Thursday 4 September 2008

Glasgow

Today will be my last day in Edinburgh. Not ever, but for the first time I am going to be busy working and living in Glasgow, preventing me from returning to Edinburgh whenever I choose. I moved to Glasgow on the 27th of August, spent that Wednesday and Thursday night there before coming back to Edinburgh for the weekend. Then, this week things began happening.

After pestering The Herald constantly for more than a month I finally joined Kelly-Cooper Barr on Monday for a fashion shoot. I am still intending to write up a separate post on this. Kelly was so wonderful and she put me in touch with Colin Barr, the owner of The Republic Bier Halle, who's opening up a new venue in the beginning of October. I met up with him on Thursday and proceeded to become an employee of the Bier Hof on Sauchiehall Street. Doing a mixture of Bar work and PR, which I sincerely hope is not a fancy word for flyering. Whatever it is though I am just happy to finally be occupied and I finally feel that I live in Glasgow now. I have a job, I intend to continue helping Kelly out whenever I can as it was a great experience and I will soon begin to meet new people and make the city my home.

So now I have to tear myself away from the lovely Edinburgh shops and focus on the Glasgow ones. Which shouldn't be too difficult as there are plenty!

I had been emailing Lindsay West, the fashion editor of The Skinny and she suggested that The Skinny Student Guide would need contributors for their shopping guide. I was very interested! I replied...waited...emailed again...waited...the usual, then last Saturday I got an email sent on Thursday (my mistake to not check constantly) from the Student Guide editor asking for contributions to be in by the end of that week (i.e Sunday!).

Fortunately I had already started writing a few down in preparation for when I did get the contact details etc so I wasn't completely lost, but I made a research trip around Edinburgh that day to glance over any shops I might be missing out. It was a very enjoyable experience. There are vintage shops, charity shops, cheap and expensive boutiques, but a few stood out to me as brilliant shops. One that I love which I had been to once before is called ThreadBare, situated on the bottom of Broughton Street. It is a basement shop, giving it the feel of an Aladdin's cave given the treasures inside. The room is tiny, made even more so by the clothes surrounding you. Clothes and bags and shoes and accessories hang from the walls, the ceiling and are piled from the floor up over your head. Cecile, the owner and maker of some of the wonders inside, sits in the centre of the room; her desk decorated with kitsch items such as a phone of big red lips. I had only been in the shop once and as soon as I walked in the second time she remembered me, asking me about the last item I bought, how my mother was (I was in with her). She proceeded to recommend items she had in which she thought I would like. And it's not just me that gets special treatment. Everyone is treated like an old friend. The last item I bought in there (I am actually wearing it in my profile picture) is a pinstripe pencil skirt which she customized by putting purple and blue silk ruffles on the hips. It was a fantastic find and, without any haggling just asking her nicely, I managed to get the price dropped from £60 to £50 immediately. I simply told her I did not have much money and could she give me a deal and she dropped £10 off the price! With such an amazing first experience I still not disappointed in any way when I came in the second time and left with a beautiful 50s fake fur leopard print coat. It is stunning. As soon as I have a working camera I will put up photos of it and more!

Another shop I really rated was Godiva. It has a vintage section in the back, but what really appeals to me is the hand made clothing lines in the front. Run by mostly art college graduates or keen fashionistas there are a variety of clothing and accessory lines belonging to each one of the individual shop owners. This means there is so much choice and individuality. There was a lingerie range, bags, era dresses, nu rave skirts and sweaters, trucker caps and ball dresses. The prices are high, but each item is an original creation and that usually swings it for me. One 60s inspired dress caught my eye, but it was far too big and then I was told they can do alterations for no extra cost. I then discovered they can customize and design clothes for the more creative customer which is such a fantastic idea.

But, no more Edinburgh shopping! From now on Glasgow will be the home of my biggest vice and I have already spotted a few cute vintage shops looking my way....

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