Vintage and vinyl: upcoming shenanigans at The Social

Rags to Bitches, the rather lovely vintage boutique in the Northern Quarter, is hosting a series of parties at Urbis this winter.

Things kick off (possibly literally) on Sunday 14 December with an afternoon of tea, cakes, vintage clobber and rare vinyl. It’s a chance to revisit the boutique’s ‘Dansette Disco’ parties (usually hosted in the Tib Street store, often ending in table-top dancing, though owners Flic and Simon have vowed not to let things get quite so out of hand at Urbis). 1-5pm, free and possibly the best retail experience you’ll get in the city this festive season.

More parties are planned throughout the winter. The party on 21 December features an opera singer; the one on 11 January is a clothes-swap party, which is a great excuse to off-load all those ill-fitting sale bargains and that lurid knitted Christmas jumper Granny made. And, finally, on 18 January, RTB will be reprising their customising workshop, which was a sell-out success at Manchester in Fashion.

And if you’re wondering what all this has to do with The Best of Manchester Awards, have you not been paying attention? Rags to Bitches won the 2008 Fashion Award…

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Winners announced!

And finally, the Best of Manchester Awards 2008 winners were announced live at an exclusive awards ceremony held at Urbis on 7 August, with the awards themselves handed out by Peter Saville, Claire Lomax (of Flux Magazine) and ex-City Life writer (and now deputy editor of The Observer Music Monthly), Luke Bainbridge.

The winner of the Best of Manchester Music Award 2008 is Richard Cheetham. Music promoter Richard Cheetham is the brains behind independent label, club night and fanzine, High Voltage. Cheetham began High Voltage as a student and, over the past five years, has gone on to publish music by bands including The KBC, The Answering Machine and Nine Black Alps. It’s this entrepreneurial spirit – and his support of new music in Manchester – that won Cheetham praise from the judges.

The winner of the Best of Manchester Fashion Awards 2008 is Simon Buckley. Fashion entrepreneur Simon Buckley runs vintage boutique Rags to Bitches. Much more than a run-of-the-mill second hand store, Rags to Bitches offers a bespoke dressmaking service; has its own label; runs sewing, pattern-cutting and dressmaking courses; counts celebrities such as Celine Dion among its fans; supports up-and-coming local designers and was recently voted by The Daily Telegraph as one of Britain’s best boutiques. It was the venture’s potential for expansion that won high praise from the judges.

The winner of the Best of Manchester Art Awards 2008 is Naomi Kashiwagi. Conceptual artist Naomi Kashiwagi has long been interested in obsolete technological objects such as manual typewriters and gramophones. Her past work includes turning gramophones into record turntables and employing a piano as a drawing instrument. The work for which Naomi was shortlisted is ‘||: Repetition |, Fugue No.1 in QWERTY for 8 Typewriters’, a music and text score composed for typewriters that saw four pianists and four percussionists ‘playing’ the typewriters. Kashiwagi’s originality won particular praise from the judges.

Each winner receives a £2000 cash prize, as well as a professional development package drawn up in consultation with the Best of Manchester judges that will boost their business or career.

The work of all the three winners is being shown as part of the Best of Manchester exhibition at Urbis, which runs from today until 28 September 2008.

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