CLICK A PIC TO VIEW BARGAINS IN A CAROUSEL:
❚ WHERE IS THE COOLEST OXFAM charity shop in the land? At Dalston Junction, naturally, where the coolest superstars chillax. Where are your smartest designer fashion bargains to be found next Sunday afternoon? At the Oxfam Dalston Vintage Designer Sale in London’s trendy E8. Who’s the local Mary Portas with an eye for a bargain, who has spent months selecting the right labels from donations to make this Christmas shopping event really hot? Step forward Andy Polaris, known to all 80s pop fans as the lead vocalist with pop-jazz combo Animal Nightlife.
“So far we have found 85 designer brands to pull in the discerning shopper, and many outfits are as new,” Andy says. “You’d have to go to Stratford Westfield to find this many under one roof. Even so, we’ll beat them on price. We’ve some nearly new Vivienne Westwood Red Label trousers, originally priced at £275, now going for £100.” Look at the highly collectable names pictured above, selling for between £20 and £100. There are Marc Jacobs, Rifat Ozbek, Katharine Hamnett, Dolce & Gabbana, Yves St Laurent, Betty Jackson, Roland Klein for women – and for men Gieves & Hawkes, Prada, Burberry, Ted Baker and such.
Animal Nightlife play Flick’s, Dartford: 1982 line-up with Leah Seresin, Andy Polaris and Chrysta Jones, just after releasing the single Love Is Just The Great Pretender. © Shapersofthe80s
As the volunteer who evaluates the donors’ bags, Andy and his aficionado’s eye hunt down the most fashionable labels. He is convinced that the 1,000 garments up for sale from noon on Sunday will walk out of the door. A similar event last summer had a queue forming before the shop had opened, and along with donations for light refreshments, the sale made a packet for charity.
What a great way to spend your Sunday. Awesome fashion. Menswear too. Mince pies. Christmas tunes. With Andy floorwalking and signing autographs, if you ask him nicely.
➢ Time Out this year named Oxfam Dalston the best charity shop in London for books and music, which says a lot about the taste of the local donors!
♫ Revisit the achingly cool Dalston Superstars webcast soap series, the Vicedotcom “structured reality” video about hipness in Hackney. Download a mix of its bleepy soundtracks put together by UK b-asstronaut Grant Armour. Here’s a taster …
➢➢ Shapers of the 80s ➣➣ 