The first part of the stream-lining of the search menu on the website is done (took a little longer than expected with customers at the showroom today) 
I am in the process of writing frame histories for each time period so please look out for these and let me know if you like them - the first is here 

Adieu
Deadman

Deadmen's Spex at Holt Hall

Hi there

When it comes to stock we are on a roll with a lot of great vintage frames coming in. These include NHS 524s, ladies' cats' eyes in some great colours - blues, greens and pinks and Algha half eyes.- like the ones Santa wears. Deadman is loading a new batch of photos onto the site today.

We are also looking forward to Sunday December 7th as we are having a stall at the beautiful  Holt Hall; tucked away from the road just outside Holt in Norfolk. This Victorian house is now a field studies centre run by Norfolk County Council and they occasionally have events so the public can enjoy it.

Little Vintage Lover Fair are joining the Hall's open doors event, so along with making some great vintage purchases you can also have a look round the hall and indulge in a mince pie or two! If the weather is kind, you may even fancy a stroll through the grounds; into the woodland and down to the lake.

We look forward to seeing you there! Hope you can make it 

TTFN Mrs Deadman

Off with a Little Vintage Lover

This week I've been cracking the whip over Deadman to get him working preparing stock for our Deadmen’s Spex stall at Little Vintage Lover Fair this Sunday the 2^nd December at Blakeney Village Hall. It is a small eclectic fair which moves around North Norfolk specialising in vintage and vintage reworked items including fashion and home wares from around the 1920s to the1980s. Everyone is very friendly and they often have fun music from the 1930's supplied by dj.78 AKA Dave Gutteridge who always dresses beautifully complete with glasses from Deadmen's Spex. They also do great cake, which tastes even better when Bunny buys me a slice. 

dj.78 catching up with the news

I will be bringing a varied selection of spectacles; for the ladies I have 1950’s cats’ eyes through to 1980’s Terri Brogan frames. For the men I have selection of reworked frames and the ever popular Shurons. In the unisex frames I have some classic favourites including NHS 524s ,1940’s round eyes and  Algha  gold half eye readers. I'm tempting providence rather with a tray of sunglasses, hoping that the rain has finally been pushed away. When the sun does show itself  in the winter it is incredibly dazzling and I find myself desperately groping for my sunnies whilst driving (at traffic lights of course!) There will also be accessories;  fabric glasses cases and spexlaces which are necklaces made from spectacle fronts.
                                                           

                                                                

A selection of our frames           


                               








 

 A spexlace                                                                                                    











I'm also selling a few cigar boxes on the side, Deadman got rather excitable at an auction and we landed up with rather more than he had bargained for. They are very pretty and beautifully made so I hope they may tempt a few people to be creative and turn them into handbags or even guitars!.

Cigar boxes 

So I look forward to seeing some of you on Sunday
TTFN

Toll the bell, dig the hole, tend the pyre, but leave the spectacles for me

Toll the bell, dig the hole, tend the pyre, but leave the spectacles for me -
with appologies to Thomas Lynch "Local Heroes" www.thomaslynch.com

I’ve lost count how many times I’ve been asked “why Dead Men’s Spex?”

I usually give the standard response about being in partnership with the local undertakers and the bit about coffin robbing! This usually amuses and deflects from the real question “why Dead Men’s Spex?”

Truth be known, what initially started as a name to make people look twice has become a philosophy of business.

It stands for the uncomplicated nature of the business, in that; it is honestly where many of our frames come from.

This then hopefully reflects the nature of the path many of us have taken, looking back at the fashions and skills of our forbearers and literally taking on their mantle. We recognise the quality of vintage wares, much of them handmade and tailored in a time when we were the workshop of the World (at this point I’m going to stop as this is when I start to sound like my father ! :oD )

These skills and qualities are amply reflected in the frames made by Algha http://www.algha.com/ . A longstanding London based producer of fine rolled gold frames. They are still in production with their Saville Row Collection but it is their early pre-war and wartime frames that are most sought after by many connoisseurs of immaculately engineered fashion. I use the word engineered on purpose as if you take a look at one of their frame illustrations of the 1920’s you could imagine that you were looking at a schematic plan for a bridge or building.





So here we are posting 3 on the blog and already talking philosophy and the nature of life the universe and all the little bits in between. I’m off to do a little grave-digging now, well, a guy’s got to make a living some how ..............


D.Man