Pick Pocket Thursday

It's Thursday, and that can only mean one thing! Time to share with you another weird and wonderful item we've found in a pocket this week.

Polaroids!

We found three poloroids in the pocket of this German parka jacket. Picures of artwork, they have a futuristic, science fiction look.

We wonder who painted them? Although we may never know, it's a interesting pocket find to be sure!

See you next week pocket pals!

Royal Jubilee-tion

As the Queen gets ready to celebrate her Diamond Jubilee, we thought we'd have a little rummage for some Royal worthy Vintage. And boy did we find some gems! Crowns not included (sorry!).

 

We think it's possible that the queen has the very same blue jacket (top right)! We found her in a strikingly similar top...hmmm!

Every Queen looks good in a sash, and Elizabeth is no exception. We think she'd like ours, don't you?

Looking Queenly is all about embellishment! The queen is looking regal and cool in her state robes. We've added a little embellishment in her honour.  Her curls look like they're holding the crown up on their own!

You can search all of our Regal Royal Vintage at our ebay store. *Stately wave*. Farewell!

Anyone for a Tour?

Curiosity may have killed the cat, but this post is not lethal we promise!

We thought it would be fun to give you all a little tour of our ebay office. Located Separately from our stores, we have a beautiful office full of stock, mannequins, cameras and computers. This is where we photograph, list, and dispatch all of the vintage treasures you find online. Curious? Here's our office...

Barbara Streisand watches over us ever day. The silent boss, she always makes sure we work hard, bringing you the best vintage clothing everyday...just don't look her in the eye!

We have some amazing vintage wall decorations, including a wall full of beautiful vintage handbags, ranging from the 1920s-80s. We also have a wall hung with bowler hats, and let's not forget our Scottish Crafts tea towel; a office favourite!

Are you ready to continue?

This is where we photograph everything, to upload it online for your viewing...

We then get ready to upload the pictures to the computer, and in turn ebay itself! This could not be done without our beautiful mantel piece decorations, ranging from bay city roller records, to harris tweed teddy bears. All a vital part of ebay selling. *cough*

We hope you enjoyed the tour! Can you remember the way out? See you soon!

Oh Deer!

There's nothing like the joy of finding a vintage gem with a unique character of it's own. This suede fringed waistcoat seems to tell you about its past, who made, who wore it, where it has been and what it has witnessed in a language that is nothing but stitches and worn patches. It's so sweet that we had to share it with you!

It's listed on our Ebay site if you'd like to buy it. Just click here.

Judy's Affordable Vintage Fair!

 

Did you guys make it along to Judy's affordable vintage fair last week? Well, we did and had a great time spotting Edinburgh most stylish!It was a great opportunity to dig through other people's vintage collections! There was many a bargain to be had which certainly puts a smile on our faces! Check out some of the great shots we took! 

 

So many amazing things to be found! We love all the little trinkets and accessories; I wonder how many were found in the pockets of vintage garments! 

 

We even bumped into some of our loyal Armstrong's shoppers!

We thought you guys looked great in your clashing prints! Love the rose hair band against her pastel hair!

Great contrast of graphic prints with a band t-shirt! Such individual style is hard to find these days ladies! Keep shopping at Armstrong's!

We loved this 1940s inspired outfit! Cute cardi over a ditzy floral print dress! Cinching the waist with a skinny belt creates such a lovely feminine silhouette!

 

Hats off to another great day and a great fair! Until next time...

Pick Pocket Thursday

Once upon a time, in the land of vintage paradise, there lived baby Lamb and sleepy Dog. They were very small animals, so small in fact that they were carried around inside the zip pocket of an old leather jacket. They spent many years together and went on lots of adventures with the jacket. They went to the park, to the beach and to wild parties where they danced to Duran Duran. Once the lamb nearly blew away in the wind when they went riding on a motorbike. One day, Lamb said to Dog "Do you think we should go exploring?" But Dog was asleep so Lamb stuck her nose out from inside the pocket and discovered they were inside the Armstrongs store!

We were so excited to find these little plastic animals inside this 80s leather jacket that we went a bit silly.

Until next week Pickpocketeers!

Armstrongs Street View X3

Have we found Vivienne Westwood's long lost granddaughter? Iona Roberts describes her look as arty/shabby/electric and she obviously knows her own style as well as Johnny Rotten knew how to be a little bit of a pest. An 18 year old art student, Iona pulls of this collage of striped print leggings, miliatary stryle parka, doc marten boots and anarchic hair with effortless ease!

 Welcome to Edinburgh, Ellen Relander. The style of this international exchange student is certainly not lost in translation! We love her aubergine brocade coat with its sweet, round patch pockets, and her Doc Marten boots equip her perfectly for the cobblestones of the Edinburgh streets.

 17 year old student, Erin Chrystal, says her best vintage find is this £3 jacket she is wearing right now! We love the old-school look of a classic blazer with a leather satchel and we like to think she's carrying some books on ancient history...

Navigating his way through the wild waters of the Armstrongs Grassmarket store is 24 year old journalist Hugh Morris who describes his style as wirey / navy / beardy. He is dressed for adventures at sea with his neatly buttoned navy pea coat and boat shoes. We encouraged him to steer towards the colourful reef of fabric creatures throughout the shop, sailing past the sequin scaled tropical fish and the tulle jellyfish on his way to find treasure!

Mix a spoonful of Betty Boop, three slices of BeetleJuice and a dollop of Cruella De'Ville in a blender and you'll get this delicious outfit worn by sales advisior Abbie Graham! She pulls together an eclectic mix of skinny jeans, leopard print flats, a bold black and white striped blazer and a luxuriously fluffy stole. Abbie's best vintage find is a mohair cardigan from Armstrongs for £5!

Bryony Woods discovered exactly what she was looking for before she even stepped into the store and snapped up this cute green dress in an instant, straight off the mannequin!

Vintage Adventure: Results

Thanks to everyone who took part in our Vintage Adventure Post, where we let you all choose which dress you'd like us to list on our ebay store. It ended up being quite a mixed bag! Here's your picks:

From a 80s medieval style costume, a 60s blue and silver a-line dress with chiffon caplet, a 70s wrap jumper dress to a plaid 60s day dress! I hope you enjoyed discovering them with us! They're all available from our ebay store, here.

Stumpdy Stump, Richard

When wearing and buying vintage clothes you come to recognise small labels, and get a feel for what kinds of clothing they were producing in their respective eras. Some of the small but loved labels that we like finding include Richard Shops, Marion Donaldson, Carnegie & Berkertex amongst others.
They each had their own style, and are amongst our favourite high street fashion vintage labels!

One label that has a instantly recognisable look is Richard Stump. Often belted, made from polyester and wool blends, the dresses have a instant granny fashion look. Dating from the 70s to the present day, this is one label that is still running!

We salute you Richard Stump!

See our current range of Richard Stumps at our ebay store.

You've Got to be Kidman Me!!

 That's right, we had a real life Hollywood actress shopping in Armstrong's Grassmarket store this weekend! And incase you haven't guessed who it was by the ridiculous blog post title, we're talking about the beautiful Nicole Kidman! Reportedly filming in Edinburgh, alongside Colin Firth, in their new movie The Railway Man; she took some time off on Saturday and went shopping for vintage dresses. 

She bought two lovely original vintage, 30s and 50s dresses and even took the time to write a testimonial in our visitors book!

  

The dress pictured is one of the actual dresses she bought and we feel it captures the angel-like essence she always seems to have about her! Carol, owner of Armstrong's and Son. said "...she just kind of floated around." 

I'm sure you'll agree the above image of her wearing Chanel epitomises this statement! 

 She also managed to compose a short message and sign our visitors book. 

It reads "Beautiful Shop - ♥ xxx"

 Now lets all keep our eyes peeled for when she reveals herself in these vintage beauties on the red carpet! And fingers crossed she finds the time to recommend us to an A-list friend... or two!

Happy 15,000 Birthday!

Here at Armstrongs ebay, we're celebrating our 15,000 positive feedback score. For almost three years, we have been offering the very best vintage clothing and accessories via ebay. And we've enjoyed every minute of it! Being able to offer beautiful vintage clothing worldwide, more than 15,000 times is staggering! We'd like to thank all of our wonderful customers for putting their trust in us. And to say a little thank you, we'd like to offer you all a birthday treat. This little guy has found his way to us, lost amongst a pile of clothes, and we'd like to find him a home. Great Uncle Bulgaria, wearing his signature tartan! Comment below using the word 'Wombles' to be put into our prize draw.

Just look at that face!

Photo courtesy of  here.

Choose Your Own (Vintage) Adventure

One of the great things about vintage clothing is the element of discovery. Finding the perfect dress (or jacket, shirt, etc) amongst rails full of clothing. There's a great sense of accomplishment in finding the perfect vintage item. At Armstrong's Ebay you don't get to have a look through our rails of garments, and find something in person (although there are still amazing things to discover!) but we'd like to offer you all a opportunity! You can choose what we list next week!


We've taken a picture of one of our rails of dresses here at Armstrongs Ebay headquarters. Choose a dress, and let us know which one you want to see more of. We'll list them next week and post the full pictures here once they're online.

Get Discovering! Will they be what you expect? Comment below and let us know your pick!

Pick Pocket Thursday

Bringing you the best pocket finds; It's pick pocket Thursday!


Although we didn't find a adorable lost puppy in a pocket this week, there's always next time!






This week we found: 

A very sweet wedding toast,

"Ladies and Gentleman, It is my pleasure to propose a toast to the bridesmaids who have so ably attended the bride today. I am sure you will agree with me that these two charming young ladies have greatly enhanced the occasion and I would ask you to be upstanding and drink to the health of the bridesmaids."





With a first draft on the back, scribbled out sentences and spidery writing, it's easy to assume that this best man was a little nervous! A very nice pocket find indeed.


Until next week pocket-teers!




Photos courtesy of  here & here.

Making the old...new with STV

"Stepping into W Armstrong and Son is a bit like diving head first into a giant dressing up box with sparkles, jangles and even that slightly musty smell that hints of hidden, forgotten treasure."

 So started the wonderful article written by Laura Piper, for STV.  From Ostrich heads to Lady Boys, Armstrong's has seen it all and then some.  Which is exactly what makes all of our shops so unique and special! Read the full article: here. And don't forget to send any pictures of yourself wearing bargains you've snagged at one of our stores!

Armstrongs Street View X2

Charlotte Repton is taking a little nod to the 50s with this outfit! A student, Charlotte's favourite eras are the 50 & 60s. Her style Icon is Amanda Palmer. We love her red denim jacket!

Ella Fordyce takes her fashion cues from deathrock, and her favourite eras range from the70s-90s. Robert Smith is a style icon. We love purple hair with the neon greens!

Stuart Mcmaster is going classic 50s Americana here! He loves the 1920s, and a good cravat! The green and brown look great together.

Carina Letzas, a art student, is looking casual and cool here. We love her boots. Carina is inspired by fairytales, and loves all eras!