Black Pearl Christmas Decorations!

Yes, I have been busy preparing the Christmas window and earlier this week I stayed well into the night to put it up. I have to say it's quite impressive, behold -






The rather attractive lady in the centre is surrounded by present boxes with fabulous gifts tumbling out (all from Black Pearl of course) while on the phone (I'm guessing to Santa, thanking him for getting is so right).

Christmas Frocks

New in this week are some amazing dresses which are perfect for the party season! The fabulous Bombshell wrap dress is now available in a beautiful silk in shades of magenta, red, purple, turquoise and green. Check them out below!





I also had a delivery this week from What Katie Did, including some of their Striptease bralettes and knickers in black, purple and claret, the ever popular frilly knickers in black, the classic maitresse suspender belt in black, and some of the new Glamour items including the girdle and waist cincher.

Chateau Bizarre

I just had an email from Lilah at Chateau Bizarre to let me know there is now a review and link to my website from her site. Since 2001, Chateau Bizarre has been dazzling readers with street fashion and unusual finds, reviewed from tiny neighborhood stores, co-ops, family businesses, festival vendors, one-person operations, crafting collectives, and other independents all over the planet. Do have a look, you'll be amazed at what you can find. I managed to find a website selling 'Ferret Couture'. The mind reels!

We’re feeling pretty Christmassy here in Carnaby, what with the Christmas lights going up last week. For those who haven’t seen them, Carnaby St is now adorned with giant inflatable snowmen and snowflakes. Another thing synonymous with Christmas is…the Grazia Carnaby shopping event! Yes, next Thursday evening (27th November) all retailers in the area (Black Pearl included) will be giving 20% off all merchandise. All you have to do is register online at www.carnaby.co.uk and you will be emailed a ticket. Bring the ticket on the night and enjoy amazing discounts from 5 – 9pm. If past events are anything to go by it’s going to be busy! If you have this weeks edition of Grazia there is a three page article about the event, including a page about Carnaby entrepreneurs – with me in the top left corner!

I have been updating the website over the past few days, so do have a look. There are lots of new and exciting jewels, including a fabulous flying horseshoe necklace and some pieces mixing vintage and new beads and charms. Also, good news in that the large swallow necklace is back! He had a little holiday but is now back on the necklaces page. He will also be available in gold plated soon, along with a brand new jewellery collection I have designed. It has been a long time coming, but it should (fingers crossed) be arriving mid December and will feature some amazing pieces (inlcluding an envelope pendant which opens to reveal a secret message! It’s too exciting).



All the gloves are back in stock on the accessories page, after proving to be very popular. Perfect for those Christmas parties. We also have some new flower hairclips instore, which feature beautiful roses in dark red, dusky blue and mauve. The larger ones have both a hairclip and brooch clip so can be worn either way.



Finally here is another date for your diary – on the evening of 11th December we will be having our own little soiree in Black Pearl with some wine, and mince pies (of course!). Do come and join us! That’s all for now, hopefully see you next Thursday!

Discarded Jewels

Introducing the new jewellery service by Black Pearl: Discarded Jewels.

IF YOUR FAVOURITE ITEMS OF JEWELLERY ARE BROKEN, DON’T DESPAIR, BLACK PEARL ARE HERE TO THE RESCUE!!!

Black Pearlettes, you’re in for a treat. From this week, Fiona Deffenbaugh, the founder of Black Pearl will be turning your old trinkets into treasure. If you’ve lost an earring, broken a necklace, or your watch has stopped working, don’t despair! Here at Black Pearl’s bustling HQ, Fiona will re-invent your old pieces into something fabulous with a brand new lease of life.

Fiona also has a vast collection of old and new jewellery parts which can be combined (if needed) with your own pieces to create a one off totally personal piece. Below is a picture of the fabulous Johnny Blueeyes (stylist to Beth Ditto and Scissor Sisters, among others) wearing a Black Pearl custom necklace.

So what are you waiting for? Grab all of your discarded jewellery and bring it into the store for a major make-over. Prices vary depending on the size and detail of the finished piece, averaging about £50.

New Shop Display!

Here are some pictures of my fancy new jewellery display:





And new in yesterday are some fabulous Pom Pom accessories by my friend Jo Shiers. They come is small, medium and large and are made of net with ribbons attached, so you can wear them around the neck, wrist, or wherever you want really!

Black Pearl in the press...

So we've had a couple of press items recently, which is always exciting. The first was some gloves and earrings from Black Pearl used in a shoot for the current issue of i-D magazine (one of my favourites!). They used the ivory lace gloves in a couple of shots, and a pair of vintage earrings in pretty much every shot, the stylist must have really loved them!



And in other exciting news, Jaime Winstone was spotted out and about in London wearing a Black Pearl magenta bow necklace! Look closely - you can just about see it!

I made the necklaces for an event with Daisy Lowe during London Fashion Week, where everyone was given a goody bag with various goodies. Jaime was obviously very taken with her necklace, maybe because it matches her red hair?! The necklaces are now on the website if you want to buy one, they are also available in gold and silver. I made 40 in total, here is a picture before they were packaged up:

New News

Finally! I have the new Bombshell wrap dresses in sizes 10 - 18! They were delivered yesterday and look amazing. At the moment they come in black linen, a black and green Japanese bird print, leopard print, and one special gold/green glittery fabric. Ooh have a look:


The new ones have been modified for a better fit, and now retail at £120. They have been so popular, the style just seems to suit everyone.

In other clothes news, here are some pictures of another new label, Instant Vintage. I love this line, I had the designer Anna Coleman make me the Girl Friday dress (shown below in red) and the 'Pencil Me Thin' skirt (shown below in tweed) in dark brown, and I wear them all the time! As well as the stock I have in the shop, Anna can also custom make pieces if you want a certain size or colour.



On the jewellery side of things I have been hard at work on some new pieces, which are quite different to what I have done before. Next week I will be doing a bit of DIY in the shop (well, my Dad will be doing the DIY part, I will be mainly instructing), in order to create a new display to showcase the new things. They are a lot bigger and more intricate as you will see in these sneak preview pictures:




So these beauties and more will be in the shop by the end of next week, do come and have a look! I'm especially loving the Faberge egg style pendants, they are a lot of fun to make.

Oh and here are some new nipple tassels, just to round things off!

OK?!

If any of you are OK readers (don't worry, it's nothing to be ashamed of) you may have spotted none other that Jordan/Katie Price/Andre wearing a Black Pearl Necklace! It's the Pink Bow Anchor necklace in gold, and if you want to buy it, just click here! And if you want to find out about Katie's family life and her plans to adopt, Cheryl Cole on weight loss and her diet, and Jennifer Aniston on marriage and baby plans, just buy OK! OK?

Hats and Handbags

Well I don't know where July has gone, I just realised the last blog I posted was 17th June - I've had my hair done again since then! I've been busy updating my website with new jewellery, and I also added three of my favourite pairs of gloves which can now be bought online. To view the site, just click here.

New this week in-store are some fabulous hats by Sakura designs. Emma has done a new twist on two favourite designs, the top hat and heart shaped hat, adding leopard print and beautiful peacock feathers.






Also new are some great bags by Voodoo Betty, with bamboo handles large enough to fit over your shoulder it's the perfect summer bag. I have it in a bright pin up print, and dark tattoo print:



I'm going to visit Caroline at the Frillseekers studio tonight to pick up some vintage dresses, stay tuned to see what I find!

MAJOR NEWS. (I got a haircut!)

Yes, I decided it was time for a change, and that change was a fringe. I have an amazing retro hair salon right opposite me in Kingly Court, called 'It's Something Hells', run by French couple Miss Betty and Mister Ducktail. The interior is to die for - pink walls, red velvet curtains, leopard print lamps, chandeliers....! I kept seeing ladies with fabulous hair walking out, and knew they would do a fabulous job. So here are the results!

Ooh look - new hair!

Miss Betty and Mister Ducktail

In other news, a delivery of gloves arrived yesterday. The last lot went so well I re-ordered the best selling styles and some new ones. I stuck to black, white and ivory (with a red pair thrown in for good measure) as they had been the most popular. Perfect for weddings, Ascot - or just a spot of shopping I think.

Trophy Queen bags are in!!

So yesterday I got a delivery of fabulous Trophy Queen bags and wallets, and promptly unpacked everything and put it out in the shop (not before posing with as many as I could - see below!). All Trohpy Queen products are designed by owner Jenny Parker and made in the USA. Jenny is obsessed with hot rods and vintage motorcycles, which is reflected in her designs...

Sunday Times Style

I recently made some custom headbands for a shoot in the Sunday Times Style Magazine, and it was in yesterday's issue! The stylist Olly Paton asked me to make some denim headbands, one plain and one with a giant bow (my kind of thing!) for a denim shoot. I was really pleased with them and shall be making some for the shop this week (I'm also thinking of a version with a smaller bow, in leopard print!). Anyway, here they are...

Radio Heart

I just thought I'd let you know that the new Futureheads video for Radio Heart features a few things from Black Pearl - mainly the gold bow necklace the actress is wearing, and also a couple of the dresses draped around her room. The video was styled by my good friend Victoria Cumming who always tries to incorporate some Black Pearl goods in whatever she does - thanks Vicky!

Hi Daisy!

Eagle-eyed magazine addict Sarah (of Chelsea Rebelle) spotted none other than Daisy Lowe wearing a Black Pearl hair bow in Rubbish magazine. Well, actually it's more of a hard back book than a magazine, it's pretty impressive. In a hilarious shoot called 'A Suitable Boy' Daisy meets various suitors looking to claim her heart while her parents look on in horror...

Black Pearl in Grazia!

Yes, Black Pearl is listed in the 'Where's hot on Carnaby' page in this week's Grazia Magazine! The magazine ran a promotion for the Carnaby Shopping event in association with Grazia which will be on 29th May. You can register at www.carnaby.co.uk for free tickets, which means you get 20% off in all of the shops in the Carnaby area, Black Pearl included. The event starts at 5pm and finishes at 9pm. More importantly, look - it's me! I will say that I had no forewarning that there would be a photographer, it's not bad considering!

New Things!!

I had a day off yesterday and came in this morning to find the flower hair clips I ordered had arrived, yay! I spent this morning unpacking them and putting them on display - voila!

Perfect for this fabulous weather we're having I think you'll agree. Also this week I had the pleasure of going to the studio of Frillseekers vintage and picking some pieces for the shop which was very exciting. It's like shopping, but not for me, but just as good. I had a good rummage and came away with about 20 dresses, my favourite of which is this one...

...just look at the cute bow detail! (I'm a sucker for bows). Here is how the rest of the rail looks...

I was away in Madrid for a few days last week (stupidly forgot my camera, but will hopefully get some pics from the trip to post), but before I left I had these rings made...

People have been asking if I sell rings for so long I thought I'd better get some. I used some charms I had already which usually go on necklaces, and had them soldered them onto rings, they worked out pretty well!