The temperatures have plummeted, it's dark when I get up in the morning and there's spiders as big as my head roaming the house. Time to face the truth, summer's finally over, my hemlines are rising and the tights are out.
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| WEARING: 1960s Tricel mini dress (made by me using a 1960s dressmaking pattern), 1960s leather trench coat (courtesy of much-missed blogger, Sarah Jane), breastplate (Topshop via charity shop), cobalt blue tights (charity shop), gold leather boots (Topshop's January sale) |
Do you ever get that funny feeling, the one where you urgently need to visit a particular town even though you know that the charity shops aren't up to much? That was me this morning. I had fully intended to crack on with the stock mending/up-cycling pile I'd started yesterday after we'd unloaded the van.....ten items down, fifteen to go (hence the lack of blog reading & commenting action) ....but I had to visit that particular Black Country town.
As soon as we walked into the first shop I knew why.
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| WEARING: Vintage silk Treacy Lowe midi dress (Present from a friend who found it in a charity shop), Rust trilby (£4, M&S January clearance sale), Indian tribal belt (originally Topshop, gift from Kelly) |
I've wanted to wear this 1970s gossamer light, silk midi dress by Treacy Lowe for a while but I'd decided that only green boots would work and had left it hanging forlornly on the outside of my wardrobe while I pondered on a suitable alternative I already owned. But lo and behold, there they were, the green boots of my dreams.
Not just any green boots, these are the olive clog boots with a chunky cable knit lining that I'd fallen in love with in TopShop way back in 2010 but couldn't justify the £80 price tag. Fast forward seven years and there they were, unworn, a perfect fit (despite being a UK 6) and just £4.99.....it just goes to show that if you wait long enough the thing you love will always turn up in a charity shop.
It wasn't a one-sided trip either, we snaffled a few choice pieces of vintage for the Kinky rails.
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| Clockwise from top left: 1960s nylon blouse; Romanian cowboy boots; Slinky 1970s maxi dress; Vintage dressmaking stuff (mine!); 1960s Made in Northampton knee high boots; 1930s rayon tunic; 1970s Dunn & Co needle cord blazer & Tootal cravat; 1960s three button worsted wool jacket, Peter England shirt. |
In other news Bethnal Green was a fantastic beginning to our Autumn fair season, well worth the agony of the 3.30 am start. It was lovely to see my friends Fay & Ruth again as well as meeting some lovely ladies who follow my blog.
A sure sign of a busy day is a lack of photos and this was the only one. The first outing for that £4.99 Frank Usher maxi dress I found in a charity shop over the summer.
We'll be trading with Judy's again this Saturday, in Chester, where my Grandma & her family came from. Details HERE.
Serendipitous chazzing! They are fabulous and so you, love.
ReplyDeleteYup, spiders all over the place. I was wearing one as an earring for ages before I realised. It was happy enough considering I'd walked through it's web! Happy trading on Saturday and I'll be seeing you in Bath!
Loves ya!
xxxx
Jaysus! I swear they're getting braver. I had one on my face on Sunday, I'm glad i was half asleep.
DeleteCan't wait till Bath! xxxx
We were working aswell...4am for us. The killer bit is about 2.30 in the afternoon when it all catches up with me. Fabulous boots...I saw some in a CS that shade a couple of years ago and left them. Regretted it ever since...lesson learned. Didn't repeat it when I saw my purple ones! Arilx
ReplyDeleteIt's no fun, these early starts! We usually get the same 2.30 sleepiness but fortunately for us trade was brisk all day so we didn't have time to notice. I fell asleep in the van on the way back - much to Jon, the driver's, disgust! xxx
DeleteStupendous boots, they look just like Lottas range. Don't talk to me about spiders...I had the hoover on at 2330 recently sucking one huge bastard up.... can't go to bed when I know they are at large.
ReplyDeleteThat Treacy Lowe frock of yours must be the best present EVER!
Glad to hear that Bethnal Green was a good 'un. xxx
They do look like the Lottas Autumn range which are fab but £4.99 is a lot easier on the bank account!
DeleteThat dress is a work of art. I've Googled the label and there's some absolute beauties in existence! xxx
Great boots! And you look glorious in that blue outfit.
ReplyDeleteSpiders don't bother me, but mice do-and this time of year they start getting desperate when the corn comes down.
Isn't it funny how you can get the vintage lover's equivalent of "Spidey Sense" about shops? With great taste comes great responsibility...
Thank you! I do love a mini dress and bright tights for a change!
DeleteFunnily enough my mum was the same as you, she could pick up the biggest spiders known to man but ran a mile at the mere mention of a mouse! xxx
I love the transition to winter clogs, they look just right with your gorgeous orange and green dress.it's a really beautiful outfit.
ReplyDeleteThe spiders are on the march, looking for love! I hate it, every year, round about this time, massive bazzas. xxx
I was thinking about wearing my Lottas with tights but these will be a lot warmer and my feet always feel the cold!
DeleteSpiders...awful things....what is the point? xxx
It feels like it's going to be a long winter, I'm not ready for it yet. Im refusing to put my boots on.
ReplyDeleteYour blue ensemble is gorgeous and such good colours to keep us cheery.
We've got the pull to go back to Carlisle as we didn't get a chance to look round. The chazzer said looked promising xxx
My boots never get put away, they're festival essentials although I'm not mad keen on wearing tights!
DeleteYou'll have to go back to Carlisle, my favourite BBC antique expect Paul Laidlaw lives there! xxx
Isn't it funny how that worked out? Patience in thrifting truly is a virtue.
ReplyDeleteSpiders are bad but millipedes are worse and that seems to be what I'm battling most. I HATE those things! Plus they are translucent. Ick. So gross.
My heart is swooning over that teal maxi dress!!! Would it be my size per chance? Size small?
Suzanne
A weird sixth sense for sure!
DeleteUrgh, millipedes. I don't see them very often but there was one on the front door last week. Hideous creatures! xxx
nice boots. One day I'll find charity shop shoes in my size that are worth buying. I have the worse luck with shoes.
ReplyDeleteDo you? I'm amazed that I do okay considering my feet are an average size, probably because i like weird footwear! xxx
DeleteYes, those green boots are well worth the wait! Gorgeous dress you've paired them with too. Never cared for spiders, although I understand they eat bugs - no comfort there! Thanks for linking up and sharing your treasures, xox
ReplyDeletePatti
http://notdeadyetstyle.com
I think I'd rather have the bugs! Horrid creatures! xxx
DeleteThe leather trench and those clogs!!!!! Loveeeeee!!! I can finally comment again bcuz my computer is running!!!!!
ReplyDeleteYay! Fab to have you back in Blogland! xxx
DeleteYou are so right; if you wait long enough it will turn up in a charity shop! I'm so pleased you got the boots; they are beautiful. I loved your dress and trench coat and wonderful necklace.The photo is very autumnal with the leaves on the ground.
ReplyDeleteThe maxi dress is gorgeous as is the one you wore to Bethnal Green. Could we have a close up please?
Lovely finds.
xxx
Thanks, Vronni! Its a sign you truly love something when you get excited about finding it years later!
DeleteI've added a close up of Sunday's dress on today's blog post. xxx
Spiders as big as your head! What a nightmare. But that midi dress with the green boots, how lovely. Xxx
ReplyDeleteThanks, Jess! xxx
DeleteI love your 60s outfit, that is so beautifully put together, your turqoise leather coat is fabulous - if only there was just one more for me. I am enjoying your 'put togethers' even more lately as you are mixing in the odd more recent high street sale finds and showing us how we can get a really good look with modern and vintage mixes plus a bit of home made.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Betty! My love for Topshop has come and gone since my Mum bought me a jumpsuit from there when I was 13! They do some brilliant footwear and jewellery and its even better when it turns up in a charity shop! xxx
Deleteclog boots envy!! :-D
ReplyDeleteso cool and GREEN! and so perfect with that dream of a fabulous silk dress! love your styling with the hat and tribal belt.....
i´m glad that the weekend was a success for you. your stall looks very inviting!
much love! xxxxx
I knew you'd like those clogs being a fellow clog lover! xxx
DeleteFabulous boots! I love the serendipity of much-stalked items turning up. It's happened to me with stuff on Ebay. I have my eye on a few high street things at the moment. Only seven years to wait...!! I just blogged about last month's charity shop finds, I get that urge to visit a certain place sometimes, though my last excursion turned out to be a waste of time. Maybe next time the hunch will pay off. Xx
ReplyDeleteI loved your September buys, keep on shopping! xxx
DeleteWow, that's some charity shop sixth sense you've got going on, what a great find. I love it when something you wanted new turns up at a fraction of the price.
ReplyDeletexx
Its so exciting when that happens, isn't it>? usually I didn't know I wanted it until I saw it like the wedding dress and 1950s plaster poodle I came back with on Wednesday! xxx
DeleteOh, olive green boots! They're the stuff of my dreams. Maybe I should pay a visit to one of the rarely visited, so-so chazzas here! Yours are fabulous and so is the Treacy Lowe dress, what clever friends you have! Eek, spiders! Our garden is full of them, and occasionally we find mangled specimen in the house, courtesy of Phoebe! xxx
ReplyDeleteI think you should, sometimes those so-so chazzas surprise you!!
DeleteSome of our spiders are so big the boys run away from them! xxx
Spiders as big as your head! Maybe they can be your Halloween decorations? We have tons of assorted crawly things in Florida. The snakes and lizards don't bother me at all. But the spiders and giant flying cockroaches send me into a complete meltdown.
ReplyDeleteBoth outfits are gorgeous. Love the blue leather coat and gold boots. And cannot even believe you found those green boots in a charity shop after passing them by before. You definitely have amazingly good shopping karma.
Theresa
www.vintagestylefiles.com
Now if I celebrated Hallowe'en that would be a great idea...not!! I love snakes and lizards and rats and mice but spiders just horrify me! xxx
DeleteGreat boots! Don't you love finding things you wanted but couldn't justify the price! L
ReplyDeleteCharity shop karma! xxx
DeleteUrgh, I detest the spider invasion! We call the September spiders Tabby Spiders as they remind us of Tabby cats.
ReplyDeleteThere was, however, a horrid double kneed gangly spider in the house who I evicted with great haste!
Yesssss... I do get Charity shop sixth sense but I also get charity shop paranoia about not going regularly and missing the items I am constantly on.the search for! If you ever see a dark green, thin cotton Topshop coat with a grey checked lining pleeease buy it for me and let me know to send you money as I am DETERMINED it will turn up in.someone's charity shop one day!!
The boots are Amazing! Such good condition too! I am in awe! Doesn't happen to us big foots!
I miss Sarah Jane too!Xx
You've just put me off tabby cats!!!
DeleteYou'll have to do a blog post of the items you're searching for then I can hone my skills! xxx
I love me some green shoes, so I feel happy that you found your dream boots!! The rust dress is amazing, and I love the rust hat with it, and of course the belt is a thing of beauty. Your blue trench is pretty awesome too! Glad you had a productive fair!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Natalia! the rust outfit reminded me of you, your colours! xxx
DeleteThe autumn colours of that outfit really suit you colouring and maybe mine too Vix. The green boots are totally fabulous and certainly worth waiting for - result! I'd love to rock up and see you guys with all of your lovely stock, but think you may well be too far up country for me to get to. Hey ho!
ReplyDeleteHave a great week.
Anna x
We keep asking Judy's to do some fairs further south, it would be a lovely road trip and I'd love to meet you! xxx
DeleteWow your chazzas have amazing prices. Those boots are so you! Funny my hemlines rise in Winter too. Seems counterintuitive.
ReplyDeleteWe have a shed in the woods where we camp. During one storm we were invaded by hunstsman spiders, yes the big ones. We had a baby in a cot and they were crawling over him. Stuff of nightmares! We now have mosquito nets even though it's never happened again in 10 years. There was that invasion of bush rats in the night though...😬 Xo Jazzy Jack
Weird, isn't it? Covering up in the sunshine and showing loads of leg when the temperature drops!!
DeleteOur charity shops often have bizarre pricing, I think its if the manager likes the item or not hence the reason the stuff I like is often super cheap!
Huntsman spiders!!! Yuk. xxx
glad that you've found that perfect pair of boots, it's so fabulous when those serendipious finds come to you, as if they were waiting for you and nobody else!. Lovely outfit really, and fab boots!
ReplyDeleteAnd I love your short dress and blue tights ensemble, so fab color combo, that coat is so cool and you rock!! gorgeous!!!
besos
It is fabulous when the thing you really wanted turns up in a charity shop, most of the time I didn't know I needed it until I saw it! xxx
DeleteWhen you hear the call, you've got to go... I had that with the Oxfam bookshop this week, though my copy of Bhowani Junction is nowhere near as fab as your boots.
ReplyDeleteLast weekend's kilo sale was awful, by the way. Aside from a few handbags I didn't need, it was mostly tat I wouldn't touch with a bargepole - not even *nice* 80s and 90s, the sort of thing everyone's nan wore back then. So I gleaned nothing for the Kinky rails.
I LOVE Bhowani Junction, nice find!
DeleteOh dear, that's a shame about the kilo let-down. I've only been to one and, even with a trader's early pass, wasn't up to much - ripped, tatty and not even vintage. xxx
They're boots and they're green - what's not to like!! Loving the mini dress too. xx
ReplyDeleteThanks, darlin'! xxx
DeleteI know all about that going where my heart leads me, and there it will be exactly what I had been looking for or sometimes not even looking for.
ReplyDeleteI am amazed at the stuff you find to resell. Me being a hardcore thrifter, I rarely find vintage clothing and if I do, it is marked up. Guess they've caught on to the Northern Californians looking for the stuff.
People often ask if I'm worried there'll ever be a shortage of vintage but no, I'm not! If it's not people downsizing, dying or decluttering then it's people who bought at vintage fairs 10 years ago (that's how long they've been popular here) and have got bored with it.
DeleteI did my bit for charity shop karma last week, sorted out the stockroom and donated 3 sacks of vintage clothes we'd had for years! xxx
I think it's about time I put my white lemon dress away, it's certainly geeting colder. Not that I mind about the change in weather, it's time to get cosy, but I only got three wears out of that dress!
ReplyDeleteMy, that Treacy Lowe dress is a beauty! Are those boots comfy? I always think of clogs as looking uncomfortable. My mother always wore clogs around the house and I could never understand why.
Spiders here too, I keep touching webs in the most random of places and then think there are spiders on me when they aren't.
xxx
ps - I have a lump on my head after the cupboard episode!
Ouch to the lump! Get some ice on it, baby!
DeleteThat dress will still be as lovely next summer and hopefully the weather will be far nicer so you can give it multiple outings.
Clogs are so comfy. I think a lot of people are wary but it's true. A lot of the chefs I used to employ wore them in the kitchen and if you can stand up in them for 8 hour shifts you know they're going to be good. xxx
Vix, you have the most incredible luck finding fantastic clothing and footwear!
ReplyDeleteWe finally have turned cooler too. Lovely to sleep with open windows and hear the crickets all. night.
Glad you had a wonderful time at Bethnal Green.The maxi dress you are wearing in the photo looks lovely.
Have a good weekend!
Robin
Hello Robin! I haven't heard crickets since we were in Greece months ago, how lovely! xxx
DeleteGiant spiders? There are North American Wolf Spiders in my garage that one can hear moving about! My cats have given up hoping the scratching sounds are mice in the shelving -- since an enormous specimen leaped at poor old granny cat and caused her to puddle on the floor. (I was there and almost made a puddle of my own.)
ReplyDeleteYou've been incredibly fortunate in finding two (!) pairs of handsome, useful boots, Vix. Boots and maxis are definitely a winning combo for the season.
Gah!Wolf Spiders!! What with the orange one that's another reason to give the States a wide berth! Hahaha! xxx
DeleteAs much as I enjoy seeing you in your summer maxis, I love seeing your colourful layering when the whether gets cooler. Those gold booties are the cat's pyjamas!
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately, I never have the luck you have at finding things I've seen in retail stores showing up in thrift stores, but I still find great stuff. The green clog boots are an excellent find.
Thanks, Shelley! I always feel a bit naughty flashing my legs after months of them being undercover!xxx
Delete