Essex and Suffolk Charity of the Year

The Secret Vintage Fair is coming back with a bang to Colchester this 2017 starting on Sunday 7th May 2017 in Colchester Town Centre, and we are thrilled to announce our charity we will be supporting this year- Autism Anglia.  At all Essex and Suffolk events we will be supporting them in a variety of ways from a proportion of the door fee, to raffle prizes and more!

Autism Anglia are an independent charity who work throughout East Anglia to ensure that people on the autism spectrum are valued, supported and celebrated as integral members of a diverse world.

Services in Essex, Suffolk and Norfolk, managed from offices in Colchester and Dereham, offer personalised approaches that provide each individual with the necessary skills and strategies to enable them to realise their own strengths and abilities.

The charity also seeks to promote a greater knowledge and understanding of autism through training, education and supplying information to the public and professionals.”

Autism Anglia have said “As a local independent charity we love to collaborate with local businesses to raise funds and spread acceptance of autism. We are really excited to be teaming up with The Secret Vintage Fair for this fantastic event!”

Pop over and give them a like on Facebook and join us at the Secret Colchester location to support them.  Don't forget to sign up to our mailing list to be first to know our secret location.

Line Up

If you've been to the fair before you'll know we are more than just a shopping event.  We bring together a selection of cracking musicians and entertainers for the day..... we know you like to plan your day so here is the line up

Style Destination Vintage Style

This 24th April-3rd May brings Colchester Style Destination, showcasing the best of fashion and design in Colchester, The Scert Vintage Fair are proud to be involved with this event with lots going on at the fair on Saturday 25th April in Colchester Town Hall.

FASHION

With an eclectic mix of vintage, reproduction vintage and artisan made fashion and fashion accessories showcasing in Colchester Town Hall on Saturday, it's the  perfect opportunity to style them together in a fashion show on the main stage of the iconic Moot Hall.  At the Secret Vintage Fair we believe style can be sustainable and reinvented as well as beautiful, most pieces are vintage or handmade so have a lower environmental impact. In addition the fashion show will aim to raise the awareness of and some money for The Tom Bowdidge Foundation through donations from the traders involved and any donations from the public who view the show. 

BEST DRESSED

Vintage is such a personal thing and we think that it is not just the retailers who should dictate the style but YOU the customers who wear it. As such during fair and the remaining period of Style Destination we will be picking a ‘Best Vintage Dressed’ winner. Those interested in taking part can put themselves forward, plus we’ll be buttonholing the lookers ourselves! Entry is £1, all of which goes to The Tom Bowdidge Foundation, the entrants photo will be taken for us to look back on and use for social media purposes. The Best Dressed shortlist will be selected by our judges and announced on our Facebook page at the end of Style Destination on Saturday 2nd May. Likes and votes for favourites will be taken into account before the final decision is made. The vintage victor will receive a £20 voucher from one of our sponsors, East Coast Diner, plus receive VIP entrance to the next Secret Vintage Fair where they can have a professional photograph taken by SJR Photography.

STYLE SELECTION

At the fair we intend to stage an area as a studio style set up. Our styling team will be wandering around the fair to pick out and select the best outfits, accessories and homewares to shoot in an editorial style way. For the fashion shoots we will be using models from the fashion show and styling them in various traders’ key pieces using SJR Photography to photograph them. The background will be kept plain and muted so that the garments and accessories stand out. Plus for the homewares, these will also be co-ordinated and curated into still life shots with a very editorial feel. The aim is to produce a selection of strong imagery that we can use for Secret Vintage News (our online fair zine), for PR to pitch to a cross section of media contacts, our website and social media channels. All involved will have appropriate accreditation.

ENTERTAINMENT

Not only will you be able to walk around and peruse the retailers at the fair but we are also have a jam packed line-up of entertainment on the day which we hope inspires our customers to try something new. From our family-friendly non-risque burlesque which aims to inspire body confidence, to the dapper riders on penny farthings throughout town showing style doesn't have to stop just because you are on the move.

AND MORE...

We are ony part of Style Detsination, head to their Facebook page to see lots going on in Culver Square, Lion Walk, and throughout town, bringing together a huge range of retailers in Colchster

Share your vintage style throughout Style Destination with using the hashtag #secretvintage and  #styledestination tagging us on Instagram and Twitter @SVF_Essex

Fun of the Fair

With just a few days to go you should know by now that we are hosting the infamous Secret Vintage fair at Colchester Town Hall in the High Street in an iconic baroque building with plenty of history and grandeur. Taking place on 25^th April 2015, foor open at 10:30!

TOWN HALL.

A focal point in central Colchester, the Town Hall makes an impressive venue for the event from the moment you arrive, as you step in and sashay up the Italian marble staircase to explore and probe merchandise from our traders, watch the performances and indulge in the catering specially prepared for the Secret Vintage Fair.

 ENTERTAINMENT

Our aim being to cover more than just one traditional era or style to bring a dose of vintage with a modern twist. Our trusty host throughout the day is the glamorous Talluah Goodtimes who will be playing and announcing other acts and musicians to keep our guests amused.  DJ Tallulah Goodtimes is the Queen of the Goodtimes Swing, an accomplished Elcectro-Swing DJ who expertly mixes vintage classics with modern electro beats. This talented lass also sings, so as well as hearing her tunes and introductory dulcet tones, we’ll get a blast from her lungs.

Watch out for new family friendly Burlesque group, showcasing a completely non-risque routine perfectly suitable for young eyes, plus folksy jazz duo The Twisty Turns.

There’s no better way to showcase some of our vintage clothing sellers than with a live fashion show.  Visitors will be treated to a selection of the best looks and styles from the past brought straight to the catwalk. Outfits will of course be available to buy direct from the seller and we’ll be flagging them all so you know exactly who to go to. The fashion show will be hosted by the delectable Alice D’Lumiere from ‘Nothing Up Our Sleeves’.

REFRESHMENTS

There will be a vintage style tea room presented by local business Ruby’s Vintage Tea Party who will be stocked up with a delicious variety of cakes and treats, light lunches, traditional teas and coffees.

For those partial to something a little stronger there will be an artisan vegan organic real ale bar propped up by the award winning Pitfield Brewery. Enjoy a selection of guilt-free bottled beers and ales on tap as this thoughtful and environmentally friendly company work their way to operating as a carbon neutral business.

BEST DRESSED

We will be holding a ‘Best Dressed’ competition on the day. Those interested in taking part can put themselves forward although we’ll be buttonholing the lookers ourselves! Enter for £1, all of which goes to The Tom Bowdidge Foundation, your photo will be taken for memory and social media purposes. The Best Dressed shortlist will be selected by our judges and announced on our Facebook page the following week. Likes and votes for favourites will be taken into account before the final decision is made. The victor will receive a £20 voucher for East Coast Diner, VIP entrance to the next Secret Vintage Fair where they can have a professional photograph taken by SJR Photography.

CHARITY SUPPORT

We are pleased to be supporting the Tom Bowdidge Foundation this year. A locally based charitable trust launched by Tom’s parents, Richard and Nikki on the anniversary of his 20th birthday. Tom died of a desmoplastic small round cell tumour and extensive peritoneal disease in October 2013, at the young age of 19. Headquartered in Colchester the Foundation’s goal is to raise funds to support research projects and to provide physical and emotional support to teenagers and young people with cancer. More info can be found at the website.  We hope to raise as much money as we can for this magnificent foundation through a proportion of the door fee takings, donations given to the team onsite, an organised raffle, Best Dress competition and a percentage of sales from other onsite activity.

EVENT DETAILS

Saturday 25th April, doors open at 10:30am – 16:00pm, with the first 25 visitors through the door given a special goody bag featuring gifts and discounts from sellers on the day. The entrance fee is just £3 (with a proporation going to our chosen charity), accompanied under 15s go free, plus watch for the special discount voucher in The Gazette prior to the event to receive £1 off entry.

Announcing our next event...

Christmas Fair: Festive Teaser

It's nearly here!!  Our Christmas fair on the Saturday 29th November and we thought we’d give you a little sneak peak of all that is going on at our venue Liquid, High Street Colchester.

A Very Vintage Venue

Built in 1905 as the Grand Theatre, Liquid has been many things in it’s over 110 year history, from cinema to discotheque and now, once again it will be full of our festive vintage fair!

We will have two floors of stalls ranging from vintage clothes, beautifully made crafts, eclectic homewares and much more for you to enjoy. It’s a perfect way to start your Christmas shopping though we can’t promise you won’t want to keep it all for yourselves. The second floor also has a beauty parlour to make sure you look divine for the day including vintage hair styling, make up and a new addition for the fair, a nail bar.

Once you’ve shopped till you dropped at the stalls and glamoured at the beauty area, you can settle down for a scrumptious piece of cake and refreshing cup of tea with the pop up tea rooms from Ruby’s Vintage Tea Party.

More than Just Shopping

We have entertainment on the day from the wonderful Fox, Wiggle and Sass, a 3 piece who sing the 40s, rock and roll the 50s and swing the 60's as well as some Christmassy numbers to keep us all moving. 

Comparing for the day, as well as singing herself, is the spectacular Tallulah Goodtimes, who will be keeping the music flowing throughout the day in her usual brilliant style.

Also a new addition to the fair this time, will be dance workshops from A2 Jive who will be hosting two 45 minute workshops during the day- the first at 11am is Swing Jive and at 2pm it’s Wartime Dance Party. Each session costs £3 per person and it is recommended you bring a partner.

Charity

As always with Secret vintage events, a proportion of the door fee and proceeds from the charity raffle goes to charity- this time we are supporting Age Uk Colchester. Although known as Age UK Colchester the charity is a small, independent charity affiliated to the national body and is responsible for its own finances and fundraising. It receives a small grant from Age UK England and another small grant from Colchester Borough Council but must raise the rest of its funding itself and is therefore heavily reliant on donations and grassroots fundraising. Age UK Colchester operates a number of services to benefit the older people of Colchester and its surrounding environs, including an Information Service; an Advice and Advocacy Service; a Consumer and Energy Advice Service; a Legal Advice Surgery; an Osteopath Surgery; and various social clubs and activities throughout each month

See you TOMORROW!!!

Location Reveal!

We can now let you know that our next fair on the Saturday November 29th 2014 will be at...Liquid, High Street Colchester.

A Vintage Venue

Built in 1905 as the Grand Theatre, Liquid has been many things in it’s over 110 year history, from cinema to discotheque and now for once again it will be full of our festive vintage fair!

We will have two floors of stalls ranging from vintage clothes, beautifully made crafts, eclectic homewares and much more for you to enjoy. It’s a perfect way to start your Christmas shopping though we can’t promise you won’t want to keep it all for yourselves. The second floor also has a beauty parlour to make sure you look divine for the day including vintage hair styling, make up and a new addition for the fair, a nail bar.  Once you’ve shopped till you dropped at the stalls and glamourfied at the beauty area, you can settle down for a scrumptious piece of cake and refreshing cup of tea with the pop up tea rooms from Ruby’s Vintage Tea Party.

Charity

And don't forget as always with Secret Vintage events, a proportion of the door fee and proceeds from the charity raffle goes to charity- this time we are supporting Age Uk Colchester. Although known as Age UK Colchester the charity is a small, independent charity affiliated to the national body and is responsible for its own finances and fundraising. It receives a small grant from Age UK England and another small grant from Colchester Borough Council but must raise the rest of its funding itself and is therefore heavily reliant on donations and grassroots fundraising.

£3 entry, free for accompanied under 15's.

Christmas Fair: Colchester Charity Update

The Secret Vintage Fair are thrilled to be supporting Age UK Colchester for the next fair on Saturday 29th November at a secret location to be revealed on Friday 14th November in the Gazette.  We spoke to the Age UK Colchester tea to get a bit more nformation about who we are supporting this time round.

Independent Charity

Although known as Age UK Colchester the charity is a small, independent charity affiliated to the national body and is responsible for its own finances and fundraising. It receives a small grant from Age UK England and another small grant from Colchester Borough Council but must raise the rest of its funding itself and is therefore heavily reliant on donations and grassroots fundraising. Where applicable charitable grants are applied for but in the current economic climate these are increasingly hard to get. 

Age UK Colchester operates a number of services to benefit the older people of Colchester and its surrounding environs, including an Information Service; an Advice and Advocacy Service; a Consumer and Energy Advice Service; a Legal Advice Surgery; an Osteopath Surgery; and various social clubs and activities throughout each month as well as hosting a Toenail Cutting Service. Some of the social clubs and activities operate on a weekly basis, such as the social drop-in coffee mornings, Chairobics fun seated exercise sessions, Men in Sheds venture and a knitting group at the Waiting Room, where all ages welcome. Other groups include Activ8 and two Knit and Natter Groups. A befriending service is also in the process of being set up. 

If you would like to know more about our services or are interested in becoming one of our volunteers, without whose loyalty and dedication the charity would not be able to function, please do not hesitate to contact us on 01206 368420 or email enquiries@ageukcolchester.org.uk

Find us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/pages/AgeUKColchester

Thanks to Age UK Colchester for telling us a bit more about the support they give. We are thrilled we can help continue a local independent charity to grow and support the community.  Please do like them on Facebook and come along to the fair to help us raise as much money as possible for them (a percentage of the door fee and 100% of raffle proceeds go to Age UK Colchester on the day).

Summer Teaser: Colchester

With only 4 days to go till our first fair of this year, we thought we would treat you to a little tease of the day's plans for our next fair at…St Helena School, Colchester.

Tom "Swing Gypsy" Bond

Mr Swing Gypsy aka the lovely Tom Bond will be delighting us all with his musical prowess throughout the day, showing off his self-taught DJ skills playing some of the finest electronic swing, jazz, blues, gypsy and Balkan music he can muster. Find him on the main stage all through the day.

Hannah Iris

And then we'll be soothing you with dulcet tones of the fabulous Hannah Iris. She specialises in 1940's music, including all the classics and looks just the part. She has 2 sets on the day, look out for the times as you walk in.

More Music and Fun

All of the corridors of the fabulous St Helena are going to be filled with music as we have a brilliant selection of buskers serenading you as you walk your way around. Plus this August see the return of the fashion show and we couldn't be more excited. Expect to see delights from the likes of Best Day's Vintage, Kitty's Cottage, Mary Lou and more, each with their own theme, modelled by a beautiful array of lovely people and the best part? You can buy the items afterwards as they will all be for sale on the day. 

Tea Rooms

We don't just like to keep your shopping arms happy at the Secret Vintage Fair, we also have your tummy's in mind with our delightful pop up vintage tea room from our scrumptious local, Ruby's. They will be serving up a delicious selection of cakes and sandwiches, all washed down with a vast selection of tea in their beautiful vintage tea sets.

Workshops

Another thing which is back after its hiatus is our workshops being run by Cherry on Top Millenary, who is running fascinator workshops and Cakey Girls, who are showing you all the favourite vintage hairs styles. Both of these can be booked through our Facebook page.

The Main Event

Now it's time to hear about the main event, our fabulous vintage traders. We have over 50 bringing the best, vintage and retro pieces they can find from their stores. Think vintage items that you've been dreaming to buy, reproduction dresses that will fit you like a glove, cute homewares that will brighten up your rooms and so much more. Don't forget the first 25 people in our entry queue receive highly sort after, exclusive goody bags full of unique gifts from our traders and select businesses.

Doing our bit

As always we are supporting a local charity, Colchester Mind., the leading mental health voluntary organisation for Colchester who has been helping to improve the lives of people throughout North Essex since 1985. Not only will a percentage of the entrance fee go to the charity, all of the raffle and other delightful donations all through the day.  

As always we like to give you more, so our infamous raffle is back with its usual array of spectacular prizes which include afternoon tea at Jaqueline's Tea Room, family photography gift experience worth £16, custom made felted mounted deer head and more. Tickets can only be bought on the day for the price of 50p a ticket, all of which goes to our chosen charity, Colchester Mind

Looking forward to seeing you on Saturday for the return of the best vintage fair in town!

Charity Calendar and Lots of Thank Yous!

Hello Secret Vintage Fans!

CHARITY CALENDAR

We've got big hearts here at SVF HQ and many of you will know that we, donated a lot time and resources to produce a charity calendar for the St Helena Hospice this year!

So to let you know, the calendar is now on sale in the following places in Colchester- who all feature in the calendar themselves!

OUR STOCKISTS:

Caffe Sala, Eld Lane.

Lesley's Girls Vintage - GO4 Market Cafe, Trinity Church. 

Memoirs Restaurant & Cocktail Bar , West Stockwell Street.

Minories Art Gallery, 74 High St.

The Old Auction Rooms, See Celeste from Divine Intervintage, 12-14 East Hill 

Revolver Retro, 35a Sir Isaacs Walk. 

What's your Tale Nightingale- GO4 Market CafeTrinity Church. 

If any one else would like to be a stockist please do get in touch!

They cost just £4 each and will make great stocking fillers for your loved ones this Christmas, but wait for it…the best bit is 100% of the proceeds from the sale of your calendar goes to the hospice! 

This has only been possible, thanks to the generous donation of the following people:

Alphaprint - who kindly produced 300 limited edition copies for us- with 100 already sold you'd better be quick if you want to get your hands on one!

Betty's Rock n Rollers - who donated all hair and make up products and expertise for all the shoots

Just Jaq - amazing photography and art direction from the lovely Jackie 

All of our amazing models and locations used- too many to mention- but all are credited on the back of the calendar!

From the bottom of our hearts- we salute you all for your time, money and expertise donated to help make this wonderful calendar happen, in just a matter of a few short weeks.

If we sell out, that's another £1200 also raised for the Hospice, so hurry up and buy one quickly!

AND A BIG THANK YOU!

Just wanted to say a HUGE thank you to everyone who came, saw, explored, traded, purchased, slurped tea, munched cakes, and enjoyed the fair last weekend in the Town Hall Colchester. 

Over 1000 customers came through the door, and we are thrilled to announce that over £2000 has been raised for St Helena Hospice from the event, with their stall and the portion of door monies and charity raffle all combined! This is utterly fantastic! 

We also raised an additional £150+ for Movember UK- though donations online and through the MO KING contest on the fay of the fair. We had some brilliant entries-here's our MO KING winner Ben Locker who win himself our coveted Secret Vintage MO KING T-shirt, for individually raising the most money for Movember UK.

We'd like to say a big thank you to Photo Booth Party Hire for helping us to raise the funds for Movember by admirably donating their profits from the day to the cause. Here's our MO KING runner up, our MO PRINCE, Chris! 

We'd also like to thank Clare's Vintage Tea Party for donating 10% of her profits to the hospice too.  We'd like to you with a few more pics of the inside of the fair- what a fantastic venue the Town Hall is!

Ciao for now! See you in the Spring at our next fair! Watch this space for more details!

Christmas Secrets!

If you are a reader of the Essex County Standard or Colchester Gazette, you'll know that our secret is out!  The next fair is to be held at:

Town Hall, High Street, Colchester

There has been a town hall on the site for more than 800 years, but the present Baroque town hall has adored the High Street since 1898 and become one of its most iconic location - beside Colchester Castle and Jumbo. The fair will be spread over 2 floors and play host to 50 of the finest vintage, retro and vintage inspired craft traders, and will be accompanied by entertainers (including the fabulous Caro Emerald Tribute act) and opened by the Lady Mayoress and some our Secret Vintage friends, plus the first 25 entrants to the fair get one of the much coveted goody bags with vintage goodies and delights, and they are not just filled with vouchers and leaflets but samples of products made or sold by our trusted traders.

The fair is supporting St Helena Hospice, with a proportion of the door fee going direct to the charity as well as 100% of raffle ticket donations and traders are offering differing charitable aspects to their own stalls to help support this worthy cause.

Look out for our preview of what you can look forward to on the day here soon, but in the meantime join our Facebook "share to win" competition at this link. You can win a luxurious 2 course lunch for two at the newly opened restaurant next door to the town hall in the Old Library- Memoirs, a fine dining restaurant and cocktail bar.  All you need to do to be in with a chance of winning is like and publicly share this image.  We will put all names in a random competition winner generator and the winner will be drawn on Friday 29th November. Good luck!!

AND THERE'S MORE... we are delighted to be working with not just one but two local restaurants this Christmas.  The Lemon Tree in Colchester are offering a fantatsic 2 for 1 meal deal to all Secret Vintage Fair customers on the 30th of November.  So don't forget to come to the fair and book a table for lunch or dinner at the Lemon Tree to round off your day.

This One Wall

The hoardings outside 15 Queen Street in Colchester is home to a unique outdoor exhibition space, animating the walk to Firstsite. The Secret Vintage Fair are collaborating with the This One Wall team to fill this space in the month of November. And in turn we are asking our fans, followers and the people of Colchester to help us fill this space.

The current exhibition on This One Wall showcasing The Colchester Film Festival

We are looking for submissions of photographs showing vintage or historical fashions from Colchester locals. So dust off your photo albums, get scanning and send any submissions to alex[at]creative.coop. Along with the image please let us know the name, date and location (if known) of the people in the images. We may branch out to Essex locals so don't be discouraged from sending your submission in even if you are a bit further afield!

The deadline in 31st October 2013. We're looking forward to seeing your submissions, and we will share the exhibition on here too once it's up.

Preview: Saturday 27th July in The Old Hippodrome

As always before our events we present to you a little teaser of what you can expect at The Secret Vintage Fair this Saturday at The Old Hippodrome on the High Street!

THE VENUE!

As a building of over 100 years old it is filled with delightful nooks and crannys for vintage intrigue.  We have the use of the entire venue from the main stage where our music acts will perform, to the upper dress circle (as it was previously called when it was a theatre) to The Gods above the stage.

LIQUID NIGHTCLUB as it used to be!

SHOPPING....

We have a uniquely customised selection of vintage, craft and handmade sellers which fit with our event, the venue and the location.  And as always we only ever provide you with the finest purveyors of excellence, and many new ones this time too!  Don't forget to look out for exclusive special offers from our traders on the day too!)

                                                        ....& REFRESHMENTS!
We have not one but TWO tea rooms for you to enjoy- all served with a traditional vintage twist, plus Liquid will have a small bar open on the day should your require something a bit stronger! (ID may be required if you look under age!)

MUSIC!

As with all our fairs we are more than just a retail experience; we want to give you a full vintage day out, so we have sourced some of the best vintage performers around to delight you.  From the local surf band The Q-Trons, to the sultry tones of soul trio The Amorelles, plus our regular vintage DJ Sukie, soloist Katie Peacock, Soulful Duo Megan Burrows with Jonathan Coy, and The Hat Check Honeys...plus fresh from their stint at the Maverick Festival, and before they head off to Camp Bestival, The Ragged String Band!  The day will be packed with music on the main stage as well as upstairs in The Gods. In addition to musicians we will have some close up magic from some fantatsic local conjurers with just a hint of the steampunk.

Katie Peacock

The Ragged String Band

The Amorelles

PRIZES!

With goody bags for the first 25 people through the door - we're starting the day as we mean to go on! You can also win one of the many raffle prizes on offer (only £1 pound a strip) including a day's hire with The Little Beach Hut Company, a tour and wine tasting for 4 at Dedham Vale Vineyard and many more offerings from our traders. 

LOOK YOUR VINTAGE BEST!

With a large hair and beauty parlour you can make sure you are looking your vintage best for the day (and night) ahead. 

We have commissioned a film crew from Colbridge Videography to film a promotional video for The Secret Vintage Fair so please be aware there will be filming on the day... you may want to dress to impress!  PLUS we are giving one lucky person the chance to win our best vintage dressed competition, so make sure you don your vintage finery, get those locks coiffed and get spotted by one of vintage judges.  The winner will get one of our VIP goody bags.

The fair takes place on Saturday 27th July, 11:00 - 16.30. Entrance is only £3.00 (plus a discount voucher is available from The Gazette), and accompanied children under 10 get in free.  .

Introducing The Design Charity

This Saturday 27th July will see the return of The Secret Vintage Fair to Colchester in:

                    The Old Hippodrome (Liquid) on the High Street, Colchester.  

We always support a different charity each event, this time we are supporting The Design Charity.  As a fairly new charity we wanted to explain all about them and their aims here, so you know what we are helping to support.

Transformative, Healing Environments

In a nutshell, The Design Charity design and build transformative, healing, environments for other charities. They design both indoor and outdoor environments: whether a children’s play space for Kids Company, a healing sanctuary for Rwandan refugees, or an outdoor healing garden for homeless ‘companions’ at Emmaus. 

The common denominator is that all of their work aims to transform and heal the lives of the people they work with.

The charity is founded on, and fuelled by, cutting edge research to obtain the best possible environments- from the cutting edge of art and design, to the most progressive scientific and academic institutions across the globe.  The Design Charity reaches out to every sector of society.

Whether you are a family or a homeless shelter, a FTSE 100 company or a refugee orphanage, The Design Charity aim to design and build environments that inspire and benefit you. It is their aim that all of their environments will transform and heal the lives of the people they work with.

Supporting The Charity

The Secret Vintage Fair raise money for charities in different ways at every fair- this time round we will be contributing a percentage of the door takings to the fair, proceeds from the raffle (prizes can be seen here), as well as bucket donations on the day.  We give thanks to the volunteers at the fair who will be helping to raise funds and awareness for this new and exciting charity.  

Please show your support for the charity by following them on Facebook, Twitter or reading more about their charitable work here. They are also in the process of setting up The Eden Survey- carrying out valuable research into why nature is just so healing - you can follow progress on the Eden Survey Twitter account.

Stay tuned for our next exciting blog post previewing all the entertainment on offer at the event This COMING SATURDAY 27TH JULY! 

Where, O Where is The Secret Vintage Fair?

Well it's that time again- the moment you have all been waiting for... the secret location for the fair on 27th July in Colchester has been revealed.  But we won't tell you ourselves, we'll let this video (courtesy of Aura Films) featuring the ever-stunning Helle's Belles show you (unless of course you already know from the reveal in the Gazette this morning)

Yes that's right the next Secret Vintage Fair takes place in Liquid, or the Old Hippodrome, or the Grand Theatre- depending on what generation you are to remember it; this iconic building has been through various stages from a music hall to a theatre; a cinema to a bingo hall; before it reached it's final, and current,  incarnation as a nightclub.  You will find all the beautiful internal architecture still adorns the circles that overlook the stage, on which a selection of quality vintage musicians will be performing next week.

The VIP entrance competition is still on, it closes on Wednesday.  All you have to do is like and share the image on THIS LINK on Facebook.  The VIP area is an exclusive, enclosed booth directly overlooking the stage; you will be supplied with a round of tea and cakes from one of our tea rooms as well as cocktails (or mocktails) donated by the club. Our only regret is that we can't win this amazing prize ourselves! We will also have a film crew from Colbridge video filming for the day, so dress to impress in your vintage finest!

Don't forget to keep checking our Facebook page, and look out in your inbox for latest fair news.  We will be releasing a preview post on here next week. 

Are you our V.I.P?

WIN! £100+ WORTH OF PRIZES & VIP ENTRY TO THE SECRET VINTAGE FAIR on 27TH JULY

All you have to do is LIKE and SHARE this poster for our next event on Facebook via your personal account (don't forget to mark it public or we won't see your entry). Prizes at the time of going to press are as follows.

• FREE ENTRY (including queue jump) for you and three friends to the fair on 27th July
• Personalised VIP area for you to sit, drop your shopping, and be waited on with your inclusive food and drink!
• Inclusive refreshments are as follows: FREE tea and Cake for 4 people- provided by Tilly's vintage teas; 4 x personalized Cupcakes- from Chocodolly (you’ve never seen cupcakes like this before!); a cocktail each to slurp at your leisure from your private VIP area (or mocktail if you’re under 18!)
• Blue Shabby Chic Noddy Chair from Gertrude&Charlie
• Lullabelles Treasure framed vintage art
• Lesley's Girls Vintage have donated the "Shopping for Vintage" book to help you shop the fair plus £20 gift voucher.
• Vintage Photobooth session for the group from James Channon Photography- to include 2 5x7” prints to take home with you on the day!

Any new prizes will be uploaded to this album here.

Just LIKE & SHARE via Facebook to enter this VIP competition! BUT MAKE SURE YOU DO BOTH TO VALIDATE YOUR ENTRY!  Good luck!!

Castle Fashion

Our next post on the last Secret Vintage Fair (Sat 30th March in Colchester Castle) is to celebrate that of our first ever fashion show.  As the scale of the event increased, so too we felt, should the entertainment.  A fashion show had been one of the elements that we had wanted to include in the Secret Vintage Fair format for some time, and we are thrilled with how well it was received, especially as this was one of the charity fund raising elements for Headway Essex.

Model's included three of the fabulous Helles Belle's foursome, students from the Colchester Institute, as well as long standing vintage fans and Show Pony from Cheeky Tiki Island. The show was held together in the very capable hands of Adam Piercy, as a professional actor he had the spark to pull the show together.

Models showed off outfits from such traders as MaryLu Vintage, Revolver Retro, Divine Intervintage,  Cherry On The Top, Cheeky Tiki Island and Lesley's Girls Vintage: all to the backdrop of tunes collated by DJ Sukie (including one track by local band Surfquake).

The Helle's Belles model a range of original vintage dresses for our "Cute and Kitsch" section

Cheeky Tiki Island's collection of screen printed t-shirts and pants, teamed up with upcycled army jackets. Modelled by the creator herself- Show Pony.

Model's demonstrating the "Spring: Monochrome" selections from our traders

Finishing off the show was a stunning selection of outfits made for weddings- whether for the bride, groom, wedding guests or bridesmaids.

A huge thank you to all those involved in making the fashion show a great success.  Not all outfits showcased  in the fashion show have been featured here, if you are intersted in any of the outfits shown here or that you saw in the show please get in touch and we will point you in the owners direction (if they haven't already been sold!). we look forward to wowing the crowds with more fashion shows next time.

Photos of the Fashion Show courtsey of SJR Photography