London Tattoo Convention

London Tattoo Convention

Set in the beautiful, yet airy (as in, pretty chilly) Tobacco Dock, getting the stall sorted for London Tattoo Convention felt like getting ready to trade in rather cool dungeons. The poster for the event was full of promise, designed by the very talented Valerie Vargas of Frith Street Tattoo, who Fliss is privileged to have been tattooed by. The upstairs of Tobacco Dock was filled with rooms and rooms of tattooists, while the basement was full of retail joy of all kinds. The event was a giant maze, you had to stick to your map to make sure you didn’t miss anything.

Now, Voyager was thrilled to be a stone’s throw away from coveted Jane Doe Latex couture, designed by the stunning Nina Kate. Jane Doe presented fire shows featuring The Fuel Girls right outside our doorway. To add to the excitement, Jane Doe items at the show were on promotional sale prices! Fliss couldn’t resist the cuteness of the latex bow belts.

Within our room, we met milliners Little Miss B, gothic jewellery maker Tea of Sacre Coeur, teddy bear piercer Nick of Blue Tattoo and Gemma & Sam of Voodoo Betty’s Boutique, specialising in quirky handmade shoppers. Beauty Laura Meekums popped by, who you may have noticed gracing the pages of our site.

We were very grateful to have extra hands on board - huge happy thanks to good friends Rayna Terror, Donkey & Jenny who came along to keep us company! Rayna was super excited to launch her first calendar for 2011 ‘Reign of Terror’, photographed by Mendoza. It went down a treat, many guys making a beeline for our stall to have a gander!

Across the way was Cam of handmade jewellery brand Bow & Crossbones, Aracelli of Old Skull presenting her new range, Limb to-die-for vintage inspired dresses, Creepsville accessories with amazing customised mannequins for the show, Kirsty & Nick of Sacred Stitches tattoo inspired clothing & homewear & Stick ‘em up Pin Up for all your hair extension needs.

Also close by was the Sailor Jerry stand, offering free mini mixers to all. We met the team of Total Tattoo Magazine, where accomplished fetish photographer Doralba Picerno was working. We are thrilled to be shooting our new range with her early October.

While we spent most of the time in the ‘dungeon’, we managed to pop up to say hi to Naomi & Val at Frith Street Tattoo. Rayna ran into tattooist Phil Kyle.

We also made a not quite yawn-free appearance at Born Bad rockabilly night at the Bethnal Green Working Mens Club. We’d had a long day but we still enjoyed the live bands in the comfort of seats!

Our verdict is that London Tattoo Convention offers the best shopping of any tattoo convention that we have so far visited, in terms of variety & affordability. There was a strong offer for both guys & girls, with many vendors offering sale sections within their stands or slashed prices.

We are looking forward to our second appearance at Brighton Tattoo Convention at the end of Jan! Keep an eye on our blog category Event Dates for Your Diary to see when we will next be popping up in a town near you!

Ink & Kisses,

Felicity & Jess

Now, Voyager xx