Me chattin all things Norwich Fashion Week for the brilliant Wex Photographic.
Don’t laugh, I’m new at this talkin’ to the camera stuff.
The Vintage Show at Norwich Fashion Week
This city I live in is pretty neat. It has heaps of home grown talent in the field of fashion, and to totally indulge and celebrate that fact, there is this kinda pretty cool thing; Norwich Fashion Week! A brilliant week of events, parties, exhibitions and, natch, catwalk shows taking place in the city so everyone who enjoys fashion can come together to do some real big SWOONING. Norwich is abundant with skilled fashion designers, makers, tailors, photographers, stylists, retailers and hair and make up artists, so, there’s a huge pool of talent that teams up to create something really damn good. This year I was involved in a few projects; I, of course showcased some ridiculously pretty vintage dresses from my store in The Vintage Show, I presented a video for Wex Photographic, and, in a more personal project, I teamed up with my good friend Karen to curate a cute and quirky exhibition. ‘A Portrait Of Vintage’ is an adorable gallery installation of vintage dresses and accessories, and we’re pretty pleased with how it came out and the reaction it’s received, hurrah! There’s heaps going on for Norwich Fashion Week and this year it is mostly taking place at the superb and very huge venue of Open; a brilliant destination. Sunday was all about The Vintage Show; prep and rehearsal in the day and then a boomingly impressive show in the evening. I think it was way bigger and better than last year; the space, the layout, the stadium-worthy screen with a live feed and, a whopping loud 70’s soundtrack as the models walked. Ace. In the daytime I worked with Wex Photographic to talk about the show in a cute video, but also to chat on camera with Fashion Photographer Paul Bayfield who was there with 6 lucky Wex competition winners who got to hang with him for the day and learn the ropes of catwalk snapping! A whole heap of fun! Here’s my dresses on the catwalk, super cute right? All available in my online store, but obvs, with vintage, you gotta be fast otherwise somebody else might grab the dress you love, waaah!
Superb show, big thumbs up to all involved.
Brilliant images by kind permission of Paul Bayfield.
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Pretty, Pretty Pictures
So, we ALL love Instagram right? Surely? I totes adore it! So much more pretty than all the other social media streams, and it feels more instant and more satisfying than all the others; no pesky links to click on to reach an article, no faff, just simply things to look at! And you get a real sense of a person from seeing what their eyes see, what they choose to share with you. I have my own Instagram, which I use for this blog; showing my home life, days out, cats and all the little things that make my eyes happy, and now, I FINALLY set one up for my online shop Prim! Oooof! Really don’t know what took me so darn long! It’s the perfect place for you to see regular and easy updates on newly added vintage stock, close-up details of special items, and, some plainly gratuitous inspiration in the form of my favorite vintage dress wearers, my famous muses looking brilliant in vintage dresses…. I mean, it’s just gonna be a plethora, a delight of vintage dresses! Please do join me there and I’ll follow you back! Let’s share pretty pictures!
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Prim Is Back In Town!
Whoop! For you lucky, lovely people of Norwich, it’s that time again, time for fashion frolics all week long, it’s NORWICH FASHION WEEK! Hurrah, and this time, Prim is back on the scene! Since closing the shop and going online, we miss your pretty faces and so we’re very happy to be a part of The Vintage Show on Sunday 8th March at The Puppet Theatre! Tickets sell FAST for this wonderful show, so book yours now otherwise you may miss out and, then we shall all have sad faces! The event is always a really popular night and so much so that this year they have gone ALL OUT and are giving you TWO shows to make sure you get to see it; one at 2pm and one at 7.30pm, and, tickets are just £10, ooosh, what a heap of fun you get for a tenner! This beautiful event is brilliantly sponsored by Wex Photographic, who ran a very cool Facebook competition for fashion fans to win a photography workshop with photographer Paul Bayfield; and those lucky winners will be at the catwalk side snapping away! Sponsorship doesn’t get much cooler than that!
So, this week I shall be selecting what gorgeous dresses to showcase in the fashion show, with my list of all the very stunning gals who will be modelling! It’s always fun to choose a selection, deciding how all the dresses will sit together as a group whilst also trying to show off as many different styles, textures and prints as possible! Here’s some snapshot sneak peeks as I prepare for the show, will these dresses be included in my selection? The only way to find out is to COME ALONG and see us, we’re excited to see you!
Check out our Facebook page for your chance to WIN TWO TICKETS to the evening show! See you there!
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The Hilton Affair, 1963
I bloomin’ love it when I source a vintage dress and also find out its story, it makes that dress come even more alive and adds a real sprinkle of magic! This dress came into my possession a short while ago and has a story so cool that I can’t yet bear to part with it! I bought this dress from it’s original owner, a lady in her mid 60’s who pulled it out of her bag and said ‘This dress has a romance to it‘….
Well, add her words to the fact that this dress is ridiculously cute and gold…..BOOM, I wanted it!
This dress, this little darling, is the epitome of it’s era. A sparkly cocktail dress with a tulip shaped skirt, stunning simple neckline and buttons and bow detail, I can just picture it being worn with a blonde beehive and kitten heels! Made by ‘Frank Usher London’, the tailoring is adorable and it even hangs beautifully on a hanger, a really defined little shape! The dress also has a ‘Harrods London’ label in it so it would have been made by Usher to sell in the Knightsbridge store exclusively; which is where it’s previous owner fell in love with it.
She was in the dreamy department store with her lover of the time and saw the dress, she adored it and so he bought it for her. He was taking her to the opening of London’s Park Lane Hilton Hotel. Wow! On April 17th 1963 she wore it to the opening of this amazing hotel with her lover….‘he was extremely famous by the way‘ she told me as she left….‘oooh who was it?’ I asked, to which she smiled and whispered; ‘I can never tell anyone, he was married‘…
So this little cutie of a dress, not only attended a fascinating and no doubt ridiculously glamorous event, but it was worn on an illicit date by a girl who was madly in love with her famous, secret lover! What this dress must have been witness to… how wonderful and thrilling!
I found some images of the Park Lane Hotel and it’s opening event on this great site, it’s a big shame the lady wouldn’t let me have a photo of her in the dress with her man; I guess that’s a secret that her and the dress will forever keep to themselves.
All images of Park Lane Hilton by very kind permission of ©famoushotels.org
- an invitation to the opening
- the opening dinner menu, prepared for 900 people
- the main dining room at The International Restaurant
- The London Tavern dining room
- sitting room of a suite on the 27th floor
- Trader Vic’s the Polynesian restaurant
- newspaper cutting
- the very first brochure, 1963
You can find other equally gorgeous 60’s cocktail dresses to wear at The Hilton like this pink one, in my online vintage shop!