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

Ferragamo Shoes a-plenty...

...well   4   3 pairs. *edit*

Salvatore Ferragamo was an Italian shoe designer. A google tells us that Ferragamo "worked with many Hollywood stars in the 1920s, before returning to Italy to found the eponymous company making unique handmade footwear. His scientific and creative approach to shoes spawned many innovations such as the wedge heel and cage heel. Film stars and celebrities continue to patronize his company, which has evolved into a luxury goods empire spanning the world."

"For more than 30 years he shod the whole galaxy, from Lillian Gish in the first silent films to Marilyn Monroe in the Seven Year Itch. Greta Garbo purchased 70 pairs of shoes in one visit to the shop in Florence. One of his most celebrated pieces are Dorothy's ruby slippers for the 1939 version of The Wizard of Oz."

We think you should do a Garbo and come and buy all  4  3 pairs we have! haha *edit*

The first pair are rather worn and well loved. Lilac suede in colour with brown edging and buckle they are a size 8 (eur 41). Flat heel and very practical. But they are in need of a good clean, so we have priced accordingly. £60 30

This 2nd pair are my new favourite thing in the shop and of course they are too small for me!
They look as new, but the sole gives away that these are not new and have been worn a fair bit. However whoever had them must have kept them boxed up and super neat and clean.
Leather upper and sole.

The beige pumps again have a low heel, which means you can actually walk and run in these designer shoes!
This are on sale for £80
Size 7 (eur 40)



The 3rd pair are these black sandals, with a clear strapping. Again these are a size 8 (eur 41) and well loved. Great for if you head off for some winter sun! £60 £30.

The 4th and final pair are the same as the 3rd pair of sandals with a navy sole and trim. *edit* Just as I posted this blog they sold.

Ferragamo shoe shop concession time!

And of course we now need a clip of The Wizard of Oz, where Judy Garland, I mean Dorothy, gets the ruby slippers (although in the book they are silver. But hey - GLITTERY SHOES! Who doesn't love gilltery shoes?!)

Bye for now BG

Diane Von Fursternburg Bag

A Haaaaaandbag?! Sorry Lady Bracknell but yes, a handbag. (But with no baby/manuscript related incidents like The Importance of Being Ernest...)

This black shoulder bag by Diane Von Furstenburg is in great condition, with no scuffs or marks, although the lining is slightly marked at the bottom. (And it is gift aided and you all know how pleased that makes us here! Woo)

It measures 14 inches by 14, (36cm by 36cm approx with the handles adding another 10 (25cms approx) inches in height to the bag. So will be able to fill it full of STUFF as we know how important stuff is.
£80
The front pocket has a lovely snake print trim on one side, with makes it a bit more flashy then just plain black.

All the zips work fine and are embellished with the DVF logo.

The Belgium born American designer is famous for her wrap dresses, which we get occasionally in the shop here at Brook Green (but none at the moment sadly) but her bags are just as coveted, and so pop on in and make friends jealous!

Bye for now
BG

Grey Days vs Grey Outfit

So in these grey dull days we keep saying you need to wear colour and aim to make our windows bright, but sometimes a bit of grey (or white and black) is needed. Today we have dressed a dummy to prove this point in lush designer items.

The mix of 2 shades of grey (no 50 shades of grey, here thank you very much!) with a tie-in colour of blue creates a simple but (we think) a non boring look.

The top is a high neck collar job from Valentino. The Italian fashion designer has many lines, and this is from the Valentino ready to wear collection.
This dark grey jumper is 100% cashmere as therefore super soft and warm. We have had to put up high on the dummy to stop the urge to rub it all over our faces!! Sooooo soft!
£40
Size 10 (eur 38) with loooong sleeves, perfect to keep you cosy.

The blue belt and blue necklace breaking up the grey are both from Zara. The leather belt is £7.50 and the necklace is £4.

Finally, the wool cashmere mix skirt is by Acne. The Acne Studios is part of the creative collective Acne (Ambition to Create Novel Expression) which was founded in Sweden.
The £68 skirt is in very good condition, but the lining has a small mark on it but it is not visible when worn. Again another small size 8/10 (eur 36/38), the slightly bell shape to it adds some oomph.

We suggest teaming it up with some dark grey knit tights and some long boots for that "So what if its winter, I am warm and look awesome" look.

Bye for now
BG

Amishi Clutch Bag

Winter is drawing in and very soon all those office/work Christmas parties will be booked and you will have a beautiful outfit in need of some awesome accessories.

Well HELLO! Well done for looking in our little shop Brook Green, as we have many funky evening bags. Envolope and clutch and those tiny ones which you can only fit your lipstick and some change are the order of the day (or night).

This one is by Amishi and we have been won over by this beautiful embellishment on the front.

£20
Sized up to 12inches (30cm) by 7 inches (18cms) it is small enough to be chic yet big enough to be practical!

We have decided that it would be perfect for dressing up that LBD (little black dress, of course!) OR to wear it with another print to do this whole clashing prints style.

Ready for the party!

Bye for now
BG

Isabel Marant Linen Coat

Isabel Marant is a French house of fashion founded 1994 by Isabel Marant and we have a lovely linen coat for sale, donated about 10 mins ago, just before opening.

We get asked for Isabel Marant prety much every week at least, I guess with Brook Green being a rather French part of London, people want the Parisian 'look'.
Never had anything by them before, and then today we get this lovely coat.

A faded khaki colour it is button fastening with belt, and the same detailing on the sleeves.
- However there are worn marks on the sleeves, but we think they will come out with a good dry clean.

£250

Plus as this is a gift aid item we will get an extra £62.50 from HMRC, meaning this donation will raise a total of £312.50 for Trinity Hospice.

£15 will sponsor a Trinity nurse to provide 1 hour of inpatient care.
£25 will sponsor a Trinity nurse to make a visit to a patient in the community
£65 will sponsor a week’s worth of single use equipment for one of our nurses to provide practical and safe care to people in their own homes.
£212 will sponsor one of our community nurses for one day.
£400 will sponsor 24 hours of specialist inpatient nursing care.

What a fantastic donation!

Bye for now
BG

Funky Food Plates

Some more awesome bric-a-brac donations to share. (But we always need and want more, thank you please)

This set of 4 'side' plates are by Jacques Franck Porcelaine de Paris & Limoges.

Limoges porcelain designates hard-paste porcelain produced by factories near the city of Limoges, France beginning in the late 18th century, but does not refer to a particular manufacturer.

"When you see a piece of Limoges porcelain, the mark you see is not from a particular studio. It may come from one of many studios in the region that choose to use the standardized Limoges porcelain mark. And that’s natural given that the elements (including the traces of soil) needed to produce these delicate creations can be found only in Limoges, France."

The Limoges name is famed for their small hand painted boxes. But our set of plates is more practical!
Each single one is hand painted with various food stuffs - possibly so that you know what food to put on them, although it's savoury rather than our favourite, sweet cakes.

No chips, no scratches, no marks. Perfect set.

The last one is our favourite.

This set is on sale for £40

Just don't put them in the dishwasher!


Bye for now
BG

Autumn Reds

October is here and the trees and chaging to red, and everything is getting more cosy. This outfit is for a lovely date with a HUGE hot chocolate, with marshmallows of course, and maybe some cake. (Always with cake!)

The floral top is shown to its best with this red skirt (but a purple, white, cream or brown skirt would also work. We did try it with a black skirt and it was just not right.) and this funky black belt.

Carolina Herrera is a Venezuelan-American fashion designer known for "exceptional personal style", and dressing First Ladies from Jacqueline Onassis to Michelle Obama.
So you can have her exceptional style from us as the top is from her past collections.
Size 12 (eur 40) and made from a silk cotton mix, its subtle florals in purple and cream.
£30
We really like the bow detail on the neckline.

The red pencil skirt shown here is from Alberta Ferretti. The Italian designer produces items with amazing feminine draping and tailoring, which, considering she is a daughter to a tailor we wouldn't have expected anything less!
This 100% silk skirt is lined in a silk mix.
Size 10 (eur 38).
There is a tiny tiny rip by the zip, but a handful of tiny stiches could fix that.
Sold as seen for £40

Finally the belt is from Topshop and is leather for £15.

(The shoes shown next to it are £14, size 8 (eur 41) but have been sold since taking the photo. Sorry about that. You have to be quick buying stuff here at Brook Green!)

The cost of the entire outfit...
£85.
2 designer pieces and a statement belt for about the cost of a M&S coat.
(although you might need that M&S coat if it starts raining. But why go there when we have various coats from £12 and you help Trinity Hospice?!)


Bye for now
BG

Crystal Fruit Bowl

And following on from the Ernest Gordon glass bowl, this lovely Edinburgh Crystal bowl was handed in....

Edinburgh Crystal was a cut glass crystal manufactured in Scotland between 1867 and 2006, and was also the name of the manufacturing company.

As well as vases, glasses,  vases, decanters, and vases, they do bowls.
This fruit bowl is ready to be filled with well, fruit. It is very heavy with no chips or scratches.

£40

It catches the light and sends rainbows across the table. So preeeetty.

Bye for now
BG

Ernest Gordon Glass

Today has been a day for glass and crystal donations. Along with some Champagne flutes (from £4 a set) and some posey and stem vases (from £2), this piece was just chucked into the bag....

The one piece that wasn't wrapped up at all and it is the most interesting.

We always check for marks on items just in case, although most of the time it is 'made in china'. Etched on the bottom was some numbers and letters which took a while and some bright light to be able to read "Ernest Gordon" on the top with "Kosta GS *something*007" (So as we can't read the number apart from the 007 it has been nicknamed the Bond bowl!)

Many books and a google later and I can tell you this is a piece of etched glass by him. British designer Ernest Gordon for the Swedish factories of Åfors and Kosta.

(Taken from the link) "Ernest Gordon Adsetts was born in Sheffield on Boxing Day, 1926.
From 1941- 44 he studied sculpture at the Sheffield College of Art, where he met the sculptor George Fullard, and was later awarded a scholarship to the Royal College of Art in South Kensington. He worked closely with George at the RCA and shared a studio with him in the King's Road, Chelsea. Ernest Gordon’s designs in glass were wide and varied....However, of the many techniques he utilised there are two most commonly represented in his designs: a controlled bubble technique in black, using soot to create a myriad of small bubbles as a background, and detailed engravings, covering many subjects and styles and often showing a whimsical side."

The GS means that it is cut glass (Gordon was G, so at Kosta GD was engraved, GS cut, GH hand formed, GG engraved. You really do learn something new everyday!)

The bowl has half moon shapes cut onto it, making a very pleasing pattern around it.

However it does have some scratches on the glass from where it hasn't been stored correctly. (not our fault! honest guv)

Our friend in the glass know has valued it for us. This piece is £250 
(sadly not gift aided, but we can't win 'em all...)

 

Bye for now
BG