Red, White and Blue

So here we are - Just a bit too early for just red and white for Santa, so we added some navy to distract you from the fact that Christmas is coming! Still these colours always look great together and are always on trend at some point in the fashion calendar.

This is our Window Mark IV as every time we got around to finding an outfit, pieces were sold before they even hit the dummies!
So sadly you don't get to see the Gap cashmere jumper or the Topshop blue with red spots dress, or the Red boots! But don't think this is second best?! (Or forth best as it is...)
We always dress to impress and to catch the eye of everyone passing.

All rather patriotic...

So here we go from left to right...
Red H&M dress £10
Zara red frill top £4
Paul Smith cardigan £20
Topshop navy and white trim skirt £4
ASOS blue dress (New) £15
Spotty skirt (under dress) £3
White and cream J.Crew t shirt £6
Red jumper £5
Scarf £6  
Navy Hobbs trousers £8

Shoes from £5!

The copper pot is very funky, and is £30
Let it be, or fill with some loooooong stemmed floral/twigs for an interesting centre piece,

Various glass and wooden objects £2 - £15

Bye for now
BG

Halloweeeen

*BOO!*
Did we scare you?!
Hope we scared you into opening your wallet for the Halloweeny costumes we have for sale!

Although it is becoming more and more Americanised, we love a good Halloween costume, and these are all we have! So if you have any from last year you no longer want, we will gladly take them from you to re sell!

This weeks window is a subtle homage to Halloween, in rich purples, blood red and of course black. No bats or pumpkins though, but we did have a Pumpkin Spice latte this morning if that counts? And no 'cobwebs' - Have you ever tried getting rid of that stuff? Sticks about for aaaaaaaaages. 

Left to right -
Purple velvet 2 piece £20
Witches hat £1
Leather Boots (size 7 (40)) £30
Miss Scissorhands (that's not even a real thing is it? Ho hum) costume £10
Pop Princess (Copyright over saying Lady Gaga I guess, but it is Lady Gaga...) costume £10
Black bandage dress £16
Red cape £12
Black Hobbs shoes £14

and here are some close ups....

We also have a varied collection of Horror DVDs, £2 (each unless they are priced otherwise)

Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice!

Finally this metal candle holder is £8

Happy Horrible Halloween!!

Bye for now
BG

Colour Clash

Last week we were all rather muted (well other than the bright orange) with greens and neutrals. This week it is all about the colour clash!

Our customers want to be wowed and so sometimes we try to mix things up with colour combinations, not normally though of. So why not Purple and Orange?
Regal Purples with a splash of Citrus Orange to give it some zest! Also mixing some prints and various textures of fabric into the mix and we have a rather fun window.

Purple silk Franck et Fils dress £60
Orange Topshop print dress (new) £24
Whistles funky strap purple silk dress £24
Armani cream trousers £30
Cashmere jumper £18
Witchery jacket £20 £10
Belts from £4 each and Shoes from £7

We also have this gorgeous floral print, signed and numbered 78/450 by the artist, Siriol Sherlock for £70 £40.
Just make sure you have a wall big enough!
Approx size as 28inch (71cm) x 22inch (56cm)

Even our fella dummy looks rather dapper this week in his TM Lewin checked shirt £8, and his Harrods tie £6 and this funky denim and cotton/wool mix jacket £20.
(Shirt and Jacket are both medium sized.)

By for now
BG

Autumn Leaves

A new week and some new windows for you.

September has well and truely turned up now, bringing with it the cold, wet, gloomy weather. So we are trying to get bright colours in the window to cheer people up (and make them come in and spend lots of money of course!)
This week the changing colours of the trees and all the leaves have insipred this colour combination, along with the it being slightly clashy. Rich oranges and subtle greens. Love it. Autumn is our favourite time of year, simply for the awesome colours which mother nature brings out.

So for sale this week we have....
Left to Right -
Toast green merino wool jumper £24
H&M pink shirt (just seen under jumper) £4
Ralph Lauren white belt £15
H&M orange trousers £5
Orange Floral top £6
Jaeger linen pencil skirt £10
New look white blouse £4
Retro skirt £9
Wallis orange cardigan £6
Green vintage suede belt £8
New Look floral top £5
White roll neck cashmere jumper (just seen under floral top) £20
Vintage grey leather skirt £20
Brown belt £5

Have some close ups too....

Silver necklace £16

Bye for now
BG

Rock rock till you SHOP

So we might have got a bit excited over this window and used it as in excuse to blast out some Def Leppard and Led Zeppelin in the shop, but it has certainly caught the eyes (and ears) of our customers!

We completed the window Monday at 1.20pm. First items sold at 1.22pm! Quick turnover of stock is what we want.
Already the window has changed slightly from the photos, having to replace sold books and clothes and guitars.

This was such fun to do, with the help of Yolaine and Kat, with so many pieces to fit together to make it interesting and yet still fashion and funky and most importantly eye-catching.

(Some of) The Books
Lady Gaga - £2
Bruce Springesten - £3
Depeche Mode - £2
Jim Morrison - £2
Joan Baez - £4
Leonard Cohen - £3
Bob Dylan - £5
Beatles - £2

The window outfits are mainly band t-shirts from £4 and leather skirts/trousers from £12

The men's Top Hat is from Christy's London and is for sale at £55.

Where is Slash when you need him!?

Finally, the Electric guitar and amp (which sadly doesn't go up to 11), which have been PAT tested as well as tuned up and STRUM tested is £80

The acoustic guitars in varying condition are priced from £25.

This one is so diddy and lovely. Travelling guitar by Washburn in case, as new, £60.

And here is the window....

And now I present MORE Def Leppard with the song from the title....(one of my favourites from Pyromania....)

(and I'll try to wait a few months before posting more Def Leppard....although I can't promise! haha)

Bye for now
BG

New Window. Guess the theme.

Another Guessing game.

....

Can you see the theme yet?...

How about now?....
Anything?
Come back Monday (or Tuesday if we are super busy!) and see what we have done! 

Bye for now
BG

It WILL be Summery!

Totally fed up with this grey, dull muggy summer, so we have taken it into our own hands and trying to prompt the sun to come out with our bright windows!

Last week we went with Cool Blue.
Turquiose 'Bombshell' dress £25
Hobbs blue wrap top £8
M&S turquoise skirt (new) £7
Manosh glittery blue/gold jacket £60
Pictures £15 each.

 

Yellow and Acid Green with a hint of blue and green is the way forward we think.
Yellow floral silk Hobbs dress £26
Neon green lace Zara dress (new) £20
H&M super fluffy jumper £6
Corded Boden skirt (new) £10

COME ON SUMMER!

Bye for now
BG

Meet the Volunteers - Andreea

Our newest volunteer is Andreea, who has been here for 3 months or so, and yet it seems as she has always been here.

Another Continental volunteer to join ranks with France and Peru, Andreea is from Romania and like Kat started volunteering to develop her retail skills. Not like she needed much help. Any job given she picks up instantly and completes it to a high standard.

Wednesday, she takes up the till after Lisa finishes and Friday is Andreea day, all day.

(Actually while doing these meet the volunteer blog posts, I realise more what an AWESOME set of volunteers we have at Brook Green. Yes. We win the volunteers. Anyway....)

Andreea is a tea drinker with display skills. The over rail displays in the shop are now being done by Andreea, who again has an eye for colour and fashion. Plus she isn't afraid to try things a bit different and it normally works. (I am jealous)
With a masters and lots of ideas Andreea is making her mark in the shop and putting lots of money in the till which is the entire plan! Very well trained....

Her weakness is nail polish and everytime she is in has fantastic nail art adorning her hands. My favourite one was when they looked like fox faces. So cute.

This week it is monsters. Smooshy monsters.

 

***

If you wish to volunteer at Brook Green or any of Trinity Hospice shops (Locations here) get in touch by emailing Anna Alcock retailvolunteers@trinityhospice.org.uk or phoning her on 020 7787 1000

Bye for now

BG

Meet the Volunteers - Lisa

It's Wednesday so that means Lisa is in to swish up and replenish the bric-a-brac.

Along with being super and opening up when I have morning meetings etc, Lisa is our bric-a-brac display woman who makes sure the old stuff sells and the new stuff looks amazing.

The lovely Lisa and her bargain bric-a-brac

Lisa has been at Brook Green pretty much since we opened in 2011 and knows everything there is to know about stuff in the shop. Find her rearranging things or on the till Wednesday morning and she will help you find what you are after.

Mother to 2 lovely boys, Lisa works around school times to have some time for herself....and to find the best bargains as she does love to shop.

Supplied with coffee and given many jobs to do I can concentrate on clearing space and sorting stock and I know the shop will be perfect in Lisa's capable hands.

All the volunteers are great at signing up Gift Aid donors, but Lisa gives herself the challenge to grab more then most - and I can happily say I don't bribe her to do it...unless the extra coffee counts!

When Lisa leaves Wednesday afternoon her shift is taken over by Andreea

Lisa in her own words "When I first started I had not worked for a long time. Since volunteering at Brook Green, I have learnt loads (ie: How to work a till) and I have become more confident. I enjoy working at the shop because the other staff are lovely and I get on with everyone. I also like to have a few hours just getting away from home and being in a different environment. I cannot see myself ever leaving because of how fun it is to work at Brook Green."
(And I definitely didn't bribe her to say that! Honest!)

***

If you wish to volunteer at Brook Green or any of Trinity Hospice shops (Locations here) get in touch by emailing Anna Alcock retailvolunteers@trinityhospice.org.uk or phoning her on 020 7787 1000

Bye for now
BG

Meet the Volunteers - Kat

I said I would introduce you to our lovely team of volunteers and so here we are on this lovely Monday morning, blogging, while the volunteer in question is serving customers! (It's all about delegation!)

Trinity Hospice shops all have a manager, some have an assistant manager, but we wouldn't be able to run without the kind help and support from people donating their time during the week to work in the shops.

If you wondered who dresses our windows along with the manager, it is this talented volunteer.
From Peru, Kat started volunteering to help improve her English and learn some retail skills. She did so well and we spotted her eye for making outfits 'pop' so we let her loose on our dummies and our window dresser was born.

Monday, 11.30ish, naked windows. Hour later and voilà - beautiful outfits and shoes ready for selling! Sometimes she does so well the garments don't even make the dummy before someone wants to buy them.

Clashing colours, same colour different textures, prints etc, all used to full advantage by Kat and our customers love it. We even have one lady who makes a point of going for her run at 1pm every Monday so she can run past and see Kat's new creation.

Kat say, "I have such fun trying out styling the windows, and it has really helped my English skills being here and dealing with customers."

This week Kat has gone for the Green with a dash of Red/Pink

 Burberry top for £45

I say its another winning window. Hurrah!

***

If you wish to volunteer at Brook Green or any of Trinity Hospice shops (Locations here) get in touch by emailing Anna Alcock retailvolunteers@trinityhospice.org.uk or phoning her on 020 7787 1000

Bye for now
BG

Showing off

Just a post to show off how the shop looks! Admire Brook Green!
(and to show off the new display cabinet....if only I could work out how to put the doors on. Should be so easy but....) 

New items go out everyday so it is always changing, but we always try to keep it tidy!

Making sure old stock gets sold or sent to other shops after 2 weeks on sale, so we can fill up with lovely new stock is a constant job, but without doing it we wouldn't get the lovely regular customers we have. Who wants to come into a shop and see the same things every time?! With donations coming in everyday (Thank you so much!) we don't have the space to hoard it away, so out it goes for sale.

COME IN AND BUY IT ALL!!! please.

(Disclaimer - These photos have been taken either aaaaaaaaaages ago or within a few days of each other, so you might see a few 'repeat' items)

   

Check out the new cabinet! Horrah! It fits somewhere! Totally worth the hours and hours of moving.
See All Change blog....

Bye for now

BG

All Change

Today has been a day of rearranging the shop, after we had a brilliant donation from Robert James Sound and Vision of an unwanted display cabinet.

Trying to find the best place where we can make use of it was fun (!). 2+ hours of moving, changing minds and then changing them back again, along with cleaning a plenty. AND of course this was when most of the customers decided to come in and browse and spend! Luckily the Tuesday manly men volunteer team of Pat and Joshua were on hand to assist.

Photos to follow once it is filled with goodies, and it's position is cemented in (still deciding exactly if I like it where it is....trial and error....)

Still it's cup of tea and a slice of cake time now.

Bye for now
BG

Window Shopping....

The windows are possibly one of the most important areas of the Brook Green Shop. It is our advertisement for our stock and the best way to 'show off' and tempt in customers.

It's not easy to change the windows as often as we like, seeing as we never know what stock is coming in each day, we try to do something new at least every 3 days.

So here are some past window displays for you to take a gander at
Sorry for such rubbish photos, but our windows are so clean and shiny there is always glare/reflection....



The 3 P's - Pink, Purple and Peach

Unlike some Charity shops we sell from the window, so if you see anything you like, pop in and buy.

Orange and Gold

 

Plus it gives us a challenge to change the window and still have a theme/ keep it matching!

Every Monday is Window day, and we have some regular customers which make a point of coming in to see what we come up with.
The window is changed by the lovely volunteer Kat, who has a great eye for colour, with a little bit of input from the shop manager.

We do have a male dummy on our side window before anyone says we are sexist, so we will make a point of doing a MAN blog post soon. Promise.

Christmas 2011

Bye for now
BG