NEWS

All Change for 2011 September is a hectic, but enjoyable time for us visiting trade shows & agencies looking for new inspirational labels to tempt our customers. As we enter our fourth year of trading at the boutique we think its time for a fresh direction. After listening to our customers wish lists for 2011 we have sourced some gorgeous new labels that are easy, relaxed & affordable. Also new for 2011 by public demand is something for the ‘chaps’ - fashionable but totally wearable, casual relaxed shirts, tops, jackets & jeans from stylish French & Italian brands. To achieve this major change of direction we are clearing occasion wear - view our super bargains online. In conjunction with our new look we are rebranding with a new name, from next year we will be known as - ‘Fashion Dispensary’.

Pure London We have just visited ‘Pure London’ at Olympia to start buying stock for spring/summer 2011. The show was definitely busier than last year - wholesalers & traders were more upbeat with confidence slowly returning at last! The object of the visit was to source brands at a good price point, without compromising on quality. We succeeded in finding a lovely eco fair trade brand that is stylish and affordable. Also a gorgeous Spanish brand will surely become our customer’s favourite label. The Patrick Cox order will have you drooling - luxurious soft tactile leather in wonderful colours & styles - all will be coveted must haves! For autumn we have ordered a really cool & funky acrylic jewellery range in some pretty cool colours. The other highlights of the show are people watching, not the rarefied peacocks you see at London Fashion Week. Never the less some obviously got up very early to get the look - hair dressed & makeup applied to perfection & not just the women! At some point it seemed to be a sea of puffballs, layers upon layers of cotton - hems, frills & knickerbockers! Have we missed a strong trend?

Testament of Talent I experienced fashion heaven when visiting the stunning exhibition celebrating '40 years of Browns' the iconic fashiion boutique on South Molton Street, London. Over the years it has expanded from a single shop into five connecting shops. Browns was actually born from financial disaster - originally the founders Sidney & Joan Burstein had a very successful chain of shops called 'Neatawear', due to their bankers withdrawing funds they went bust causing them to loose everything. As with all driven self employed - you dust yourself down and start again! The new venture would only specialise in the rarefied field of high-end fashion & to survive takes skill & guts. Mrs Burstein with her impeccable discerning eye and Mr Burstein's business acumen they took the business to worldwide acclaim. Mrs Burstein was instrumental in discovering and stocking new talent such as John Galliano, Alexander McQueen, Commes des Garcons to name just a fraction of designers whose careers she launched. Not content with this she also introduced to the UK Ralph Lauren, Calvin Klein, Donna Karen, Missoni - now household names. The exhibition takes you through the four decades of the designers they have represented. Wonderfully lit displays backed by stunning photographic images by 'Paolo Reversi'. The only sad note is that Sidney Burstein died in April and did'nt see this wonderful exhibition - though it is surely a testament to his vision and Mrs B's talent. A limited edition book is available celebrating 'Browns 40 Years' - of course we have a copy!

'What Goes Around, Comes around' The gloriously stylish fashion mag 'Bazaar' has decreed that this Summer is officially a 'Summer love-in', obviously taking inspiration from the heady days of the fab 60's. This period was a totally defining 'youth quake' moment, colour being the key look for women & men - sadly men's fashion is now rather drab compared to this time when dandy peacocks ruled! To mark this period a 'Summer of love free music festival' June 5th/6th will be staged in Carnaby street where the birth of the trendy boutique culture began. The Bath Fashion Museum's current exhibition 'Photographing Fashion - British style in the 1960's' is well worth a visit as a roll call of the best in fashion & on display is a current 'French Connection' dress and the fabric is a blatant copy of a Bill Gibb dress that sits next to it - obviously this period in design is still very relevant being the influence for many of todays designers. David bailey totally changed fashion photography in the 60's - an exhibition at Bonhams London ' Pure Sixties, Pure Bailey' defines his style. June issue of 'Vogue' also takes a retrospective look at his career that began at Vogue in 1962. This Summer is surely looking to be "totally groovy man".

November - The 'Gok' Factor On October 10th we got a mention on Gok Wan's How to Look Good Naked show. One of the stylists chose a cute little red 'Avoca' cardi which was featured on the show - naturally we sold out - the power of television! (View online @ channel 4 How to Look Good Naked - The Gokettes: skirts) Why trudge the streets of major cities when here at Tetbury Gallery Boutique the choice is just as good. Autumn has well and truly arrived, time to wrap up in cosy clothes and brave those chilly/wet days. For us, this season has had a real feelgood factor, customers are buying 'heavy knits' with a vengence - in fact we have reordered on some lines! If you are a fashionist the DVD to watch is 'The September Issue', it puts you in to the shoes of Anna Wintour, Editor of US Vogue - taking you on a journey of how this iconic magazine is put together. Totally addictive - one can watch it several times and still spot something new. For me the highlight is the beautiful work by stylist 'Grace Coddington' who herself was a former Vogue model, her quiet modest manner stole the show.

September - London Fashion Week We have just returned from a weekend at London Fashion Week. This year the show celebrates 25 years with a move to 'Somerset House' on the Strand - elegantly proportioned historic georgian building with lovely light filled rooms, great for showing collections - this venue has a totally different vibe to the original 'Natural History Museum' venue which had a huge amount of energy in a quiky space. If you like people watching as I do, then this show is the tops - lots of gorgeously attired creatures here from chic understated to confident Peacocks! The high level of creative talent showing here is really breathtaking - proving a wonderful hunting ground for something unique for the shop in SS10. The catwalk shows were great - Betty Jackson next season is just gorgeous - it will be in store in February. Sadly due to shop commitments we had to return for Monday - missing our invite to the 'Twenty8Twelve' catwalk show - would have loved to see 'Anna Wintour' sitting next to Alexa Chung & Pixie Geldof. We are really excited to be stocking Twenty8Twelve from February - can't wait it is just totally gorgeous yet affordable. London Fashion Week ends our buying season for SS10 - its been fun selecting some really fab stock for next year - details will be revealed after Christmas. Now enjoy the gorgeous stock we have in for AW09.