Friday 5 March 2010

Bargains and birdcages

Maxi Dress (eBay), Hand-dyed boots (Charity shop), Faux fur gillet (Hand-made) Jewellery (India)

I found my bargain dress on eBay last December, no-one else bid on it so I won it for 99p. It's actually a "Dollyrockers" but the seller hadn't a clue and listed it under "Women's Clothing" with the title "long dress". It always creates a stir when I wear it.

In the background you might be able to make out some of my hat collection, a cinema cigarette advert (bought at a boot sale for £5) and a few of my suitcases. I keep my summer clothes in the larger one. The wooden puppets were bought back from a trip to Lombok in Indonesia back in the late '90's and are the very same one can be spotted in my pal, Helga's groovy house.

Here's the results of today's bargain hunting expedition:

The chic German-made turban was 95p and still has the original 1970's store tags attached .When I spotted it I immediately thought of my friend Jem's latest post. The vintage black patent handbag was made by Ackery of London, it's in mint condition and suede lined. It cost £3.50. 

The clothing was off a stall on our local market. The guy buys crates of clothes at auctions and sells it off at crazy prices. Some are vintage and others are designer samples (no labels, occasionally with pins still in situ). My haul included a couple of tailored jackets, black lazer cut leggings, a tweed shoulder cape, a crazy orange Chanel-on-Acid cardi, a customised denim trucker jacket and a black maxi skirt with a psychedelic pagoda print along the hem. 
This jacket has a bustle and fits like it was made to measure,the other has puffed shoulders, a nipped-in waist and a huge pussybow - I look like a gothic widow.

The great thing about market shopping is the camarderie, you can have a laugh with the stallholders, haggle over the price and flirting pays dividends. I got the whole lot for a tenner. You wouldn't get that much fun on the high street.

Jon's been busy today and created this little beauty:

It's a Victorian birdcage we found in a charity shop for £1.25. It's been given the verdegris treatment and wired up to become our new stair light. We need a more attractive energy saving lightbulb and we've got some artificial peacocks to clip around it.

Pretty, huh?

21 comments:

  1. oh that's it..fuel my maxi dress longing ;)
    you look fabulous and I LOVE the birdcage x

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  2. God! Another amazing haul!

    I love finding unmarked vintage on ebay! One of my regular searches is old -year, -years etc so I dont get kids clothing but I always find badly titled bits!

    and that birdcage looks amazing!

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  3. Love the dress! It looks like it came straight out of the Pucci house. Lovely. :)

    Amber
    ambersmouthwash

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  4. Oh my!!!! The surface pattern on that frock is truly amazing, I adore that style lots!
    We should go snooping around the charity shops together, it would be pretty epic me thinks?

    P.S...I'm so glad I'm not the only one who gets aisle rage ha ha :)

    peace & bows...
    prettyneons X

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  5. Oh my, that's quite a dress!

    And the birdcage is utterly wonderful. What a great idea for a lightshade! Is the hall/stairs all decorated now then?

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  6. I love the pagoda maxi, the colours are fab xx

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  7. Dear, you've got the perfect wardrobe ! Your dress is fabulous !

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  8. G and I love Jon's creation!!Looks fab!G says "how about a stuffed budgie??!!" Twit!!
    That maxi dress is way awesome,and what a steal!!Too many people here know what they have,and it gets harder and harder to get a good deal these days.
    O,and we adore the colour combo of the turban and the black handbag!!Can't wait to see you in that turban!!I love those old suitcases too.
    Helga xxx

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  9. Oooh you look fabulous darling :) i would never get away with wearing that dress at all!!

    I have to say i love that bustle jacket sample you got- reminds me of Vivvie westwood and the stuff i used to make for myself when i was at college blatantly copying her of course!! Is it a tiny size??

    Sarahxx

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  10. Vix,
    big LOVE for that Dollyrockers dress!
    I'd be mega chuffed if I'd bagged that beauty for only 99p.
    I do so delight in finding deadstock items with the original tags still intact :)...the turban is FAB!
    I also really like the look of the maxi skirt with the pagoda print & the lovely handbag.
    I'd also like to praise Jon's marvellous creation, it looks stunning!
    Vix you lucky thing, to have such a creative partner...my hubby intensely dislikes DIY of any discription, so most of that stuff I'm allotted with.
    Have a peach of a weekend my lovely!
    ...xXx

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  11. You make the maxie dress rock. Cool light fixture too.

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  12. Lovely dress; I really like all the colors used. Great find with the black & white jacket, it's really cute!

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  13. Thanks, everyone!

    Alex - The stairs aren't finished yet. We've got to wallpaper the risers and stain the tops, strip down the stair rail and then decide which whacky pictures are gonna take centre stage on the walls.

    Sarah - The jacket is very Westwood-esque, isn't it? Sample sizes are usually a UK8 so my perfect size, great news for me even better news for the market stall man.

    Jem - I am lucky. My pals are very envious of his talents.

    Helga - I've got great plans for the new residents of the cage, watch this space!!

    Vix
    xxx

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  14. Oh I love that dress it looks amazing on you!

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  15. Sweet dress, it's so 70's! Reminds me of what I would find up at my grandparent's cabin

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  16. this is all so cool! love the birdcage thing :)

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  17. i love how you used that birdcage. its so cool! :D

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  18. great outfit. ui think that waste coat is not match

    http://101smiles.blogspot.com/

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  19. Wow all that for a tenner! great stuff. I love the turban, colour will look great on your hair.

    The birdcage light is fantastic, clever Jon!!

    x x

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  20. I love those turban hats, they are so elegant. Unfortunately any I've ever come accross have been in really poor condition so you did well!

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  21. The dress is fantastic... what a brilliant bargain!

    Well done Jon, that birdcage looks stunning as a light fitting and so unique.

    x

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Lots of love, Vix