Second chance for posh clobber (From Wilts and Gloucestershire Standard)

Second chance for posh clobber

When Linda Purvis received a phone call from television fashion gurus Trinny and Susannah her Cirencester business took on a dramatic makeover of its very own.

Linda wrote to Trinny Woodall, co star of BBC's What Not to Wear, just after she launched her fashion career in the Cotswolds.

She was delighted when Trinny replied with an invitation to her London home and the chance to walk away with some top designer clothes to sell.

"Trinny did a write up in a newspaper saying she was holding a fashion auction. I wrote to her to ask if they would consider letting me sell some of their unsold clothes to raise some more money for charity," she explained.

"I nearly died when she wrote back and said come and collect some! I went to her house and came back with labels like Dolce & Gabana." Trinny also gave Linda, who runs designer clothes agency, Encore, in Cirencester, a number of contacts in the fashion industry and through these her business started to grow.

She has kept in touch with Trinny and Susannah ever since and recently returned from London where she helped price clothes at a charity fashion car boot sale which was organised by the pair in aid of Hope House, a half way house for women recovering from addiction.

Linda settled in the Cotswolds with her two sons, 16 year-old Alex and Oliver, 11, after divorcing from her husband in 1995. Before that she had lived all over the world as her husband was an oil executive.

She had no experience of the fashion industry but was determined to make a new life and business in the Cotswolds.

"I'm from the north of England and I decided I wanted to live here in the Cotswolds. I didn't really know what I wanted to do. I certainly didn't know an Armani from a basic fashion label."

She set up her first shop in South Cerney with her then business partner Ali Noon. After a year the business moved to Swan Yard in Cirencester and then to the current shop in Blackjack Street in 2000.

There is a happy and relaxed atmosphere at the shop and customers can browse through an array of designer labels and evening wear to suit all ages and sizes. "My staff are great and it's very sociable here. Customers come in and have a cup of coffee with us."

Fashion followers can also snap up a designer pair of shoes or a Prada bag at a bargain price.

Every Thursday Linda goes to London to collect clothes for the store. She remains tight lipped about the names of some of the women who supply her but said she had been to Kensington Palace on one occasion.

Much of her stock comes from designer clothes agency Pandora, the largest of its kind in London. She also sells cat walk samples, prom dresses and nearly new clothes.

Linda has high standards for the nearly new clothes and will only accept items in excellent condition that are less than three years old. Sales are split on a 50-50 basis with the owner.

At the charity car boot sale at Selfridges in London, Linda bought a jacket owned by Trinny, a pair of Gucci boots owned by Princess Marie Chantal of Greece and a pair of Jimmy Choo shoes. She also brought back some designer clothes to sell at Encore.

Linda is enthusiastic about her work and has a positively happy outlook on life. "You have to believe in what you are doing. When I wake up in the morning I smile because I am happy."

Encore, Blackjack Street, Cirencester also has a website dedicated to evening wear, www.encoreeveningwear.co.uk