Gabberdashery!

Hello everyone! Last week I was lucky enough to play an exclusive gig at a really stunning venue; 22 Portsea place. Owned by the lovely Fran, this Georgian building is home to over 3000 works of art, its like living in a museum or art gallery! The gig was in aid of Cancer Research, a cause very close to my heart, so guests were plied with champagne and delicious cupcakes kindly supplied by LoveBakery to encourage everyone to donate generously!My gorgeous dress was lent to me by vintage superstore Beyond Retro, and as usual, my wonderful hair and make-up was done by the incredibly talented Jennifer Nash.

Speaking of make-up, I had a very exciting meeting with British make-up brand Illamasqua earlier this week. They love my look and are going to help Jennifer continue to create it with their wonderful products!I love how theatrical their aesthetic is, and their slogan 'make-up for your alter ego' is so appropriate to musicians and artists who often have a different, more flamboyant persona they adopt on stage.
We took the opportunity to create a Gabberdashery boudoir in the bedroom at Portsea Place, where Rosa Bloom sold some of her beautiful handmade bustles, gloves, feather headpieces, jumpsuits, frilly knickers and much more.

Artists Tinsel Edwards and Twinkle Troughton are also on board as we take the Gabberdashery venture online- Twinkle has created our gorgeous logo, as well as a really stunning new t-shirt design:

Canvases and prints you can see in these pics will all be on sale tomorrow in the Gabberdashery car at the Art Car Boot Fair, as well as merchandise from a number of other amazing craftspeople; HungaMunga, HerCuriousNature headpieces, Merrimaking animal hoods and much, much more. Tinsel Edwards handpainted this amazing vintage jewelery box especially for us- I'm trying really hard not to buy it myself!If you make something in keeping with the Gabberdashery style- be it jewellery, accessories, artwork, or anything creative- then email me info@gabberdashery.com and we'll see if we can stock your work too. We're all in this together!

I'll be curating a fashion show too, wearing a truly stunning creation by Amelia Mullins. I'll also be wearing it to....drumroll.... the BAFTAs afterparty where we'll be performing Sunday night!!!!SCREAM!!!!!!
Really hope to see you all at the Art Car Boot Fair tomorrow- there'll be so much going on, wonderful stuff to buy and see, and I'll be performing a few songs too. Do come and say hello, and wish me luck for tomorrow night!!!
much love,
Gabster

And all that jazz...

 

Photo by Saul

Good day my pretties!
Last Saturday we played our best gig... yet! The Jazz Cafe was full to the brim of every kind of people all of which sang and swayed along wonderfully to our 1.5 hour set from the album and before. I even played a solo song right in the middle of the set- Button- which is my very appropriate ode to the government!! You could hear a pin drop- it was magical to have the stage all to myself and such a supporting audience... of course when the band joined in it was riotous again!
I won't go on about it but we have had amazing feedback and pictures... here is a sterling review from THE FLY
and the lovely people at EMERGING FERVOUR

We were lucky enough to be able to delve into the rails at bundles at BEYOND RETRO 
as they are kitting out the whole band for the festival season - the boys, and girl looked so chic for this gig- I almost felt under-dressed in my tasseled bodysuit (bargain from EBAY)  and various array of netted skirts, striped tights and Irregular Choice boots. As always, Jen spread her magic across the stage too doing all of our hair and makeup. We really enjoyed doing my 'candyfloss' inspired hairdo and will be posting a 'HOW TO' video guide to my gig styling soon!

Last week I got to be a model for the evening at LadyFest's 'Swallows and Amazons' life drawing class - I chose not to go naked but I did get elaborately dressed up in a theatrical 'pirate' shirt, black breeches, an Amelia Mullins feathered headpiece and my favourite I.C boots!! I was so flattered to be invited to take part in this and loved meetings the artists and seeing their beautiful work!

I even played a few songs for them to draw along too- making sure I stayed as still as possible!!

What else have I been up to?!
Oh yes... VIDEO BLOGGING... here are the first two:





Other than that I have been an extra in REVERE's new music video - spot me and my dog Hobbes! I have also been plotting fashion shows, organising my festival-filled summer and filming my '7 Days of Chic' for Fashionair

I was also in The Guardian last week :o)

 So it's been an exciting time for me - thankyou for all your lovely messages and comments - keep them 'acomin!!

lots and lots of cuddly love to you and you and YOU!!!!

xoxoxoxoxoxox
gabsing

Sketchbook Style

Today I played a one-off intimate performance at the amazing Sketchbook magazine pop-up shop. The shop has been beautifully decorated by some of the artists who've worked on the magazine and great news; whilst today was meant to be the last day of its run, the shop will now be there til mid May! Check their blog for updates on more talks and bands coming up.

 

There wasn't really room to bring all the animals along, so it was just Stephen and me doing an acoustic set

Here's the lovely Cleide from the Sketchbook team interviewing us outside the shop.

In other news, I won the best live photo, and the best hair and shoes categories in the Recharged Radio awards, am really chuffed! I'm also in this month's Company magazine- heres a sneaky peak, but you can buy your own copy and read the whole piece for only £1 !

I'm wearing the first Salon Gabrielle creation and shoes by Irregular choice.To see me in full Salon Gabrielle regalia with all my animals, come along to my next gig at the Jazz Cafe in Camden on 8th May!

Exciting Times!

 

Been super busy- SO much to tell you; I'll start with my performance at the Ivy...

TUESDAY 6TH APRIL
This place is decadent that's for sure... I was very disappointed to not spot ONE single celeb there but the decor impressed me... especially the glass- 'Charlie & The Chocolate Factory' style lift!! Tonight was the first outing of 2 new outfits- one being The Gabby Young trio - which is basically me and 2 'animals' who play trombone and double bass- they were all dressed up in their DJs and looked very smart! The second was the revealing of the second Salon Gabrielle dress- 'The Peacock dress'... It is a beautiful 30's inspired draped corset dress with a VERY long train of peacock feathered design.  Designed and made by Sofia Kalaitzidi, with fabric design by Kundalini Arts, with Robert Burton, I felt like a peacock princess in it and was honoured to stand tall in another of my own collaborated collection; Salon Gabrielle!Jennifer Nash did an amazing job at matching my hair and makeup with the dress- complete with peacock feathers in my hair.

WEDNESDAY 7TH APRIL
Today started with a visit to the Vintage Secret sale where I recieved a present from Naomi - a long green 40s dress and I also acquired 4 vintage hats to add to my evergrowing headwear collection!
Dingwalls was the gig tonight and I decided to rock the UglyLovely headdress with the new dress from Vintage Secret - this gig was mindblowing - we were lucky enough to support the world music LEGEND- Vieux Farka Toure (yes, Ali's son!) and we African danced the night away. I got a lot of people wanting to try on my headdress and even had a group of Japanese girls surrounding me taking pictures too!Here's a little video:

THURSDAY 8TH APRIL
I was up at ridiculous o'clock which could only mean I one thing - I was off to either the airport or Eurostar... it was the latter. My mum, sister and I went off to Paris to stay with my brother (who lives out there with his lovely wife and my 2 adorable nephews- Oliver and Henry) this is Oliver playing my Ukelele- I love these kids!!
It was mainly a baby sitting mission for us all but I did manage a bike ride to the Eiffel Tower from Place D'Italie and back in a MINI SKIRT!! This was a HUGE achievement for me as I haven't ridden a bike in over 5 years and NEVER in a city before - I couldn't help but feel pretty proud of myself (Ah, life's little wonders!)

MONDAY 12TH APRIL
I did a special rare acoustic show at Blacks members club tonight - it was a tiny space but very enjoyable. Stephen and I played a blinder, if I do say so myself and I wore a black vintage dress, Irregular Choice boots and a gorgeous feathered headpiece by my good friend - Amelia Mullins aka Miss Sassy's Spectaculars! I would have worn the Pandora dress tonight but my playing space was a tiny stall and there was no room for it's beautiful train so I had to think on my feet and stay in the dress I arrived in - I haven't gigged in a simple black dress in a while- I definitely prefer dressing up!!

This week has been mainly about packing up my room at my parents house (they are moving to London in less than a month!!), a photoshoot for Art Car Boot Fair- which I will show you soon, AMAZING news about festivals and waiting for Company Magazine to come out to see my feature!!

This weekend I have another special acoustic show at The Sketchbook Pop Up shop and I am so excited to be a part of this - especially on their last day. I am fan of their magazine and an avid follower of their brilliant blog and twitter page so I am honoured to play for them- and you if you come at 3pm on Sunday 18th April!

Something old and something new...

Well, London Fashion Week ended and I thought I'd have time to blog, but it seems to have turned into fashion month for me, and doesn't show any signs of stopping!I've had a chance to see and be part of so many wonderful new creations, as well as some very old, very beautiful ones which I'm going to share with you here.I AM going to do a whole blog post about the Bloomsbury Ballroom gig, but I want to be able to include pictures of all the stalls who took part, so I'm just trying to collect them all together!Here's a sneak peak at the amazing dress I got to wear, Designed and made by Sofia Kalaitzidi, with fabric design by Kundalini Arts, with Rob Burton, plus an amazing headpiece by Sarah Freemantle of UglyLovely- you can read more about my outfit here.
Did you follow my London Fashion Week Diary on Run-Riot?If you missed it you can still catch up here.I had such a great week, learnt a lot about fashion and it's crowd and was pleasantly suprised to make some wonderful friends there.I even got papped a few times- here's one of me trying to take some pics on my iphone for the blog; front row!!!!Loads more pics on Run-Riot, check it out.






I was recently invited to the Hardy Amies exhibition - beautiful, inspiring and a real treat. I definitely learned a lot about vintage couture and it was great to see how he dressed the Queen, Maria Callas (my idol) and even the costumes for 2001 Space Odyssey!Here I am in a vintage suit of my own!



























I've also recently taken part in a shoot for Company magazine!I was a bit worried that they'd play it safe but they were excited to work with me and do the opposite!! I got to wear the Salon Gabrielle dress created for the Bloomsbury Ballroom event. They'd wanted to put me in the sequin bodysuit that Marina (and the diamonds) wears in her 'Hollywood' video but I'm already sick of comparisons so I wasn't going to attempt that one even though it was AMAZING! But our dress is better and looked incredible in the shoot- I was very proud! The stylist and whole team were lovely and let me put my own spin on things- we went with a circus influenced style with a white top hat and pink eyebrows- can't wait for you to see the pics!
The band and I have lots of other successes to share with you; 'we're all in this together' was played at the end of BBC documentary 'Jobless', we've been signed in Australia and lots of exciting new gigs/dresses and of course festival season coming up!Become a fan on facebook to stay tuned to all our news.
I've also been nominated for 'best female' and 'best shoes and hair' by Recharged Radio- please vote for me here! Very appropriate since amazing shoe makers Irregular Choice are now sponsoring me- see more on that here.
Well I think that's all for now; I'm going to try and post more regularly so you don't get hit by essay-length posts like this one!

Love to all my animals!
Gabblette

xxx

London Fashion Week...

FOR THIS WEEK MY BLOGGLINGS ARE NOT ON THIS PAGE BUT INSTEAD I AM AN OFFICIAL BLOGGER OF LFW A/W10 HERE
I'll be back here to debrief after all these exciting goings on...
Mwah! Mwah! Darling!!
:o)
xoxoxoxoxoxoxooxoxox

MISS KIKI SALON PRESENTS...

Well good morning everyone!
I have my usual sympathy hangover (I'm allergic to alcohol!) after a big night but I am deliriously happy as last night was a monumental success! I performed a couple of songs at the after party for Miss Kiki Salon Presents... 'Six Easy Pieces' an exhibition at Reading Room, Frith Street, Soho in the most beautiful venue- St. Barnabas Chapel which is in Quintessentially Soho to a lovely crowd and for the first time to my new 'family' Miss Kiki Salon Presents...

The exhibition itself showcased the work of 6 artist's silk scarves, paintings, photographs, interiors, garments and films all from the collective Miss Kiki Salon Presents... This is very close to my heart as not only was I lucky enough to be a part of it and help set the exhibition up but I have formed strong bonds with many of the artists and all those involved in the project and I am in love with each and every one of them... I am also sure to collaborate with them in the future too!
The private viewing last night was packed- it was so exciting for us all as this was the launch to introduce what we are about and everyone seemed to love it and be very interested in what we were doing, which is essentially bringing together Art, Fashion, Music and Performance in a lovely way- 'We're All In This Together'...

I wore an Osman Yousefzada dress, UglyLovely headpiece by Sahar Freemantle, Irregular Choice shoes and a 'Pandora' Scarf from the collection by the amazing Kundalini Arts:



Anyway I can't do my usual Gabbying on as I have the first of MANY London Fashion Week shows to get ready for but I just wanted to say - I am excited, I'm excited to be a part of this enchanting collective and to all we will do together.
Tomorrow I meet with the team that will ultimately be Salon Gabrielle, my very own clothing label and I am soooooooooooooo EXCITED! There's just no other word for it!
In the mean time... here's some pictures from last night, oh what a night!

The lovely Miss Kiki herself - I LOVE this lady with all my heart!




Oh and PS. I will be blogging daily on LFW's goings on - what I'm wearing and more importantly what the models on the catwalks are wearing! Watch this space!

Excitingles (my new favourite word = Exciting tingles!)
xoxoxooxoxoxox
Gabscout