California Dreaming

My last and best gig of 2010 was Belle and Sebastian.  I'm a big fan and always have been.  I knew it was going to be a good set when I started crying when they played this song near the beginning.  I had to give myself a stern talking to and thankfully managed the rest of the show without being an emotional jelly.

What else, Oh I know, we have some new jewellery cabinets for the shop.  They're sort of plain and just filling in until we get our lovely old fashioned glass counter.  It has given us a lot more space to display some of our lovely jewels

Jewellery, lots of it, moving on.....

Something else that I've been enjoying is Emma at Silver Pebble's Splash of Colour Group.  Anything to brighten up a cold December Day.

More

Colour

Splash

Here

But the most exciting thing is that I'm off.  Flying off to much milder climes.  California to be exact.  For Christmas.  So I've wrapped my presents, packed my bags and my camera and I hope to bore you with my holiday snaps anytime soon.

Another song if you like from B&S

Toodle pip

Bon Voyage

See you soon

        

Baby It's Cold Outside

To state the bleedin' obvious it's cold.  In fact it is so cold that I took a hot water bottle with me into the shop today, yes really, that cold.  It helped me through the day, well that and the tin of Roses chocolates that our work experience girl gave to us as a thank you present (cheers Grace).

The models have got dressed up in their winter woolies.  I'm digging the eighties mustard and black number, originally from 'Snob' ( those were the days ).

A wintery scene for me to gaze at while I dressed the window.........

and some more snowy moments

If it takes your fancy listen to The Lilac Time ( it's somehow a bit christmassy, plus I'm on an eighties kick)   and watch this  (it's a bit silly)

All The Madmen

Today at Beatnik I had a bit of a Mad Men moment.  I was wanting to dress the window and I found a lovely turquoise sixties dress and thought this is just the colour that looks fabulous on Joan.  Which in turn got me thinking about Peggy and how she really is the true leader of style in that programme at the moment.  I mean who needs curvy sexy Joanee when you've got smart pussy cat bow peggy cooking up a storm at the copy desk.

As for Don and Betty, well don't get me started.  They are as troublesome off screen as they are on.  I had a hard time finding a suit to fit Dons masculine figure, but after I stopped myself throwing his silly arms across the shop in frustration I finally found one that was just about ok. The same goes for finding a trilby to fit his big head. 

Betty is sitting pretty in a lovely cream fifties dress with red piping and a matching jacket 

While I was getting mad at the mad men I listened to Kate Bush ( this album ).  I know I should have been getting groovy with Ella or Doris but I've just gone mad for Kate at the moment.

Oh! You Pretty Things

I was lucky enough to see Laetitia Sadier, the singer from Stereolab, one of my favourite groups, performing from her new solo album.  She was good, I mean more than good, she was effortlessly groovy, super cool and funny.  She had a fabulous haircut and sexy french accent and let me tell you that I would take any one of those two features in a blink of an eye.      There were ignorant people milling around the bar at the back of the room blathering on and on and making a general racket over her performance and so she stopped and shouted to them (in her cool french accent) "shut ze 'ell up, thees isn't ze internet or somesink, you are not at a zoo'.  She then carried on playing her lovely music.

Enough of music and frivolity let's get down to shop stuff.  It may be dark and dreary outside but it's the opposite inside Beatnik.....

Some pretty stuff to lift the dampened (if you live in the uk) spirits

So far so pretty, and then, thanks to Sas, my friend and partner in retro delights, she discovered and uncovered in equal quantities, a magnificent mountain of scarves.  

This photo does not do them justice, it doesn't even begin to convey the ludicrous amount there is, or the pretty patterns, the hand rolled edging, the playful prints, the ones that are worth quite a bit but we still sell them at a ridiculously cheap price. They're all there in that big scarfy pile and I love them.

And some more

Oh, I also found this lovely coat hanger

Frank Fidkin the taylor.....  How lovely it would be to have our own wooden hangers engraved with 'The Beatnik Emporium  Fashion and Vintage Southampton'

Hmmm....

She comes in colours

Colour, it's been on my mind.  I think partly due to the autumn show that's been laid on for us this year, but mostly because I've joined yet another flickr group, run by Emma over at Silverpebble.  The purpose being to post some photos of colour that will spread a little colourful cheer for the next few months ahead.  I'll drink to that.




Post Halloween and things are getting back to normal (well as normal as things get in Beatnik).  Which gives me a chance to look for a splash of colour.  I'm spoilt for choice......

While choosing which colourful things to take photos of I listened to Midlake and the new Belle and Sebastian, which is the musical equivalent of a good autumn soup.  I mean that in the best possible way.  

Splashes of colour not just in the shop........

If your day seems grey

Head over to

here

for a quick colour fix

Timestretched

The clocks have turned back an hour and we're all having to get used to the idea that it's getting dark by late afternoon . Halloween has been and gone in a spooky blur.  I fully intended to take some photos of our customers in their scary and not so scary costumes but I didn't get a chance because Beatnik was so busy.

Now it's back to normal I can hopefully get some decent dog walks in and grab a last chance to see the autumn colours, but not after tea because it's dark.

Katy and her ridiculous stick

With time rushing by as it has a habit of doing it made me think of  this song.    I remember playing it very loud when we first moved the shop to our current location. It was the night before we opened and we were madly trying to unpack and put clothes on rails, everything was everywhere and I was feeling stressed, although the word stressed is an understatement, and even putting the words completely and utterly before it still does not convey how I was feeling.  The song played and I stood still. I listened to the lyrics and the melody and thought, you know, I think everything is going to be ok. It really is that kind of song.

Devil Woman

Halloween is almost upon us and Beatnik is fast becoming the place to buy masks of horror, powder of white, and lots of blood.  It's great that we can sell or hire original clothes for dressing up.  Even though our model had quite a sore arm she thankfully managed to avoid getting any blood on this pretty cream forties dress.




While having a bit of a gaze out of the shop window moment today,  it dawned on me that we have the most amazing view.  Well it didn't exactly dawn on me, I knew it anyway, but  just for a few minutes I soaked it all in and looked on with relish at the autumn chestnut trees doing their autumn chestnutty tree thing,  and what with Bobbie Gentry playing in the background it was all a bit perfect really. 

I will hopefully be far too busy selling all things gruesome to sit and stare at autumn leaves, but I will if I get the chance, I mean who could resist?