Vintage Guide to London's Awards

Here at Alfies we are all avid readers of The Vintage Guide to London - it is a fantastic guide for any vintage loving lady based in London or for those planning a visit! We have been lucky to have some of dealers recommended on the site including The Girl Can't Help It, Deborah Woolf and Ninas Hair Parlour!

The site has just launced their own awards! In their words, the awards are - "To celebrate vintage in London and to highlight the achievements of this thriving, independent retail scene, The Vintage Guide to London is introducing its annual 'Best of ' awards"

The awards include categories such as Best vintage shop (womenswear), Best vintage fair/jumble and Best vintage club night. We're looking forward to the results already and hope to find an Alfies dealer included! Get voting now!

The Girl Can't Help It

Ninas Hair Parlour



Deborah Woolf

You can also enter our new Alfies Fan Club competition to win lots of goodies including a haircut/style from Ninas Hair Parlour - all the details are here

Love is in the air at Alfies!

Valentines could be my favourite holiday, what's not to like about showing that special someone that you love them! Here at Alfies we have been searching for some fantastic heart shaped items.

Beautiful Victorian gold bangle from Brooks

Silver and Tortoise shell heart shaped box from Marie Antiques


Victorian gold heart locket from Brooks


Heart shaped compact from The Girl Can't Help It.

Keep your eye on the blog as there will be more Valentines themed posts to come as we look for more gift ideas. What's been your favourite ever Valentines present?

Horrockses Dresses in Alfies!

In reference to the last post, it was brought to my attention that we have some fabulous Horrockses dresses in Alfies. The Girl Can't Help It have currently got two stunning examples in their shop.

Blue floral polished cotton cap sleeve dress

Blue and white cotton strap dress with matching bolero

And remember to get down to the Fashion and Textiles Museum to see the exhibition!

Paloma Faith at T in The Park 2010

Photos taken from YouTube

Last week at T in the Park Paloma Faith performed wearing a stunning black backless gown from The Girl Can't Help It. We also loved her flame red cartoon-like hair piece! She looked amazing!

Watch her perform on YouTube by clicking here.

Vintage Festival

This month is all about festivals and summer holidays! If you have been lucky enough to enjoy a sunny and mud free Glastonbury or are planning on attending one of the other numerous festivals both in the UK and abroad here is some vintage inspiration to help you stand out from the crowd!

From a pair of killer sunglasses, to a full on maxi dress, statement jewellery and sun hats, wearing a few key pieces of vintage is a great way to create a truly unique and individual style. Plus you won't catch anyone else in the same thing!

Not only is vintage great as most pieces are generally one-off, you are also buying something usually of a much higher quality than the high street and keeping clear of mass production. Wearing vintage may just be a style choice for some, but it's also a way to be green which many festivals such as the Secret Garden Party, Green Man, and Bestival also try to promote.

Here are our favourite vintage summer essentials (in no particular order):

1.Summer Playsuits
This one from Deborah Woolf Vintage has cute mini shorts to wear underneath!

2. Wedges
You have got to love these vintage Carvela green wedges, perfect to wear with a pretty summer dress! Also from Deborah Woolf Vintage.


3. Maxi Dresses
Stand out and look stunning in this bold red maxi dress from Persiflage.


4. Sunglasses
Add a bit of glamour with these amazing gold sunglasses from The Girl Can't Help It.

5. Hawaiian Shirts
The Girl Can't Help It has a huge range of summer shirts to brighten up the man in your life!


6.Statement Earrings
These ones are from the 1960s and are made from fish scales! Find them in Deborah Woolf Vintage.


This summer make sure to include some vintage pieces in your wardrobe! Not only will you recycle and promote brilliant craftsmanship, you'll look amazing too!

Nostalgia Saturday

In keeping with our 1940s- 1950s Nostalgia Saturday next weekend, we are looking forward to people coming dressed in their finest vintage attire.

If you are not so brave with wearing head to toe vintage, a great way to get the vintage look is by using appropriate accessories. During this period women compensated for the simple dresses they had to wear by jazzing up their outfits with bakelite jewellery, fake flowers and more decadent accessories.

Below are some items of inspiration from Alfies.

A selection of bakelite and celluloid jewellery from The Originals.

A pair of 1950's pink lucite and perspex shoes with pastel diamentes from The Girl Can't Help It



A matching carved Art Deco pink celluloid bangle and bakelite necklace from The Originals.



Stunning 1940s rose diamond, emerald, ruby long drop earrings from Paris Jewellery



A 1940's black fabric evening bag with diamantes from Tony Durante

Hope to see you all at next weeks Nostalgia Saturday! For a more detailed progamme of events email lindsay@alfiesantiques.com

VE Day - May 8th

May 8th 1945 was Victory in Europe Day - heralding the end of the Second World War, when the Allies accepted the unconditional surrender of Nazi Germany. It was a day of celebration for millions of people. We've had a little look around Alfies to see what beautiful pieces we could find of the period and here are a few of the highlights...

Rare model of Stilnovo writing desk lamp, Italy 1945
Modo Italia

A pair of unworn M43 Second World War US army rough-out boots
The Girl Can't Help It

1940s enamelled on silver gilt bracelet with leaf and flower detail
Gareth Brooks

This beautiful 1940s suit is by "Hebe Sports". The Scottish boucle tweed has a pleated skirt over a tightly waisted jacket.
Tin Tin Collectables

Vintage Valentines Part 2

Here is a second blog post to help you find the perfect vintage Valentine's gift at Alfies!

Beautiful heart shaped mosaic brooch from The Originals

Silver Charm bracelet from Marie Antiques

1950s Red Lace Bra from The Girl Can't Help It



Victoria Double Heart Silver Brooch with Seed Pearls & Moonstone from Peter and Naneen Brookes

Super cute vintage Valentines cards from East West Antiques and Books



Unusual Welsh Love Spoon, traditionally made by young men for the objects of their affection. From The Originals

Gift Vouchers at Nina's Hair Parlour

Nina's Hair Parlour offers gift vouchers that can be used for a new haircut, one of their amazing classes or even for Issidora's Boudoir, where you can have a number of pampering treatments. If you book before Valentine's Day you get 10% discount!

Alfies is open on Saturday from 10am - 6pm, perfect for a spot of last minute shopping!

Mad Men Returns

Mad Men returns to our screens this year with Series 3! What better way to spend those cold dark evenings than watching a programme oozing fantastic 1960s style. From the ultra feminine ladies and slick suited men right through the the gorgeous set and interiors we will definitely be coveting everything Mad Men related!

Here is a little inspiration from Alfies if you are as obsessed with the glamour of Mad Men as us!

For the ultimate 1960s power office...

A sleek 1950s/60s rosewood Giancarlo Frattini desk. From Francesca Martire.

A black and gilt metal 1960s German desk lamp, £225. From Lorna Lee Leslie.

A beautiful 1960s rosewood Italian sideboard by F. Albini. From Modo Italia.

Let's face it, the big draw to Mad Men is the amazing outfits worn by the women in the show. They look so beautiful and well groomed, it puts us modern ladies to shame! But fear not, this look is very obtainable when you shop vintage!

The three main female characters in the show have their own unique style, Betty Draper (wife of the lead Don Draper) is a former model turned perfect housewife. Her style is very elegant - think full skirts, petticoats, silk scarves and beautiful cocktail dresses.

1950s Dark and pale pink tafetta cocktail dress with net underskirt from Deborah Woof Vintage

Second of these powerful ladies is Joan Holloway. Joan is the office manager of advertising agency Sterling Cooper and looks after all the secretaries in the office. Joan is a bold, strong character and is considered a "Queen Bee" in the office.

Joan has a classic hourglass figure and dresses to suit her shape. So her staples are figure hugging dresses, blouses and pencil skirts to suit her office job.

Kelly green bubble bottom cocktail dress from The Girl Can't Help It.

Lastly is Peggy Olsen, the youngest of the three. Peggy's style is more about growing up and maturing as she develops her place in Sterling Cooper. In the show we see her start as a secretary and work her way up to a copywriter, working in a male dominated industry.

She wears lots of plaid and textured fabrics also a longer length on skirts and dresses. She dresses to suit her character, she wants to be taken seriously!

Two piece belted grey circle skirt & blouse with black velvet trim from The Girl Can't Help It

These looks can be finished off with a period hairstyle from Nina's Hair Parlour. Whether is Betty's loose curls or Don's sleeked back look its all possible at Nina's, London's first vintage and retro hair parlour.