Fashion Friday

It’s Fashion Friday! We’re so proud to be home to an amazing selection of independent fashion sellers, and we’re celebrating them today. We’re offering 10% off all fashion items until midnight on Sunday. Simply enter STYLE1 at the payment page to redeem the discount.

Shop the fashion department here.

Clockwise from top left -

Gold Metallic V Neck Wrap Dress by China Doll Boutique

Asymmetric Hem Floaty Skirt by China Doll Boutique

Alexia Lace Dress by Rise Boutique

Zip Front Dress by Jolie Moi

Bee Striped Knit Dress by Kiki’s

Posted by jenniferbaldwin on 27 January 2012
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staff picks: Sarah loves Karin Akesson's bird print

Sarah Wilson is our Head of Brand. She is charge of making sure our customers know what we’re about, and that everything we do fits with the notonthehighstreet.com vision. Her favourite item on the site is Karin Akesson’s bird print.

She says: “I seem to have become a serial wedding attender over the past few month, with lots of close friends going down the aisle. I bought this print as a gift for one of my friends who was getting married, and gave it to her on the morning of her wedding. The phrase ‘Today Something Wonderful Will Happen’ holds such a strong sentiment for someone on their big day, and it also served as a perfect yet unusual ‘something blue’ gift. The bride subsequently had it framed and it now hangs on a wall in her home as a reminder of her special day’.

Posted by jenniferbaldwin on 27 January 2012
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have you seen our Valentine's Day campaign?

We believe the best Valentine’s Day gifts are often the ones which capture something unique and special about a relationship. Chocolates and flowers are always nice to receive, but gifts that are personal mean so much more. Whether you want to remember the place where you first met, smile at the little jokes that you share together or simply remind them whose side of the bed is whose, make sure you celebrate the moments you’ve shared together.

This Valentine’s Day create a gift that shows someone how much they mean to you by saying it your way. See the collection here

Posted by jenniferbaldwin on 24 January 2012
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an interview with Alice Tait

We caught up with one of our sellers, acclaimed British illustrator Alice Tait, to discuss Roger the Dachshund, Portobello Road and commissions for Vogue magazine.

Alice in her studio with Roger the Dachshund

What is your background?

After graduating from Bath Spa University about ten years ago, I got my first big break doing a book cover for Penguin, and then a series of illustrations for The Times. I spent my first few years running around London with my portfolio by day and working in a busy restaurant by night. Gradually the illustration took over and I found myself drawing full time. I had a good studio space at Great Western Studios, near Ladbroke Grove, where I was surrounded by artists, dogs and mayhem as inspiration, and my career really took shape from then on.

What inspired you to start The Alice Tait Shop?

Around this time I was living the Notting Hill dream, walking along Portobello Road to my studio every morning, and I decided to create a print range I could sell to the locals and visitors. One of these designs was my ‘Map of London’, which was really popular and has led me to create lots more maps. My work was receiving more and more publicity, and increasingly I was getting emails from people who had spotted them and wanted to buy prints, which led me to finally set up The Alice Tait Shop.

What are your inspirations for your prints?

My first print designs were inspired by my Portobello walk into work – hence the popular ‘Alice and Chloe’ and ‘Antiques Shop’ prints. But now I simply enjoy drawing the world directly around me: anything from the different coloured ink pots on my desk to the faces of strangers in the street. My dachshund, Roger, is a constant companion and I’ve put him in nearly all of my pictures, so look out for him too! At the moment I am doing a drawing every day for a year.

Two of Alice’s prints, inspired by Portobello Road

What is your favourite print from you range?

Ooh, that’s a toughie – I love them for different reasons! If I had to choose then probably the ‘Homing Pigeons’; I am always sketching pigeons, and I noticed that much like people, pigeons tend to look like the town they come from. So this print has a posh pigeon from Henley and a not-so-posh one from Ramsgate.

What are your most exciting commission to date?

I was commissioned to produce an illustrated world map for Vogue for their recent December issue, which was great fun to do as I had lots of exotic locations to put on the drawing. Also look out for the new James Corden’s autobiography which has just been released, as I did the handwriting on the cover. And I was thrilled to design the wallpaper for the new Waitrose Cafés, any excuse to draw cakes all day…

Alice’s commissioned illustration for the December 2011 issue of Vogue magazine

See Alice’s full range of prints here.

Posted by jenniferbaldwin on 23 January 2012
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a notonthehighstreet.com Winter Wonderland

In December, we celebrated the festive season by coming together for the annual notonthehighstreet.com Christmas party, and we had some help from a few of our wonderful sellers to make sure we celebrated in style. Our wintry invitations were created by Pogofandango’s Gill and Emma. They transformed a simple snowflake design into a festive masterpiece, perfect for decorating our desks prior to the big night. In celebration of all things handmade, we also chose an assortment of handmade stamps from Billet Doux to complete the design.

The party was held at The Botanist in Kew, a short trip from our offices in Richmond. We made our way to the venue in our very own double-decker Routemaster, courtesy of Travel With Hunny .

With Rowen and Wren’s delightful glass-lined birch votives and a scatter of fairy lights strewn around the room, we were welcomed into a real winter wonderland. Each table was styled with gold table numbers by Ali’s House of String, and table runners lined with hearts and stripes Christmas ribbon by Seahorse. By Katie Sue provided beautiful name tags that were individually tied to delicious candy canes – a great idea for easy place name holders for a winter party or wedding.

A big thank you to all the partners who helped make our night so special!

Posted by jenniferbaldwin on 20 January 2012
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the ultimate compliment

Ronnie Corbett (CBE) was given a special Christmas treat from one of our sellers, Layer Eight, this year. His grandchildren arrived on Christmas Day wearing matching ‘Two Ronnies Glasses’ t-shirts in honour of the famous comedian and his partner Ronnie Barker. Ronnie’s daughters Sophie and Emma are both notonthehighstreet.com fans, and bought the t-shirts featuring the duo’s iconic glasses for all his grandchildren to surprise their grandad.

Jim & Vicki Lockwood, founders of Layer Eight said “This is the ultimate compliment for us, and to have been part of the Corbett’s Christmas Day is amazing. We – like most of the nation – love Ronnie to bits and for us to help make him smile is somehow poetic after all the laughs he has given us over the years!”

Posted by jenniferbaldwin on 18 January 2012
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Six sweet years

Today is our birthday! On this day six years ago, our lovely founders Holly and Sophie officially opened the very first notonthehighstreet.com offices. We’ve changed so much since then and can’t believe how time has flown, but we’re so excited to see what the next six years will bring.

Every year Holly’s mum, (and dedicated notonthehighstreet.com ambassador) Sally, spoils us with birthday treats – despite there being 20 times as many of us now as there were in the early days. On our first birthday, she tied number one-shaped balloons to the chairs of the four members of staff. This year we were given delicious shortbread biscuits in the shape of a number six, made by the wonderful Shortbread Gift Company. Our new year’s diet may be out the window, but it was certainly worth it. Thank you Sally for always making us feel so special!

Posted by jenniferbaldwin on 04 January 2012
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Elfing about...

This year we wanted to visit some of the many small creative businesses that make up notonthehighstreet.com in a bid to learn more about them and lend a hand during their busiest time of the year. We were keen to see first-hand what it takes to get an order made, processed and dispatched. The businesses who sell with us don’t necessarily have a large infrastructure to support them so we became Christmas elves for the day. Here are some of the people we visited…

Lucy Phillps visited Jo Jenner from 3 Blonde Bears in Sussex. In one day, Lucy helped pack over 150 orders (and ate amazing homemade soup!).

She also visited husband and wife team Vicki Smith, founder of sgt.smith and Jim Lockwood, founder of layereight. Lucy spent the day folding orders for Humorous Iconic T Shirts and Personalised Dinosaur T Shirts, packing them up for delivery and drinking copious amounts of tea in between. ‘It’s not that I didn’t appreciate the work that went in to it, but I didn’t fully realise the attention to detail required for each order and the sheer volume of orders they deal with each day with such a small team.’

Lucy Wood spent the day working for Hersey & Son Silversmiths. They produce high-quality sterling silver tableware, gifts and jewellery, using traditional silver spinning techniques. The skills required take around five years to perfect – so sadly she wasn’t able to help with the actual making of any items but packaged up the orders and watched intently as they skilfully spun the silver and hammered, engraved and polished each item with complete dedication.

Our production manager Jenny went out to visit the very talented Designer-Maker Laura Long. She works from Cockpit Arts Studio – a shared studio space in Holborn – that supports several of our sellers. Jenny was trusted to have a go at some stitch work and spent the day sewing tiny felt carrots contained within Laura’s Personalised Bunny in a Box. You can see Jenny’s handiwork above. Not bad!

Jo visited Gina Axell, founder of rosiebull designs. When Jo arrived, Gina and her daughter (who works there on her days off) were already busy at the sewing machines, fulfilling order after order for the Personalised Glasses Case. Jo helped cut out the glasses pattern and sewed buttons on to each case. ‘There are so many stages involved in making the cases and it’s so labour intensive, but it was really fun and we had a good laugh.’

Anna visited Noollibird who makes gorgeous stamps (that we’ve been decorating our gifts and cards with in the office) and works from her kitchen table in Brighton. She makes all the stamps herself and mounts them on wooden blocks which are cut for her in the UK (and then stored in her study). Anna packed and dispatched some orders during her visit and was even let loose to assemble a few stamps.

Liana paid a visit to Designer-Maker Sarah J Miller whose slogan ceramics and textiles are much loved… (the ‘I Am Not Awake’ Mug is a Monday morning staple). Founder Sarah works in a shared studio space and Liana was put in charge of the packaging and the printing of dispatch notes and gift notes, which gave Sarah some much-needed time to make some of her ceramics. Liana said of her day, ‘It was really, really fascinating, if not a little exhausting. It’s also really made me appreciate how much hard work our sellers put into getting Christmas orders out.’

Harriet visited Sally Beerworth who runs the Joy of Ex Foundation; set up to assist people with their legal and counselling bills following a divorce. ’This is the shot I took after a hard day’s work. There were so many orders for her Joy Tote Bag, I was like a real elf and lugged post bags on my back to the post office – but I had an amazing day!’

Posted by jenniferbaldwin on 19 December 2011

Awards success

We are thrilled and excited to announce that notonthehighstreet.com has been listed in both The Sunday Times Virgin Fast Track 100 and Deloitte’s UK Technology Fast 50. The Sunday Times Virgin Fast Track 100 champions the UK’s top-performing private companies and entrepreneurs, and is based on financial performance. Deloitte’s UK Technology Fast 50 and Fast 500 EMEA recognise companies that have achieved the fastest rates of revenue growth in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa (EMEA) during the past five years. To win both is testament to the company’s ever-growing strength.

Our Co-founders Holly Tucker and Sophie Cornish (pictured above) launched notonthehighstreet.com in 2006 with a vision to provide an original and innovative selling platform for small creative businesses. We now support over 2,000 enterprises, 96% of which are run by women. Female ‘kitchen table’ entrepreneurs selling through the site are seeing increases in sales of up to 280% per year, despite the recession.

Holly Tucker says “It’s very rewarding for our community to be recognised by both awards for our fast growth and success even in this current retail climate. We are proud to be supporting such successful small businesses and to be part of such a notable contribution to the UK economy, especially during an economic crisis. We feel passionately that with so many women setting up thriving businesses it’s essential that the government continues to provide incentives such as tax reliefs and investment.

Sophie and I know the barriers that women can face in the world of business and with small businesses contributing billions of pounds annually; it’s time to start reducing the barriers for home entrepreneurs to help drive the economy. Awards such as these are essential in building business profiles and acknowledging the contribution small and medium enterprises are making.”

With exciting plans in place for 2012, notonthehighstreet.com is building an army of budding entrepreneurs that will play an essential role in reinforcing the UK’s economy.

Posted by jenniferbaldwin on 06 December 2011

key trends for Christmas: Wonderfully White

This week we’ll be bringing you our three key trends for a perfectly styled Christmas, starting with Wonderfully White. For a contemporary twist on traditional Christmas style, choose winter white and shimmering silver tones to decorate your home this year. Find a stylish centerpiece for your table or mantlepiece, and use twinkling lights and candles to add warmth to the room.

From top to bottom:

1.Turtle Dove by Carol Ridler Hand Crafted Wood
2.Sola Dahlia Heart by Yatris Home and Gift
3.Clear Daisy Light Garland by Lilac Coast
4.Moroccan Bowl Candle by Lower Lodge Candles
5.Ceramic Bird Decoration by Sage, inspired by Life
6.Four Name Place Holders by Lily and Lime
7.‘Noel’ Ceramic Christmas Decorations by The Gift Studio
8.Wooden Lace Star Garland by Little Pieces
9.Sparkling Tea Light Holders by Nkuku
10.Vintage Amish Tin Barn Star by Retrophenia
11.Pick And Mix String Lights by Cable and Cotton

Posted by jenniferbaldwin on 05 December 2011

from Silicon-on-Thames to Silicon Roundabout

Last month the notonthehighstreet.com technical team made the trip from our offices in Richmond across the water to attend one of the newest and most successful recruitment events of the year – Silicon Milkroundabout. Located in East London, the fair plays on the ‘silicon roundabout’ term which was coined to describe the area around Old Street roundabout where many tech companies are based.

Silicon Milkroundabout is a recruitment fair with a bit of a difference – all the companies looking for candidates are start-ups and graduates attending get the chance to hear about opportunities within these companies rather than just going down the traditional route of applying for a graduate scheme with a bank or consultancy.

We had a fantastic day – our competition offering free beer for a year went down well and we met some fantastic candidates, some of whom are about to join the team! Here’s a photo of our lovely stand (the tech team were too shy to stand in the photo and show off their matching notonthehighstreet.com T-shirts)

Silicon Milkroundabout was great for us as we’re one of the fastest growing companies in the UK and we’re always looking for new talent to join our team As a notonthehighstreet.com developer you’ll help hundreds of small UK businesses realise their dream of taking a creative idea from the kitchen table to the world. We’re a company that moves fast and are keen to continue to do so, constantly learning along the way. If you’re talented, dedicated and passionate about creating perfect code to talk to us about joining notonthehighstreet.com email careers@notonthehighstreet.com.

Even if you’re not ready for a career change just yet or you’re still at university you can hear about any vacancies and get to know our team via our tech recruitment community – JOIN HERE http://bit.ly/uBSFF5

About tech@notonthehighstreet.com

• Work on both internal applications and an award-winning consumer website that is used daily by thousands of people

• Work on a large Ruby on Rails application and discover the limits of the framework, and improve upon it

• Since launching in 2006, notonthehighstreet.com has doubled in size every year: our customers love us, and we’re constantly expanding and growing to meet their needs

• Be part of a very social team, with pub lunches every Friday and regular drinks down by the river

• Our supportive environment encourages you to learn and experiment

• Join a team that values good software engineering – spirited debate is always welcome

Posted by jenniferbaldwin on 02 December 2011

Jingle Belles

The festive season is almost upon us, and whatever it may bring we know that for the girls, it will definitely mean one thing – you need something special to wear to this year’s Christmas parties! Fear not – we’ve pulled together our ultimate collection of Christmas party dresses.

Little Black Dresses

Carve a sleek silhouette in a timeless classic

Top row, l-r; Pleated Party Dress, Kiki’s, £85; Squabri Chiffon Dress, TheRemedi, £155; 2nd row, l-r; Scarlett Grecian Dress, Rise, £45; Ruby Dress Silk & Sawdust, £149; 3rd row, l-r; Selena Ruffle Dress, Rise, £35; Eloise Silk Dress, Eucalyptus, £105; 4th row, l-r; Evie Flapper Dress, Rise Boutique, £60; Gypsy Dress, Nina Bon Bina, £165 Bottom row, l-r; Marnie Dress, Eucalyptus, £80; Origami Pleat Dress, Nina Bon Bina, £120;

Heavy Metal

Metallic tones, plenty of sequins and embellishment will keep you sparkling

Top row, l-r; Sugar Sequined Dress (also in silver), Rise, £45; Crystal Alice Dress, TheRemedi, £177; 2nd row, l-r; Ria Smock Dress, Nina Bon Bina, £165; Pebble Dress, Kiki’s, £35; 3rd row, l-r; Skyla Beaded Dress (also in berry), Rise, £65; Trisi Tule and Leather Dress, TheRemedi, £189; 4th row, l-r; Opal Dress, Rise Boutique, £60; Rosalie Dress, Rise Boutique, £60; Bottom row, l-r; Eva Evanovich Dress, Amaka, £159; Embellished Paisley Shift Dress, Nina Bon Bina, £175;

Go For Bold

Embrace this season’s jewel tones trend and step out in a rich, vibrant hue

Top row, l-r; Nicole Dress, Nina Bon Bina, £175; Pippa Dress, Rise, £60; 2nd row, l-r; Asha Dress, Beulah London, £308; Paloma Dress, Eucalyptus, £80; 3rd row, l-r; Connie Dress, Silk & Sawdust, £125; Margo Dress, Rise, £35; Bottom row, l-r; Scarlett Grecian Dress, Rise, £45; Seraphina Dress, Beulah London, £421;

Ladylike Chic

‘Tis the season to be pretty – lace and ruffles are perfect for a feminine party look

Top row, l-r; Clara Lace Dress, Silk & Sawdust, £145; Norma ruffled Dress, Instant Vintage, £55; Eloise Ruffle Dress, Rise Boutique, £30; Bottom row, l-r; Ellen Lace Dress, Silk & Sawdust, £145; Alexia Lace Dress, Rise Boutique, £28; Roxanna Bustier Dress, Kiki’s, £69;

Prints Charming

Party-time patterns and graphic prints will add something special to a simply shaped dress

Top row, l-r; Aztec Geometric Print Dress, Kiki’s, £69; Mayfair Dress, Lagom, £125; Bottom row, l-r; Minnie Dress, Silk & Sawdust, £119; Alexia Print Dress, Rise Boutique, £40;

Posted by emmahoness on 24 November 2011

All year tan - sunshine optional

Pick a leather bag in rich tan for a timeless style staple throughout the seasons (even when they are so unpredictable!). Tan leather can add an edge to an outfit whatever it may be – sharpen a chic black dress with a tan clutch, compliment daytime denim with a classic tote, smarten up your travelling act with a large holdall, or even use tan to neutralise this season’s bright shades.

Our favourites:

(Above)Top Row, L-R; ‘Amanda’ Italian Handbag, Classic Italian, £245; ‘Monmouth’ Shopper, Rachel Orme, £140; Handmade Italian Leather Tote, CocoonU, £175; Second Row, L-R; ‘Mimi’ Tan Leather Clutch, Peony & Moore, £89; Leather Tote Bag, BODIE and FOU, £250; Waxed Leather Skirt Bag, Coco Barclay, £150; Bottom Row, L-R; Tan Leather Shoulder Biker, Madison Belts, £119; Handcrafted Midi Leather Satchel, Freeload Accessories, £175; ‘Riana’ Kelly Style Leather, Maxwell Scott Leather Goods, £270.99;

Don’t Forget the Boys…

Clockwise from top left; Handcrafted Leather Satchel, £175; and Mini Messenger Bag, £110; Both Freeload Accessories; Handcrafted Leather Messenger, The Fairground, £85 (20% OFF); Handcrafted Messenger, Freeload Accessories, £149; Handcrafted Leather Messenger‘Small Santino Mens’ Clutch, £149.99; ‘Paolo’ Mens’ Briefcase, £269.99; and ‘Jesolo’ Leather Satchel, £249.99; All Maxwell Scott Leather Goods

Best for Trips…

Left-right; Leather Holdall, Eureka Australia, £159.95; ‘The London Weekender’, Rose & Grey, £225; ‘Flero’ Italian Leather Holdall, £389.99, Maxwell Leather Goods.

Posted by emmahoness on 21 November 2011

Movembering

Being a man working at notonthehighstreet.com, you don’t get many chances to be manly. The occasional bit of heavy lifting, snatched conversations about the weekend’s football results and that’s about it.

When we realised Movember was rolling around, it dawned on some of us that it was the perfect opportunity to bring a bit of manliness to the office in the form of unshaven upper lips. What’s more, we could help our fellow men too. Movember is all about promoting awareness of prostate and testicular cancer, and raising some funds to help fight them too. These diseases affect so many men and we wanted to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with other blokes, gents, chaps, dudes, lads and hombres, and help to take the fight to these horrible conditions.

So far, through family, friends and of course our wonderful colleagues, our team of mo-growers have raised around £600 at the time of writing this post. And just in case there’s anyone else out there who’d like to help us out, you can sponsor us by visiting our official Movember page.

Of course we were all hoping we’d end up looking like Tom Selleck, Hulk Hogan or (at worst) Super Mario, but it’s still early days really. On a personal note, I really miss my beard (which I shaved off as per the Movember rules) – it’s really cold without it!

Posted by johnashton on 18 November 2011

One skirt, three ways

Every wardrobe needs versatile pieces, and we think this ‘Lucy’ Ballet skirt by Kiki’s fits the bill perfectly. Here we show just three of the ways you could wear it – from chic office wear, to weekend casual, or strong evening glamour. This is a piece to wear all year round…

‘Lucy’ Ballet Skirt, (shown throughout) Kiki’s, £35; ‘Bows aplenty’ Blouse, Nina Bon Bina, £65; ‘Addison’ Belt, Miller and Jeeves £42; Suede Courts, Mandarina Shoes, £110; ‘Sophie’ Lunch Bag, Clippy, £24.50; ‘Rosendahl’ Rose Gold Watch, ella georgia, £185; ‘Classic Ring No.5’ring, £95, and ‘Contemporary Classics’ cube earrings, £75, both Bronagh Kennedy. All items; notonthehighstreet.com

Skirt, as before; Alpaca fur tippet, Samantha Holmes, £199; ‘Royal Alpaca’ round neck sweater, Babi Alpaca, £70; Leather bow belt, Ageeta, £42; ‘Barella’ leather birkin bag, Maxwell Scott Leather Goods, £325.99; ‘Saidia’ embellished multi strap sandals, Love Art Wear Art, £215; Gold coin bracelet, Lily & Joan, £18; Gold star coin earrings, Lindsay Pearson, £396;

‘Betsy’ blouse, Silk & Sawdust, £65; Ottoman gold droplet necklace, Lemonlu london, £295; Square foldover clutch bag, Red Ruby Rouge, £129; Suede sling back shoes, Mandarini Shoes, £110; Hand hammered brass cuff, Ethical Trading Company, £20; Gold ‘Inlay’ cuff, Tuli Storm, £40; ‘Padparadscha gold filled crochet’ ring, Wrapped design, £85

Posted by emmahoness on 17 November 2011