Happy’s ‘Cath Kidston’ favourites from the online catalogue 2009 … What went Wrong! If only we could jump back to this era!  What wonderful creations Cath had on her site and shop back then!  What the Hell has happened to Cath Kidston these days!  Its been happening a while now…I can’t stand so many of the designs, they are not pretty anymore, they are not vintage inspired at all.  They seem to be following Trends rather than sticking to the old sentiments of yesteryear…

The Collage above were my predicted best sellers from the CK shop for Spring 2009…I love these items, so bright, cheerful and right up my street! Luckily I am a dab hand at making button necklaces, so I made myself one of those…infact I have made myself quite a few of those necklaces over the years.

I used to love her Creations, but I also have been a very BIG fan of Vintage and there is nothing like finding a piece of vintage material and making your own bag (or covering your rather dull shopping trolley! hehehe!) or making something that totally takes your fancy yourself. She was so inspiring back then, but these days it’s all mass produced just like everything else and the collaborations?   What the hell is that all about!

Okay so we know she doesn’t own the company anymore as In 2010, Cath Kidston sold a majority stake to private equity investors TA Associates, retaining a minority stake and remaining the company’s Creative Director…But then 2 years ago in 2020 they collapsed into administration with a loss of nearly 1,000 jobs and 60 UK Stores, so the Company was bought by investment and restructuring firm Hilco Capital. who also owns Clintons, Habitat and Homebase to name but a few. Since then the fashion retailer has returned to profitability, with sales of £29 million for the year ending March 2022, thanks to investment from Baring Private Equity Asia (BPEA).

For me personally the designs got too commercialised and very samey samey!  Goodness knows how they have turned the company around as many people I speak to do not like the designs these days, but I suppose the pretty vintage prints of yesteryear do not appeal to the millions…these people like mauve and orange and celestial prints , care bears etc etc….Okay so the Care Bears are cute, but the designs for me are just a bit too much,  I haven’t loved something on their site enough to buy it for years and that is such a shame because I love spending my money on pretty homewears.

So do you remember our ‘Make Do and Mend’ motto!…in these hard times, lets make our own truly unique vintage pieces…making your own is very creative and you can involve your whole family – kids love getting crafty!…crafting passes the time, that we would of spent going shopping and spending yet more money…Don’t go out and buy something else to help you make what you want use what you already have in you’re home, if you have no material, use clothes that no longer fit you…you can ‘make do and mend’ quite easily you just need a little inspiration and there is plenty around… Have a look on Pinterest, or Instagram there is always something on there that inspires me.

The Cath Kidston’ favourites from the online catalogue of 2009 that I have featured on this post have reminded me of how we used to make bags for one of our friends quaint little shop in Whitstable called the ‘Clothes Horse’ Nicky used to sell vintage and second hand clothes back then, and we used to make different themed bags which were very quirky bright and fun. I used to cut the pattern out from an old oblong chopping board…no difficult patterns were used, just plain common sense, if i can do it so can you!

Get Inspired…look in magazines, catalogues, the internet and your favourite shops. Jot down styles that you like,. Keep a book and paste ideas into it, or keep an online folder and put all inspirational ideas in it! keep referring to it when you want to make something…but rather than copy anything, put your own stamp on it…it will be so fun. And whilst I don’t expect many of you to have a kiln to make mugs, or tins LOL! I think we will all be able to manage a lovely button necklace or vintage bag…For which Cath Kidston sells many all year round, but wouldn’t it be nice to wear one that you have made yourself and get all the compliments for, it will make you so proud of yourself and save you heaps of money too…

THIS POST WAS UPDATED IN NOVEMBER 2022