We occasionally get telephone calls or emails from potential customers who want to reassure themselves that we are a legitimate business, run by real people in the UK, before they commit to shopping online at The Frockery. This is an entirely sensible course of action in our opinion as the internet has its fair share of opportunists as well as opportunities.
For the record (but you can still call us!), we are a small, family run business which is based in the Angus county town of Forfar. We do not have a bricks and mortar shop and are therefore not open to the public. We started trading online in 2007 and have built up a loyal customer base which is every bit as diverse as the items we sell. We love vintage and retro fashion, we abhor waste and we recycle almost everything, which is probably why you may receive your vintage hat in a recycled cornflakes carton!
The Frockery team is small but perfectly formed and we thought you might like to ‘meet the Frockers’!
Alison – chief frocker
Alison has lived through most (but not quite all) of the fashion eras featured on The Frockery website. As a child, she was dressed by her seamstress mother in some strange creations, often involving crimplene, but came of age in the early 70s as a student whose fashion sense was sometimes questionable but never boring. She has collected and worn vintage (formerly known as second hand) clothes for as long as she can remember, her only regret being her expanding waistline which has rendered some of her favourite pieces unwearable (although it has to be said that 1970s wrapover skirts make fine aprons).
After spending seven long years working as a parliamentary researcher on portfolios as diverse as children, education, enterprise and waste, the Frockery was born when her last MSP boss lost her seat. Combining as it does a lifelong love of vintage and retro clothing and a deep distaste for throwaway trash fashion and waste, it seemed a natural progression and a convenient way of reducing the vast personal collection that was threatening to engulf the family home.
Kirstin – model daughter
Kirstin is the model daughter of the family who features prominently on our website and proffers much advice in her role as Frockery fashion guru and stylist. A graduate of the Glasgow School of Art, she derives inspiration from vintage items and fabrics and has recycled many of her late grandmother’s treasures to create unique new looks. She also regularly wears her mother’s ‘old’ clothes, often adding a contemporary twist, and has been spotted and photographed by street scouts who appreciate her quirky style. We love it too, which is why she is such a key asset to our business.
Daniel – computer geek son
Daniel is the family’s IT expert and can fix almost anything that goes wrong with a computer (with the possible exception of the blue screen of death). He is a qualified Microsoft engineer and currently completing a degree in network security. He keeps the Frockery hardware running smoothly, but frequently loses patience with those of us who don’t understand what he is on about. He doesn’t much care for vintage clothing, preferring to spend upwards of £60 on a T shirt, but we are working on him!
Tom – web developer and adopted son
Tom is a star in many ways. As the young owner of Clear Blue Designs, not only does he do all the incomprehensible (to Alison) technical things with the website, but he is also, literally, an all singing, all dancing talent who performs regularly at concerts, cultural events and festivals, including the Edinburgh Fringe.
Alison met Tom on the internet some years ago and was immediately impressed by his professional expertise as well as his friendly manner and infinite patience with the technically challenged. He has now become an adopted member of the Frockery family and keeps a number of other websites running for us.
And last but by no means least:
Johnny Frocker– vintage husband
John and Alison met in 1981 and started married life in Notting Hill long before it became posh. Portobello Road market was always a favourite haunt and still is on occasional visits south, although John can now be heard muttering “How much?” at regular intervals before taking welcome refuge at the Inn on the Green.
John has an entirely sensible day job as a management consultant who specialises in legal stuff which is unfamiliar and highly tedious to most ordinary people. He is also very good at accounts. If our joint phone is answered in our shared office by someone from JWA, you’ll know you have also reached The Frockery!
John has his own collection of original vintage clothes, including his now skin tight wedding suit and lots of other things that have ‘shrunk’ over the years. He does, however, own a fabulous vintage olive green Burberry raincoat and a vintage Crombie coat, neither of which he will part with, along with 18 suits that still fit, a vast collection of cufflinks and some seriously dodgy ties.
He provides the brawn for moving paraphernalia when we go to vintage fairs and has once or twice been mistaken for John Otway. He has also been known to act as a ‘template’ for Frockery customers seeking 42” jackets or 34L trousers.
That’s about it!
