It’s a lot easier to visit us on facebook as we now have a brand new facebook web address. Visit our page or become a fan at www.facebook.com/ragandmagpie. If you become a fan you’ll receive our blog and product updates direct to your facebook. It’s also an easy way to tell us what you like.
Well.. not actually with her… but you could look at her every day with the 2011 Kitten Von Mew Pin-up Calender. Kitten told us a while ago about her plans to launch a 1940s and WWII Pin-Up Girls inspired calender for 2011, since then we have anticipated it’s arrival. It did actually arrive a couple of weeks ago but we thought it would be great suprise to add after the re-launch of our site, so here it is! The calender is crammed with glamorous images of the British burlesque performer and cheesecake model Kitten Von Mew and each month has a different scene including Kitten Riding a giant cracker in December, dresses as a Burlesque bunny for and several of her channelling WWII Pin-ups in Military uniform.
Buy 2011 Kitten Von Mew Pin-up Calender from Rag and Magpie.
Me and my girl recently got back from New York. This is one in a series of posts breaking down the fun and games we discovered during our weeklong stay in Brooklyn in the hope that you may enjoy the same pleasures, whether you are a visitor or a local.
Early in the week we awoke at the crack of dawn to take in East village. The area is much talked about and comes up with big listings of vintage stores and thrift stores in web searches. Despite our overly pedantic printed map with markers for all the store we found it difficult to track down listings which were not closed, still existed, or hadn’t moved location. Arriving early in East village will not help you with a shopping spree as most of the stores don’t open until around midday. To pass the morning we grabbed lunch and a much needed iced coffee to out-ride the overwhelming heat and sat in the nearby Tompkins Square Park. This was the first time we witnessed the dog-friendly New York culture. As Londoners yearning for but unable to look after pets in a small third floor flat, it was lovely to see the array of dogs and their owners in one of the NY’s many dog runs and see how well looked after they are throughout the city.
After yet more iced coffee our rummage started in Angela’s boutique, a haven for the more practices vintage enthusiast, they stocked a vast selection if feminine and lacy vintage pieces from the 1920s, 1930s and 1940s. You won’t find generic thrift here, this the place to go if you have a bigger budget and need a head-turning vintage gown. As it happened I fell in love with several pairs of out-of-my-budget original 1940s lace-up shoes… alas I had to leave them. Boohoo.
It’s not really my bag but if you like TKMaxx or London’s MVE stores visit The Buffalo Exchange for a floor filled with second hand and overstock clothes and accessories. They do stock retro but you will find equal amounts of almost new high-street stuff too.
If you’re a fixer of old things like me you’ll love Archangel Antiques, they specialize in vintage buttons, cuff-links and tie pins and believe me they’ll tell you about it; the friendly owners are very chatty but helpful. You’ll find no end of beautiful buttons here to help recycle your clothes.
Moving on we trawled the nearby streets for other vintage stores, there are many but you’ll have to catch them when they’re open, there’s a selection below although walking in the St Marks Place – East 11th Street area you’ll also come across others we didn’t venture into. We ended the day with delicious stuffed pancakes and peach Bellinis in the lovely Crooked Tree crêperie. Recommended.
If you’ve got something to add about East Village since our visit please leave a comment or email us.
Yesterday me and some pals drifted down to Stepney Green, London yesterday evening for one of The East End Thrift Store’s regular sale evenings. It started relaxed as we arrived early but things soon turned frantic as girls and boys alike were clutching their free beer and grasping for as many of the clothes as they could reach through the crowd. My arms were piled high with dresses to try on within minutes of reaching their downstairs £2-£4 rail. No really, on the most part things in this are were only four pounds, which if you are a dab hand at replacing buttons, adding darts or removing stains is a magical thing. Women were stripping down willynilly and maneuvering for a glimpse in the mirror. Surprisingly unlike much vintage clothing many of the items here turned out to be over-sized on my curvy size 12 frame.
Upstairs was a haven of calm in comparison, rails were orgainized and abundant with the best quality non-reduced items and tables were decorated with neat piles of balled up belts and scarves. By the end the small cobbled ally outside was strewn with students and fashionistas. Between the three of us we bagged eight pieces of clothing, among which were my three bargainous dresses; a rather 60’s red and black two tone dress which on me somehow looks rather nore fourties, a red and white (almost gingham) full skirted shirt dress and an adorable blue and white dress, nautical with polka-dots and ahem…go go gadget shoulderpads!!
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Me and my girl just got back from New York. This is one in a series of posts breaking down the fun and games we discovered during our week long stay in Brooklyn in the hope that you may enjoy the same pleasures, whether you are a visitor or a local.
On Sunday morning we had much needed iced coffee and pumpkin muffins a cute breakfast place on the corner of 7th Avenue and 5th Street whilst watching vendors setting up for the weekly PS 321 Flea Market. 
This Park Slope flea market was our first taste of New York flea marketeering and with a good result. There was about 20 stands when we hit the stalls, displaying a decent mix of vintage homeware, furniture, second hand jewellery, collectables, vintage clothing and generic flea market tat. By the Second stall I had already bagged myself a gorgeous and perfectly fitting original 1960’s turquoise hounds-tooth dress. Although small this market is well worth a visit.
On the walk north from we crossed paths with a lot of cute looking antique and collectible stores including the curiously named Under The Pig , alas due to it being before noon on a Sunday, most of them were closed. We hung around for a while until the opening of Bob & Judi’s Collectibles, this narrow store has an good eclectic mix of vintage and retro homeware, collectible and jewellery. Although we fell for much of the kitchenware our luggage allowance was limiting, I left with a gorgeous ‘clay look’ floral rockabilly hair comb for under $4.
The walk up Fifth Avenue led us to then Guvnor’s and Odd Twin, I was in my element. Govnor’s is a vast cavernous room with rails and rails of vintage attire; playsuit on the fist rack followed by dresses, then shirts and so on. The store is divided roughly down the centre into menswear and womenswear whilst accessories are strewn in abundance. Perhaps most impressive was the round rail filled with vintage swimwear. I left with what is now my cherished grey and blue pussy-bow cotton house dress which ominously fastens at the back with just three poppers but is nonetheless adorable.
On the other hand, almost next door Odd Twin (pictured left) was tunnel like room but also divided centrally into mens and womenswear with well attended fitting rooms at the end. Homeware is arranged neatly near the entrance and nestled on giant overhead shelves. The vintage period outfits here appear to have been much more selectively sourced that the average vintage store with a good range from throughout the decades. Granted the fitting room attendant is a little ‘hard sell’ but friendly, as were all the staff. The clothes are neatly organised and the store is clean and free of musty vintage smells allowing for pleasant unfettered shopping. In essence this is a vintage store for the novice and well practiced enthusiast.
Do you have more to say about any of the places featured here or places in Park Slope we have not mentioned? Please do share…
Me and my girl just got back from New York. Over the next week I’ll post a breakdown of the fun and games we discovered during our week-long stay in Brooklyn in the hope that you may enjoy the same pleasures, whether you are a visitor or a local.
We knew when leaving England that a week would be a minuscule time to fully explore New York so had to plan in detail the places we wanted to visit most as decided by search engine, recommendation and general knowledge. We wrote a day-by-day plan of eating, shopping and walking throughout Manhattan and Brooklyn.
In the end we didn’t have time for everything; we had to narrow down the more obvious tourist things to a trip to Central Park and a visit to Fire Island beach. We were staying at a friends’ appartment in Williamsburg which lent us access to Brooklyn’s best veggie food places, heaps of local vintage shops, a handful of flea markets and yard sales and a great view of the city across the East River. On two occassions we took the subway down to Park Slope just East of Downtown Brooklyn where we had found some vintage stores online. By the end of the week we had bought 17 vintage dresses between us, among other things. It is obvious we had a blast.
Check back later this week for a breakdown of the best eats, markets and vintage shopping we found in Williamsburg, Downtown Brooklyn and Manhattan.