Belfast’s First Fashion Souk opened its doors for the first time on Sunday, 14 February 2010 in the Ulster Hall Lobby. This new exciting fair fashion market for second hand and handmade clothing runs on a trial basis for three months, during which it has to prove its worth for more funding, but it was about time that Belfast gets a proper clothes market!
Purls of Colour stall at the Fashion Souk (yes, and me…)
Our city certainly has plenty of charity shops to donate your unwanted clothes, but no dedicated market to sell your old darlings. Last month, I tried to sell some of my clothes at St George’s Friday market, but I realised quickly that most visitors there were more interested in bric-a-brac. If you want to sell your previously loved clothes, there are some shops that take vintage or designer clothes, like Déjà vu on the Lisburn Road, or the Rusty Zip on Botanic Avenue, but the Fashion Souk certainly fills a huge void. It gives fashion designers, artists and craftspeople an opportunity to showcase and sell their creations, and people who are clearing out their wardrobes can do likewise.
The Fashion Souk is Belfast’s first fair fashion market, intended to reduce the amount of clothing we throw away every year. Recently some powerful advertisements printed on Belfast Metro buses and black taxis appeared, telling us how many bus- or taxi loads of clothes we throw away each week. Scary!
The fashion souk is organised by Aly McElroy Jones, who organised the Changing Rooms, an initiative to make fashion fairer and more sustainable, and Belfast’s Stitch and Style workshops and fashion shows, where people have the opportunity to learn how to customise their clothes, and also see how customised and handmade clothes look on a catwalk. I’ve exhibited twice at the Stitch and Style shows, and have to say it is amazing to see your own creations modelled at a proper public fashion show.
‘As Pink as you can get’
Purls of Colour scarf modelled at the Stitch and Style Show, November 2009
Exhibiting and selling at the Fashion Souk was great fun, and it was amazing to see all the different stalls and creativity displayed there, for instance, there are belts made from bicycle tyres, rainskirts made from old tents, and rucksacks made from Coca Cola tins.
I have a whole list in my head of all the things I want to buy if I ever come into money.
And it wasn’t just Belfast stalls, since I spotted our very own CraftyIrelandTeam member
Missy Bonkers from Galway, who was one of the crafters who had come up from the South. Team member
Lilgreenshop from Belfast also was there as a customer, but we didn’t manage to meet up!
Running a stall at such an event is fascinating. As a non-driver, I am so used to bring my suitcase of knitted accessories to a stall, but this time, a friend of mine drove me, my knits and my boxes of second hand clothing to the souk. My non-driver mind forgot so many things I could have taken, like a big mirror and my wire mannequin. Still we set up, and I had a wonderful time chatting and selling to customers – although I did not sell any of my Purls of Colour creations. I did sell some of my previously loved clothes, and I am glad they found new homes, since I found it hard enough to part from them, even when I hadn’t worn some of them for years!
Chatting to some other traders, I heard the same thing again and again, namely how difficult it is to sell your handmade items, because people always expect to pay cheap chain store prices for everything. So I learnt that is really important to drive the handmade message home, to let people know what makes your item so special and more costly than chain store items. I find this quite difficult, since I am not a born seller, but I am planning to have some information at my next stall about the process of handknitting. And I will definitely bring a mirror…
The Fashion Souk is a great event for sellers and buyers alike. It showcases the talent of Ireland’s fashion community, and the buzz of creativity is infectious. It celebrates the joy of dressing up or down, of difference and wearing one-offs, and of shopping for clothes while you are doing your bit for the environment and reduce waste.
And it had cupcakes, which are the rage here in Belfast at the moment.
Dates of the next two Fashion Souks, which take place at Belfast’s Ulster Hall Lobby from 1-5pm:
Sunday, 14 March 2010
Sunday, 11 April 2010
For more information or to book a stall, email info@thefashionsouk.com
There are also Stitch and Style workshops (no fashion show though) at St George’s Market on 6 March 2010.
For further information:
www.thefashionsouk.com/
www.belfastcity.gov.uk/stitch/www.thechangingroomni.com/
Hi this is Ruth from Nice Day Designs, today is a slight deviation on the 'I'll show you mine Wednesday' of photos of our studios, as it is a look into a retail space I sell in. This week I went down to Kilkenny and dressed and organised a new shop that is selling my customised clothes and accessories. It's called Roisins Beauty Salon (as there is a salon upstairs) and it's in the picturesque village of Inistioge. So here is a wee peek at the shop and what I did with the window dressing.
The key was to try and get a bright and colourful boutique feel on a small budget. I used lots of material and netting, and some inexpensive hat boxes which I covered with nice brightly coloured paper. Luckily the shop had a great purple door and window before I arrived, and a good blank canvas of white wall on the interior. I used netting and some wicker baskets on the fireplace to add a splash of colour. I got the baskets in a pound shop, and added to the blue polka dot fabric afterwards to make them a little funkier. They are great for displaying accessories, and I think they would work just as well for displaying knick knacks on a market stall-for all of you market people out there.
I added the faux curtain to the back of the shop by thumtacking the material in place, I love how it brings more colour into the back of the shop. Ideally I would like to paint the doors either white or the same purple as the front door, but there just wasn't time. Eventually I would like to add a painting on canvas over the firplace, based on photographs of one of my models. I will also be sending Roisin some more fashion illustration to decorate the shop. I think it adds to the look of the place, and if someone wants to buy them even better! So fingers crossed all the hard work pays off! If you are in the area of Kilkenny I would recommend a visit, it's a beautiful little village and it's only a 20 minute drive from the city.
