Made in the Shade: Christmas Holiday Hullabaloo
Made in the Shade throws its last boutique event at The Lighthouse and talks about what's in store for 2012 (hint: it's exciting)
Prepare your hankies and mark your diaries: Made in the Shade, the hub of all that is vintage and craft, will host its last boutique event on 10 Dec. (Yes, we said ‘last’, but more on this later.) The Christmas Holiday Hullabaloo/goodbye party was requested by the Made in the Shade fans themselves, and if the previous events are anything to go by, the day won’t disappoint.
On Sat 10 Dec, The Lightouse will be taken over by over 40 tiny traders and small creative businesses from all over Scotland in a theme similar to what has made the success of past Made in the Shade events; think off-beat artists, makers and small-scale vintage retailers. Details include (but are not limited to) a mini pop-up cinema by artist and animator Lesley Barnes, a live action photographic guest book by Garry Maclennan Photography, along with homemade French macaroons and whoopie pies. There’ll of course be festive soundtrack and decoration – there’s even talk of snowballs made out of glittered cotton candy, and no one will be judged for stuffing their face with sugar.
La La Land, the cutting edge indie boutique, deserves a special mention with their promise of a super-special interactive fashion booth. Curated by Sarah Graham (the boutique owner and editor-in-chief of fashion magazine The Coveted), the installation will invite visitors to take part in wardrobe customisation workshops and a live fashion illustration feature.
La La Land will also bring along an exciting cluster of local indie designers (Chouchou, Jennie Loof and Eleanor’s Riot to name just a few) and feature new, locally-produced beauty products at a nails and lash bar. Especially handy if you’re planning on hitting the town right after your bout of Christmas shopping. Shoppers will also be encouraged to colour in a page with a fashion icon; the best pieces will be framed and displayed in the La La Land boutique on
Cresswell Lane. If you’ve always wanted to give Anna Wintour a new look, now is the time.But back to those talks of 'last event' thing – does this signal of Made in the Shade? Well, not really – merely an opportunity to reinvent themselves for the New Year. As Carrie Maclennan and Clare Nicolson – the duo behind Made in the Shade – explain, the idea of an up-cycling, new-wave craft and vintage lifestyle fair was fairly new and original when they hosted their first event in 2008. But as Nicolson points out: “You only have to look at high-street style trends or to the number of ‘cool’ vintage-inspired craft tomes on the bookstore shelves to see how popular it has become in the last couple of years. In some respects it’s a really positive thing that so many people are engaging with craft in a new way.”
“At a grassroot level in Glasgow’s craft and vintage ‘scene’ (for want of a better word), it’s undeniable that, sadly, with increased popularity has come a decline in quality and diversity,” Maclennan adds. “The last thing we want to be is formulaic or stale. We have new ideas to nurture. We’ve decided to try and shake things up a little.”
So no need to panic, the Maisonette doesn’t seem to be closing its doors anytime soon but instead getting ready for a whole lot of new exciting ideas. As Maclennan says: “2012 holds a lot in store for Made in the Shade. Next year is set to be a time for change and a time for really flexing our creative muscles again and sparking off new projects.” Considering the duo’s endless amount of energy, we trust them to kick the craft-and-vintage scene out of the easy, overly ‘cutesy’ pitfall.