I thought I'd tell you
about a small shop that I sometimes buy from in Worcester UK.
Acanthus is owned by Anna Boldry, a local independent clothing retailer
in Worcester UK. I visited Anna in October 2005 to see some of her
stock. My aim was to review typical items on sale at an
independent UK boutique style shop with Christmas and New Year in mind. Location below.
.
Velvet from Avoca Anthology at Acanthus
This wonderful red velvet coat by Avoca Anthology is made of
ribbon embellished fabric. The material is covered
in decorative arrangements of circular ribbon sunburst whorls and is priced
at £337.
It is such a special coat and Anna had just 2 in stock at the time of my
visit including one size 16.
Beautifully lined, the top fabric is 100% viscose velvet so
has wonderful drape. The intensity of red colour is enhanced by the
way viscose, a cellulose fibre absorbs dye readily giving the fabric a lush
depth of rich colour. The ribbon decorated sunburst whorls in tones of
the cerise through
red orange spectrum add interest and liveliness making a captivating coat.
Avoca Anthology
is a unique label from Dublin and made in County Wicklow, Ireland. First
image courtesy of Avoca Anthology.
÷
Red Velvet Avoca
Anthology Coat
The wonderful red
velvet Avoca Anthology coat above was hanging at the back of the shop and it
caught my eye as I opened the shop door. It is without doubt a real
showstopper and I have regretted ever since my visit not trying it on, but I
had bought a subtle gold jacquard brocade coat the week before, so had to resist
and control myself.
Refraining was
even more important as I was also taking photographs and making notes so had
to rein myself in from getting too distracted! I think you will agree
it is gorgeous. I have no idea where I would wear it, but I know I would
like to own it just to hang it outside of my wardrobe and look at it like a
piece of art! But yes I do know and you know that it would be perfect
for some event at Xmas. (You can see some more images of an Anthology
crushed velvet coat from
Acanthus on the next page.)
Brocade at Acanthus
If
tweed was
the fabric of the past few years and
velvet is the current love of fashionistas, then brocade is the next big
fashion fabric. Anna is always ahead of the pack and has clothes to
suit a wide range of events from special occasions to casual laid back easy
living day wear that is just that little bit different. You can be
sure you won't see dozens of others wearing any outfit you buy there.
The Noa Noa
brocade skirts below are lovely. On the far left the golden amber brocade
skirt is by Noa Noa at £70. Under it is a net tulle petticoat in gold at £20
giving such a pretty effect and very much the current look of volume.
It has been teamed with a 100% pure wool ballet pink jacket with
velvet ribbon trim and false under sleeves at £100.
Brocade from Noa
Noa at Acanthus
In the centre
picture is a jacket made up in a variation of a similar brocade woven now in gold
and teal blue a hot colour combination for this season. Finally on the
right is a Noa Noa pleated viscose and silk small pattern brocade skirt in
the peach colourway at £80. These have been styled in the currently
popular way of wearing such clothes as layered looks. The same skirt is shown below in the teal colourway.
»
Anna has a good range of limited different stock and is an
expert in her field. When you discuss an item with her she knows every
other piece of stock in her shop that was selected by her. She is
always able to locate the perfect finishing touch item to complement to it.
Noa Noa Brocade Items at Acanthus
The teal brocade pleated skirt by Noa Noa at £80 in these
pictures is a different colour way to the one above. The skirt looked
delightful teamed with any number of jackets especially them the Noa Noa
£100 gold and teal brocade jacket shown above. The shawl
collar Noa Noa teal blue velvet jacket right was trimmed with matching teal
brocade and a Miu Miu style waist ribbon. At £80 this velvet jacket is a very
individual looking piece.
As I browsed the rails
the thought 'Yes lots of these pieces are great for a special item for Xmas'
buzzed through my head. Anna really loves her stock and
has some unusual and well crafted items that say exclusive boutique to
me.
You can see some more images of items from or recently from
Acanthus on the next page.
The Acanthus clothes shop is very easy to find and is in a busy
prime city-centre location with an outdoor car park nearby in the Cornmarket
area of Worcester. This is the same area that hosts the
Worcester Christmas Fayre. The location is just around
the corner from Reindeer Court which itself leads to the Shambles back
entrance of Marks and Spencers. The shop is also about 300 yards from
Worcester Foregate Street Rail station. Use
www.multimap.com/ with the
United Kingdom postcode WR1 2DJ to see the location.
You can see some more images of items from or recently from
Acanthus on the next page.
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