comments from those reading this .... Sallie

Credit card facilities

I have now available credit card facilities for stall holders at our fairs ,there will be a cost of 5% for use , payment will be given at the fairs by cheque but dated five working days later .I hope this will be useful to some of you as very often people do not come with cheque books...

Bath ballroom is now completely full so this will look amazing on the day ...
Please arrive early on the sunday to set up your stand and remove the car to a parking spot. In september there were no problems with this as far as we were aware.........

Bath fair

Hello . As we get closer to our exciting event at the Assembly rooms in Bath ,,, news of whats going on so far.....A leafletting bonzana is taking place ... relevant areas and houses in Bath are being leafletted this week and advertising is in full flow.
As usual the Assembly Rooms are very supportive and very organised , doing all they can to promote the fair .The tourist office ladies are very helpul as they are keen vintage fashionistas,,,, so not long to go now.
If you are a stall holder please arrive early on sunday to park your car and unload with no stress.Also we will have credit card facilities to help you if your customer needs this service..... The resturaunt is ready to cook good meals and has a high standard of cuisine .... so looking forward to seeing our customers and traders on the 2nd March Sunday.....

Happy New Year

Hello everyone and Happy New Year. Our first fair of the year at Paintworks was a great success considering the awful weather , two of our stall holders were snowed in , We drove home on Friday in a blizzard .... anyway this did not stop the vintage fashion enthusiast from coming through the doors.Great music and superb stock made a great day.
Our next fair is gaining strength all the time.. Bath Asembly rooms on 2nd March sunday . a wonderful venue and well booked with excellent dealers with a wide variety of stock . we are busy promoting this fair in every way we can think of ......
Thanks to Edwin for coming to see us at Bristol and being very supportive. it certainly mkes a difference if fair organisers can work together.........