This Old Thing? Rediscovering My Wardrobe

I could never be a minimalist. While I'm fine with living out of a bag for a month in India, nothing beats throwing open the wardrobe doors and being confronted by a riot of colour then pondering upon what to wear that day. Hippy in vintage block prints and silver bangles, trippy in chiffon & psychedelia or just plain crazy in a mash-up of it all?

What's even more thrilling is rediscovering stuff I've had for years, like this embroidered cotton Kati at Laura Phillips maxi dress I bought from a car boot sale way back in 2010. I'd stuck it on the Kinky rails a couple of years ago because the last time I'd tried it I couldn't get the zip up but it didn't sell because everyone else had the same problem. An improved, healthier diet (doing the NHS quiz days before my birthday was a wake-up call, I didn't want to be a flabby 50 year-old) and it fits like it did seven years ago...hooray!

Last week my wardrobe was looking like an unholy mess so I took everything out and started again. Lurking at the bottom was this '70s chiffon maxi with a bastard massive poppy print, I'd completely forgotten about. After trawling through my blog it turns out that the last time I wore it was in 2011 - six years ago! Tut tut! I wore it to go chazzing on Tuesday (with a fake fur coat, thermal leggings and gloves, I'm not completely mad).

Vintage maxi (sale rail at a vintage fair), 1970s wide brimmed felt hat (car boot sale), Hmong tribal necklace (present from Krista)

Here's something else that hasn't seen the light of day in years, this 1970s silver apple atomiser filled with solid Charlie perfume - still smelling exactly the same as the scent I loved as a teenager. After looking back through the blog archives I discovered that I'd bought it from a car boot sale in 2011 for 25p. Why the long absence? No idea but, when you buy stuff that's over 40 years old, there's no rush to wear it all the time, it's hardly going to go out of fashion.

Of course, it's always good to find something new to add to my collection and, as I've donated a whopping seventeen pieces of my own clothing to the Kinky rails this week, I reckon I deserved a treat.

1960s maxi (neighbouring vintage stall at 2015's End of the Road festival), vintage hat (£1.99, hospice charity shop)

My vintage Ricci Michaels of Mayfair psychedelic dress needed a suitably crazy hat and the 1960s fake fur buckle hat I found in a chazza this week seemed just the thing - there's no hiding with a dress like this so it seems a futile exercise to play it safe with bland accessories. 

Clockwise from top left: 4 x 1950s bow ties; Vintage doeskin waistcoat; 1970s Indonesian batik shirt; vintage leather jacket; 1980s Canadian-made tapestry waistcoat; Rayon Twill gents scarf; Vintage cowboy boots; Doc Martens; 1960s knit; 1970s leather clutch; 1960s fake fur car coat; 1970s acrylic & metallic thread gypsy top; Doc Martens; 1940s Newey Brothers of Birmingham leather driving gloves; 1980s Italian leisure shirt

Here's the rest of this week's charity shop finds. Jon scored two pairs of Doc Martens, the tan pair are his size so he's keeping them. He's annoyed that they aren't the British-made ones he prefers but you can't have it all, can you?

Kati at Laura Phillips maxi (20p, car boot sale), Charlie atomiser pendant (details above)

We've got a busy weekend ahead, we're trading with Judy's in Cumbria on Saturday (see HERE) and at Moseley on Sunday (see HERE). We're travelling up to the Lake District tomorrow and staying overnight so the Beastly Boys (Stephen Squirrel, Frank and a fresh out of hibernation, Jacob) will be keeping the cat sitter busy.

See you soon!