PUG UK Meet and Greet 2012 December 9th 2012

Viviene of Holloway

It all depends where you are coming from, all I will say is I am leaving VERY early. Trains etc will still be busy, it’s a weekend and near Christmas so you’ll be surprised how busy public transport and shops will be even though it’s a Sunday!

Most people will be arriving through Holloway Road Tube Station. Make sure you use the lift provided to come out of the station. I took the stairs, There is about 62…in heals and dresses etc… not something you will want to do! I made that mistake for you all to learn from! You don’t want to be tired, sore feet and hot and bothered before the day has started!

When you come out of the station you need to go left up the road however I recommend going right as you come out of the station to the road crossing, cross over the road then go left…back on yourself and keep heading straight up the road. It’s a very big road so you will need to use the crossing. I went left out of the station, keep going 5-10 minutes up the road, past the Sainsbury’s etc and I saw the shop on the other side of the road. To cross however I had to go another few minutes up the road and then come back on myself, didn’t realise there is a crossing just right of the station I could have used instead! Thought I’d share so you can again learn from my mistake! After all that was the point in the trial run!

We are meeting outside the store just before 10AM. Basically when those doors open we will say hello to the staff, crack open some bubbly and say cheers and get cracking! As it’s my birthday on the Wednesday and this is what /I am doing to celebrate drinks are the theme of the day and I think we should start early! I recommend you take a look on their website, get familiar with styles etc. If there is something you would like to try on you could always call the store beforehand and get it put by or tell me and I’ll do it for you. I say this as we have an hour before opening. I went in fairly early on a Sunday and it was very busy, near Christmas no doubt so much more! We have to make the most of the time we have before the staff have to give their attentions to other shoppers. There are only 3 dressing rooms too so we may have to share. If you know what you are going for though it will make things much easier! The staff will measure you so you know what size to go for and can provide petticoats and accessories so you can get a feel for how the whole outfit can be! I tried on a few different styles and they do look fab, great quality, so different too. Loads of colours and styles to choose from. The staff dress to impress, they really own the PUG style, let’s make sure they don’t out do our outfits and we look every inch the part! Make the most of your discount too! If you want something, make sure it fits and your happy, then get your plastic out! Remember to take your camera too! Lots of photo opportunity when we all meet outside, inside opening the champers, trying on the outfits, group photos, photos with staff! Make the most of it! We need to capture great shots to show all the other PUG fans on the site exactly how it went!

When we all leave and head to the tube station there is a little store called Revival, a vintage store we pass we could always pop into quickly if anyone fancies it. I popped in and saw a lovely bag…was very good though and didn’t buy!

We then need to get the tube, Victoria line (blue) to Kings Cross then change on to the Northern line (black) to Camden Town. This will be our final destination for the day! No more tubes!  So to re-cap the hints and tips for VoH:

 Use the lift at the tube – not the stairs

 Turn right out of the station, use the road crossing, then go left back past the station and about another 5-10 minutes up the road, past Revival store and meet before 10AM at VoH

 Bring the champers and let’s celebrate early

 Do your homework – look online, reserve anything you want to try on

 Share dressing rooms and get a wriggle on – we need to make the most of the help and time we have before the store gets too busy as we can’t hog the dressing rooms forever!

 Use the staff – if you need an opinion, fitting, help getting in and out of clothes

 Use your discount – if you want something now is the time to try on and buy

 Keep snapping – don’t forget to get those photos!

294 Holloway Road, London N7 6NJ Tel: 020 7609 8754 http://www.vivienofholloway.com/

Closest Tube: Holloway Road Piccadilly line Piccadilly Line Buses: 43, 271, 153,29,253 Collectif Old Spitalfields Market

69 Brushfield Street, Old Spitalfield Market, London, E1 6AA

0207 2475 604 http://www.collectif.co.uk/

The Old Spitalfields store is the only store that is able to accommodate our group, so I apologies if there was any confusion with Camden store. They have organized extra staff especially to be available from 12pm so you have the smoothest shopping experience and some dedicated help.

It is very easy to find as it is located in the Old Spitalfields Market, which is marked on maps around the closest tube which is Liverpool Street Station (which is on the Hammersmith and City, Circle, Metropolitan and Central line) and from there, it is an easy 5 minute walk. I have attached a picture of a map to show you how close it is from ‘Bishopsgate’ exit of the station (circled in red!). If you search 69 Brushfield Street, E1 6AA on Google maps, you can look at the roads on ‘street view’ to give you some idea of what to look for. You could also walk up ‘Commercial street’ from Aldgate East Station which is a straight road but slightly longer walk, 5-10mins maybe.

Camden stores often stay open until 5-6pm so I am sure there should not be any trouble getting back to Camden in the afternoon if we get to the store around 12-1pm ish.

Once we arrive at our Old Spitalfields store (if you could give us an idea of when you would like to arrive, we can make sure we are ready!) We will have the following:

1. A dedicated sales assistant to help your group. She will be able to suggest different styles and help with fitting to make your shopping a breeze.

2. 20% off all purchases made on the day, including accessories.

3. Each member of the group will have an exclusive Collectif goodie bag to take home.

4. For your grand best-dressed competition, we would like to offer a £65 Collectif online voucher.

They will also post on their Facebook all about the Pin Up Style website/blog to get the word out to our fans and spread the PUG word!

Collectif have made a real special effort for us. It’s disappointing there will be less people but we have this amazing exclusive experience to make the most of. They will spread the PUG word on facebook etc, share our blog about our day and hopefully hook us up if we want to repeat this experience on another event.

end_of_the_skype_highlightingend_o f_the_skype_highlightingCamden

There are loads of other quirky shops, market stalls etc we can visit. It’s like Aladdin’s cave in Camden for vintage treasures!

Get your cameras out, there are some great sights in Camden, the store outside and in, the clothes, the food stalls, markets, there is a weird shop called Cyberdog that’s worth a look around if you haven’t seen it before! http://www.cyberdog.net/

Just remember to watch your belongings! Without sounding like an old nag… we will be in London, In Camden Markets where it is VERY busy with pick pockets, we will be dressed up looking lovely which is great but may give the impression to pick pockets we are a good target so be sensible, don’t wave phones around, look after your camera, keep your bags zipped up and where you can see them at all times, etc. Just have your wits about you! Dinner and Cocktails

Dinner - Haché

Our dinner stop is at Haché. I went there for dinner with friends. It’s lovely, small and intimate, lovely chandeliers and fairy lights around the places without being too posh or expensive. Good service and great food! It’s also right near the big comic book store for all your geeky girls too! It’s mainly burgers, but they are awesome and HUGE. I went for chicken and it was great! They do have vegetarian options, fish, salads etc so it should cater for everyone. You can view the menus on their website. The side orders are massive so good to share. Must recommend the sweet potato fries! Great drinks – I went for real lemonade and an Oreo cookie Milkshake! 

I have booked us a table Booking is under PUG – also my name for 6.30pm.

24 Inverness Street , Camden Town , London , NW1 7HJ

020 7485 9100 http://www.hacheburgers.com/

Cocktails

Fifty-Five Bar Camden

Again this is another tried and tested place I have been to. Over 200 cocktails to choose from and they are not stingy on the alcohol! Great big cock…tails, well presented, if it’s not on the menu they will still probably be able to do it! It’s a really busy lively place right in the heart of everything. Also its 2-4-1 all Sunday night from 6:00pm which is awesome!

The table is booked under PUG/Leanna for 8 people. I have requested upstairs seating but all depends on other bookings they get. Its 2-4-1 of the same cocktail from 6:00pm. We’ll get our seats, each person order their 2-4-1 and get yourselves 2 drinks lined up, work with a friend if you want so you have 2 different cocktails. This was will save time as you could be sat at the bar 20 minutes just waiting to be served as they do get so busy!

31 Jamestown Road, Camden Town, London, NW1 7DB

0207 424 9054 http://fiftyfivebar.co.uk/ Itinerary

Time Location Info Address Website Early bird Meet at Vivienne of catches the…… 294 Holloway Road, http://www.vivien 9.45 Holloway very pretty London N7 6NJ ofholloway.com/ dress! :) 10.0 Store Exclusive

0 Opening 11.0 VoH Shopping 0 12.0 VoH Shopping 0 Liverpool Street Station Travel from Bishops Gate exit Holloway to Collectif Underground 1.00 Hammersmith and City, Old Spitalfields fun times! Circle, Metropolitan and Market Central line

Collectif Store http://www.collect 2.00 More Shopping! Shopping if.co.uk/

Travel to Camden 3.00 for the markets

Table booked 24 Inverness Street , http://www.hache 6.30 Dinner at Hache under Camden Town , London , burgers.com/index. 'PUG/Leanna' NW1 7HJ php Table booked under 'PUG/Leanna'. Cocktails at Fifty Kicking off at 31 Jamestown road http://fiftyfivebar.c 8.30 Five Bar 6pm and NW1 7DB o.uk/ offering 2-4-1 all night long on all 200 cocktails.