Parma Vintage

Model: Iona Stoddart, Make-up: Nikki McMillan.

It's hard to believe just three weeks ago, I was making a pilgrimage from Helensburgh to Gourock to meet illustrious Gillian Chalmers, founder of Parma Vintage. As soon as I had crossed the threshold of the quirky little shop, that it was unlike any other vintage store I had ever been into.

From wall to wall was a scattering of frocks and smocks in all colours of the rainbow - immediately spotting exclusive and iconic boutique labels such as Motel, famed for dressing the likes of Alesha Dixon and Alexandra Burke. Out the corner of my eye, I spotted a plethora of awards - "Entrepreneur of the Year" and as I spotted a beautiful, bright, bubbly blonde bobbing towards me, I knew that this had to be Gourock's pride and joy, Miss Chalmers!

Models: Kirstin Gribbin, Iona Stoddart, Lisa Cunningham, Make-up: Nikki McMillan.

What had started out as a simple hour long meeting, ended up expanding into a lovely afternoon of chatting as Gillian and I discovered our scarily similar quirks from cowboy boots to Louis Vuitton purses. I was lucky enough to hear of the story of Parma Vintage, going back to when Gillian was an air-steward for Virgin Airlines, travelling the globe, sourcing suppliers and vintage from far and beyond, leaving her with the strongest unique selling point of truly original and rare vintage. After a delicious cupcake from Karyn's Kandies and a bag full of Parma Violets, the dates were set for myself and fellow McCollective, Nikki McMillan to return and create some brand new marketing material for the wonderful little Pandora's box.

 As the shoots went on, Nikki and I became acquainted with Gillian's wonderful team, with social media online correspondent, Stephanie Boyle, as well as the fresh faced and enthusiastic Eva, Amy, Amy (yes, there's two!), Gemma and Megan. Each and every single one of these ladies is a pure credit to Parma Vintage - with the best people skills, motivation and team work I've seen in a long time! 

Nikki and I will be shooting consistently for Parma Vintage over the coming months, so keep your eyes peeled for all the new and exotic stock appearing on their website. You can find them here - but be warned, Nikki and I have considered selling off our organs to buy all the clothes!

Also, check out the fantastic behind the scenes video by Cowboy Pictures below!