Looking for innovative and unusual ways to display clothes at a craft fair/market

[KatyMac]

I'm hoping to sell at craft fairs and makers markets

I sell upcycled jackets and clothes made from vintage household fabrics

I am really struggling with transporting the in the car and then displaying them well

I have a few children's clothes, some adult clothes, some completed jackets plus plain jackets with a basket of pictures to put on them (sort of mix and match)

I have a smallish car to transport them in, various sized tables, a gazebo, 2 rails, a room divider, a concertina clothes airer, 3 wire mannequins, 4 dressmakers dummys, a shop mannequin and a nervous breakdown!

I can't carry a lot at once so I also have a trolley to put things on

It ends up looking a bit of a jumble sale

Oh and I need to sort out signage too - help?

Ok I would not bother with that many dummies and mannequins. Get more rails, that don’t have too much stuff on them. Think more “boutique” and less “crammed in charity shop”. I would also ask if you have too much stuff for the size of pitch/stall, so either find out what sells best at that event and focus on that, or pare down what is on display and replenish if you sell, or get more space. At the moment I think I would look at your stall and be very confused about where to start so using rails by type of item with clear signs would be better. Sorry if I sound harsh, but yes it’s a bit “jumble sale” in the pictures.

Yeah I know - jumble sale

I don't take the dressmakers dummys anymore unless I've been asked to bring the wedding dress or the cosplay dress

The first picture was definitely too small - I know

I hadn't considered more rail - different less flimsy ones yes but not more

Taking less is good I need to work out what to leave behind or maybe book two stalls next to each other and run them separately?

As a suggestion for unusual, do you know anyone who would model them for you?

DD is a professional model but is normally working when I have markets

I had to beg for an hour's modelling yesterday so I could put stuff on-line

I wonder if I should try a pop-up shop occasionally

I need to re-structure and rethink my ideas

Your things do look lovely. I agree with the previous poster that the display is too crowded - you need to thin it out because items aren't standing out at the moment, they won't be catching shoppers' eyes.

It's a complete train wreak, I know

Working out what to leave behind depends on the event it is. Where I live we have a very posh craft fair each year, think lots of mature purchasers and looking for ice things but not necessarily too “out there” in style. Then we have retro and vintage fairs which are more younger audiences looking for quirky and unusual things.

If you look at some boutique pictures you will see how they organise rails, fewer items so you can see things! Then think about how someone can move around to see the things. U shape is normal.

Nice things, not ice things

I think you just have too much on display. It makes it look like a load of old tat rather than unique hand made pieces.
A few of your most impressive pieces displayed face on and a rail with other stuff to the side.
Think about how much you sell at any event and take maybe that many plus 10 give everything room to hang nicely so it is shown at it's best.
Maybe have a large portfolio of other items that people can order for delivery.
I am interested to know how well you do at these things as I make clothes for myself and my family but I would have to be charging £150 + for an item in order to make any sort of profit when factoring in labour.

@KatyMac - Ok, You've got too much 'furniture' your clothes cannot be 'seen' at the moment as 1. they're clumped together too tightly, and 2. you can 'see' the background of other stalls through yours. So they need to be framed.

Would you consider attaching trellising onto your gazebo? This will frame your stall and allow clothes to be hung - inside - with spacing. Perhaps use wire and clips to shape the clothes?
Make a really interesting /exciting entrance. Frame it with colour, maybe shimmery tinsel etc to catch peoples eye.

On the outside of the trellis you could place your banners?

Also, customers like to have room, so maybe remove all but one of the tables and keep that for small items. Plus, cover it and put all your bags, wrappings 'stuff' and most importantly extra sizes/designs of clothes not out on display, in there out of sight. Think 'less is more'.

Is there anywhere you could have some life size, 2D stand alone images of your DD made, to model some of the clothes on?

Selling hand made goods at a craft fair is entirely different to selling manufactured goods at a market. BUT. If you don't get it right people won't appreciate the hundreds of hours of work you do, and will want to pay market prices.

You need to make your stall appear polished, sharp, professional. ....and yes, I'm an artist, I've been there.
Before I began selling in this manner I spent weeks setting up my stall in my studio. Looking at it from different angles. Removing what didn't look right. Raiding my partners garage for unusual display items etc. Taking photos of the set up.

Lighting is also very useful - there are many battery powered fairy lights etc out there now.

I am so not an artist!!

I'll be worse now because I'll be running a mending table and/or a clothing swop and I have to add a table/sewing machine to it all

Trellis sounds good - I know I need better signage hadn't though of big pictures - my gazebo is small (3m)

Each market is better than the last think - picking my items for the market will be hard for me as most of my 'non-sales' are cos I don't have the right size

Is it better to make more sizes and take them or somehow do a catalogue do people can pick

I dunno this side of it is too much for me I think

There are occasions it works better - so prioritising I think I need 2x6 foot rails on decent wheels - second hand

Can you do a "pay now, and I'll get the size you want in the next post to you" where (your absolutely up to date stock list) shows you have the size needed?
No 8dea if that would work.
OR - one on display, and a very compact storage of everything else under the table.

Possibly - I can never make 2 the same so I struggle a bit - I tried taking the tablecloths I use but it was just more to display

I would take a lot less. Could you take a iPad loaded with photos of the rest of your stock? Or a swatch book of fabrics that you have in stock? Or maybe have a very simple colour coordinated display using just a few styles and matching fabrics, showing off your best designs and fabrics - and then have a separate rummage rail to the side?

I think your photos give off a 'piled high, sell cheap' vibe to be honest. I can understand your difficulty in knowing what to take where, but I guess that comes with experience. I think you need a few really stunning pieces, and a very good portfolio of your other stuff. Good luck!

You so ARE an artist!!

Is it better to make more sizes and take them or somehow do a catalogue do people can pick
Honestly? I would make each garment as a standalone, one-off piece of creative art, in whatever size, colour, pattern you fancy on the day you're sewing, and sell it as that. No orders for other sizes/shapes/colours or whatever, they buy whatever is available on the day.End of.

Market it as they're buying a one - off work of art rather than something that half a dozen people could wear.

So much to think about

@ConcentricCircles - so I have been 'encouraged' to make gift bags etc to sell small things to bring people in - but I've hardly sold any am I right they are a waste of space? I've also been encouraged to take 'vintage' and less vintage evening wear to sell

OK making plans - I need more mats for the floor when I do outside and the rails I mentioned before

Sorry @ConcentricCircles I should have said - thank you for calling me an artist - I tend to see myself as an engineer or as my dad would say a bodger and what I do is 'tweak' things

I tend to see myself as an engineer or as my dad would say a bodger and what I do is 'tweak' things ...... I would say that you have an insight into 'how' you can tweak those things, thus you are creative and therefore an artist.

I'm betting you spend as much time making the gift bags as you do your clothes.?
It's just as easy to buy some ready made gift bags, or.....as I do and save all your brown paper carrier bags/small paper bags that you acquire with purchases, and use them to wrap your own goods. I always explain to my buyer that I'm reusing everything I can, and ask them to do so in turn once they've finished with the bag.

I truly think that as a starting point you should take what YOU feel you want to take. After each fair you can then evaluate the day, see what worked best, and adjust accordingly.

You could also try some seasonal stuff, or if you're going to be selling in eg Whitby that has a good Goth following, then you can perhaps make some additions on that line too.

If someone is emphatic that they think you should take XYZ dress to a fair, then ask them why. If they convince you, then fine. If not, why not?

One other thing I would say is to value both your work and yourself. Put a price on your goods that you are happy with and that you feel reflect your time and skills used.
If anyone tries to knock your prices to the floor then the time honoured MN answer of 'No,that doesn't work for me' is the perfect answer.

So instead of doing sensible planning and sorting this evening, I've cut out a cosplay gown....very sensible!

This is a minor point, but consider using matching coat hangers.

Try using google images to see different stall set ups too.

I have a collection of children's wooden hangers that are all the same shape and I'm slowly painting them all purple!

I have matching adult hangers but no way of changing them as they are plastic

Cover the plastic hangers with fabric or knitting - ideally in co-ordinated colours - then again you can say you are trying to use everything.

I think that your rails need to be more accessible - I wouldn't go and browse a rail behind a table - think an L shape of rails to one side and along the back and a table on the other side of the stall. If you use a mannequin then have that in front of the table at the front of the stall.

I was wondering about using Washi tape on the hangers - just investigating it's credentials; I don't think I could cover them in cloth - beyond my skills!