VINTAGE

VINTAGE
Your
Business
ISSUE 12
Stepping Out!
From 1920's Chic to glam rock platforms
100 Hot New Outfits...
And 50 Ways To
Wear Your Hair
we give you the ultimate London shoe event to
sweep you off your feet
Plus
Your Vintage Style
Your Time Out
Your Business
Your Life

YOUR ISSUE 1
TVGPRODUCTIONS
Editor: Michelle Hatcher
Assistant Writer: Bexi Owen
07880550025

2
YOUR EDITOR'S
LETTER
My secret passion has always been shoes.
I say 'secret' because I think for women, we have a different
relationship with shoes other than the one that men think we have.
For us, they are status symbols, rather like cars, they can make or
break us, quite literally. I remember having a favoured pair of grey
boots which fashioned a Cuban heel and various straps clinging to
my leg - a la Westwood, I adored them more than life itself, however,
as much as I nurtured my love for these babies, it was an abrupt end
to a deep sense of belonging when I fell completely ungracefully in
the middle of a busy street. So ungracefully, that no one came to my
aid. As shallow as this might be, the bin was the next place to throw
the boots. My heart broken and my trust in my beloved heels, torn
beyond repair...
This month's issue of TVB comes to you with a bittersweet ring, one
that we can all respond to, men included. As much as I have a
passion for winklepickers, I can count on no hands how many men I
know who actually have feet shaped into infinity.
With feet gently warming in a bowl of salt water, sit back, and enjoy
this journey through pain, shame and gain, in every sense....
With Love
Michelle
xx
michelle@thelittlevintagebusinesscompany.co.uk

THE FEATURES
ISSUE 12
JUN/JULY 2015
YOUR BUSINESS
Glass Onion and the Kilo Sale - we go undercover
at the vintage wholesalers and find out what really
happens to unwanted vintage clothes
Adventures with Doris Dave and
The Flea - we get chatting to Zara
Kolasinska about life, charities and
why it's so important to support them
YOUR TIME OUT
Last Word
This Issue: Edith Head - The
maker of Hollywood iconic
dresses
YOUR VINTAGE STYLE
Style Me in Vintage Glam! - We find
three inspired ladies - the best in the vintage
business
Shoes That Swept The World Off Its
Feet - London's V&A Museum gives you
the ultimate event
YOUR LIFE
Cars and Girls - why more
of us are taking to the classic car
as our transport
Ten Ways to Shine this Summer - b
eat the summertime blues with these fool
proof tricks to make you smile

Your Business
Ever wondered how vintage stock
suddenly appears at vintage fairs? TVB
goes to investigate the muth behind the
vintage wholesalers game....

I have often wondered how vintage shops,
traders and vintage markets and the like
ever get their stock. Where does it come
from? Who supplies it, sorts it out and
generally, where possible, does all the ‘dirty
work’ if you will, and rummaging for us? (On
our behalf, of course.)
Sometimes, in fact probably more often than
not, it is the rummaging we enjoy – the
endless days spent trekking the streets,
charity shops and car boot sales for that
worthy prize. But does it become, at any
point, one long hard slog? For some of us
perhaps (and I hear the rest of you shout
NO!) So it is not surprising that to many, the
two chiming words of ‘Glass Onion’ are
perhaps a vintage God send.
Determined to seek out yet another vintage
experience for myself and of course for you,
dear readers, I launched my trusty steed
across land and countless motorways to go
in search of this emerald vegetable (ok,
perhaps not emerald then but it certainly
has reason to shine….)
I met with Ben Woodhouse, Sales Manager
and general guru when it comes to keeping
the spirit of customer service alive. He
chirps rather proudly that the 15 strong
team of youngsters at Glass Onion HQ are all
passionate about vintage and the quality
that their market demands.
There is a lot to be said for youngsters
coming up the ranks in the vintage scene, as
we discussed in last week’s issue – they are
fresh blood into the system who are taking,
like Glass Onion, the industry by the wide
lapels.
Glass Onion works on a variety of levels and
not just successfully as a business.
Customers can access their extensive stock
through the mail order section of their
website. This is self-explanatory and highly
effective if you know what you want.
Secondly, clients can rock up to one of their
handpicked events (best to contact
bw@glassonionvintage.com) These come
usually once a month, and this is where
customers can come and pick their own
vintage items. All you have to do is register
first (to the email above) and receive your
information through the post prior to the
event. It is best to check the calendar first
on the website. You can get more
information on how these events work for
you and your business through this link
here. Any which way you want to buy,
browse and generally be in the know, they
are a great and friendly team and more than
happy to hear from you – no matter how big
or small your business is.
There is also a Skype service where you can
book a live appointment and the staff can go
through the stock you wish to purchase for
you over the call. There are of course, not to
mention their very successful Kilo
saleswhich allow those customers not able
to get to Barnsley to come and see the stock
for themselves at events around the
country. In the five years of doing these
extraordinary sales, they have developed a
successful partnership with Judy’s
Affordable Fairs, one that continues to
grow…...
It is worth mentioning here that Glass Onion
are more than just a wholesaler in the art of
vintage. They are global, selling to
customers as far as Japan and New Zealand.
Customers can by as little or as much as
they want in terms of weight (kilos.)
So where does it come from? Well, it simply
works back down the chain, and you will
find Glass Onion at the heart of the chain
helping every branch from it. They support
the charities who are unable to literally
process the millions of tonnes of donated
clothing each year over the amount they can
process. Other sources are from rag mills
from all over the world. Glass Onion receive
around 18 tonnes every ten days so even
through 15 staff, it’s a lot of work!

15 staff, it’s a lot of work!
The concept of Glass Onion may sound as
though they are simply selling on unwanted
clothing (isn’t that a branch of bringing
vintage to the market anyway?) but they go
beyond that. Keeping the customer coming
back is one thing but helping them to stay in
business is worth more. They pride
themselves in giving total support and
guidance to the customer and their vintage
business. They are there to help, advice and
guide the client through the jungle that can
often determine whether a vintage business
sinks or swims.
We are all aware of the power that local
economic structures, location and general
demand can have on a vintage business. It
can kill it, but with the right guidance, a
business can thrive, and that’s where Glass
Oniondo their bit to help you stay afloat.
For more information about Glass
Onion and their events, click on the
ticket to the left to take you
straight to the website

Your Life
CARS
and
GIRLS
We're eargerly swapping the Smart for the
Sunbeam, the Mazda for the Classic Mini.... more
and more of us are hitting the streets and going
back to the good old days of precarious motoring,
but why? We find out what is really behind the
appeal of oil pans and cold starts.....
I remember those days, of watching the
weather forecast from the end of October
onwards, hiding behind the sofa as if watching
an episode of Doctor Who. Waiting with baited
breath for those words from the man on the
telly – frost and ice expected on untreated
roads.
It was every motorist’s worst nightmare.
Nowadays, we have smart little gadgets like
traction control, 4 wheel drive and anti-slip this
and that. Long have the years rolled by where
RAC breakdown chaps sit around bored
dreaming of the days when during the winter,
thousands of calls came flooding in from
motorists who just couldn’t get started.
We have too much comfort today; air
conditioning, a blue-toothed mobile phone and
heated seats are things we expect as standard
from the car showroom, yet I remember days
when motoring really was on the seat of your
pants. Every journey an adventure, only

adventure, only because you wondered if
you would going to get back again.
But we’re aching for those days again.
WHY? More and more youngsters are
longing for damp spots, worn plugs and
feeler gauges and the ever-so-necessary
set of brake pads in the glove box. After
all, wasn’t that what glove boxes were
for?
If you take a jaunt over to Crystal Palace
every May, you will find a sea of students
shuddering in the early morning air for the
start of the Mini London To Brighton Run, a
‘race’ that sees a growing number of
entrants each year with hundreds more
turned down, this is first come first serve
territory and these guys take it very
seriously!
no wonder that youngsters turn to the
jalopy to get from one place to another.
Yet there is more than that these days.
Our grandmothers might have jumped into
old Fords with their friends after the war
for some fun, but kids are taking their
classics more seriously these days.
Just cruise round the local classic car show
and there will be more young women and
men with cash to spare than retired
accountants on a day off from the golf
course.
It is the sign of the times and if we really
want to see the next generation taking
vintage by the horns, driving seat comfort
may well be a thing of the past…
More and more classic car shows are
popping up in fields everywhere up and
down the country. What has become more
popular is the Classic Car Boot Sale as
penned by Wayne Hemingway and his
vintage pals who have given the Sunday
morning freeze sport a whole new
meaning. Now you can trip over to the
South Bank of the Thames in the Big
Smoke and gaze upon the oak dining table
sticking out of the back of a 1968 Cadillac.
After all, you’re gonna fit everything from
the house in there!
‘It’s the thrill!’ A young and slightly
bonkers classic car friend told me once.
‘You want to be looked at!’ Oh yes, I quite
agree! Nothing better than being laughed
at in the driving rain on the hard shoulder
of the M5. ‘You have something you can
call family!’ He goes on to tell me. Yes! And
like all family members, a drain on the
resources!
Shots from the recent
South Bank classic
car boot sale, London
With so many young people turning their
hand to grabbing the nearest Beetle they
can find in Exchange and Mart, surely, it is
time that car companies realised this and
started to make allowances. With the cost
of motor insurance creeping up daily, it is

Come and advertise with
us!!
With the LIttle Vintage Business Company, our fortnightly
newsletter AND Your Vintage Business magazine, your business
flyer will be in front of thousands of fans and readers each week,
making us still the most affordable way to advertise your
business, shop, pitch and event in the vintage world!
Advertise with us and see your event flyer or business flyer in our
magazine for the whole year - for 12 issues, at only £150!
Email us now at info@thelittlevintagebusinesscompany.co.uk

Your Vintage Style
Shoes That Swept
The World Off
It's Feet.
The V&A in Kensington, London, introduces this
June, a collection to make you drool, wince and
possibly shed a tear. You will want to bring your
mothers and your daughters to this new exhibition
where men can stay at home. So sit back, kick off
your shoes and delight in the world in which our
feet are at the head of the table....
Welcome to the bittersweet history of the shoe...

This month marks the beginning of Shoes:
Pleasure and Pain exhibition at London’s
V&A from 12 June to 31 Jan and the title of
this showcase of those hardened items of
wonder, sex and torment could not have
been more apt.
Shoes have been known to rock our social
world. The very over used line from M
Monroe ‘give a girl the right pair of shoes
and she can conquer the world’ might have
been perhaps the most fantastical of
phrases but let’s face it girls. Where would
be without the Jimmy Choos of this world
to make us feel a thousand times more
powerful, sexy and downright blooming
unstoppable simply by stepping into a pair
of extraordinary lumps of cork and man
made upper sole?
From toe crushing 17th Century boots to
Vivienne Westwood gillies ( the type that
Naomi Campbell gives her right arm to fall
over in) you will find them all on display.
Every wince on every female visitors face
will recall the pain of these pairs of
masterpieces we have squeezed our feet in
for men, jobs and showing off to the girls
on the dance our before getting on the bus
bare foot to go home. We have lived
through unimaginable agony when it
comes to shoes which, on reflection is on a
par with childbirth. Never has such a
showcasing event caused the visitor so
many painful memories.
But don’t get me wrong. I have an endless
supply of heels which are like slippers to
me. (You know those rare occasions where
new architectural heels don’t pinch and it’s
like all your Christmasses rolled into one)
and then there are the pairs I can’t possibly
part with. Even the thought of root canal
surgery is more attractive than walking
twenty paces in those babies again.
This love hate relationship with shoes
womankind has is bitter sweet. We have
lived through our shoes. Loved them. Seen
our own love lives dictated by them yet
they are there still. I’m our presence. With
their spiked heels and uncomfortable
wedges. We push passed the mules in
order to grab those baby pink 6 inch heels.
We just have to have them. I have shoes in
my wardrobe that I still don’t have anything
to wear them with. Yet there they are. Like
cigarettes. They sit there in my possession
knowing that they have me. My addiction.
No matter what and what’s more. There’s
no escape.
So if you are young thing with equally
young, un-bunioned feet just itching to
discover the story of shoes or you are a
wise old girl with more sense than to trade
in your comfort for a pair of Terry de
Havilland creations, I guarantee you will be
in love, despising and adoring each pair of
implements of female rowdy-torture by the
end of your visit. To experience is
everything. Bring your daughters but keep
your men at home. This event is a very
personal pilgrimage to the pinnacle of all
that is womanhood...
The V&A shoe exhibition runs from 13 June
2015 to 31 January 2016. For more
information, please go to the V&A WEBSITE

Your Life

10
Ways to Shine
This Summer!
1
2
Snap Happy!
Keeping some happy photos
of friends, pets or family next
to your bedside is a sure fire
way that you will wake up with
a smile on your face before you
even get our of bed!
Water baby
Its amazing now getting
dehydrated can lower your
mood very rapidly. Sometimes
before you even realise your
thirsty. Keep yourself topped
up with water during the day
Get Ahead!
Giving 3your head a gentle
massage when you wake up in
the morning and also last thing
at night will relieve any tension
you might be feeling in your
neck. We love using a drop of
coconut oil and gently
massaging the roots of your
hair and the top of your neck to
give you a very relaxed feeling
It works wonders for glossy hair
Summer's here and we're feeling good!
But when the sun goes in, the blues can
return. Here are our top ten tricks to do
when the Summertime Blues hit the sky
Sleeping beauty
It can't be stressed enough -
sleep really 4is the key to feeling
good and being happy. People
who don't get enough sleep
are grumpy, we all know that
right? So be good to yourself
and get at least one or two early
nights during the week. Trying
having a warm drink or
listening to some classical
music to help you drift off. No
5
6
Touch something
We are all covered with a giant
nerve organ called our skin. Its
is the very feeling we can't
switch off from, so why don't
we use it more? So stroke your
cat, dog or cuddle a teddy
bear!
Phone a friend
Its an old ting but it works, if you
can think of a mate who knows
how to have you in stitches
then give them a call - that way
you are cheering someone else
up too - double whammy!
7
8
9
make you feel better and look bette
Count your blessings
Or better still - write them down! Think of
all the things that make you happy, good
habits you are proud of, things you have
done that have been pretty cool recently.
We can lose sight of the good things
sometimes. So grab some paper!
What you eat...
Let's face it, we are a product of
what we eat and what ever we
feel like on the inside is going
to project how we feel on the
outside. So before you grab the
Big Mac, go for the fruit instead.
It w
Get walking!
Getting fresh air into your lungs wil
so go for a walk, it doesn't have to be
very long, not only will you feel betterf
or getting out in the air but you will
look better too! . getting out in nature
and walking the tress and flowers
around us makes us feel better about
the world so take a step into mother
nature and you will feel the years lift
off you!
10
Dig your LP's!
Listening to our favourite
music is always a good thing to
do, just make sure the
neighbours are out first before
you crank up the volume! Who
cares if Duran Duran are on!.

Your Vintage Style
Whether it's getting those
victory rolls right to finding the
right outfit for a bit of a 'do,' it can
be a nightmare trying to find the
right look, that's why we have
scoured the country to find you
the best in the business to get
you looking that little bit perfect,
so without further or do, here is
our countdown of our favourite
top three in the vintage business,
so grab a pen and paper and
make a note of these lovely
people to style you senseless!
STYLE ME IN VIN
1
1
Raye Leonard in Swindon, Wiltshire started off
her business of vintage hair styling through her
love of styling her own hair. Self taught, her
business has grown from strength to strength
and now she is being booked for some major
vintage festivals around the UK. She is a great
girl and one who has yet to reach her limits.
You can find Raye's new website at VINTAGE
VICTORY ROLLERS

Sameera Al-Hilley from Lancashire runs up and coming
vintage business called The Vintage Wardrobe offers lovely,
women's vintage clothing, shoes & accessories from
1950s-1990s! They have recently been picked by The Daily
Telegraph as being one of the top vintage shops worth
visiting in the UK. Every piece is hand picked, meaning she is
only providing the best vintage to fellow vintage lovers!
Worth a look on their website for some very affordable chic
pieces! Have a browse in the wardrobe here: www.thevintag
ewardrobe.com
3
2
TAGE GLAM!
Victoria Kennedy from VJ Vintage has been tredding the
markets and vintage fairs for quite some time, now she is
heading off into the high street and has opened up her new
shop!
Vintage Treasures is her new shop on Church St in Basingstoke
stocking a wide range of true vintage and reproduction
vintage clothing, accessories and jewellery. They offer a
friendly and personal 'vintage' shopping experience. We love
her to bits! Please go and find her facebook page at www.Face
book.com/vjvintage.

Your Business
Adventures with
Doris, Dave and The
Flea
Zara poses at her home with one of her
beloved dogs who have given her the
name of her business
Every so often, we meet someone in our lives
who has the ability to touch hearts, right to the
core. It can move us when we understand the
drive behind their work. In the vintage
business, there are many people who have
turned their worlds from darkest places to
those of light and joy, even in the bleakest of
corners.
People have started creative projects in
memory of those they have lost, cared
for; humans, animals, it doesn’t matter,
what does matter is the spark that these
people generate through their work. It
is awe inspiring, thought provoking and
humble making. It is these elements
that make these people who are driven
by creativity, stand out from the crowd.
Zara Kolasinska is one of life’s
survivors.
Overcoming the recent loss of her
daughter, Ginger, she has seen all that
can possibly be positive about life after
such a tragic event. She is focused,
determined and strong.
She knows how to work hard at what
she does, and won’t be moved from her
new found goals. A former hairdresser
for 16 years, she, like many other
women breaking out into the business
world wanted to expand on her skills.
Her vintage power business, ‘Doris,
Dave and the Flea,’ has been in the
making for a couple of years now,
taking on name changes and house
moves along its journey, but now, it is
moving into a different realm, taking on
a spiritual character with a deeper

meaning and understanding for Zara and her
family. The chrysalis is opening a new chapter
for her.
Saturday 6th of June saw the event that Zara
has spent every second of her existence
creating since the life shattering loss of her
daughter. I could not have ever imagined that
the bright young woman whom I first spoke to
12 months ago at a vintage and craft fair in
Cirencester, was about to face a situation that
each and every mother to be dreads to face;
giving birth to a still born child.
Today, I met a woman who has the ability to
take whatever life has thrown at her in her life
and turn it around, make it positive and above
all, give it back tenfold to those around her in
need and to the charities that work tirelessly
to support children in need.
‘I am very passionate about supporting
charities who have helped me and families
who have faced similar situations,’ Zara
explains, ‘they are Kids Company and Sands.
The work they do is selfless. We bring our
children up in a world now where there is
limited, if not, no support in place for children
who need it most, and since losing our
daughter, Ginger, I have felt a strong calling to
focus my work on supporting these charities. I
hope through my fairs I can raise money for
these wonderful charities while greeting
workshops and events to help these young
Zara poses on her wedding day

Zara's talent and passions are
entwined with the mid century
feel to vintage furniture, a past
time she has crafted into a
profitable business
mothers and youth develop skills to
give then confidence and guidance to
showcase creations that then can go on
to be sold at these fairs.’
Of course there have been times when
Zara has wondered if she has taken on
too much from organising the vintage
fairs. ‘I sit down sometimes and wonder
if I can manage, but then I find I am
overcome but a strong sense of
positivity, it’s like I am being spurned on
to do it, and then I get up again. I do
firmly believe our daughter is still with
us in that sense. She is making sure I
keep going!’
Kids Company is the brain child of
Camilla Batmanghelidjh who started the
project almost ten years ago.
The aim of the charity is support and
guide children from unsupported homes
where they face emotional and
educational challenges; those in inner
city areas where crime and
unemployment limits their future
progress, and vulnerable young people
who have been exposed to violence,
drug abuse and social exclusion.
It is a charity close to Zara’s heart.
‘There has to be someone somewhere
to look after these kids to make sure
that they don’t end up in the same
jobless situations as their parents.’ She
says, ’there has to be a point where the
situation changes for youngsters. They
can’t be left to feel that they have no
future.’ Zara had to overcome many
struggles as a young mum herself,
learning a lot from her younger life, she
feels she is in a good place to shift her
efforts to raising money through her
vintage business and now, fairs and
events.
‘I love all things vintage and nostalgic,
and I am drawn to fashion, interior
design, art and architecture.
My passions always have a vintageesque
feel. I love the fact that my
business moves in a new direction
taking this theme with it,’ she beams. ‘At
my fairs, I fill the pitches with those
who have the same strong feelings as
me to move their small vintage and
retro inspired businesses as far as
possible. I wanted to provide a platform
for these people who need to step into
the limelight and be able to show the
public what they can do.’ Zara smiles
brightly as she tells me about the
people she has met who have, as she
describes, incredible talent for making
things, designing and renovating home
wares and clothes, giving them a new

things, designing and renovating
home wares and clothes, giving them
a new lease of life.’
‘One of the great things I love doing
is enabling these young people to
expand on their creativities through
charities like Kids Company. It is
excellent therapy for them and
hugely confidence boosting for them.
To learn how to make, renovate or
reinvent something lifts depression
and gives them focus. It can only be
a good thing, in my book.’
At present, Kids Company reaches
36,000 youngsters across London,
Bristol and Liverpool but the number
of those who are in desperate need
of the project’s help is growing all
the time where government funding
simply isn’t there to look after them.
Zara had been the child of a single
parent family who, despite struggling
to move away from this unsecure
environment, found herself too, a
young mum at the age of 17. ‘I didn’t
have a very good education, but I
learned that the best thing I could do
for my son and my own situation was
to make life better for us, as a
family.’
In my mind, Zara is an incredibly
strong lady. ‘I do believe that it is
down to us, as parents to support and
give as much to our children as we
can.
his own right. ‘I am very proud of him,
and now he travels across Europe for
his own work. He will be at the
vintage fair doing vintage haircuts on
the day!’
I wonder what the future holds for
Zara. She is feeling good about life
and is happy to move where ever the
wind takes her business in the
coming years. ‘I love doing the
vintage fairs and organising them. I
want to change the name of the
business and focus it more on the
good charity work it does keeping
the vintage theme in line too. It is all
about putting something back into
life and for the people who have
seen me through difficult times.
Right now, it is all about Ginger, our
daughter, who has given me the drive
to do more with the business.’ She is
thankful for that.
‘I believe being able to root your
creativity is the key ingredient along
with support, love and
understanding…’
The future is looking bright for Zara
and her business – it has the ability
to whether storms and come out
shining.
They are under immense pressure to
succeed in this day and age, far more
than we were and the struggles they
face are far more intense.’ Zara has
two boys now, her eldest son; a
barber who has become successful in
Find Doris Dave and The Flea on
FACEBOOK
Sands Organisation for Stillbirth and Neonatal
Death
Kids Company Official Website

Your Time Out

Edith Head - guts and
gusto got her the
world...
Last
Word
I have always been drawn to people who have stepped through life on a
wing and a prayer. They have gathered together all they could muster up in
terms of confidence and literally shut their eyes and jumped.
One of the most iconic ladies of the background in Hollywood Cinema was
Edith Head. She started her career with no more than a decent amount of
faith in herself and her ability and no training at all, yet in world cinema
history, she was the lady behind every single Hollywood star from Grace
Kelly to Elizabeth Taylor. She designed and made dresses for every big
name in show biz and clothed the most beautiful actresses in the world. Yet
Ms Head was a quiet lady, not a oil painting herself and always dressed like
she was working in an office. With her school teacher glasses perched on
the end of her nose, she walked into her first job as a dress maker with
someone else's drawings and a lot of nerve. She faked her training to get
an interview as well as her background but got the job and kept winning
Oscars for her work right into her seventies. She was one of the most
respected women in the golden age of cinema and her skills were still in
demand by Hollywood studios right up until her death.
She is, for me the ultimate example of why you should grab what you want
in life and just go for it, even if you have to bend a little in the process. If
you want it, take it, have it and make the most out of it. Its only one life and
if Edith Head had decided that she wasn't really cut out for the job and had
stayed at teaching, then we would have mised out on one of the people
who made vintage what it is today.
There would have literally been no glamour, no dresses for us to drool over,
no icons to follow, no films to capture our minds and our creativity.
Take life by the horns and a leaf out of Ms Head's book. Life is for living and
doing what you always dreamed of doing...

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THE
VINTAGE
wwww.thevintagebusiness.net
ISSUE 13
OUT JULY 14
2015