May The Fourth Be With You - The Cornbury Festival 2018

Have I mentioned how much we love the Cornbury Festival? Previous years have been brilliant and this year, our fourth, was phenomenal. I'm pretty sure most Brits will recognise Si and Dave aka The Hairy Bikers who were running a pop-up restaurant on site for the weekend. I'm delighted to say that they were absolutely lovely in real life, totally down-to-earth and funny and they made a point of stopping by every morning on their way to work to say hello and to browse our rails.

Dave was desperate for a waistcoat. 

Although we'd been at Cornbury since Wednesday morning, the festival itself didn't open to the public until Friday. Just like last year business was full-on and our neighbours didn't see us until late in the afternoon. We soon made up for lost time.

Saturday was another busy day with lots of visits from customers old and new. I can't tell you how much it makes our day when people call in wearing (and still loving) clothes they bought off us four years ago. No such thing as throw away fashion when you shop Kinky Melon.

Gah! I never got round to taking any photos of the interior of our stall - I'll try and do better next time.

Beautiful yoga teacher Alicia is a blog reader. It was lovely to meet her. If you're wondering our green wristbands are crew passes, the paying public wear different coloured ones.

Another reason why I love Cornbury - people leave their inhibitions at the main gate and just have fun. This gang popped in a few times over the weekend both to buy stuff and to show us their phenomenal outfits. If only I'd packed my Scooby Doo dress!

Lili is married to Hairy Biker Dave. She's a dressmaker and has incredible style, I was thrilled when she bought a few pieces to add to her collection.

And then it was Sunday! We met stunning Annabelle from Jack FM last year when she bought a Grecian blue and gold linen dress with wizard sleeves from us. This year the vintage Wrangler turquoise suede cowboy boots went home with her,

After we'd opened up I went for a walk around the site as I hadn't been further than the staff loos since Thursday.

By 10am the thermometer in our awning was 41° - no surprise that most of the festival goers had left their sweltering tents early to go and seek some shade.

The Hairy Bikers Festival Feast was sold out months in advance. Those lucky enough to dine said it was a truly wonderful experience and well worth the £55 price tag.

The Alpaca Sol girls are our neighbours at End of the Road, strange to think that the next time we see them we'll probably all be wrapped up against the Autumnal chill.

Meanwhile back at the Kinky pitch Jon was selling up a storm. I'm not sure how many times our male mannequin had the clothes sold off his back. 

I was offered silly money for my outfits - but I wasn't selling. Several long-time blog readers recognised dresses from my personal collection adorning our rails and snapped them up. What a compliment! 

We were so busy over the weekend that by Sunday night (other than the acts I quickly photographed on my walk around the site) I hadn't seen a single band! When headliners Squeeze were announced I left Jon in charge and ran down to the main stage to catch some of their set. 

I really do have the best job in the world I thought to myself as I sat alone and barefoot on the parched grass in my silk ballgown watching the sun sink over the Cotswold Hills listening to Squeeze perform Up The Junction. 

We got up early yesterday morning, packed up and took down the stall, drove home, restocked, washed, went food shopping, made 30 wired headbands, banked the cash and repacked the van .....and it all starts again at 6am tomorrow when we head down to Salisbury for the Larmer Tree Festival...wish us luck!

See you next week.

Linking to Patti & the gang for Visible Monday.

Here Comes Summer - We're Festival Ready!

Like Oscar Wilde I can resist anything but temptation. As is so often the case, I ended up bringing more home that I took with me to Vintage Village on Sunday. On the way to the loo, I bumped into trader friend Suzy and we escaped to the charity shop over the road from Stockport market hall where I found this canary yellow catsuit on the £1 rail.

I got some cracking stuff from my Marie of The Queen's Drawers' rails including this candy coloured nylon blouse which, combined with my 1960s cotton hot pants, suede go-go boots and retro jelly basket, Jon reckoned I had a bit of a Miami vibe going on. What a shame that I only wore it to the supermarket rather than South Beach.

This Suzy Ware tie-fronted blouse will need taking in but I'm loath to put it on my rails as I love it.

How fabulous is this 1970s JC Penney jumpsuit? I'm almost disappointed that it's too hot to wear at the moment - but it'll make the usually miserable British weather a lot more bearable when it goes back to normal.

I couldn't resist this zebra print dagger collared shirt. The Cat Charmant label is so cute.

I swooped on this 1970s Indian block print quilted cotton jacket on our neighbour's stall. It's reversible with fabric buttons on the patterned side and mother of pearl ones on the burgundy side. It's the perfect size and ideal for chilly festival evening and for wearing on our next flight to India. Price? £3!

Tomorrow we're heading off to the beautiful Cotswolds for the Cornbury Festival, described as being England's most civilised gathering. The journey from Walsall takes around two hours and set up should take another seven. We're leaving early as we want to be finished and ready with cans in hand for 7pm for England Vs Croatia, Jon's taking his laptop especially. Come on England, the whole country's behind you!

As you can see our new (secondhand) van is absolutely rammed and we've yet to pack the food and our own clothes. I've no idea what I'm taking yet, so far there's a backless floor length silver evening gown, some iridescent cat's ears and a sequined bustier on the pile. Practical as ever, me!

It'll be the fourth year of trading there and we love it. Fab customers (although my favourite visitors, Andrea, Mary & the girls will be missing it this year), a happy family of fellow traders and, most importantly, the organisers really look after us with a secure, traders only enclosure and our own - clean - toilets. Read all about our previous years at Cornbury HERE, HERE and HERE.

Are we looking forward to spending the next seven weeks on the road? You bet! Especially as I've booked flights to Greece for the week after we get back in September. However mad the festival season gets (hopefully no more f*ck-ups like last year's Truck) we've got seven days of sea, sunshine, Mythos beer & Greek salads as big as my face to look forward to!

See you soon.

PS Good luck to Belgium tonight! 

Lets Be Frank - Forgotten Frocks, Refashioning and Ten Quid Vintage

What is it those strange minimalist types tell you? If you haven't worn it in six months then get rid of it or some such nonsense. This 1970s Frank Usher maxi has been hanging in my wardrobe for over two and a half years and today was the first time I've had it on my back. Maximalism rocks!

I wish I could say that I've given it a glamorous first outing but it was just a walk into town to pick up some bolts from Wilko and have a rummage around the chazzas. It made a good impression despite it's humble trip, a young woman even stopped her car to tell me how much she loved it. 

WEARING: 1970s Frank Usher maxi (Moseley Vintage & Retro Fair, December 2016), silver basket (British Heart Foundation), vintage Indian tribal pendant (Walthamstow Pop Up Vintage Fair), vintage Polaroids (car boot sale, 2016)

After the agony and the ecstasy of the England match on Tuesday night we weren't exactly firing on all cylinders on Wednesday morning but ,as we'd missed our regular shopping date last week when we met Ann & Jos to visit Attingham Park, thought we'd better check out the chazzas of our favourite town as the festival season kicks off next week and we might not get another chance for ages. 

I loved this souvenir apron from Grenada I found in the 50p bargain bin - just look at those shapely ladies.

Not that I had any intention of using it for its original purpose. Domestic goddess I ain't!
Out came the scissors and the sewing machine and half an hour later this backless halter top was born.

I wore it yesterday with a 1950s parasol I bought from a car boot sale and my great-great grandmother's lawn petticoat. I went with Jon to the hospital while he had his knees x-rayed (his knackered knees are the most likely reason behind his bad back - a common ailment with musicians). Who says I don't lead an exciting life?

I've been watching Jon like a hawk over the past month - every time he goes to do anything remotely physical I'm yelling belt! at him like a woman demented. I'm surprised he hasn't got a tan line from wearing the damned thing! Anyway, he's been watching his back and I'm happy to say that we'll be at Stockport's Vintage Village this coming Sunday.

Maybe it's the sunshine or the euphoria of the football but we've decided to have a massive £10 sale.

Here's just a bit of the stock we'll be taking. Nothing modern, no repro, no dross, just lots of great stuff including labels including Tootal, Jean Allen, Quad, Jaeger, Pringle, Gabicci and Kati for Laura Philips.

The Brazil Vs Belgium match about to kick off and a can with my name on it awaits.

I might love my Lundby of Sweden dolls houses and my Lotta of Stockholm clogs but tomorrow it's all about England....come on boys!!!!

See you soon.

Linking to Patti and the gang for Visible Monday. Do pop over and join in and see how incredible Patti looks in her Kinky Melon coat!