and
SUMMER SALESummer Sale in Abergavenny | Shop On-Line
CONTENTS
You Can Now Buy On-line
Georgina's Button Jewellery
Lauren Bacall's Latest Film
We are in Harrods
Our Collection in Harrods
Abergavenny Studios open all Year
and
Tours, Demonstrations and Exhibitions
Mailing
list
If
you know of anyone who would be interested to know about our activities
then please get in touch. Please help us to keep up to date by correcting
any errors in your details
.
Summer Sale in Sunny Abergavenny
throughout May
It is almost a year since we held our last sale in Abergavenny. With such a late start to the Spring we have decided to have a major sale in order to combat the winter blues. Like garden centres giving discounts because the weather has not inspired shopping expeditions, the Lesters thought that they too would conjure up some exciting examples of their work and reduce them drastically enough to tempt the most hardened of shoppers. There are many outfits that would grace the most elegant of weddings, rare pieces that deserve to be cruise companions, or just a fun top that is not to be resisted or that might go perfectly with an outfit bought previously Ð prices to suite every pocket from scarves at £10 each to complete outfits with a discount of up to 80%. We are starting this sale now and if you cannot come to Wales we can email pictures of styles in which you express an interest. We are only two to three hours from London by road or rail. The journey can easily be done in a day, it is a great place to visit and there are several fine restaurants nearby, or make a holiday of it and stay a while.
Opening Times
for the Abergavenny Studios
Monday to Friday
10.00am to 4.30pm
10am to 4pm
Lester creations in film
These Foolish Things
This film, for which Charles and Patricia made clothes for Lauren Bacall had its premier in London on 10th March. The Duchess of Cornwall was the guest of honour at the charity event.
The Ten Commandments
The Lesters were asked to make clothes for this Hallmark epic, filmed in Morocco. Working with costume designer, Ann Hollowood, they turned the studios upside down to find something suitable with 14 hours notice to get something to Morocco. The clothes were designed to fit in with the 13th Century BC Egypt story Ð Padma Laksmi and Claire Bloom were miraculously adorned in the unique pleated dresses and diaphanous wraps. These simple dresses have a timeless quality that suited the film Wings of the Dove set in the early years of the 20th century as well as far back as 13th Century BC Egypt.
This mini-series epic has just had its first television screening in the United States. When searching the Internet we found that some of the costumes were being auctioned on e-bay for a charity. We bought two costumes, one piece worn by Jethro (played by Omar Sharif) the other - Moses (played by Dougray Scott). These will add an interesting dimension to our museum when we eventually get it organised.
RADICAL CHANGES
London
Our shop - At the end of last year we reluctantly closed the shop in Beauchamp Place, happily for us, people have been coming to see us in Wales and they marvel at the ease of the journey, the lack of complication with parking (we have our own car-park) and the excitement of seeing the studios where it all goes on.
Harrods - Although we cater for every shape and size, we do have a good collection suitable for the more voluptuous ladies. We still have a presence in London, in the 'Plus Department' in Harrods, where there is a large selection. A new shipment has just been delivered and as they sell rapidly it is worth taking a look, if you are in London, before they all disappear again.
Shops in Russia
A recent adventure - buyers came from Russia to order clothes for a new luxury department for their shops in Moscow and St. Petersburg. Again specialising in plus sizes - the name of the shop Tri Tolstiaka - translates as: Three Fat Men!! The name has been taken from a famous Russian book - I wonder if British people would go to a shop with that name?
Contact Details
Charles and Patricia Lester
The Workhouse Studios,
Union Road,
Abergavenny, Monmouthshire.
NP7 7RL
Tel: 01873 853559
Fax: 01873 858666
Harrods,
Plus Collections, Knightsbridge, London. 0207 734 1234 Our Collection in Harrods
www.charles-patricia-lester.co.uk
contact@charles-patricia-lester.co.uk
Mailing
list
If you
know of anyone who would be interested to know about our activities then
please get in touch. Please help us to keep up to date by correcting any
errors in your details.
You can visit our studios on any weekday but we also accept small groups by appointment. These group trips are more extensive as we talk about how we started, our work and what inspires us, coupled with demonstrations of printing etc. If you would like to organise a group yourself or take part in one of the locally organised tours please ask. Included in these guide tours are trips to Alison Tod the award winning milliner and G. J. Kilbride's silk weaving workshop. He recently produced the vestments worn by Dr Rowan Williams for his enthronment as the Archbishop of Canterbury.
Wales Studio Transformed.
The working studio has been transformed into a more
permanent exhibition and showroom space and is open Monday to Friday throughout
the year should you wish to see the collection. Many of you enjoy the
opportunity of coming to the Workhouse studios, on a regular basis, to
see what gems and jewels you may be able to discover. Anything from scraps
for patchwork, a wisp of a scarf, to a complete ensemble.
As an added incentive we always have a sample rail available
Textile displays
We have a huge collection of textiles, both examples of our own work and rare antique pieces, or work by other artists. We would like to open a proper Museum of Art and Textiles, so we are taking the first steps by displaying a variety of things from our own collection in order to establish that people would find it interesting enough to visit themselves, attend the informal talks and recommend or bring friends to see a great variety or textile art, stained glass art, paintings and antique textiles.
Our collection of textiles has been a lifetime passion, and except for the pieces that hang on our own walls, most are hidden away in cupboards and drawers throughout our house and the studios. There is too much for one exhibition, so our intention is to show different collections throughout the year. Anything from our large collection of Egyptian collage pieces, to antique lace, jewellery paintings, stained glass and the very large tapestries made from our pleated silks. Added to this, the clothes and set pieces that are part of our film and opera work.
Not everthing can be in our special offer section so please ask if there is something specific that you are looking for and we will see what we can find.
Having been bombarded with techno speak from web nerds in every corner we feel really clever now that we have begun to expand and develop our on-line shopping facility. We are putting a huge emphasis on our Internet shop – we can’t ignore the exciting explosion of Internet activity and are happy to jump on this cyber bandwagon. The great thing about this is the accumulation of a huge variety of customers and friends from around the world. The community of Lester fans and customers is ever expanding. For this reason there is likely to be considerably more activity. We are also looking at the possibility of selling on on-line auctions for selling off bits and pieces. We feel that as we gain confidence in this we will be able to sell the especially unique collectable pieces too.
The on-line shop is allowing us to show pieces that can be ordered from a selection of styles and colours and there will also be a ‘virtual’ sample rail where you might find the perfect outfit for a special occasion at a dramatically reduced price. Anything from a sample scarf for as little as £12.00 to an entire outfit, including the silks, velvets and pleated silks.
We are hoping that this will develop into a veritable department store where you can wander through and window shop at any hour of the day or night. It is a secure site, so shopping will be a worry free experience.
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