Here at The Dalston Darlings we are big, big fans of The Vagenda a blog heralded as “like King Lear but for girls”. With their humorous and witty take on feminism The Vagenda loudly and proudly writes about everything to do with being a woman covering topics like the female orgasm, Lena Denham’s Girls, domestic violence and tongue-in-cheek quizzes on “Which Feminist Are You?” (go find out we urge you to! http://vagendamag.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/which-kind-of-feminist-are-you.html)

Recent graduates and long-suffering ex-flatmates Holly and Rhiannon set up The Vagenda, nearly a year ago. Since then it has had over eight million hits and they’ve secured a book deal with Random House. Holly and Rhiannon will be talking to The Dalston Darlings about the depiction of women in the media and journalism, and answering any questions you might have on all things funny and feminist.

The meeting will take place at The Hackney Downs Studio, Amhurst Terrace, E8 2BT on Wednesday 6th February at 7pm-9pm.

For more info check out: Vagendamag

Tiff McGinnis A.K.A Grande Dame is a self-taught audio and visual artist,specialising in Technicolor illustration and we are thrilled to have her as our November speaker.

Influenced by pinball art, art nouveau, vintage comics and more, Tiff blends different genres into a unique style that is completely her own. She also makes music, animating colorful videos to accompany her songs and 2013 will see Grande Dame’s debut album release – a roots rock and roll soundtrack on limited edition colored vinyl.

Tiff has a range of bespoke limited edition creations – from Giclee prints to porcelain plates, lights, fabrics and more besides and in a short span of time Tiff’s intensely pop art giclée prints have gained a strong show of support from collectors worldwide. Her porcelain plates have been featured in UK fashion bible Stylist.

She has animated for EMI, MTV Networks, Nickelodeon, UK’s Channel 4, and KPM Music, to name a few. And next year will see Tiff foray into the world of fashion as she teams up with legendary couture shoe designer – Terry de Havilland for a special SS & AW 2013 collection.

Tiff is a dedicated, creative maverick, with a keen eye for detail and hr work is thought-provoking, funny, colorful and exciting. Her show is big, her style is large – and with a personality as vibrant as her work, this will be a meeting not to miss out on.

www.grandedame.co.uk

Alternatively if you’d just like to get involved but have no clothes to sell please get in touch as we’d love volunteers!  We plan on having a ‘Dalston Darlings’ stall telling people about us and what we do and we’d like some help running it.  We’ll also be selling baked goods, jams and chutneys so if you would like to bake and donate then send us an email.  Our events are always really great fun and a good way to get to know the other Darlings outside of meetings.

Hi everyone

We’ve been terrible at posting we admit, but finally all the details are up in the meeting section for all to see.

See you all soon

Love The Dalston Darlings

We’d like to personally thank the following people for the cakes and/or savoury treats that they donated; Rebecca Wood, Rachel Valentyne, Tessa & Elliott Lidstone, Marianna Longmire, Maighread Neligan, Clare Davis, Tara Adamson, Sarah Waldie, Leanne Walsh, Jess Huxtable, Victoria Bell and our very own President Charlotte Hotham.

Thank-you so very much to the local businesses who supported us by donating cakes and/or savoury treats for us to sell at both Field Day & Apple Cart - Dalston Superstore, The Haggerston, Crimson Heart, The Tea Rooms,  Mouse & deLotz and Long White Cloud.

We’d also like to thank the local businesses who donated prizes for our raffle to raise money for Nia - Haggerston Tea Room, The Haggerston,Buen Ayre, Mouse & deLotz and Bugged Out.

We’ll be drawing the raffle this afternoon so please check our Facebook page to see whom the winners were (we will be contacting everyone separately as well)

And a very big thank-you to all of the amazing contributors to our tent at Field Day; Anna Wild who provided Field Day revelers with glittery make-overs, Eniola from Fashwah Robots who gave them fierce nails that were even admired by a certain Pixie Geldof!  The amazing ‘Queen of Burlesque’ Khandie Khisses who was on hand giving one-on-one fan-dance lessons and our very (tongue-in-)cheeky compere Suzanne Azzopardi. Incredible skulls-head decor supplied by Lauren Baker and our very own Darling’s Sarah Waldie who had a stall selling her array of up-cycled homewares, and Leanne Bellman on spray-paint hair duty.

Finally the volunteers who gave their time on the day(s) who deserve the BIGGEST thanks of all – Victoria Plum, Maighread Neligan, Clare Davis, Tara Adamson, Sarah Waldie, Leanne Walsh, Jess Huxtable, Rachel Valentyne, Jenna Jones, Zoe Howes & Pinky – you were all amazing, THANK-YOU!

Décor is supplied by the amazingly talented Lauren Baker Mosaics who specialises in creating contemporary and unique mosaic designs. Lauren Baker gives life back to perished animals and her work is inspired by the power of nature, afterlife and mythological, magical creatures. Each gold plated deer skull which will be adorning the walls of our Lodge is carefully and ethically sourced and each one comes with a story.

Our very own W.I committee member Sarah will have a stall selling her fantastic collection of upcycled vintage homewares, pillowcases, neon doilies and cushions to make you go ‘wow I want that … I have to have that’!

To ensure you’re Field Day fabulous we have an amazing array of make-up, hair and nail artists who will be on hand to create your perfect festival look. Including nail art by ‘Fashwah Robots’! and make-up artist extraordinaire Anna Wild who has worked for the likes of Marie-Claire, Chapel Club, and recently at Rio Carnival! Anna will also be selling ‘look at me lashes’ by Shimmer Twins to give you stand out style and get you noticed. Finally we’ll have temporary dip-dyes so come and take the plunge and get pink hair for the day!

We’ll be selling teas and treats handmade by us ladies from the Dalston Darlings Women’s Institute and very kindly supplied by local cafes including Mouse & deLotz, Dalston Superstore, The Haggerston, Le Parc Deli, The Crimson Heart and The Tea Rooms in Stoke Newington to name but a few. There’ll be tables and chairs to get comfy, enjoy the festivities and take your tea and cake in style.
Oh and there’s a raffle with exciting prizes up for grabs all donated by some great local businesses with proceeds going to our elected local charity, the Nia Project – dedicated to ending violence against women and children.

Finally for those of you wanting to learn the art of burlesque the unstoppable tornado that is Khandie Khisses and who is very often dubbed the ‘Queen of Burlesque’, will be giving mini lessons for free throughout the day and a very special performance that you really shouldn’t miss. Pop on by to meet one of our favourite Dalston Darlings speakers and all round ace bird.

We’ll be open from midday until 6pm and can’t wait to see you there.

Land Of Kings
After last years rip roaring success of a Royal Wedding event, we’ve been asked back for a second year and this time we aim to make it even better!

On Saturday 5th May, from 11am – 3pm,  we are holding a May Day celebration in the Dalston Eastern Curve Gardens where everyone is invited to come and join us for drinks, food, music and May Pole Dancing. Volunteers are needed to come and help set up the event from 9am – 11am.

The celebrations will then take place between 11am – 3pm where helpers are needed to help sell tea’s and cakes and also to sell raffle tickets. Everyone working will be given a wristband to the Land of Kings festival which will give you access to all the antics taking place on the Saturday night of the festival. If you are unable to give us your time on this date then do not despair, we also need people to get baking and crafting and donate both cakes and sweet and savoury treats that we can sell along with tea and also for people to help with decorations.

Field Day & Apple Cart Festival
We’re also, once again hosting an area at Field Day and Apple Cart festivals where we’ll be running a tea and cake stand.  Last year was a blast and not only very profitable for us, but all involved will agree it was jolly good fun too! Again, we need your help to make this year even better than the last!

Volunteers are needed on the day to help set-up and dress our area, serve teas and cake and then help to clear-up too.  You’ll be needed from around 11am to 6pm and in exchange you get a ticket for the day so they’ll be plenty of time to go off catch up with mates and see bands whilst working too (which is great fun!).  The dates of each festival are Saturday June 2nd (Field Day) and Sunday June 3rd (Apple Cart).  However if you’re not available for those dates then you can still help out and get involved by baking and donating a cake for us to sell. We need as many cakes as possible so please get your bake on!

If you can help out with Land Of Kings/Field Day/ Apple Cart or you want more info on then please get in touch with us here