The Petticoat Lane Market Challenge

Working with our friends at London Metropolitan University, we gave seven of their Fashion and Textile Foundation Year students a brief:

1. Grab some items from our Sunday market on a £10 budget

2. Style your purchases

3. Then upcycle your new garms, turning market bargains into haute couture

Over the past month they’ve been rising to the challenge, snipping, tucking, tweaking and sewing to style and upcycle their purchases as part of their ‘Exploring Contrast’ module.

We checked in with a couple of these future Westwoods to see what they bought and how it’s going.

ANNE-MARIE

“I used to come to Petticoat Lane Market to buy my jeans because I knew I could get quality brands at a good price, so I was sure I’d get a great bargain there for this project. I went knowing that I wanted to hone in on material contrast for this project, so I was looking for anything lace, satin, leather or patterned. I got some great stuff.”

Purchases:
Belt: £3
Lace cami combo: £3
Bra: £3
Dress: £1
TOTAL: £10

“The project has been good so far, and I’d tell anyone that the market is lively, affordable, and so worth visiting.”

TENILZA

“I’d never been to the market before and to be honest, I wasn’t expecting to find much. I thought it would just be your average market with a little bit of everything, but when I got there, I found it had this huge variety of really quality items. I wanted to explore contrast through texture, and it didn’t take much digging to find loads of options to mix and match. I’m really happy with what I bought.”

Purchases:
Black dress: £2
Patterned dress: £2
Top: £5
Skirt: £1
TOTAL: £10

“I would definitely go back to the market. It was buzzing and there were so many unexpected finds. I’m enjoying this brief too. It has been a challenge at times, but a really fun one.”