|| Review || iMerchandise: The Fashion Buyers Hero ||

To all you fashion buyers out there, have you ever wanted a device or app that makes the wholesale clothing buying process simpler and more efficient? Well look no further: iMerchandise does just this. 

There's nothing quite like it out there and best of all it's free (who doesn't like a freebie?) Its aim is to help stores and line owners that attend fashion shows get rid of those pesky handwritten line sheets and order forms. No more hours spent cutting and pasting your favourite pictures and designs onto "vision boards." iMerchandise does all this for you!

"The new fashion app that simplifies the wholesale 

clothing buying process for retailers."

CEO and Founder of the app, David Secul is a retailer himself and said of the app: "I've created this app with my own funds initially for my personal use." He soon realised how wonderful his app was and how much the rest of the buying world and retail world would benefit from experiencing it themselves.

The idea of iMerchandise is to keep all your info and ideas in one place and, in a sense, act as your own virtual personal assistant.

Personally as I am not a fashion buyer or retailer, I have no need for the app. I do however know that if I was a buyer/retailer I would love this app with every bone in my body and there would be no turning back. I honestly recommend every buyer and retailer out there to download, and get their mitts on this wonderful app - so do it. 

GET THE APP HERE

(All images are property of iMerchandise)

|| Isabel's Retro Inspired Clothing Market-Stall ||

The quiet Cotswold town of Cirencester is famous for its markets, ranging from the Home & Garden ones, to the Crafts Market, to the Italian Food Market and the regular market held Monday and Friday in the middle of town. 

Isabel

Over the past few months a new stall has recently started to catch my eye, particularly due to it being relitively new, and I have to say I absolutely adore it. It is a retro inspired clothing stall run by the fabulous Isabel.

"6 months ago I was a stuffy suit wearing business woman (area manager ) working for boots and apple. I changed my lifestyle and now follow my passion." 

When asked what her favourite thing about vintage/retro clothing, Isabel simply replied with: "I love the styles through the years, and the feminine glamour." I have to completely agree with her here as my favourite thing about vintage clothing is how much it changed throughout the years, and how it is still changing right before us.

One of the things that massively drew me toward Isabel's stall was how quickly her stock grew. I remember the first day I went to visit it and the range of clothing was small but wonderful, and as the weeks have passed the about of pieces has grown massively. 

The stall contains a range of pieces from various decades such as 1920's flapper dresses, to 1940's skirts and blazers, to 1970's inspired dresses. The collection of fur coats is extensive, with many being real fur and other being faux-fur and in various different colours, tones, styles and cuts - one suitable for everyone. You will also be delighted to hear that the clothes are all at amazing prices.

This particular dress I am utterly in love with. The rich purple is gorgeous, and the velvet is so soft it almost slips through your fingers. I didn't get round to trying it on (I was too busy taking pictures and i was also freezing) but fI definitely think I will next as it is at an amazing price of £20.

Definition of vintage (putting aside wine option):

1. being of a specified vintage: vintage wine.

2. representing the high quality of a past time; classic: vintage movies.

3. of, imitating, or being a style or fashion of the past; retro: vintage clothing.

4. being the best of its kind; choice: vintage Shakespeare.

5. old-fashioned or obsolete.


For me there's something so wonderful and exciting about vintage clothing. It's a way of celebrating art and history in one single item, there can be so much unknown history within one dress.
It represents a lasting interest and importance along with a air of class and maturity not found among much of the current fashion.

I suppose the definition of vintage is fluid in a way. The term has being taken up by the advertising and marketing industry and has become a term that is used for clothing that is just inspired by a certain era. I personally believe that a dress made in 2010, but made to look like a 1960's dress in not vintage, however is certainly is vintage-inspired or retro-inspired. I believe that real vintage is pure and dates back to the time is was made and was in fashion, I believe it comes with history and a story.
It is apparently known that anything older than 100 years is perceived to be antique, not vintage. This therefore means that everything eventually becomes antique which I think is a nice thought.

More pictures below.

|| Mallzee || App Review ||

I was recently introduced to Mallzee after I received a lovely email off their Engagement Executive. Mallzee is a free, personal shopping app with a “social twist”.

Mallzee is different to most online shopping companies in that with over 2 million products from over 200 brands you can find as many of your favourites all in one place. What I find truly wonderful is that it can help you pick out outfits and products based on your previous searches and purchases. They select them and pull them together making your own personal ‘Mallzee’ – how lovely. It’s like a personal shopper without the fortune being spent. The app is constantly evolving and changing meaning that if your style changes or the current fashion changes, Mallzee will the there one step ahead.

Within the app itself they have a voting system, which can help you, gain a second opinion. The voting system allows you to always have someone on board to impart his or her “fashion wisdom.” There are also live chats and built in sharing so you can get those extra all-important opinions.

‘But what if I can’t buy it right now’ I hear you ask. Well, within your personal Mallzee you have your own little virtual wardrobe of all the things you’ve thought of getting. They stay there until you decide to buy it meaning that you don’t have to spend ages searching for that perfect item again.

 I personally have got my Mallzee App and I absolutely love it. I have to say, that writing about it doesn't really say how great it is. It's one of those things you really have to see, use and experience for yourself.
I really recommend getting this app, and this coming from me really does mean something as I'm not a techy person at all and don't really have many apps on my phone at all. I think for me one of the best things is that you obviously don't have to buy things, you can just browse, get ideas etc, and the built-in personal stylist helps inspire you a massive amount! I really can't stress how much I enjoy this app, so please try it for yourself!

Get Mallzee Here

If you do happen to download Mallzee, leave a comment or send me a message on your thoughts - I'd love to hear from you.

All images taken from the Mallzee website.

|| Angela & Roi Handbags: fashion with philanthropy || Donate by Colour ||

A few weeks back I received an email from the co-founder of online handbag company; Angela & Roi. I was over the moon to receive an email requesting if I could write about them, and obviously I said yes.

Angela & Roi are an online handbag brand that “combines fashion and philanthropy by colour.”

As my readers will know, I am very keen on vegan produce and am very much against the use of animals in fashion, and I was delighted to find out that Angela & Roi use high quality vegan leather to make their handbags instead of animal leather. Their bags are boutique quality, minimally and classically designed with minimalistic styles varying from totes, shoulder and cross-body bags, and each with various colour options. Their aesthetic is “vintage-inspire with a modern touch.”

“Our company was founded on strong moral principles. We prioritize ethical and respectful treatment of our customers. Our products reflect our value system that is focused on customer satisfaction, not profit margins. However, we believe we can use our resources productively in a way to impact the greater community. We believe fashion can be utilized to both an artistic and charitable effect. Our company presents an opportunity for us to intertwine consumerism with philanthropy. We hope you can join us in our effort to donate toward the solution of various causes.” Angela & Roi

One particular aspect of Angela & Roi that really fascinated me was their Donate By Colour mission. The idea behind this is that different medical issues relate to specific colours i.e. Lung Cancer awareness is linked with the colour white, so when cusomers purchase a white handbag from Angela & Roi, they automatically donate $5 to Lung Cancer Alliance. In total, Angela & Roi work together with 11 non-profit organisations:

Each handbag is accompanied with a detachable coloured ribbon, which associates, to the specific cause. By attaching the ribbon to your bag, you are helping to raise awareness of the associated cause.

• Red Ribbons – AIDS
• Orange Ribbon – Kidney Disease
• Grey Ribbon – Diabetes
• Purple Ribbon – Alzheimer’s Disease
• Green Ribbon – Anxiety and Depression
• Brown Ribbon – Cancer
• Blue Ribbon – Colon Cancer
• Gold (Yellow) Ribbon – Child Cancer
• Pink Ribbon – Breast Cancer
• Black Ribbon – Melanoma (Skin Cancer)
• White Ribbon – Lung Cancer

 Learn more about Angela & Roi’s causes here.

“We maintain our positive attitude toward change. We frame our campaign within our energetic color theme. Colors grab us out of the dreary day-to-day existence and shoot us into a world of vivaciousness. We chose to link different causes with specific colors. We wanted to create easy to recognize categorizations on our website. We understand how associations between tangible objects and pleasing concepts strengthen interest. Our purses speak color, and we believe our products should converse with our greater charitable goals.”

Not only do their bags support many wonderful causes, but also they are absolutely lovely! Every single one is beautiful, with excellent craftsmanship and designing  and all at an astonishingly wonderful price; ranging from $65 to $148. Below are just some of the types of bags Angela & Roi offer, with each design coming in an array of colours.

Palette White Cross-body

Sunday Black Tote

Palette Purple Cross-body

Square Mandarin Orange Tote

Palette Light Brown Cross-body 

Mini Navy Body-cross

Classic Wine Cross-body

Casual Grey Shoulder Bag

 As you can see, the bags are absolutely gorgeous, are wonderful prices, part of a wonderful and charitable mission, but they also do free deliver and returns. (Not that you would want to return them!)

Website // Facebook // Twitter

Leave a comment below letting me know what you think about this wonderful company, and do definitely check out their website. Let me know if you buy one of their bags too, I'd love to hear what you think about it and which colour/cause you went for.

I personally look forward to when I buy my own one - I'm saving up!