Monday 30 June 2014

Godiva Picks: What's on in Edinburgh in July

The sun is shining and the festival season is upon us! Who came down to the Grassmarket over the weekend to see the levitating magician? Amazing!

There's always something going on in Edinburgh, and the choice can often seem overwhelming for residents and tourists alike. We've perused the listings and found our top five events coming up in July:



The Edinburgh International Fashion Festival (17th-25th July)
This will be the EIFF's third year, and the programme seems to be expanding every season! You can expect a mixture of runway shows, exhibitions, workshops and talks across a variety of venues in Edinburgh: visit the website for the full schedule. We're looking forward to Knit Works!, an exhibition of work from Scandinavian and Scottish knitting experts plus a Nordic Knitathon to create a giant collaborative knitted masterpiece! Also excited for CRAVE Presents RACY: a fashion show debuting exclusive ranges from top Scottish designers including Hayley Scanlan and Obscure Couture.

Food on Forth (14th July)
We'd never turn down the offer of a foodie evening at Harvey Nichols! Food on Forth, an food and drink event in association with iOn magazine, will feature tastings, live cooking demonstrations, cocktail making masterclasses and samples of specialised foods. Yo! Sushi will be demonstrating the art of Japanese cuisine, and all guests will get to take home a goodie bag full of treats. Tickets available here.

BBC Live at Edinburgh Castle (19th July)
Godiva sits (almost!) in the shadow of Edinburgh Castle, and I love catching that glimpse of it between buildings as I head into the shop. It provides an amazing backdrop for a fair few events throughout the year, but we're looking forward to BBC Live, a live concert featuring a whole host of British and international music artists and comedians including Paloma Faith, Kaiser Chiefs, Ella Henderson and Bill Bailey. Don't worry if you miss out on tickets: you can watch the whole event on BBC1!

Great Tapestry of Scotland (1st July - 13th September)
The Great Tapestry of Scotland has been installed in the Scottish Parliament over the weekend, and will be open to the public in a special exhibition from tomorrow. Together over 1000 stitchers, from all over Scotland, worked for over two years to embroider the tapestry - it's the longest in the world at 143 metres long! It aims to tell the entire story of Scotland from pre-history to modern times, and was masterminded by Scottish author Alexander McCall Smith.

The Sumo Run (12th July)
This is an unusual one: the Sumo Run is an established event in London, but this is the first time the charity fun run will come to Scotland. Those taking part will don inflatable sumo suits for a 5k charity run in the Meadows, raising money for the organisers' chosen charity, Link. Link works with governments and communities in sub-Saharan Africa to improve education for children. Funny costumes and a worthy cause? That's something we can get behind!

Thursday 26 June 2014

The Godiva Guide to... Storing Jewellery

I've loved jewellery for as long as I can remember. I used to sit in my granny's conservatory threading those neon pony beads onto embroidery thread (causing havoc when I inevitably spilled them all across the tiled floor), and I can still remember that feeling of sadness when I could no longer squeeze my Christening bangle over my chubby little hands. Now I've graduated to having precious pieces of family jewellery passed down to me - and lusting over all the quirky necklaces and rings we have at Godiva!

I'd say the only drawback to working in a shop like Godiva is wanting to buy everything. It's difficult enough when you just come in to browse, but when you spend hours here on a regular basis it takes a lot of will power to not spend all your wages on covetable pieces from Runaway Fox or And Mary - I guess you could say I live vicariously through our customers!

But I do treat jewellery as more than just sparkly trinkets to be worn; jewellery can be little works of art, too. I'm always searching for new ways to display my favourite pieces since I think it's a shame to hide them away in a box or a drawer somewhere. Here's some inspiration:







all images from pinterest.com

Sunday 22 June 2014

New in at Godiva this week

We've had Karen Mabon's bright and playful scarves, Bellfield's quirky prints and Mollie Brown's handmade tops and skirts in at Godiva before, but we always look forward to new deliveries from old favourites! Bellfield's new woodland animal patterned tees have been selling like hot cakes, and we've also restocked their popular safari print and mirrored parrot sweatshirts. We've got new colourways in Mollie Brown's super cute matching top-and-skirt sets - and some amazing new cotton and silk scarf designs from Karen Mabon! Which is your favourite?

Mollie Brown skirts, £48; Mollie Brown tops, £38
Karen Mabon silk scarf, £45
Bellfield tee, £18; Bellfield shorts, £25


We're also introducing a brand new designer duo to Godiva: Laura and Adrienne, aka Prints of Paradise! We're stocking three of Prints of Paradise's exotic, hand-drawn designs - their longer-length tees are unisex and made from a really soft fabric. I'm trying to persuade my boyfriend to buy one so we can 'share'!

Prints of Paradise tees, £30


Also new in recently are these colourful sequinned skirts and striped button-back tops from PIT, a cool Dutch brand, and some new Nonchalant designs. We already stock Nonchalant's baby-soft leather jackets, but now we have these lightweight cotton long-sleeved tops and beautiful black and white tribal print skirts and jackets.

PIT striped top, £45; PIT sequinned skirt, £50
Nonchalant top, £100; Nonchalant skirt, £75


Don't forget to follow us on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram, where we'll keep you updated with all our new arrivals!

Wednesday 18 June 2014

Designer Q&A: Abetwix



Meet the latest local independent brand to be stocked in Godiva: Abetwix! Edinburgh College of Art graduate Steph Kelly draws her unique animal and geometric designs and then screen prints them by hand onto a range of unisex garments.

You can catch Abetwix in action on the catwalk at the Fashion Loves Music event next month, but in the meantime you can shop the unisex tees and canvas tote bags - each in wolf, owl and leopard designs - in store at Godiva!




We chatted to Steph to find out a little bit more about the brains behind the label:


Hello, I am:
Steph 

I design:
Printed T-shirts, sweatshirts and bags.

When I am creating my typical day involves:
A strong black coffee to start, then I will check and follow up any emails, do some work on social media and some research. Then I could be doing anything from working on new designs, to hands on screen printing or planning the styling for the next photo shoot.

When I am not designing and creating I am:
Spending time with friends and family, or glued to Netflix.

I get inspiration from:
Science fiction, different cultures, the natural world, I think inspiration can be found all around us!

Being an independent designer is important to me because:
I have total artistic freedom, and although it is a lot of hard work I feel far more motivated because I am working for myself. 

I knew I wanted to be a designer when I was:
Seven and I spent hour after hour drawing new dresses for Scarlet O’Hara.

My greatest achievement so far is:
Giving up smoking.

I cannot live without:
Books

My favourite thing I have ever bought or found is:
My vintage 1950’s pale blue prom dress, it is highly embellished and very sparkly, it makes me feel like a princess.







Thursday 5 June 2014

Customer Discount Evening! Pimm's o'clock!


This Friday 6th June you are invited to Godiva at 9 West Port
to come and check out our latest Summer Designer & Vintage collections.

Enjoy a Pimms or two, bring a friend or three &
get a 15% discount off all purchases.

We have fantastic new ranges in from:
Rowanjoy
Runaway Fox
And Mary
Bellfield
Mollie Brown
Naromode
Conditions Apply
&
Introducing new designers Prints of Paradise  & Abetwix

Along with some great handpicked vintage clothing for this season, from floral playsuits, kitten heels, 80's' knit, breton tee to top quality tweed jackets

We look forward to seeing you this Friday 5pm-8pm!