THE NEWS
As the Spring finally arrives and planes are back in the sky we are celebrating here at Antoinette's. The Theatre Garden we are creating is starting to come into flower and regular customers, frightened away for the whole of that long, dreary winter are knocking on the door.
Our Spring sale is going well. Periodically we have excess stock. It is not usually theatre stuff, and is usually ex catwalk and samples from fashion houses, that come into our possession via sales etc. This Spring we have 50% men's/women's and everything from jackets to skimpy summer dresses. Come and see us to see what we have left. They are all selling fast.
On this page you can discover why we are who we are, and where we are.
"Whereabouts are you?", customers ask from their cars, stuck in traffic. It's always difficult to say, exactly. Strictly speaking we are in Sydenham because of our postcode, but we are more or less equidistant between Sydenham and Forest Hill stations, and only slightly further from the Sydenham Hill station (which is in Dulwich, don't ask), over the exhausting eponymous hill. As a rule, if you are on the South Circular, in Forest Hill or Dulwich, you are nearly here, and if you are descending Sydenham Road (inexplicably referred to by the Council as The High Street!!!), you are probably nowhere near us.
Antoinette Costume Hire has a bit of a name for our interesting window displays. Each display has a theme. The themes are decided upon by the Seasons and the inspiration of Antoinette and her fervent imagination.
Our current display is "Casablanca", the famous movie. Humphrey Bogart's character is rushing out of Rick's Bar, begging Ingrid Bergman's character to change her mind and stay with him. OK, not exactly how it happened in the film, but it works for our window. No, we couldn't get Sam and his piano in the window, so we have a young lady dressed as an RAF officer for slightly random reasons.
This window replaced our Madonna window. As a tribute to Her Greatness, we created a window with two versions of Madonna, a background of 100's of photos of her, and a man who could be a generic "Madonna Boyfriend/Dancer".
The New year started with our "Russian Valentine" Window. A trio of Russians, dressed for the snow, with hanging Babooshka's, and huge silver hearts all over the place. We had to fight off the customers who kept wanting to buy the feathered hat on the head of our Svetlana.
On this page you will see some window examples. Enjoy!
THE HISTORY
Once a little village, the Sydenham/Forest Hill/Crystal Palace neighbourhood was once a sleepy woodland.
Once Crystal Palace and the railways arrived though, everything changed. Large houses were built all around what is now Crystal Palace park, and Forest Hill as a neighbourhood was created. Sydenham had a busy high street, and our terrace, High Street Buildings, was built in the 1890's, as a department store.
Some of the oldest houses in the district are near to us, dating back to the 18thC. Sydenham Wells Park, around the corner from us, is the site of the reason there was originally building here at all, as spring water was discovered there, which, it was believed, had healing properties.
Many famous people have lived in this neighbourhood over the years. Once Antoinette has finished her local history bedtime reading we will be telling you a little about them.
Shopping streets always go through highs and lows, as the economy fluctuates, and sometimes entire districts move, due to convenience and demand. Sydenham's centre moved. As houses were built all down the long hill from the Crystal Palace to Bell Green, and the population density increased lower down the hill, shops were needed in Sydenham Road, and it is to here that Sydenham town centre re-located. The stations, which so often are hubs in themselves, at Forest Hill and Sydenham, became, in the 20thC, the "centres" of each district.
The High Street was no longer the main street of either Sydenham or Forest Hill, and eventually the road became "Kirkdale", from Sydenham station all the way up to the top of Sydenham Hill, a distance of more or less 1 mile. Antoinette Costume Hire and High Street Buildings are about half way along. From Sydenham or Forest Hill stations we are about 10 minutes' walk.
There are some very good businesses near to us. Also in High Street Buildings are Avalon, an antiques shop, "Alhambra", a Spanish fancy goods shop, and a useful pharmacy. We also highly recommend "Behind the Boxes" an Art Deco antiques specialist, a piano retailer, and one of the best restaurants in the area, "That's Amore". A recent addition is "JH Skincare Clinic", where you can go and have a beauty treatment after you have chosen your costume from us.
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