Poem Karen, Stardust Years Vintage

Last year, as part of the Winchester Poetry Festival, Jon Seagrave aka Jonny Fluffypunk was engaged as the City’s Poet on the High Street.  One of the many wonderful things to come out of this was a chance for Jonny to chat to residents, visitors and business owners in Winchester.

We were lucky to be one of the businesses that Jonny visited.  He gamely listened to me wax lyrical about my 3 loves (oh, and Gary!) Vintage Fashion, Lop-eared Rabbits and Theatre.  Out of my ramblings, Jonny created a special poem for me as he did for other business owners around the City. When he came to the shop to read it to me, I do confess I shed a tear, as I do every time I read it.  I thought it would be nice to share it here with friends and customers – you might recognise one or two references, including one to the sign I pop up on the shop door when I need a “comfort break”!

For Karen, at Stardust Years

Look at her. Sits in here, behind the counter, waiting on the dialled
phone to ring, to offer her a part; a stage role cast in Bakelite


and sure, she’ll have something good, no doubt, straight off her racks,
and
lipstick every shade of midnight waiting room to boot.


Above the city, potty-mouthed microwaves
are bouncing off cathedral
walls, pinging dick-pics and discount codes to a populace more attuned


to tiny screens, and even grannies here are wearing day-glo trainers.
This is not
a world for her; she lights candles on the Bette Davis shrine,


cuddles
up to lop-eared bunnies in a quiet corner, barricades the door.
She’ll be alright, she thinks; she’s holed up with a good supply


of
Rayne heels and dresses of the sort of cut that get
asked out
by calling cards, not one-line texts,


and she’s
wrapped herself against the dark with a
stardust coat sewn from half-remembered closing lines


and memories of ice-cream trays hung from swan-necked girls.
So when that phone rings, she’ll be ready. She’s written the card;


she’ll put it in the window as she goes. Just popped out
to 1937. Back in two twitches of a rabbit’s nose.


By Jonny Fluffypunk, Poet on the High Street, 2021

As part of his role, Jonny also mapped out a poetic history of Winchester based on the people he met around the City, “Winchester: A Poetic History in Inconsequential Moments”  You can purchase the outstandingly well-priced book via The Winchester Poetry Festival’s website below or through the lovely P & G Wells Bookshop in our own fair city!

https://www.winchesterpoetryfestival.org/product-page/winchester-a-poetic-history-in-inconsequential-moments

https://www.facebook.com/jonnyfluffypunk/

https://www.chesiltheatre.org.uk/

Don’t forget to follow us on Facebook for up to date news on current stock (only a fraction appears here) and future activities!

https://www.facebook.com/StardustYearsVintageFashion/

Winchester Fashion Week – Stardust Years Vintage Sale

To celebrate the return of Winchester Fashion Week, Stardust Years Vintage Fashion is holding a Summer Sale full of sustainable fashion from the 1920s right through to the present day!  Join us next weekend, Saturday 17th and Sunday 18th July! Check out our Facebook and Instagram pages to see just a few of the tempting bargains on offer!

https://winchesterfashionweek.co.uk/

Fabulous Fifties’ Finds!

Among our new vintage items in the shop, we have these two fabulous pieces from the 1950s!

A stunning parasol-print housecoat in excellent condition.  Read more about her on the link below

https://stardustyears.com/product-category/decades/1950s/

Stunning Vintage 1950s Housecoat

Vintage 1950s Housecoat with fabulous print!

Also from the 1950s, a pair of shoes in a beautiful pink and silver fabric

A stunning pair of vintage 1950s shoes in pink and silver

Vintage Beauty!

https://stardustyears.com/product/1950s-shoes/

Remember, the gorgeous pieces featured on our website are just a fraction of the vintage treasures we have available in our shop in Winchester, Hampshire, so it’s well worth making a visit to our lovely, historic City!

BBC TV’s “Money For Nothing”

We’ve had a lot of interest, both online and in our Winchester shop, since our recent appearance on the new series of BBC TV’s “Money for Nothing” programme! ?If you’re not familiar with it, the show follows presenter Sarah Moore in her quest to save, renovate and upcycle items from the past so that we can all enjoy them in the future.

Sarah and her crew came to the shop last summer and we had a great afternoon filming and playing with the vintage treasures Sarah had found.

Don’t worry if you missed the programme, you can still catch it on the BBC iPlayer until April 7th ?http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b08hyn4p

While she was filming, Sarah found a Stardust Years vintage treasure for herself! ?A lovely 1950/60s silk satin evening coat. ?A real stunner! ?You see, with vintage shops you never know what you’re going to find – just like the lady who came in this afternoon to while away some time as she was early for a meeting. ?She found this gorgeous 1960s dress!

 

Stardust Years Vintage on BBC1

We’re going to be on the telly!

(Can you tell we’re excited?)

Yes, it’s true – next Wednesday (8th March) on BBC1 at 3.45pm, we’re on the new series of ‘Money for Nothing’. We haven’t seen a preview yet so we’ll all be watching it for the first time. ?We’re hoping Karen won’t be getting ideas of grandeur though she has been heard?muttering, “I’m ready for my close-up, Mr De Mille…”

Just in case you haven’t watched the programme before, presenter Sarah Moore finds items that are going to be thrown away by members of the public, renovates or upcycles them, sells them on and gives any profit back to the original owner. Sometimes, Sarah re-fashions items?herself, or?she might take?them to carpenters,or?designers?to adapt the piece for modern use. Previous items have included a dress made from an old leather sofa and an oil can transformed into a table lamp!

In between filming, the cameraman did have to drag Sarah away from our rails as she kept getting distracted?by our frocks and, I’m pleased to say, that when the shoot was completed, Sarah bought a lovely1950/60s black and white silk evening coat! A perfect end to a great afternoon.

What part did Stardust Years Vintage play in the programme? Tune in on Wednesday 8th March and find out! ?Don’t worry if you miss it, the programme is repeated on BBC2 on Friday 10th at 7.15am. ?Or you can watch it at your leisure on BBC iPlayer!