Pre-Goa Jumble Sale & Car Boot Sale Madness

I might be flying off tomorrow but it would be rude not to share today's finds from the car boot sale and jumble sale.

The car boot was wet, cold and muddy this morning, other than the usual market traders flogging their wares there wasn't much in the way of interesting stalls but I did manage a couple of purchases.

Vernon Ward "Maternal Wing" 1960's framed Boots' print 50p. Already taking pride of place on the bedroom wall.

1960's Tyber simulated fur jacket because I can never pass up a fake fur coat especially when the seller only wanted 50p for it.

After a pit stop for lunch and the funniest Skype chat ever with my darlings Helga and Sarah in Sydney we joined the queue for the monthly Methodist jumble sale. No early entry today as it was for a different church group who don't offer previews. Not to worry though, the other jumblers are more into their mainstream clobber so no competition on the vintage front.

1950's hand-made and fully lined braided jacket

Linzi of London, 1970's black crimplene maxi dress

Vintage Jaeger polyester printed blouse

British-made vintage Caprice swimsuit in navy and white (cute but personally I prefer a tie-sided triangle bikini when I'm on the beach)

Old fashioned coat hangers and two huge pieces of crimplene

Gorgeous hardback cookery and lifestyle book (RRP £19.99)

Match Set by Lerose 1970's crimplene maxi skirt

From left: 1980's floral court shoes, burgundy velvet veiled hat, vintage lurex courts, 1960's raffia sun hat, 1950's Scottish mohair stole, leather backed vintage gloves, four psychedelic scarves (which I've already sneaked into my hand luggage), 1950's gold lurex fringed stole and a 1960's brocade evening bag with a chain strap.

Today's favourite find has to be this turquoise Chinese dragon kimono jacket

Top notch label, eh?

Total jumble sale expenditure today : £4.50

Dress (handmade by me using a jumble sale curtain)

I'm dashing off to sort out my roots, do battle with the Veet and concoct tea using all the leftovers in the fridge. 

Catch you tomorrow! I can't leave without wishing you a proper goodbye.

**I'm truly honoured to be featured on my dear friend Sacramento's blog today, if you haven't visited her you will be blown away by her stylishness and beauty.**

Done & Dusted

I've finally finished my packing, the bags are locked and Jon's hidden the key so there's no chance of me sneaking a last minute maxi dress or an extra pair of earrings into my capsule travel wardrobe.

The playsuit and kaftan below are beachwear, ideal for slipping over a bikini for sunset cocktails, seashore walks or wandering through the coconut groves on the way to the beach.

River Island playsuit (50p car boot sale) worn with my vintage denim waistcoat, paisley headscarf (ExtraCare 75p), Country Casuals belt, tooled leather bag, Vintage Polaroid sunglasses (courtesy of beautiful Misfit Sarah) and macrame pendant (from my darling Helga), tribal anklelets from India

Antik Batik silk kaftan (courtesy of the gorgeous Christina) worn with my paisley head scarf and "Festival" hoop earrings

Here's my ecclectic choice of holiday reading:

 This won't last three weeks but there's a book exchange in the village so I can trade them in for more when I'm finished.

In addition to the five dresses, silk kaftan, two scarves and playsuit (and the outfit I'm travelling in) I'm also taking four bikinis, two pairs of vintage sunglasses, a belt, rubber flip flops and a pair of leather sandals. The flip-flips are the only new purchase and cost a princely £2 from Asda. Pavements are non-existent in most of Goa and nightlife is mostly centred on the beach. There's absolutely no point in taking lots of shoes as most of the time I'll be barefoot.

From bottom left: Microfibre towel, vintage wrap skirt (courtesy of the lovely Pearl), the Hindi-print yellow sarong, make-up bag (containing blusher, kohl, tweezers, make-up mirror and pencil sharpener), Oscar De La Renta leather jewellery roll stuffed with hair accessories, bindis and jewellery plus two packs of 1950's folding travel hangers.

First aid and toiletries. Odomos is an Indian brand of mossie repellent, cheap as chips and safe enough to use on even the most sensitive of skin.

This is my travelling outfit:

1970's Dollyrockers maxi skirt (eBay 99p) worn with a St Michael Broiderie Anglaise wench top (flea market 25p), Swedish Hasbeens and my trusty denim waistcoat. The silk shawl provides extra warmth on the plane and was from Kanchipuram in Tamil Nadu.

Now I'm finished with my packing I can go to the pub later and also have time for the monthly jumble sale and a car boot sale before I leave on Friday. Hoorah for forward planning!

Sent Packing!

At last I've got round to starting to pack my Goa bag today. I hate choosing holiday clothes and find it so hard to whittle down my enormous wardrobe into a tiny canvas bag.

Rather than selecting individual items I plan the entire outfit and pack them together, no chance then of forgetting a pair of earrings or the right belt. The house where we stay only has a tiny mirror over the sink and it's essential to get the outfit right at home as I have no idea of what I look like when I'm there.

1970's polyester maxi dress (20p from a jumble sale) worn with a handmade hair flower, a choker bought from a Lamani gypsy in Karnataka and heaps of bangles.

I usually take five dresses for a three week trip and as they are mostly synthetic they can washed and dried outside within a couple of hours. My hair is worn up in a topknot during the day and either covered with a scarf or decorated with a flower clip and it's left loose and tousled at night.

Vintage cheesecloth sundress (Courtesy of my darling Helga), Tooled leather bag (Car boot sale), Embellished leather thong sandals (Street market, Tamil Nadu), Vintage Ted Lapidus sunglasses (Acorns Hospice)

My beach bag doubles as my hold baggage. I travel in closed-in footwear and change into sandals when I land. I learnt my lesson a few years ago when we changed planes in Paris and I had to walk through 7 inches of snow in flip flops after disembarking from the Mumbai flight. Never again.

Vintage ethnic print sundress (£3.95 YMCA) worn with a suede Country Casuals belt (50p Age Concern) and heaps of ethnic and vintage jewellery

We take two bags with us and put half our clothes in each, that way if a bag gets lost in transit we still have our own clothes to wear.

Vintage St Michael Bri-Nylon nightdress (Charity stall on flea market £1) worn with a 1970's denim waistcoat and a bronze headband (Boots' The Chemist 99p bargain bin)

I never buy new clothes for my travels, everything's old and well-loved and most of it has been to India many times.  I try everything on first to ensure that it still fits and requires no running repairs. I've spent a couple of hours today sewing over the hems, replacing old elastic and taking in seams.I don't want to be wasting valuable holiday time stitching.

Vintage Berketex maxi and matching scarf (eBay 99p) worn with huge hoop earrings (courtesy of the divine Helga) and my gorgeous Swedish Hasbeen clogs (Courtesy of the beautiful Sarah Misfit)

So that's the dresses sorted, it's separates, toiletries and books next.

A Man In A Million - Jumble Sale Finds

 

You can't fault Jon. As soon as we've paid the jumble sale entrance fee we split up and go our separate ways. We buy our goodies, stuff them into a bag and don't allow each other a peek at the booty until we're back home.

Only once the coffee's made and we're sitting comfortably can we tip the bags out and examine the finds. This vintage cape was what Jon snaffled for me at yesterday morning's Cat's Protection League jumble sale. Didn't he do well?

He also grabbed this immaculate English Lady sheepskin car coat. It's still got the cutter's label inside.

Here's a joint effort - vintage Spartan suitcase, wooden chess box, 1950's plastic baking sleeves for protecting your frock when whipping up a Victoria sponge, 1918 edition of Charles Kingsley's Westward Ho! from Herbert Strang's Empire Library, Grimm's Fairy Tales presented to Maggie Blakeman in Spring 1895 and *find of the day*, a miserable child tea tray (labelled Donkey Boy). Now we can be tormented by sad-faced kiddies when we take tea in bed.

Wool cape and denim shorts (20p each from yesterday's jumble sale), vintage Jeff Banks W1 label blouse (the gorgeous Alex). I'd forgotten about these yellow Topshop T-Bar shoes, thanks for the reminder, Ellie (£1.95 Acorns Hospice)

Hope your weekend has been a good one. As usual, I've eaten and drunk way too much, had a rocking night out on the town and still haven't got round to sorting out my Goa bag.

I Used To Be Snow White But I Drifted*

Hoorah! It's warm enough to wear my favourite dress. 

 

When I originally found this California maxi at a car boot sale last June it was far too big so I spent hours painstakingly taking in every seam by hand until it was the perfect fit. I always get called Snow White when I wear it and today was no exception.

I picked up this tooled leather belt at yesterday's car boot sale.

I also bought this North African tooled leather bag.

After swimming this morning I couldn't resist popping into a couple of charity shops where I  snaffled these treats

Lemon pure silk camisole from Whistles (£2.49) and three strings of vintage beads (£1 for the lot). The blue ones are glass and the pearl ones have a silver hallmarked clasp.

Vintage gingham maxi dress (50p), Tooled leather bag (£1), Horseshoe buckle belt (£1)

Have a fabulous Friday. I'm forsaking a jumble sale for a homemade pizza, rum and coke and trashy TV.
 *Thanks, Mae West.

Day Meets Night

Yesterday's charity shop buys were far too good to be kept for their original purpose. There's no way this pretty 1960's St Michael Bri-nylon nightie in blueberry and violet tones should be hidden away from the world and worn to bed, I'm re-purposing it into day wear.

After a day's charity shopping I couldn't get these Dolcis shoes on my feet but this morning they slipped on perfectly. Now they're on they're staying put. It's a crime to keep them for evening wear, a bit of daytime lurex never hurt anyone.

A pair of vintage shoes in a 7B, a perfect fit for my long, skinny feet.

I bought this 1930's parasol from a car boot sale last spring for £2 and spent the whole of the Glastonbury Festival regretting not bringing it with us. What's the betting I'll remember it this year and it'll rain for the whole week?

Charity shopped 1960's nightie (£1.95) and vintage shoes (£2) worn with turquoise tights, Lord Python of Sheffield 1970's pendant (Car boot sale 50p), stacks of second-hand bangles and a peach and tangerine hair flower (hand made by me)

It's been glorious here for two days, I didn't even need a coat at the car boot sale this morning. I feel a pint of cider coming on.

Good Vibrations

You all rock! Along with the good karma generated from dropping off a bag of donations at the Salvation Army the luck you wished me for today's charity shop and flea market spree must have paid off as I've come home with a heap of random insanity. 

A bit of an image heavy post today, sorry! Here's what I found:

Vintage Avon aftershave bottle in the shape of an Alsatian (Flea Market 50p)

1950's Japanese-made plaster poodle to add to my collection (Age UK 95p)

A fabulous peacock to adorn one of my hats (Flea Market 50p)

1960's Dolcis gold lurex evening shoes (Sue Ryder £2)

Max Factor plush cat with perfume in a plastic dome (Flea Market 50p)

1967 Corgi hair care book with some great advice on choosing the right hair piece and how to put curlers in correctly (Flea Market 50p)

1950's magazine rack in wipe-clean plastic (British Heart Foundation £1)

1950's faux fur jacket with grey satin lining and bracelet-length sleeves (Salvation Army £2)

1980's Christian Dior nail polish in Bubble Gum (Flea market £2)

1960's St Michael Bri-nylon nightdress in blueberry and violet, which I will wear as a dress (Compton Hospice £1.95)

Pretty handmade 1940's banana yellow crochet cardigan. I'm not a knitwear lover but this is just gorgeous on (Compton Hospice £2)

St Michael black cotton wench top, perfect with a maxi skirt for Goa (Flea market 25p)

Fownes Glove Wash Set, plastic hand-shaped frames for drying your laundered gloves. 

(Flea market 40p)

How gorgeous is this black satin kimono blouse? I nearly passed out when I saw the label.

How much?

Knocked down to a quid as it had been on the shop floor for a month without a glimmer of interest.

Like this vintage fake fur Astraka gilet? My lovely friend Tanya spotted it at a car boot sale and thought of me....I love it!

What a day, bargains, glorious spring sunshine and a Wetherspoon's lunch and I get to come home with change from a £20 note!