VINTAGE Business ISSUE 9
THE
s ' r e d a r t e g a t n i v The ! d n e i r f best A Raye of Vintage Sunshine
We get talking to Raye Leonard about life and making it big
PRETTY NOSTALGIC!
Sit back and learn why nostalgia is here to stay and how to make dreams come true
WHATA RIOT!
Get ready, the festival season is here
PLUS
Chocolate Brownies to tempt your customers Banishing the Blues - how to deal with stress of running your own business Sam from Rosadior teaches us how to get inspired and work with your creative spirit Last Word - on how London gets the better of the business shows Lou Lou's Love of Vintage - we step behind the sences of the UK's best loved vintage fair
Editor: Michelle Hatcher Assistant writers for this issue: Lyn Rousseau Miguel Fernandez
FEATURES BANISH THE BLUES By Lyn Rousseau
A Raye of Vintage This month's look at rising stars Sunshine in the vintage world features Vintage Victory Rollers starlet, Raye Leonard
A Pretty Nostalgic Look on Nostalgic, once periodical for the make Life Pretty do and mend set is now a community and a compenduim. We go to find out what the big change means for founder, Nicole Burnett
What a Riot!
As the rock and roll weekender season approaches, we check out Hemsby and look forward to what's in store for their return in May to the sandy East
The Rose of Rosadior Sam from Rosadior talks us through how to get creative and build a dream business
ISSUE 9
EDITOR'S Letter I think it's safe to say that Sping is finally here and what better way to kick off the vintage and craft scene for 2015 than to step into The Spring Knitting and Stitching Show at Olympia last week. I was delighted meet up and coming embroidery artist, Charlotte Bailey from Hanging By A Thread. She calls herself a textile artist, and I have to admit, it appears to be an understatement. What makes her works stand out for me is the way she views the world. As you will see in the inset picture, she takes the most household objects you can think of and turns them into fun pieces of incredibly unique art. She is currently finishing her masters in Textiles and hopes to freelance herself in future projects across the spectrum. She is a bright, sparkly girl with a huge amount of passiona and personality. It is not often I like to speak of an individual in my opening letter with such intent, but I feel that Charlotte desrves to have a place in my letter. Her work spells out a message. There is a deeper, more personal side to this young artist which I believe forces the rest of us to rethink the philosophy that sometimes, we find not only our vocation but our calling....
With love
The Editor
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TheRoseofRosadior Sam Freeman is the owner and creator behind the very beautiful flower emporuim named Rosadior, but what drives her? Entrepreneurs come into our world with one common dream - to make a different to our world. No matter how big or small, they are just itching to share with the rest of us their skill and their creativity through their work. Sam Freeman is one of these people. Diving into her world is rather like dipping into an ice cream Sundae. There is an element of escapism in the depths of that delicious dessert. There are also the textures and sensations waiting to be devoured by the consumer. In Sam's world, she creates that escapism for not only herself but in equal proportions, for her boho fairies, dreamy brides and girlie rockabilly girls. You would think that after re-running a few Blue Peter's that anything handmade to a particular standard is possible. All you need is some glue, some old Fairy liquid bottles and a couple of cotton reels, and you can build the Queen Mary, but for most of us, it is not as simple as that. I have found in this world we call vintage life, there are only an exceptional few who can pick up one solitary item and see beyond its molecules, contours and colour. Sam is one of them. I, personally, would quite happily kill a small outlet of Hobby craft to be able to do what she does.
I stand in her beautiful house full of little corners where she has added her own personality. Candles burn warmly in the hall giving the senses a piece of her own magic. A lady who has been on top of her game in a previous career now fills her home and her world with the things she feels passionate about, and one thing particular - flowers. 'I love them completely,' She coos. 'I would have been the happiest florist alive had I had been one. But there is one awful thing about flowers, they die, and I would have hated that.' So to mix her passion together with a touch of 'forever-ness,' she makes posies and decorations of silk, delicate cloth and forever fruit, in the kind of flowers that last and can be handed down. 'I love the idea that someone, say a bride, can keep their flowers forever that he have worn in their hair or in their wrist on their special day.' She smiles. While she talks to me, she wanders through some of her recent creations, and as if standing in front of an invisible mirror, she takes each one carefully, and places it in her own hair, pats it down gently, and if she is not happy with the feel of the hair clip, she takes it away from her hair, frowns, and then puts it aside for careful inspection at a later date.
'It has to feel right. I can make some things sometimes and they have got to feel right. If they don't, they go back to the table and are reworked.' I soon learn that these hair flowers are not just for clipping in your hair and forgetting about for the occasion, they are there an extension of their wearer. Almost like an extension of their character. Every dreamy and chimerical bride needs to unfold her mythical tale through her own vision, and what better way for adding the perfect touch to her ensemble, but to add colour and beauty to her tresses. I find in my afternoon with Sam, a woman who is exploding with ideas. To describe her product would like trying to describe art, for its own sake. You cannot define art as 'a picture made with paints and brushes' no more than you can describe Sam's hair creations as 'clips to hold one's hair in place.'
and welcome. She is a thinker, a mother, a businesswoman and a wife, and she balances them like beach balls on each limb. She is poised, focused and brilliant. She casts magic over her craft like a character in an Enid Blyton book. Her own brand of rare wizardry as she sits at her table by the window surrounded by every conceivable silk flower you can think of and allows her hands to create the visions in her eyes. Think of your dream, a place inside your head where you can be free, and there you will find Rosadior, waiting to transport you to your cosmos of elegance. She now jointly owns a vintage photo booth & booth prop hire business (www.propsinabox.co.uk) as well as Rosadior, her bespoke hair accessory business www.rosadior.co.uk Photography:
Such creations of unique-ness demand www.janeyannaphotography.com words that probably have not been www.retrophotostudio.co.uk invented yet. Images of Sam's corsages, headbands and combs are the only real way to illustrate these accessories for festival fairies and wistful pixies. I leave Sam at the end of an afternoon of laughter, shortbread and mugs of tea with warm memories, hospitality
WHAT A RIOT!
Hemsby is only a matter of weeks away again in May, so The Vintage took the time to look back over the last riot from October 2014...
I have always had a romantic notion about these weekenders. Every one takes several steps back and congregates on the most idyllic platform going - the British sea side town. There is nothing more romantic that sitting with your sweetheart in amongst a gathering of candy floss, end of pier rides and the smell of cooked onions around you.... Ok, so perhaps not, but if American Graffitti hit the mark with you at some point in your life, then move over Paul le Mat.... come to the British rock and roll weekender and find your very own John Milner..... Rockabilly legend, Billy Adams performed at Hemsby 53 this year My love affair for the rock and roll weekender goes back years before I ever sat down with a copy of That'll Be The Day with David Essex, or even dared to go anywhere near Butlins when Shawaddywaddy was still young. No, years ago, as an impressionable teen, I went to Brighton record fair (a regular haunt for me) and brought some very random new age rockabilly by various new and young bands to try. One of the albums I brought was by a band called The Catmen. Three young lads stood fairly solemnly on the front cover of the LP. Not far off resembling past teen hunk Nick Kamen. There wasn't anything really worth noting about these quickly brought LP's from that windy day in Brighton other than it kicked off a passion for new rockabilly music. Up until then I had only ever listened to Chuck
Berry and Bill Haley. My two hero's. I had figured that really that was your lot in terms of listening to old rock and roll. At a jive dance some time before that, I had been hanging out with my usual gaggle of rockabilly mates and one had very sorrowfully pointed out in a very loud voice that the trouble with rock and roll is that there were never going to ever be new releases. It was then that I probably made the subconscious decision to seek out new talent for my ears and to, at the same time, stop listening to my miserable quiffed friends. Shortly after that, I went to see a band called The Firebirds at a local town hall. I found myself completely hooked to suddenly hunting down any new band I could find who played not only my beloved rockabilly but also wrote their own songs rather than cover everyone else's. It was then, that I found, to my delight, that twice yearly four day event of sheer music euphoria: Hemsby. At the back end of the Nineties, I urged a bunch of equally minded chums to come away with me to a funny little seaside resort along the northern coast of Norfolk. Twice a year, the Hemsby weekender (as they are called) is held in this slightly sleepy little town with its parade of colourful shop fronts and amusement arcades. Once in May to herald the start of Summer and again in October to mark the end of the season.
The Hemsby Rock and Roll Weekend this year is from Friday 8th to Monday the 11th of May at Seacroft Holiday Centre, Hemsby. For bookings and further information, click on the inset picture below
"Focusing on the negative emotions that can grip us, can shift out of that place more quickly. The most common negative emotions are typically in the areas of: anger, guilt, fear, and depression. Emotion is a thought linked to a sensation in the body. When we bring our attention to the sensation, we have the opportunity to break the link between the thought and the sensation. Then, we can disempower the negative emotion.."
No one should struggle with stress. The NHS have a very good website that is informative and will also help when you should seek medical help.... There website is here if you need further help. http://www.nhs.uk/Conditions/stress-anxietydepression/Pages/understanding-stress.aspx
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By Lynn Rousseau
BANISH THE BLUES
A thought coupled with an emotion produces a response that sets in motion a new or old belief. Beliefs then become habits. The next similar event that comes along evokes an automatic response from our habits.
The key is to become aware of this sequencing and with conscious awareness and interrupt it to create a new and different response that is feeling good – joy, happiness, love, etc. When we are able to be in this kind of positive emotional state with an open heart, we have greater access to a different part of our innate intelligence and we have more possibilities and positive choices. **
How To Work With This? **
It’s a 6-step process. But, these steps can happen very quickly the more you work with it. I can sometimes isolate it in about 10 minutes. I’ve been working with this intently for the past three months and the results are astonishing for me. Here are the steps I follow. 1. Notice When You’re Not Feeling Good. At the beginning of my day, I set my intention to pay attention to the moments when I feel out of sorts. I notice in the moment when I do not feel good. I know that the faster I shift this, the more I stay in a flow of being in alignment with my true self and the more effective I am in my work. 2. Stop & Tune In. I stop what I’m doing to tune into to my body to identify where I am feeling the sensation. Oftentimes, it is either in my heart or chest area, my solar plexus (right above the navel) or my stomach. Sometimes it may be in my throat, particularly if there was a situation where I needed to be more forthright. 3. Go Into the Sensation. Allow myself to feel into the sensation to notice it. Sometimes just this act can cause it to diminish. There’s a saying: “Whatever we resist will persist”. I notice what the sensation feels like – is there tightness, does it feel like a lead weight, does it feel jumbled or swirling? I’m just being present to the sensation and noticing its characteristics – not trying to figure anything out at this point – just observing. 4. Identify the Trigger Event. I ask myself: “What has happened in my day that may be linked to this?” 5. Identify the Thoughts. I ask: “What thoughts do I have about this situation?” “Where was I not true to myself and I needed to be?” Recognizing that events happen. We human beings are the ones who add meaning. So, it’s important for us to be more aware of thmeaning we are adding and how that is affecting us. Not everyone would react the same way to the same event. 6. Choose the Best Action: Then I choose the best action for me to take. It may be following up with someone to be more complete in my communication or clarifying a need I have. It may be honoring myself in the form of extreme self care and identifying what would be the best thing for this. The importance about this step is making a choice from a conscious place, rather than a patterned, habitual response. 3
is the meaning we are adding and how that is affecting us.? Not everyone would react the same way to the same event. 6. Choose the Best Action: Then I choose the best action for me to take. It may be following up with someone to be more complete in my communication or clarifying a need I have. It may be honoring myself in the form of extreme self care and identifying what would be the best thing for this. The importance about this step is making a choice from a conscious place, rather than a patterned, habitual response.
** Where Can You Apply This? ** -----------------------------------------Try this at least three times during the next week. For more challenging situations, you may want to ask a friend to talk it through with you using this process. The more you use this, the faster you can do it in a given situation and create the possibility to turn things around for the better (for both you and others involved).
BAKING BROWNIES
By Miguel Fernandez
Baking homemade brownies is one of life's sweetest delights. The smell of the brownies baking in the oven never fails to attract every family member to the kitchen to await the finished treat. When they are finally done it doesn't take but a few seconds for them to disappear, having been devoured by everyone who could get a hold of one
The only hard part of preparing brownies is the preparation and the cleanup afterward. It takes longer to prepare and bake brownies than it does for them to be eaten, especially if they come out delicious. For this very reason many people prefer to buy brownies from the store and miss out on the deliciousness of home-made brownies. Following these simple tips ensures that you will have delicious brownies that the whole family can enjoy with little or no hassle. 1. Don't over mix when preparing the batter and if possible mix the batter by hand. This will ensure that the brownie does not come out bland or too dry. 2. Spay the bottom of the pan with non-stick cooking spray, making sure to cover the surface evenly. You can also dust the pan lightly with cocoa powder. Using cocoa powder ensures that you won't have white residue on your brownies as you would if you were to use flour. 3. Follow the recipe instructions carefully especially the temperature and cooking time instructions. To test if the brownies are done stick a toothpick into the brownies. If they come out clean it means that the brownies are done. 4. If you want to keep the brownies from over-
drying you can wrap them with plastic wrap and put them in a zip bag for added protection. As a final tip: enjoy your brownies with your whole family, give them as gifts, share them with your co-workers, and don't forget to make plenty for everyone.
For the ultimate brownie fantasy dish, click on the picture to take you to Baking Mad
APrettyNostalgic LookatLife
NicoleBurnett,founderandownerofthe growingcompendiumtalkstousaboutlife andpassionsbeyondvintage Nicole, owner, editor, writer and mother extraordinaire stands smiling surrounded by her own creation; Pretty Nostalgic Magazine. 'But wait!' She stops me in the mid flow of vintage ooze from my lips. 'I'm not a magazine, it's a book. It's my baby.' Nicole is a proud mother of two, wife and master of her own destiny. She beams at me with the glow of a woman who has just discovered her destiny. She is on a roll. She spins around excitedly about her ambition. During the four hours I was honoured to have in her company, I discover a person who has a deep passion for not just all that is vintage but has seen the light. She knows what the world needs to do grasps that knowledge in the avalanche of words from her mouth. She stands tall in her world, whispy hair is gently tied back away from this hard working lady's face. She remains practical, ready for anything. She coos about her baby. The magazine which has done her proud.
Pretty Nostalgic has been a bi monthly for the subscribers of simple living, spending ever so wisely and making things last. She has not only given breath of life to a new way of taking the old and using it again and again, but she is a teacher standing in the marquee that weekend. Where there is glamour, fun and thrill around her. She stands ready to greet the intruiged passers by and tells them, when the enquiry presents itself, how she feels we should be. 'It's quite simple,' She smiles, talking to a fellow writer and editor 9me) who still drifts into Marks and Spencers on a regular basis, drawn to the easy wash, disposable tee shirts and unflattering frocks. 'We can all live on next to nothing. The things that we were taught by our mothers and grandmothers are still there and still just as important today. Yes, we still need our computers and mobile phones, but we can live using the things we have around us rather than buying continuously to simply throw away.' She is a lady who has, I have to admit, grasped the very essence of life .
that people like me have shied away from for too long. I have never been able to cook and as for cleaning, well, I am sorry to say, I am a Flash woman. 'Nooooo!' Cries Nicole, straightening her pretty floral dress. 'She waves her hands in the air at my awful confession. 'We can use simple things to make soap! Anything will get cleaned with a little elbow grease and half the cash!' She is keen to thumb through one of the copies of her trip down nostalgia lane which she has brought to the show. She has all of them there, right back to the first issue which featured pin cushions in tea cups. It is not hard to see that Nicole is here for the love of vintage. Her passions are genuine for the lifestyle which appears in such little quantities in 2014. She is
full of surprising ideas of how we could all live comfortably without having to spend vast sums of wonga. 'It's all here and there is more to come!' She churps Nicole is hopeful for the future of Pretty Nostalgic. Turning a very large and slightly scary corner earlier this year, she has been a business owner who has bitten to proverbial bullet and changed direction. For that at least, I have to admire her. There is much to look up to. 'It's changing and all for the better!' She beams again and almost hops on her toes. 'There are big changes this year which are going to benefit everyone who puts in their efforts to this cause.' I see here now that Nicole wants her readers and subscribers to be one big family of people
POP UP FOR VINTAGE The highly regarded and exquisitly mapped out vintage fairs make a elegant and nostalgic return to the circuit this year, placing a mark on the beautiful Gothic Church to the entertaining and cultural surrounds of Old Spitalfields
POP UP VINTAGE FAIRS AT STUNNING 19TH CENTURY GOTHIC CHURCH St Stephen’s Rosslyn Hill, Pond Street, Hampstead NW3 2PP Sunday 29th March 2015 Pop Up Vintage Fairs London are back at St Stephen’s Rosslyn Hill, a beautiful 19th Century French Gothic Church in the heart of Belsize Park and Hampstead High Street. This stunning venue will be filled with the best hand-picked vintage traders, selling vintage fashion for ladies and gents, vintage accessories, handmade and vintage jewellery, homeware, antiques, collectables, curiosities, vintage crockery, posters, prints, & more.
Visitors will be able to enjoy live vintage entertainment by 60’s inspired trio The Amorelles, as they indulge in delicious teas and cakes served on delicate vintage china, by Vintage Allsorts Tea Parlour. Doors open 11 am - 4 pm. Admission £2 per adult, £1 NUS. (10.30 Earlybird Trade Entry £5). Pop Up Vintage Fairs can also be found on Sunday 8th March at the Alexandra Palace Antiques and Collectors Fair and at Old Spitalfields Market on Saturday 21st March. www.popupvintagefairs.co.uk www.facebook.com/popupvintagefairs Twitter & Instagram: @Pop_Up_Vintage Tel: 07716 295998
INSIDE THE HISTORY MAKERS
Nostalgia Days..
Knightshayes National Trust Vintage tea on the lawn is something that is essentially English. So why not Tiverton take a wander around some of the most picturesque settings this Spring, Devon and get the feeling of nostalgia running through your veins..? This Gothic Victorian hideaway was the home to the Heathcote Amory family from 1869 when he had the design of the estate commissioned. The building we see today started to take shape the following year, then handed to the National Trust is 1972 on the death of Sir John HeathcoatAmory. The original John Heathcote (1783 to 1861) made his fortune from lace making, after accomplishing an apprenticeship in textiles. Setting up a factory in Derbyshire first. But fortunes were not all plain sailing for the young industrial maker. In 1826, on a night towards the end of June, Luddite wreckers, a band of highly volatile English craftsmen decided to set upon the lace making factory with axes and set fire the lace makers. The wooden structure housing the wooden lace makes did not stand a chance that night and within half an hour of the blaze starting, all of the factory had gone. Heathcoat made the surprising decision to move south
westwards after turning down a whopping ÂŁ10K compensation. His workers, now out of a job, trusted their employer with their livelihoods and almost 200 of his loyal workers walked the 200 miles south where Heathcoat embarked on starting his business again.
fresh as the day they were carved.
So what's the vintage? Well, for those of us keen on lace making and the history of the man behind something that shaped the way lace was made for ever He was known for recreating the lace more, then there is no bobbin net machine at the tender age of better place to start 25, transforming, according to literature, that at Knightshayes. the lace making industry for ever. This The site of the house, Grade 1 listed building is slightly incidentally, was understated rather like it's first owner. decided upon as it had Sitting in the middle of the Devonshire a perfect, yet distant countryside, it is unassuming and not as view of the lace grand as stately home as you would factory - a site which expect from someone who was almost a can be still seen from legend in industry. the house today... it is worth a visit - vintage The inside is typical of the early 20th seeking or not. It Century period. Sadly we weren't certainly gives a clear allowed to take pictures as a lot of the insight to life of a items inside are still privately owned. wealthy Victorian There is plenty of finery and grace of a (through to the mid well established family living in the heart 20th Century) family of Devon. The splendor of the place is rather like walking in on the set of Camelot. Each room is now back to it's former medieval glory as it once was. Recovered just in time for the lady of the house to see the original structure of the ceilings, completely in tact and almost as .
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Dunster Castle, The National Trust, Minehead, Somerset. http://www.nationaltrust.org. uk/dunster-castle/
t We hot footed it over to Dunster Castle for the next visit, although the rain was quite heavy by the time we got there. It was also getting dark and the place appeared to be almost empty. Yet there was a welcome from the girl at the gate and we ventured up the hill. The interior of the castle itself is not what you would expect. You tend to imagine that a castle is going to be decked out in a particular way. We were allowed to take pictures inside here, so we are able to show you what it was like! Owned by the Luttrell family, it dates back as the family home to 1376, when it was sold to them by the de Mohuns. The castle itself has been changed, updated and generally been molded around by it's owners right the way through time. The most interesting of these periods of readjustment have been around the early 1600's and again in the late Victorian times. It was modernised so much during these periods that large sections of the castle was literally demolished to make way for new designs to keep up with the height of fashionable architecture.
Again, a place that shows the climb of time through the ages of one family. There are plenty of unexpected surprises there, and the castle is not without it's ghosts. You will find plenty there in the way of design of the interior of both the furniture, soft furnishings as well as its interesting wall paper. There really isn't anything that sets Dunster Castle aside from any other building of it's time. It is not quite in-keeping of its castle origins but it does show what can be done over and over again in time to a house by one family with a lot of money. The castle has seen a lot of hard times in the past, Oliver Cromwell being one man who ordered for the estate to be destroyed. Thankfully that didn't come to pass. Worth a visit!
LOVING IT UP AT LOU LOU'S
What is it about the appeal of a Lou Lou's festival that it draws crowds of hungry vintage seekers half round a block? Michelle Hatcher investigates the secret behind the UK's favourite fair...
It is a chilly Saturday afternoon and at a colourful town hall, there stands an eager queue of teenagers braving the cold. Yet the stock that awaits them from behind these golden doors is the drapes of their grandmothers and their great-grandmothers so what's the appeal? So they want to smell of old moth balls? Dine on large lumps of cake and sip tea from china which Queen Victoria would have considered tasteful? Well yes and no. Vintage is back, we know that and there is no teaching these kids to suck eggs. They know what they want vintage for and what's more, they know what to do with it. That may be frightening to the rest of us, but is it reallt that wrong for these bright young things to want to chop in half a pleated 1940's suit? it might be considered criminal by purists but if we remember the words of Ms Dawn O'Porter - vintage is for the future and if the future wants to chop it up and rehash it, let them. It's still style well, she didn't actually say that, but its what is thought to be the way
forward. Vintage in the eyes of Lou Lou is for the younger set. I find myself drifint around these fairs as a mere observer, a person that looks upon the young and reflects and remembers what it was to be young and experimental then. It makes sense to allow these young girls to victory roll their hair, rip their fishnets and don a 1930's tea dress and rip it here and there, add a couple of 1970's platform boots and you're ready to hit the discos. So lets embrace this new phenomena which is the student take on the vintage. They might not be growing greens like they did during the war but there is an element of respect here, even if it means that the original outfits don't stay in tact. It is new, it is different and like any generation before, they take what they saw their parents where and rebuild it, remodel it and call it there own. Teens have been doing this for almost 100 years. Nothing has changed. Vintage doesn't just appear, it goes round again...
Raye
A OF VINTAGE SUNSHINE
TheVintagegetsallcosy with RayeLeonardfrom VintageVictory Rollersandasksher about Swindon,friends andafleetofcaravans
This weekend sees the festival which makes the slightly sleepy town of Swindon come alive. This humble and very ordinary shopping centre comes alive with colour and style with a strong vintage theme. Swirling petticoats, dance, song and classic cars turn the Brunel Centre into a vintage extravaganza of entertainment, retro delight and nostalgia, and sitting at the epicentre of this collaboration of those who work hard behind the centres to bring this two day show to life is Vintage Victory Rollers, and the lady behind it is Raye Leonard. Raye is a whirlwind of business phenomena. She is a marketing machine who works as hard at her craft as she does with her business. ‘I am marketing it every day, getting the word out there,’ she tells me as she gets herself ready for the day in front of her mirror. For her, the road has been long to get to where she is in her life now. ‘I have styling hair since I was a little girl, but it’s only since 2013 that VVR has really taken off.’ She juggles a house, a job and home yet her craft of styling the most unique styles of vintage hair do’s has become her ambition and her goal. ‘I want a series of decorative caravans travelling to festivals all over the country.’ She beams. ‘If I had a shop somewhere, I don’t think I would be there a great deal, not with the diary I have!’ I ask her about what she has planned over the next few months. Little do I know, but I am now in for a long list of festivals, weddings, fairs and appearances, that I have trouble scribbling them all down. ‘I am next to the management suit at Swindon’s Brunel Centre this weekend for the Swindon vintage festival next door to Miss Malone. I am teaming up with Miss Bones from Bristol who is an incredible makeup artist, and is offering pin up make up packages. We’re working together to create styles and looks for visitors who just want to stop by.’ Now, this has always been a complete misnomer to me. How you can instantly create a look for someone who just sits themselves down in front of you for the
first time, I cannot grasp, yet this is what Raye does. ‘Work has got so busy that there is a team of us now in VVR and we work together well.’ It turns out that this is a cast of friends, colleagues and people who are faithful to Raye. She is magnetic. ‘There is one girl who is now a very good friend who was once a customer. She now works with me and we get on great.’ How many business people can say that they have taken on people who were once customers!? The passion for vintage is real for Raye. ‘I live it,’ and this is apparent as she applies a very vintage look to her eyes and is careful to style her hair to suit the desired era. Appearance is everything to her and she takes care to craft her image just as much as her business. She is her own advertisement. When I first came to Swindon as a humble writer, it wasn’t long before I had heard of Raye. With the support of good friends Steve and Alicjia from the town’s very own Carry On Vintage store, I quickly become aware of this bubbly presence of brightly coloured, rolled up hair and smiling ruby lips. She appeared to be the doll of Swindon, a burlesque performer who acquired an admiring following of local people. As she sits and chats to me over make up and coffee, her phone buzzes frequently. As we talk, she glances occasionally at the phone, not as any other girl would to check on the lives of her mates, Raye is very different. To her the phone is a business partner, and something that not only keeps her connected but connects her with her public too, and there is plenty of them! ‘Facebook is the most important platform for me, it’s where my customer base is and it is where I can engage with my audience and respond to them.’ ‘I have started up Skype styling too!’ I am intrigued! ‘It’s great fun! I charge £10 per hour and I literally talk visually with the customer on a 1 to 1 and we style our hair together and make up. It’s a brilliant thing as it requires full attention, and I can carefully coach the customer every step of the way! It’s a perfect way of reaching out to customers who are not local.’ What a brilliant idea! Synchronised styling! I love this about her. She doesn’t just stop at those around her in the same town, she is taking VVR to the world and the world is responding. She is needed, and what’s more,
responding. She is needed, and what’s more, she loves it and gives it her all back. ‘One thing I hate doing is turning work down simply because I am too booked up to be in three places at once. I am aiming for VVR to be big so that no work is ever turned down again. That would be the perfect place for me.’ This may be just another success story waiting in the wings, but it would be easy to say that she has already got there on so many levels. She is self-taught in every skill she has, from styling the most intricate hair dos with clips, bobby pins, styling products and sprays to marketing, communicating and conversing with colleagues, business owners and the public. Yet she is doing it right. Setting her bar high enough so that she can reach it. She watches her competition and boldly walks right up and starts talking to them, looking for inspiration as well as knowledge, insight and connections to develop her business yet further. ‘You have to stick to a platform and market on it consistently. Ask questions, I ask people what their favourite hair style is, things that get people talking and conversing with each other as well as with you.’ That’s what a trend is all about. Yet vintage is not a trend. It is a way of life, a lifestyle that chooses you. It draws kind, welcome people under its wing and keeps them there. Others fall by the wayside if the warm spirit is not nurtured, and in my mind, if there were more people like Raye in this business, this thing called vintage, would be here forever….
If you want to catch Raye and The Vintage Victory Rollers in action, they will be at the following events: Swindon Vintage Festival, Wiltshire 14/15 March Swindon Town Centre. Bang Shanky salon– Bristol 21st March, appearance – one of Raye’s regular spots. Burlesque Event Taunton, Devon, March 28th – Pop up Salon, with Rockaflower Frome Vintage Fair, April 18/19 at The Cheese and Grain. Alternative and Burlesque Festival April 25th. – Still taking bookings if you want to come and see Raye for a makeover hair do. RAF Fairford Air Tattoo – 17-19th July For Skype tutorials, either contact Raye through her Facebook page or go to the website and click on workshops. She will email you prior to the tutorial, the tools you will need at the appointment.
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Word This week has seen the surge of giant vintage, craft and fashion shows across London, and I, have been fortunate enough to slip through the gates and take part. I love these places, the big expanse of the arena, the buzz of excitement of the crowd, the pushing, the expensive tea... hold on. I have decided over recent years to bring sandwiches and bring a spare, loose amount of change for bottles of water etc. When one decides to embark on the venture of the Olympic venue, one should take stiock and leave the heels and silly handbag at home. Arm yourself with business cards and a smile and make a point of speaking to X amount of people. It really can be the best day spent. Just think! Meeting all those people in a confined space for a sweaty 8 hours can do wonders to not only the make up sliding down your face but the feeling of being wanted, spoken to, feeling important - it is the ultimate place of sanctuary and chaos. You will be exhuasted on the train coming home but buzzing. So book a ticket, with trainers and go. It will do you the world of good....
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Feeling like your life is a balancing act? We juggle. From the day we become adults to the day we retire, everything in life is a shift between balancing one thing and then the other. Yourbusinessdoesn'thavetobelike that. Whether you are starting out from school or college and still not sure where to go, or you are midcareer with a desire for a new direction for your working life, it can bealoteasierthanyouthinkwiththe right help.
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