An elderly but extremely handsome woman in pink, trailing a fur coat and a very young husband behind her, wafts in to Christie’s grand hall and tries to find a seat in the auction room.

There, the crowd – mostly men in suits and women wearing silk scarves and ­expensive blow-dries – sit in reverential silence, their faces hardened in focus.

All of them are here to buy one thing. No, not a classical painting or an antique vase – they’re here for a handbag. 

So, what’s so special about this bag?

 

In demand: A limited-edition Hermes ‘Birkin’ bag

Victoria Beckham is rumoured to own 100 of them worth £1.5 million, Lady Gaga enraged fashion lovers across the world by defacing one, there’s a six-year waiting list to have one made, but now you can own your very own (albeit second-hand) version… if you’ve got a spare £49,000, that is.

Yes, you read that right. Yesterday, at Christie’s, an anonymous bidder paid £49,000 for a second-hand bag.

But this was no ordinary bag: this was a limited-edition Hermes Birkin bag and, it appears, women will do (or pay) whatever it takes to get one over their arm – even in the middle of a recession.

Forget the British Fashion Awards last night, yesterday’s bi-annual auction of Hermes bags at Christie’s is the real fashion event of the year. Fifty-one handbags went under the hammer, and the Rouge Moyen alligator Birkin, 1998, which sold for £49,250, broke Christie’s records as the most expensive handbag ever sold.

‘The most sought after bags are always the Birkins and Kellys [named after actresses Jane Birkin and Grace Kelly],’ says Pat Frost, Christie’s director of fashion and textiles.

‘And the interesting thing is that yes, of course, they’re bought by wealthy people, but we don’t see the same people coming back over and over again. The mentality seems to be that you search for your perfect Hermes bag and once you find it, you’re done.’

So why the eye-watering price tags?

‘The really expensive bags are the ones made of exotic leathers: crocodile, ­lizard, alligator and ostrich.

With the croc bags, which command the very highest prices, the paler the colour, the more the bag is worth because it’s extremely hard to dye the skins successfully.

‘In addition to that, there is only a limited supply of crocodile in the first place.

‘Hermes don’t give us the details of their ­distribution and ­production but, for example, we know that the Sloane Square store gets only four crocodile bags to sell off the shelf each year.’

And the buyers at yesterday’s auction know that all too well.

Rumoured: Victoria Beckham owns 100 Hermes ‘Birkin’ bags, worth £1.5 million

An elegant woman in her 60s, dressed in purple, fought with an internet bidder to snap up a black matt alligator Birkin for a mere £32,450 – an anniversary present from her husband.

‘I’ve always loved Hermes bags, I had my eye on a few here today. I particularly wanted crocodile or alligator skin – they’re almost impossible to come by,’ she said. Right. Understood. Material ­limited and production tricky – but you could say the same thing about state-of-the-art computers or cars, and they don’t seem to be holding their value so well.

In fact, the Hermes bag is almost unique in its position as a ‘recession-proof status accessory’.

While most designers have ­conspicuously not shown ‘It’ bags on their catwalks of late, deeming them too showy, shouty and ­financially risky in these ­straitened times, the Hermes bag fever ­continues unabated.

‘The point about Hermes bags is that they’re more than ­fashion accessories,’ says Rebecca Lowthorpe, Elle ­magazine’s fashion features director.

Hermes ‘Birkin’ number 3: Victoria Beckham arrives at Heathrow airport with her designer hand luggage

‘They’re more comparable to ­collectable works of art. We are talking about the absolute ­pinnacle of heritage luxury.

‘The animals from which they get the skins are virtually made by Hermes! There are no machines in the ­production ­process, so we’re talking about tradesmen with 30 years of experience in the Hermes workshop, making one bag from start to finish.’

Lowthorpe also believes that Hermes’ refusal to be buffeted by the fickle winds of fashion trends has served the label well.

‘It’s always the Kelly and ­Birkin,’ she says. ‘They don’t date, they don’t pretend to be part of this trend or that season.

‘We just wouldn’t be having this conversation about a bag made by, say, Chanel.’

So how did so many of these bags – 16 Kellys and 19 ­Birkins, to be precise – make their way to ­auction yesterday if they’re so beloved by their owners?

As well as some antiques from the Sixties, quite a few of these bags were made only this year or last.

Leonie Ashfield, press officer for Christie’s, explains that many end up at auction for the same reason that eBay is bursting with unwanted presents in January.

‘Often brand new bags end up here because a husband has bought it for his wife in the wrong colour or style,’ she says. ‘You want to make sure you get it right because it’s a real investment.’

Despite that, there were a number of lone men bidding ­yesterday. You can only hope they have been given detailed instructions by their wives and girlfriends.

Other fashion insiders tell me that the stories behind the bags help bolster the seemingly ­unstoppable cult of Hermes: the Birkin story being the most famous.

So are you sitting comfortably? Once upon a time on a flight from Paris to London in the early ­Eighties, Jane Birkin was ­wrestling with a tattered old straw bag (or a plastic bag, depending on which version of this fashion myth you subscribe to) from which her ­possessions were spewing forth.

Complaining that she just couldn’t find a good size handbag and musing upon how nice it would be if Hermes were to make one, she discovered that the man next to her was none other than Hermes boss ­­Jean-Louis Dumas.

He promptly invited her to his workshop to rectify the ­situation and the envelope style, double-strap creation, aka the world’s most wanted accessory, was born.

And my, how people do want them – even if that means worshipping from afar via the chat forums where important Birkin-related issues of the day may be debated.

Does actress Katie Holmes own a 40cm or a 50cm version? Does U.S. socialite Kim Kardashian take a black one with her when she goes to get her manicure done and is it true that she recently bought six in one go?

Is Victoria Beckham’s all-time favourite bag her rare ­Silver ­Himalayan Birkin, which (at £80,000) features a three-carat diamond?

So if you’re not Victoria ­Beckham or Kim Kardashian, but you ­happen to have your heart set on a Hermes Birkin, what can you do?

The cheapest at this week’s Christie’s sale didn’t leave you much change from £4,500, but at least you got to jump the ­waiting list. You could try eBay, but ­Christie’s Pat Frost urges extreme caution.

‘The rare skins have a lot of paperwork attached to them, because there are strict rules ­governing import and export,’ she says. ‘A luxury Birkin without this paperwork is almost certainly not genuine.’

You also need the paperwork to benefit from the incredible Hermes after-sale service – they will buff and repair any wear and tear, so it really should last you a lifetime.

Then there’s the not ­insignificant matter of how you justify spending the price of a decent car on a bag which – ­lovingly designed and beautifully crafted as it may be – is, after all, just a bag.

The late Jean-Louis Dumas is famous for describing his creations as being ‘not expensive, costly’. Most women would beg to differ.

A spokeswoman for McQueen said: “Mr McQueen was found dead this morning at his home. We’re devastated and I hope you understand that out of respect to his family and his colleagues we’re not going to be making any further statement.”

His death comes just days before the start of London fashion week and a month before he was to unveil his new collection at Paris fashion week.

His family asked for privacy to come to terms with the death of McQueen, whose first name was Lee.

His company, Alexander McQueen, issued a statement saying: “On behalf of Lee McQueen’s family, Alexander McQueen today announces the tragic news that Lee McQueen, the founder and designer of the Alexander McQueen brand, has been found dead at his home. At this stage it is inappropriate to comment on this tragic news beyond saying that we are devastated and are sharing a sense of shock and grief with Lee’s family.”

“Lee’s family has asked for privacy in order to come to terms with this terrible news and we hope the media will respect this.”

Alexandra Shulman, the editor of British Vogue, said McQueen had influenced a whole generation of designers. “His brilliant imagination knew no bounds as he conjured up collection after collection of extraordinary designs,” she said.

“At one level he was a master of the fantastic, creating astounding fashion shows that mixed design, technology and performance and on another he was a modern-day genius whose gothic aesthetic was adopted by women the world over. His death is the hugest loss to anyone who knew him and for very many who didn’t.”

Born in London in 1969 as the youngest of six children, McQueen left school at the age of 16 and was immediately offered an apprenticeship at the traditional Saville Row tailors Anderson and Shephard, then at neighbouring Gieves and Hawkes.

At 20 he was employed by the designer Koji Tatsuno. A year later McQueen travelled to Milan where he worked as a design assistant to Romeo Giglis. He returned to London in 1994 where he completed a master’s degree in fashion design at Central St Martins College. His degree collection was famously bought in its entirety by Isabella Blow, a leading figure in the fashion world.

In less than 10 years McQueen became one of the most respected fashion designers in the world. In October 1996 he was appointed chief designer at the French label Givenchy where he worked until March of 2001.

In December 2000 51% of Alexander McQueen was acquired by luxury brand Gucci, where he became creative director. Expansion followed and included the opening of flagship stores in New York, London and Milan.

McQueen was a four-time winner of the British designer of the year award as well as the international designer of the year award from the Council of Fashion Designers of America. He was awarded the CBE in 2003.

Much of Volksware’s work takes a similar and equally clever approach to design: use pre-existing objects, engage the user, and sell in customized quantities. Check out her website for a ton of other very cool projects and products.

In an extract from their new book, which features simple projects showing how to reconstruct your wardrobe, they explain how to transform ordinary trousers into a fitted top with step-by-step instructions.

Annika Sanders and Kerry Seager made clothes for themselves to wear out to clubs in the early 90’s during their late teens. After extensive international travel and countless compliments on their clothing a business was executed. Junky styling was the perfect tag to attach to their unique style of clothing. Charity shops and jumble sales were the chosen source of second hand traditional suits to deconstruct and then redesign into twisted tailored garments. Now 11 years later, with their well-established shop in Brick Lane and in-house production site just down the road, nothing is holding this company back. Anni and Kerry are still best friends and the same multi-talented crew are putting out new clothing ranges in every direction.

One of Junky Styling’s services is to re-design your old wardrobe. All you have to do is bring your worn out clothes into Junky Wardrobe Surgery situated at the back of the Junky Store for a complete overhaul, customisation or a simple alteration. Be part of the design process and tell the team about the recurring problems you encounter with the cut and fit of regular garments. Junky Styling will breath new life into discarded items or simply make something previously un-wearble into an everyday favourite.

By selling your items on www.refashionable.com  you are not only helping to reduce textile waste but  you can also donate all or part of the sales proceeds to hundreds of UK charities.

The featured charity of the month for February is Beatbullying.

Beatbullying provide children and young people and professionals those all important opportunities to make positive and lasting changes to their lives and outlook, in particular, those so deeply affected by bullying that they can barely face going to school that next morning. We work tirelessly to affect that attitudinal change in those that bully, working with them on taking responsibility and a sense of ownership over their actions, building those foundations for change and improvement in chances and opportunities. For more information on Beatbullying visit www.beatbullying.org.

So have a wardrobe clearout, take some snaps, sell your items on Refashionable and help out some very worthy charities.

You can find handy hints and tips to sell your items in our blog article How to Sell on Refashionable

http://www.craftstylish.com/item/52246/how-to-embroider-a-basic-t-shirt-dress

Here, Jacquard fabric paint and a bit of embroidery turn this basic piece into a stunner. Embroiderer extraordinaire, Erika Kern, created this floral design that can be paired with black leggings or jeans for an effortlessly stylish look. For more from Erika, check out her blog, or her tutorials on CraftStylish. The paint helps stabilize the knit fabric, making this project super easy to stitch without the use of stabilizer.

1. Draw a rose motif. First, decide where and how big you want your rose to be. Using a photocopier, enlarge the template to the desired size. Using tailor’s chalk or carbon tracing paper, transfer the flower onto your garment. The shape of the flower should be organic, so don’t worry too much about making it perfect. To add visual interest, allow your flower to wrap around the side and over the edge of the dress. If you are concerned about getting the right shape, practice your flowers on scrap paper before you mark the top.

2. Paint the rose. Once you’re happy with the design for your dress, slide the cardboard into the dress, and start painting. The cardboard ensures that the paint won’t seep to the other side and onto the dress fabric. Use a nice, flowing stroke to paint the petals, allowing thicknesses to vary. Allow the paint to dry, and heat-set with an iron, as directed in the paint instructions.

3. Add hand embroidery to make the design stand out. If you’re stitching along the painted petals, you should be fine without any stabilizer. The slight stiffness added by the paint should be enough support for the jersey fabric. If you add embroidery in the non-painted areas, put a layer of water-soluble stabilizer behind your stretch fabric. Use a chainstitch (illustrated below) to accent your design as shown.

Bring your needle from the wrong to the right side, and make a loop. Insert the needle back through the fabric, starting at the loop top and back out through the loop base.

Continue making loops starting the next inside the previous one as shown.

4. Finish the dress. If you used stabilizer, follow the manufacturer’s instructions on how to remove it with water.

 The UK’s premiere clothing recycling website www.refashionable.com is once again hosting a clothes swap event in London.

Probably the most relaxed clothes swap event you will ever attend!

Unlike other clothes swaps we display all clothes neatly, there are changing rooms for you to try on and attendance is limited to 50 people per swap so there is plenty of room for you to browse. In addition each attendee will receive a free cotton tote bag to take their new clothes home in! 

Tickets £7.00 in advance or £8.00 on the door. Click here for tickets.

New Location

The event starts at 7pm at  The Banker, Cousin Lane EC4R3TE (http://www.allinlondon.co.uk/clubs_bars/venue-456.php). Click here for map. Swap will begin at 8pm so make sure you arrive promptly.

The Banker will be serving food all evening, please e-mail christine@refashionable.com for a menu.

Here are some of our Swishers in their newly swapped items

  Here’s how it works:

• Bring along between 5 and 10 items from your wardrobe you no longer need. These need to be clean and in near perfect condition – an item someone else would be delighted to receive (please no soiled or damaged clothes) 
• Hand over your items to the swaps desk on arrival in return for your swaps card on which we will give you one credit for each item you bring.
• Swapping will commence at 8pm. Each attendee will be given a Refashionable cotton tote bag to stash their goodies in. There are also toilets available for trying on clothes. 
• Items will be ticked off your swap card before you leave. You will be allowed to take the same amount of items you bring (so make sure not to misplace your swap card) 
• If you have any credits left over at the end you will be able to keep hold of your swap card and use them at another Refashionable Swap event.

For those of you who attended out last swap don’t forget to bring your swap cards with any credits you have – they are valid for this swap as well!

If you would like to be informed of our forthcoming swap events in Liverpool and London why not join our mailing list here.

or become a fan of Refashionable on Facebook here. 

Refashionable.com are currently running a free cotton shopper bag promotion – Free cotton shopper bag for every person listing an item for sale on www.refashionable.com.

This has been by far the most fun trend article I have done this season, little did I realise the fantastic range of umbrellas on offer at the moment and  new innovations coming through such as the bike umbrella, couples umbrella as well as all of the designer print ranges on offer.

Let it rain…. by refashionable featuring Lulu Guinness umbrellas

And there is more…….

Introducing Nubrella – invented by Alan Kaufman for the busy streets of New York, simply ‘The Ultimate Weather Protector’. Nubrellas are not ordinary umbrellas, they provide the very best protection against rain, wind, sleet, snow and extreme cold. These extraordinary umbrellas are for all inclement weather conditions not just rain. Be one of the first to own this truly fascinating and practical product – the nubrella is designed for the 21st century. Nubrellas overcome the fundamental limitations placed upon you by today’s traditional umbrellas. Nubrellas have no pole and leave your hands free to carry your shopping or make that phone call and provide a snug, wind-free enviroment. The long awaited ‘hands free’ feature along with the Nubrellas eye-catching futuristic design make these special umbrellas ideal for the down-town hustle and bustle of the city. Umbrellas that are lightweight, hands-free and aerodynamic – say hello to the revolutionary Nubrella

How cool is this? It’s an umbrella that changes colors when it gets wet (which should be every time you use it unless you’re one of those shade umbrella type people). Designed by UK-based Squid London, these umbrellas are made with hydrochromatic inks that change colors when wet. Unfortunately they only produced them in a limited edition and they are all sold out now.

Squid London rolled out a limited edition collection of umbrellas that have designs printed on with hydrochromatic inks. The color of the ink is dull and desaturated when dry but as soon as it makes contact with water, all the color comes out.

Now these gorgeous umbrellas are available in what Squid London calls the “Skyline Squidarella Collection,” showing the London skyline in monochromatic view, bursting into a cheery rainbow cityscape as soon as you step out into the London fog. Not bad for $35. Check out the video:

For the original post visit http://www.craftstylish.com/item/1291/make-your-very-own-fitting-assistant

Start with your “victim” wearing well-fitted undergarments of her usual type under a long T-shirt, which needn’t be too tight. Begin by wrapping the tape horizontally at the bottom, mid-thigh, ideally with a tape-cutting helper (use old scissors, as the tape gets gummy; a size-10 figure requires 1 to 1-1/2 60-yd. rolls of tape). Wrap snugly, but not so tight as to rearrange or compress the body. At the waist, wrap a little more loosely on the first layer, allowing folds to form as you follow the contour, if necessary.

Three layers of duct tape make the form. Wrapping horizontally, start at the thighs and work up.		Wrap snugly around the thighs and hips, a little looser at the waist.

At the bust and underarm, cut the T-shirt sleeves if needed to allow the tape to follow the figure, and use shorter pieces arranged radially over the bust. Protect the neck area with plastic wrap, then wrap to form edges at the neckline and armholes similar to those you’d want on a fitted bodice.

In the bust area, use shorter tape and change direction. Short pieces of tape capture the contours of the bust better. Arrange them so they radiate out from the center of the bust area.		Protect the neck area with plastic wrap; wrap to form edges at the neckline and armholes similar to those you’d want on a fitted bodice.

When the first layer is complete, wrap twice more, first vertically, then again horizontally, further compressing the waistline to fit each layer more closely, and smoothing over wrinkles this causes with more tape.

When finished, have the “wrappee” bend slightly to reveal her waistline, and mark it (and any other points you want identified) with marker or later with colored tape.

Mark the waist. Bending slightly will reveal your wrappee’s natural waist. Mark all around with a permanent marker.		Cut carefully up the back. Keep your hand between the tee shirt and the wrappee’s body to avoid cutting undergarments or flesh.

Cut off the form and T-shirt layer at center back with your other hand between scissors and body to avoid cutting undergarments (or the wrappee!). Then close the form with additional tape, stuff it with poly batting, and place it on a stand (read on for stand ideas). Joyce’s finished form has a polished look, similar to an industrial dress form.