Mid Season Buying Lull

Our buying seasons are getting longer and longer with most brands now bringing in regular capsule ranges to help us freshen up the shop and react more to the good (or bad) weather.  Winter ’14 orders were finished months ago, high summer is all done and dusted and we’re currently enjoying that short period of calm between seasons.  This is the time we love best, working in store, talking to our customers, sharing our knowledge on the ranges we have chosen, putting outfits together and making lots of people very happy with their purchases. 

It’s not just us who are enjoying that lull, so too are our brands and agents and we have had a few impromptu visits this week.  We were particularly delighted that Tom from Northern Lights Agency paid us a visit and finally got the chance to see what their gear looks like in Mitchells Menswear.  As the main agency on menswear, supplying Farah 1920’s, Farah Vintage, Penguin and Marshall Artist, this is a BIG deal for us.  They loved the store and fit out and were really impressed with Lucy’s merchandising on their key brands – even more impressive as this was a surprise visit and we’d done it anyway!  They are hard to impress, their showroom is the business so well chuffed.

So now it starts, the pre season research and hunt to find something new and exciting.  Next week sees the first buy of Spring 2015 with a store visit from Maison Scotch – Amsterdams Blauw and I can’t wait to get an early indication of the colours, silhouettes and trends for SS15, keep checking in, I may give you a little taster of what’s to come!

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Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty

Savage Beauty, the book published in conjunction with the exhibition “Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty”, at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, is a celebration of Alexander McQueen’s monumental talent and spans his work from graduation to his last unfinished AW10 collection.  This book is one of my most prized possessions and the hologram cover which morphs from McQueens own face into a skull frightens the kids which I am really rather glad about, it keeps them away!

It’s an utterly stunning book, every time I pick it up and leaf through the pages, which I do often, it’s like looking at it for the first time and I’m blown away by his imagination, technical ability and the sheer beauty of every piece.

The Victoria and Albert museum announced last night that they were to stage the exhibition next summer and it was no surprise that when tickets went on sale this morning it crashed phone lines and brought the internet server down due to the high demand for tickets.  This is a show not to be missed, the exhibition will be staged with all the spectacle of his legendary runway shows providing a backdrop as theatrical as the creations on show.

I have my tickets but have to wait until the late May Bank Holiday 2015 to see it, I could burst with excitement, how am I going to wait patiently that long?  Poor Carl.  Click here if you fancy it too, might see you there!

Lisa

Birkenstock THE sandal of Summer 2014

Birkenstock – Have you got yours yet?

Birkenstocks are nothing new, the marmite of the sandal world has been around forever so who’d have thought they’d be the shoe of choice for the fashion pack this season?

Givenchy £595 Kenzo £270                                                                                                               Michael Kors £130

Open any glossy this spring and it is dominated with ‘ugly sliders’ all inspired by the originals, Birkenstocks.  Multi straps, oversized buckles and orthopaedic footbeds are all present with many given an update with prints, metallics, platform soles and jewelled embellishment.  It seems everyone’s at it with high street favourites like Topshop and Dune to fashions major players such as Givenchy, Prada and Kenzo all banging out their own versions.  Fashion journalists and bloggers are writing about the trend and wear it too!  Check out this weeks Grazia top 10 hot stories on ‘ugly’ footwear and todays Independent Fashion column dedicated to the humble Birkenstock.

For once we can all follow a top trend and save a packet by buying the originals!

We’ve stocked Birkies for many years and have always had a strong following for them, this year we have a great selection of styles including Gizeh, Madrid, Mayari and Tabora in lots of colours and prints.  It seems the trend is catching, we’ve only had them a couple of weeks and are already re-ordering more stock, more styles and colours due in very soon.  Buy online at www.escapeboutique.co.uk

£59 £49                                                                                                                                       £59

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Boiler Shop Steamer with Craig Charles

We’re big fans of The Boiler Shop Steamer and Steamer regulars, Riley’s Fish Shack, who catered for us on the opening night of Mitchells Menswear last March in our yard party!  What better way to let our hair down after a busy weekend than at The Steamers first birthday party with Craig Charles on the decks with his Funk and Soul set.  The weather was kind, a lovely mild night meant we could ditch the usual winter layers making it a far more pleasurable night.

Being big foodies we always arrive hungry and sample a few tasty plates, lamb rendang from Electric East, Caribbean goat curry and a wild boar, rosemary, ricotta and artichoke pizza from Pizzette – can’t ever go to The Steamer and not have a pizza, they are to die for!

Craig Charles took to the stage at around 7.45pm and from that moment on the place was alive, tune after tune to work the place into a frenzy, it was impossible to stand still.  An impromptu street dance lesson for a bored 10 year old to a Marvin Gaye classic was amazing to watch, what a top bloke! We danced, drank, ate, danced some more, met some great people, bumped into a few customers and generally had a ball.  Looking forward to the next Steamer event and we’ll definitely be catching up with Mr Charles again next time he’s in town.

 

 

 

 

Our Very First Blog Post

So we’re almost there, after what seems like a lifetime our website is now fully functioning, all we need now are the bells and whistles, like our blog!

Not being very ‘techy’ this whole process has felt like a bit of a chore and frustrating as hell but seeing the results is fantastic.  The website looks great, we are getting sales from all over the UK and Europe too so happy days.

Spring is shaping up to be a great season for us, the shops look fantastic and we are getting very positive feedback from our customers on our product ranges, style and colour palettes and we’re thrilled you like it as much as we do.

Through our blog we hope to bring you lots of news, product info, insight into what we are up to behind the scenes, and share some of the things that make us tick and inspire us in what we do.

So here goes, our new blog is born, please sign up and follow the gang at Escape & Mitchells!