New sympathy for Noah

Good morning folks. Apologies for the little hiatus in posts; I've was ill earlier this week and rather busy for the last couple of days ( as I'll explain below ) so blogging wasn't on the agenda! Fear not - I am on the mend and once again back to my bright eyed and bushy tailed self.

Its been quite a week. Apparently this is officially the most depressing week of the year - the Christmas glow is well and truly out, bills have arrived and there's not much to look forward to in the way of holidays. I don't really subscribe to all that but its been a somewhat unlucky week here. On Thursday I was minding my own business ( literally) when I heard a strange trickling noise. I looked up to see water gushing out of my ceiling. After a minor meltdown and headless chicken moment I managed to phone Michael who luckily was still at home and hadn't left for work yet. By the time he'd arrived two minutes later we had an impromptu water feature which was cascading across the entire width of our ceiling and down onto me, the carpet and pretty much everything else. Oh good. I should explain that our shop sits underneath some bedrooms contained in the hotel next door, so we alerted them to the leak. They were so lovely and came to the rescue with armfuls of towels, buckets and basins - and unceremoniously dragged the unsuspecting guest upstairs out of his rather lengthy shower! We think me laddo must have left the door open or something and in doing so, inadvertently allowed me and my shop to share his shower too.

I can laugh about it now, but at the time it felt like a disaster of Old Testament proportions. Unfortunately we had to close for Thursday afternoon and Friday morning, but we did get sorted and we are now thankfully up and running ( and dry ) once more.

I'll be back tomorrow with the serious business of clothes and the lovely new pieces I hope to have in store. Until then, adios

H x

Shop Girl

When I was sixteen and doing my GCSEs, I got my first job at Accessorize in Milton Keynes City Centre ( or the Centre:MK as it now pretentiously calls itself). I bloody loved it. I worked the Saturday shift from 9-6pm for the princely sum of £27. That's right, £3 an hour. I thought I was rich - after tax I was earning nearly one hundred pounds a month. ONE HUNDRED POUNDS. Which bought at least 5 lycra based tops from Miss Selfridge and a couple of bottles of Lemon Hooch which was pretty much all I needed back then. I stayed at Accessorize all the way through sixth form and uni and learnt an awful lot about retail. Still, its been ten years since I last worked in a shop so I was a bit nervous about  actual working bit of having my own boutique. I know it sounds weird but that was my biggest concern. Business plans, accounts, buying - didn't faze me at all - but operating a till? I woke up in cold sweats about it. Seriously.


As it turns out, its all been quite lovely and I am an old pro now. I'm in my absolute element here in my little boutique. As I write this, its 2.10pm on Sunday and I'm doing a few online bits here for eBay and ASOS so I've opened up for the afternoon. We've had lots more customers than I'd predicted so I think we'll make Sunday opening a permanent fixture. Bang goes my day off....but, do you know what? I don't mind at all......

Animal Crackers

I am an absolute sucker for animals. If you've ever met me, you'll now that I love a bit of leopard print, a dog motif jumper or cute cat necklace. If its got four legs, I generally turn into a simpering mess and if said four legs are featured on a piece of clothing then it needs to be bought and sported proudly. I know this isn't for everyone; lots of folks eye my Russell and Bromley tiger boots and River Island leopard print fur coat uneasily, much as they'd assess an escaped lunatic. An old friend of mine had a huge phobia of dogs and used to physically flinch as I marched towards her wearing my Topshop angora puppy print jumper dress. However, the animal themed items I've sold thus far in the shop have been HUGELY popular so I know I'm not alone in my love of fur and feathers. We have a few bits in stock at the moment

including this gorgeous Butler and Wilson bag. It has a vintage print of sleeping kittens in black and white. Its £15 and is a lovely piece of animal kitsch - and of course, Butler and Wilson who are one of my all time favourite labels.

Continuing the cat theme, the above bag is a little treasure I picked out a vintage fair recently. Its all beaded and has a long shoulder strap. It would make a fab quirky evening bag and is excellent condition. A bargain at £20 - if someone doesn't buy this soon it might accidentally find its way home with me.....

If cats aren't your thing, how about this? Its a tapestry satchel style bag WITH A DOG AND LEOPARD PRINT! And just to make it extra kitsch, a ruffle lace trim. I'm not sure if this is handmade, but its a really gorgeous piece. And only £20. Bargain

I love this Yumi for Topshop dress. It has the cutest ladybird print ( ok, ok, I know I said 4 legs, but ladybirds are cute insects so we can get away with calling them an animal ). This would work for day or night and looks to be brand new. As with most Yumi pieces, its one size and will best fit from a UK8-12. Team with cable knit tights and mary janes for day wear or shove a biker jacket over it and a pair of heels for a night out

And finally....how cute are these? I don't usually get kids stuff for the shop as its really difficult to find vintage stuff in nice condition but I couldn't resist these. They are faux fur cow/pony print and are possibly the yummiest little things 've ever seen! They are a Size 8 and are only £8.

Greetings.......

Greetings one and all - I have dipped my toe into unfamiliar blog waters in order to share a bit about my vintage boutique, Queen of Threads. If you're lucky you might even get a few snippets about Michael and I too....

I'm Helen Diamond, boutique owner, buyer, merchandiser , sales assistant - you get the idea! I've been selling fashion online for around eight years now, based in London. However when Michael and I got married in March 2010 we decided to move to Newport Pagnell where a lot of our family are. The premises for our boutique came up for lease in Autumn 2011 and we decided to take the plunge and expand the business to a shop. We had a lot of help from friends and family and,on December 3rd 2011 we opened the doors and Queen of Threads was born...

So, here it is, my lovely shop....

We're located at 31 High Street, Newport Pagnell. For those of you aren't local, NP is a pretty historic town in Buckinghamshire, very close to Milton Keynes. We are very proud to be here on the high street and part of the town and its community. I think that big shopping centres, superstores and out of town retail parks have really affected high streets in recent years. Newport Pagnell High Street has been the hub of the town for hundreds of years and long may it continue! Hopefully our little boutique brings something a bit different to our town and will ultimately bring a few more people out for some local shopping.

So, what do we do? Well, we describe ourselves as a 'vintage' fashion boutique and around 30% of our stock is bona fide pre 1990s fashion. We also sell more modern 'nearly new' items - Topshop, River Island, Miss Selfridge etc as well as a few designer items. Now and again we stock brand new clothing and we always have a selection of brand new jewellery too. I hand-pick everything - we're not a 'job-lot' shop. Each piece is unique and individually sourced. I only buy items in good condition and treasure hunt at vintage fairs, fashion markets and on my trips abroad to find unusual, one off pieces. I try to add new items in store two or three times a week - so there's always something new to find. We upload our new bits and pieces on our Facebook page here www.facebook.com/queenofthreads so customers can virtually browse before planning a trip to see us.

Anyway, that's us in a nutshell. I plan to use the blog to bring you updates about new items, fashion ideas and trends and probably a lot of blathering on about completely irrelevant subjects. You lucky people....x