I don't think I've ever checked BBC weather so much in one week even with my own obsession with humidity levels (if I know that there are gonna be smelly arm pits on the Tube, I want to avoid that, ta very much...). Londoners will know how topsy turvy the weather has been though the past couple of days... storms, humid, heavy sticky air, harsh sunshine, grey clouds... the full British unpredictable works, which made predicting the weather for yesterday's yard sale activities a hellish clicking journey. I had on 'DOOM' face when I woke up on Sunday to my windows being battered with rain. Lo and behold though, once 9.30am rolled around, the sun was streaming into the flat and I think I may have done a fist in the air punch, thinking 'Yes this was meant to BE!'
Kit from Style Slicker, Fiona from Save Our Shoes! and Zara from Geisha Rock were the first ones to arrive... then the peeps from Sketch Events VERY VERY kindly came with some tables for sale. I innocently thought we were gonna do this on the lo-fi-lo-lo with some bedsheets spread out on the concrete floor, without thinking of the wetness... so yes, the tables were a saviour. The boys got on with the testosterone-driven BBQ... "Man make fire. Woman... err... sell clothes!".
Now, I first want to apologise for the timings of the sale. We did close up earlier than the pre-announced 6pm time because I didn't expect that people who be turning up WAAAY early... like actually bang on 10am time and basically raid the sale. I thought in a hungover state, people would be sauntering by in a casual post 12 noon fashion. So before I had even got everything out, people were going through the bags that I had out. Then Nadia of Frou Frouu and Shini of Park and Cube also turned up with their goodies. I thought it was great that everyone bought quite different things and there was that exact mix of vintage, designer, high street, indie designer... or for selfish reasons, it's the mix that I so love for myself...
FYI, way to go with sale professionalism... Shini, Kit, Zara Fiona all had TAGS. Kit and Fiona also had BANNERS for their stalls. I had err... large Ikea bags for ppl to rummage through and me going "That skirt is.... one pound.... oh no, it's Ann Demeulemeester isn't it? Ok, two pounds..." Then they would turn around and give me money and I would be like "What did I say? Did I say a pound?" Punter would give me a confuzzled look and I would look at a tenner not knowing how to subtract numbers. This happened A LOT.
See how Fi and Kit need no introductions with their nifty banners...
Shini and Nadia... some very excited ppl came along wanting to meet these two blogging superstars...
Apologies to Zara for not snapping her properly but here she is on the right doling out some change...
So glad I hauled out some of my Japanese magazines for sale as it made some ppl very happy... again, only a pound a pop...actually, my most favoured pricing was £1... no need to bother with 50 pence coins AND people are likely to have a pound rolling around somewhere, giving me much needed change...
Here's me doing my trader act... "You can have that for.... a Paaaaaaaaand!"
See the difference between pictures? These two below were taken by pros like Shini who know how to use their camera (and can tell the difference between fancy lens...). I like to opt for the 'Auto' mode...
She also very craftily snapped my neighbours in my building peering down wondering what all the kerfuffle was... actually I did pre-warn them with a flyer and some came down to get into the rummaging act. "How long have you lived here?" they ask. "Two years!" I say. "Oh... and we've never seen each other before!". Yup, this is neighbourly love London-style. They did say they thought I should do this more often... hmmm... mind is cogitating about that...
So glad the Vivienne Westwood dress went to a smiley owner home... I think I may have sold this for £20... which someone said was too little. I wasn't out to make a huge amount of money and to be honest, I myself LOVE the feeling of a bargain which are just too few and far between in London now even if you're a hardcore thrifter so it kind of gave me a buzz to say "You can have those Preen trousers for a fiver..."
(Again, superb photo taken by Shini...)
On the non-sale front, I have to thank Vicky Riches (above), the Kingston fashion student who did these wonderful sketches of me for coming down to the sale as she wanted to sketch some of the sale goers...
She really added a different element to the sale with the presence of her sketches tacked up onto the concrete wall in an impromtu way and she worked so fast, sketches of bloggers and sale-goers were done in a matter of minutes. I was also in awe of her Jean Paul Gaultier sheer jumper that she got from a Sloane Square charity shop... must head down that Westerly way soonish myself!
Shini and Nadia sitting on the weed-ridden concrete ground...
Me with my sketch that needs to be framed...
Instead of manning my stall in a semi-professional way, I was also off snapping sale-goer deets and exclaiming "I love what you're wearing!"... such as these pale green Church's...
...some Miu Miu oldies that I'm cursing myself for not getting...
Multi-strapped booties that this girl wore from the night before...
Lira Leirner of blog The Portmanteau had on a bracelet, of which I don't remember the designer but (Lira informs me the designer is Yorkshire Pearl) I love how encrusted with 'stuff' it is...
Some peeps from Tabio came down and did some representin' with these over the knee socks... I was also wearing Tabio socks incidentally...
Alice (of Alice Point) and her sister came all the way from Poland on their first trip to London... armed with an A to Z of course. They came to the sale to see Shini who they were v. excited to meet...
On another non-sale front, of course the food was integral to the whole event...I'm not going to be selling clothes without a juicy sausage and ketchup bap in one hand and a fistful of change in the other. So Steve and our friend John prepped the sausages in the oven beforehand and also made some homemade lemonade...
Tommy of This is Naive then came along with another efficient food joint set up with take-out boxes for the peanut sauce and cucumber chunks (SO good with the satay...) and her amazing chicken satay on skewers... I think I saw someone pouring the peanut sauce from the box into their mouth, it was that good...
Along with Tommy, of course Ferry the ferret had to come along... actually she was a star attraction all by herself with her changing outfits of fleece blanket to denim jean cosy...
After Alison of Popcorn Stories wasn't able to make it to bake some cakes, Anna of blog Magpie stepped up to the challenge of providing the baked goods and came by with a basket full of treats... Victoria sponge, a ridiculously good chocolate cake and some passion fruit cookies that had an unexpected citrus tang... turns out Anna also was a fellow HBS-er, one year above me... can't quite articulate what a weirdly specific experience going to Henrietta Barnett was... you just had to be there to know it...
Of course, I don't just host a joint bloggers yard sale without the remote possibility of some of their wares coming home with me... I'm now blessed with a piggie cookie jar that I'm using to store sweeties from Kit, a cute little mug from Fi...
I also got myself a Joseph wool dress (as photographed again by the talented Shini)
...and a Jaeger hat that is high enough for me to wear my hair in a big bun underneath, both were stellar items that I got from Kit...
Anyhow, apologies for such a long post on an event that is insignificant in the scheme of things. However, like I said before, making this a repeat thing is a distinct possibility... with different bloggers perhaps... in an indoor venue... with a music programme... more illustrators/creativies... more cakes... different kinds of sausages maybe...
Basically, I'm on an organisation high at the moment and whilst it might pass, I'll bear in mind that this could be a regular thing seeing as I do actually love making things happen in a peculiar way...
