Now, Voyager Designer Feature:

All images by Bar Am-David

About Now, Voyager:

We at Now, Voyager believe every single lady has the right to look pin-up gorgeous every day of the week and that right should be fun and affordable!

We are two best friends, Felicity and Lauren, with two very different styles but exactly the same style ethic: style is conviction and we do not believe in compromise. If you don’t believe you look fabulous, why should anyone else? We both come from fashion backgrounds and last summer decided to put our love of handmade, unusual hair accessories and glamorous clothing to good use and open our own boutique in Southend. We opened the doors of our shop in October ’09 with the website following in January ’10.

Inspirations:
Felicity hand makes all of our hair accessories with her inspiration coming from the teens of Harajuku to the pin-ups of today’s 40s/50s revival scene. Lauren’s inspiration for the shop name came from her favourite Bette Davis film. With her love of all things from the golden age of cinema, Lauren lives every day like a Billy Wilder movie.

Best Sellers:




Our bestsellers can often vary between our large selections of beautiful velvet rose clips and our signature corsages to our knitted cake clips which go down a treat at the many vintage fairs that we attend- especially the cherry bakewells! Our customers love to rummage through the massive selection of knitted doughnuts, cookies, swiss rolls and cupcake hair clips that we lay out on cake stands- all the pleasure but none of the guilt with our little treats! Another of our signature hair clips are our birds, which come in various colours in either perched or flying- super cute!



We Make London:



When paying a visit to the Now, Voyager stall, you’ll find our own range of hair accessories which include flowers of all types from roses to lilies to Hawaiian, floral corsages, knitted cakes and cookies, traditional 40s snoods and our super cute ‘party bag’ range including seaside windmills and plastic gun hair clip sets.






Website:

You can shop online with us at www.now-voyager.co.uk or find us at:

17, Market Place,
Southend-on-Sea,
Essex,
SS1 1DA

Florio Designer Feature:

About Florio Designs:

I came across a bead shop when I was 12 and there began my lifelong passion for hand crafting – then, jewellery. Nearly twenty years on, what started out as a childhood hobby is now Florio Designs, where I sell my handcrafted jewellery, tiaras, fascinators and hats.

I am originally from Dublin but moved to England with my family not long after I first started making jewellery, then onto Belgium, before returning to the UK for university.

During my university years, I was known as the ‘creative one’ out of my friends. I was busy studying for a Spanish, French and Business degree so I didn’t have a lot of time to dedicate to my jewellery making. I knew it was something I’d return to in the future.

After gaining my degree, I joined a training and development company and continued to work in this area, whilst continuing crafting in my spare time.

My interest in handcrafted jewellery was well and truly rekindled when I moved to London several years ago. As I was planning my wedding, I decided to make all of the jewellery for my wedding party – an experience I just loved; hand creating everything from my tiara through to my bridesmaids’ jewellery. I even lent a hat or two to some of the guests!

Soon after, I enrolled on a tiara-making class and a one-year millinery course at Kensington and Chelsea College, where I gained a BTEC with Merit in millinery. With qualifications gained and renewed motivation, Florio Designs was born in 2007 and I began to sell my handcrafted jewellery, tiaras, fascinators and hats both online and at craft fairs.

I am very excited about how 2010 has begun. In February, I began teaching tiara-making for the London School of Jewellery and I am planning a re-invention of my career to pursue my passion for hand-crafting and millinery. I continue to attend a variety of courses to further develop my skills and to learn new techniques and styles – all part of the enjoyment, and it helps me to keep Florio Designs at the cutting edge!

Inspirations:

Inspiration can come from anywhere. Whether it’s simply gazing across my collection of crystals and beads that sets my mind racing with the possibilities, or – believe it or not – some seaweed washed up in the surf inspiring my blister pearl ‘Autumn’ necklace. Almost anything goes!

Best Sellers:

My crystal fascinators are definitely my best selling items. They suit any occasion whether it be a wedding or a Christmas party or even just a night out. As they are on flexible wires they can be tucked down to the comb for a hint of sparkle or expanded out for a more dramatic look. They also come in a variety of colours. Their versatility knows no bounds!

We Make Summer Fair:

There will be crystal fascinators and sparkly tiaras, funky jewellery and sophisticated headwear. You will also get the chance to win a crystal fascinator on the day, so stop by to find out how! See you there!

Websites:

www.floriodesigns.co.uk

http://www.folksy.com/shops/FlorioDesigns