As you may have noticed the Christmas hype is getting pretty serious as we start to approach the 1st December. We have our own kind of gift ideas being vintage lovers and employees. We are thinking handmade and reworked flannel/denim twin set with matching scrunchie, cropped knitwear with matching scrunchie, handmade hair bows and head bands, mittens and beanies with bows on are probably what we will expect to share out with our loved ones this year.
You can't go wrong with one off gifts that have been lovingly made with recycled fabrics and you will definitely avoid the embarrassment of opening the same thing as someone one else on Christmas morning. This got us thinking about some of the gifts that people would receive every year and have to force out that pretend 'Thank you' to those clueless family members who probably just shouldn't have bothered.. The 80's was a particularly wonderful time for bad gifts, and hair, because there were no online wishlists or facebook you could share and make sure you get what you really want. Even though we kind of loved them at the time, theses items are mere car boot compost now.
Here are some of our favourite unwanted gifts and awkward Christmas mornings of the 80s and 90s.
Don't get caught out this year and be prepared. Visit WWW.WEARECOW.COM or pop into your nearest store for the best gifts this Christmas!
HOW WAS THE REST OF YOUR BEACONS FESTIVAL? DID YOU MANAGE TO CATCH MANY BANDS WHILST YOU WHERE THERE.
KC: Unfortunately we had to drive back
that afternoon so we didn't get to see a whole lot, but we managed to see
Thumpers and get in a wrestling match with Drenge.
BIG DEAL - DREAM MACHINES
WHAT HAS BEEN YOUR FAVOURITE FESTIVAL /GIG MOMENT?
ALICE: We played a festival in Cornwall
and we all slept in the back of our van together. It was an awesome drunken
slumber party. We were worried it was going to be horrible but it was really
fun.
WHO WOULD YOU MOST LIKE TO TOUR WITH?
KC: Arcade Fire. It would be scary to know they are coming on after you, but amazing to see them every night.
ALICE : MGMT. They are amazing, and we'd probably have a lot of fun with them. I'm also in love with Andrew VanWynGarden so that'd be an extra perk.
ALICE: I can't exactly remember, but it was something to do with swapping one of our bands t-shirts for one of theirs. They stayed in my house for a while when they were in London and we ate eggs and soldiers every morning but because they're scottish they would smash up the shells with their spoons after so the 'little witches can't use them as boats to come and get you.' Very strange scottish superstitions Anyway we've been friends ever since. They've also made one of our favourite records of the last two years.
BEST PIECE OF CLOTHING YOU BOTH OWN?
KC: My zelda shirt. It's been washed so many times no one can tell what it is. But i know.
ALICE: A pair of grey jeans that i love so much but are nearly too broken to wear, the waist band is held together with a piece of ribbon that my mum sewed in.
BEST BUY FROM A VINTAGE STORE?
ALICE: When we were in Joshua Tree we went to all the thrift stores, where if you search you can find the most amazing vintage clothes all for under $5. I bought three pairs of levi's jeans for $8. Kc found an amazing shirt with the sun and moon on that he wore for the ' in your car' video because we were trying to go for a fear and loathing in Las Vegas kind of look and we thought it looked like something Johnny Depps character would wear.
BIG DEAL - IN YOUR CAR
TOP 3 DESERT ISLAND DISCS?
KC: Beatles - White Album / Nirvana - Nevermind / Smashing Pumpkins - Siamese Dream
YOUR BEST RECORDS OF 2013 SO FAR?
KC + ALICE: Mac de Marco 2 / Yeah Yeah Yeah's Mosquito / Drenge, Drenge,
BEST CITY YOU HAVE BEEN TO?
ALICE: We played in this city an hour outside of Venice called Sesto al Reghena and the gig was in a huge castle courtyard called Piazza Castello. There were old nuns all dressed in white habits cycling around as we sound checked and as it got dark tables and chairs were set up for everyone with candles everywhere. It was insane.
WHAT MADE YOU DECIDE TO GO FULL BAND?
KC: It's just more fun. Even solo artists perform with a band, otherwise its just too hard to engage an audience with such quiet music.
HOW DID YOU MEET MEL AND HUW?
ALICE: The last band they were in were on the same label as us, Mute Records. Mute did a small european showcase thing where they put three of their bands on a tour bus together and organised shows for them in each city they woke up in and when there's 16 of you sharing a living space you get pretty close pretty quickly.
It could be the most perfect night you've ever dreamed of, or it could be a whole lot of panic and worry and excitement for nothing. Either way there is no way you're going to Prom without your best outfit on, hair done and feeling like a million quid.
Proms are popping up all over the Country and we are here to give you a helping hand in looking for your perfect dress.. We think of it like this.. No one else will be wearing the same dress as you because everything we have in store are one off items! You won't have to ask your parents to remortgage their house to cover the cost of your outfit! You can choose an outfit to suit your style and not alter your style to suit the outfit!!
Prom should be fun.. So if you feel comfortable in sequins, lace, ruffles, strappy, body con, prints, bold colours and pretty much everything suitable then pop in stores and let us know what you're after. All our staff are ready to help and love a bit of dress up!
Every now and again people come into the public eye and you know they will definitely make a mark on us all. Whether it is in Fashion, Art, Movies, or Music, for decades we have been intrigued with an particular attitude and style that we undoubtably want to be involved in.
Today we are looking at the newest member of this group, model and skateboarder James Quaintance who's cocky, rebellious attitude and ability to mix old school style to classic gent to sportswear in the blink of an eye. Here at COW we all agree he has the charisma, attitude and style to pull off a long lasting style icon name for himself and we are looking at how to get this look.
COW is a haven of vintage clothes and accessories so, like James Quaintance, you can build up your own style using clothes once used for previous subcultures. Here are some of our favourite pieces we have chosen, inspired by James Quaintance but for you to wear how you wish!
Here we have another great shoot from the photographer Irene Yap. She recently borrowed a few pieces from COW Vintage to produce some subtle and dust like images for a self published magazine as well as being shown in a Photography Festival and you can find out more about that here, if you're into Photography or just like looking at nice pictures, maybe go and check it out.
More of Irene's work can be seen on her website here.
There is a lot of people involved in the running of COW Vintage and when we were preparing our S/S13 Campaign Photo shoot we wanted to know what everyone in COW loved and how we could take this and use it as our inspiration.
Here are the mood boards we made up to keep us going and refer to while planning and working on the shoot shared by our staff and friends from all over! We love them and no doubt will be going back to some of them in the future
After waiting for what feels like 2 years for this movie to come out it is finally here! We are pulling out our posh frocks and shining up our sequins for a full on 1920's flap around with excitement. There is a lot of hype around this movie and here at COW we all feel like it is all absolutely worth it.
The cinematic genius Baz Luhrman seems to have definitely captured the heart of F. Scott Fitzgerald's 1920's American novel. Gathering together a cast of the finest including Leonardo DiCaprio, Carey Mulligan and Tobey Maguire to keep your eyes busy then Mr Jay Z scoring it with the star studded soundtrack featuring his bootilicious wife Beyonce, Andre 3000, The XX, Bryan Ferry, Lana Del Ray, Florence and the Machine and many more to pleasure your ears. It's an all round no brainer really..
We will be there with feathers on, literally, for the release Friday 10th May!
If you are as inspired as us and fancy prancing around in this glamourous and timeless style, here are some of our faves pieces available online now!
We are so ready for the Summer now and we thought with all of this good will in the air maybe if we all put our heads together we can make it happen!
So picture this.. It might still be a bit chilly outside but you walk into COW and there is the best of the 80's blasting out, everyone dressed in Hawaiian shirts, floral garlands, pineapple sunglasses, tie dye, shorts and skirts. A bar man giving out fruity alcoholic punch and shaking up some Cow Moojitos! You and your friends trying on all of our newest Spring/ Summer stock to jazz up your wardrobes and if you like anything you will get a 15% discount! Sounds pretty good to us so here it is...
Fancy stepping into Spring with a bit of boho bounce? We have a flash sale on our Tie Dye t-shirts online now!
The perfect way to brighten up any outfit for this in between season we have lowered the price of loads of our t-shirts and tie dye products. All items are hand dyed in our COW Vintage stores meaning you won't find any two the same! From crop tops to loose and baggy we have it all.
So.. the new David Bowie video came out today and what can we say. Well it's David Bowie.. obvs then there is Tilda Swinton.. amazing but wait, who's that? Our two favourite androgynous models Andrej Pejic and Saskia De Brauw playing a young Bowie! It might not get any better than this. A movie type, stylised 5 minute music video without a perfect moment missing.
What a fashionable bunch, Saskia De Brauw, Tilda Swinton, David Bowie, Andrej Pejic
We spoke about the David Bowie Is: Exhibition recently which opens at the V&A on March 23rd and this video has just reminded us all at COW why we must go to see.
David Bowie has always been ahead of the times when it comes to music and fashion and at the age of 66 he is still shockingly influential. We bow to Bowie!
We've been fiddling around with our website and have added even more items!
If you see something that takes your fancy don't worry about clocking up the price because we offer free delivery for orders over £75! So if you can't make it to any of our stores or you just don't want to leave the house just visit www.wearecow.com and enjoy!!
Walking around on these dull days is making us look forward to bright summer outfits. We've been looking at the new stock in COW and you can get prepared for Spring/Summer 2013 by pulling key trends such a neon brights, the black and white monochrome look and the classic 60's style.
We went through our inspirations and pulled some outfits from COW then dressed our lovely intern to model those for you! Here are a few of our favourites:
