For my last job I had (ghastly) uniform and would come home from work most days, shower and get into something comfy (also known as pyjamas!) It's fair to say I have gained a little weight and more and more of the clothes I chose to wear were black. I'd slipped back into the old habit of living in jeans or leggings, which to be fair, does very little for my look or my self confidence. When talk turned to the shop, I decided that I wanted to wear dresses, not just any old dresses, but nice dresses that would fit in with the feel of the shop and create a good impression. So I started to look in lots of the high street shops. I spotted a few dresses, but not enough to create a nice working wardrobe.
When we were at a food festival at Walton Gardens in Warrington, we went in to the craft section inside Walton Hall hoping to find some potential suppliers for the shop. We'd like to have a small selection of handmade goods to sell and seemed like a great opportunity to meet people face to face and ask if they'd be interested in putting some of their work in our shop. There were some lovely crafts on offer, but not all of them were the sort of thing we were looking for. There was a very cute little stall selling handmade jewellery all in the shape of teeny weeny sweets and cakes, that seemed like an obvious choice and also a stall full of gorgeous accessories. There were facinators and hair clips, bows and headbands all in really great fabrics, as well as a beautiful deep purple dress on a mannequin. I got chatting to the stall holder, Lindsey James, who was wearing in a fabulous red 50's swing style dress. She was really friendly and explained that like me, she had lost her job before Christmas and was hoping to turn her hobby/sideline into her future career. She explained that she had studied fashion at university and worked in the industry for several years and the dress on the mannequin was one of her own creations. I told her about the shop and how we'd like to have handmade goods on offer and got the contact details for her business Violet Flamingo. As we walked away I was saying to Mr P how much I liked the dress on the mannequin, when he suggested I go back and ask about having a dress made but me being me, I did my usual "oh no, it's fine" and home we went. I would have left it there but Mr P got me to email Lindsey with an enquiry about having a dress made. We exchanged a few emails and the more I thought about it, the more I liked the idea of dresses (yes plural) made to measure and in a style I loved but couldn't seem to find on the High Street.
So on Friday I took a drive over the Lindsey's studio, a lovely old building in Littleborough to discuss all things dressy.
We had a really long chat, over a cup of coffee, discussed styles, fabrics, likes and dislikes, food, cakes, the shop, the proposal........It was a very sociable morning! Then we got down to business.
We went through fabric samples
Lindsey took all sorts of measurements and had me trying on some of her creations, she made suggestions and did a little sketches. It was all very enjoyable and very exciting.
I felt very happy leaving a lot of the details to Lindsey, as I felt she had a really clear idea of my tastes. I've sent her some images of some dresses I like and based on those and our discussions she's going to draw up some proper designs and send them back to me with her fabric suggestions.
The great thing about all this is I get to pick and choose different bits from different dresses and I'll end up with some one-off designs. When I put on a dress it really lifts my mood, so I can only imagine how it will feel to wear a dress that I know has been made just for me.
I can't wait to see what Lindsey comes up with, but like my ring I, and you, will have to be patient! Bespoke things don't happen over night, but I'm confident they will be worth the wait!
Why not take a look at the Violet Flamingo site to see some of the lovely accessories available. I was lucky to get a sneaky peak at some of the items that will be coming soon and if you're lucky enough to be local to me, once we're open you'll be able to see them displayed in the shop!
