Babet, Back Views & Bargains

Good Afternoon! We're currently being battered by Storm Babet and our roof is leaking like a bastard but parts of the UK have got it much, much worse. I was planning to meet up with Nikki on Wednesday but after seeing the weather warnings we decided to postpone our trip. Instead, Lord Jon & I popped over to our favourite Black Country town for a spot of charity shopping but were home before the heavens opened.

Lovely readers, Kathryn & The Ancients from St Louis, requested I post some photos of the back of my outfits so they could how my clothes hung , I hope these meet with your approval, gang!

I wore the English-made bruise coloured suede coat I scored for £2 from Banardos earlier this year along with one of my favourite charity shop finds ever, a vintage Adini block printed maxi dress bought for £1 from one of the local clearance chazzas back in 2017. The Indian pendant, studded with amethysts, was £2 from a car boot sale a decade ago. The plum fedora, a rare retail buy, is now in its fourth year, money well spent.

On Thursday morning we were in the swimming pool just after 8am and, as usual, treated ourselves to a 'Spoons breakfast afterwards. You'll have to take my word that I wore a dress underneath this 1970s charity-shopped suede coat (bought in 2018) as I inadvertently deleted the photo. I'm wearing what Jon calls my Gimp Hat (River Island via a charity shop) big enough for me to stuff my hair inside when its raining thus eliminating the need for an annoying umbrella.

The Indian sari silk tote bag was from a fellow trader's stall at Beautiful Days last Summer, the handmade enamel and bronze Evil Eye earrings were bought in Athens earlier this year.

My friend Betty commented on my last post about being surprised at how many pairs of boots I'd got and since I published my blog I've added another two pairs to my collection! Only two pairs were bought new as I'm pretty fortunate with my second-hand finds (I think a EUR 40 must be very common). These fabulous Indian-made studded suede Western-style boots jumped out at me when we were charity shopping on Wednesday, they've never been worn and were a snip at £5. The damp weather is playing havoc with the osteoarthritis in both my big toes, the NHS recommend wearing wider-fitting footwear to reduce the pressure on the joints and luckily for me, these are marked as "wide fit".

The foul weather continues so this morning (Friday) I wore the biggest hat I own (vintage Nigel Rayment), the brim's better than any umbrella! I wore a 1970s Dollyrockers dress, a very generous gift from pals Lynn & Philip, and this 1960s embroidered suede jacket I won for £15 on eBay back in the Spring. It's lined with the most glorious peacock blue silk - I've since found its twin on Etsy for £300!

More new-to-me boots! I spotted these tan leather cowboy boots in the clearance charity shop last week but left them behind - god alone knows why, they were only £3! As they were still there I took it as a sign they ought to come home with me....I'll never be a minimalist. 

They've certainly been well-loved and the previous owner had gone to the expense of having them resoled at some point. Piccadilly for Paskal is based in Naples and still sells Italian-made leather goods although these are a few decades old. As the leather is so soft and well worn they're nice and roomy, I can wear them with my Nordic socks and my big toes felt like they were floating on air. I love the brass maker's labels.

Remember these pendants? They were my holiday souvenir from Corfu back in the Summer. 

I've gone full-on Autumn with my make-up. The brand new Revolution magnetic eyeshadow palette and Barry M Red Sea nail paint were £1 each from the Air Ambulance charity shop.

It's not the weather for taking outdoor photos of the stock we've found for the Kinky Melon rails but here's a few recent charity shop finds we're keeping for ourselves....

When we're in Greece I'm always drooling over Korres products so was very excited to find these shower gels in the clearance charity shop marked up at £1 (they retail at around £15 each). They smell absolutely gorgeous.

 Continuing with the Greek theme, this fabulous (35cm diameter) Poole Pottery charger is from their 1970 Aegean collection and was priced at £3.95

This sculpture, signed A Santini and marked Made in Italy, was a couple of quid. There's some beauties on the company website HERE ( I wouldn't mind Medusa). I can't resist a coffee table art book - Clarice Cliff, Gardens of Delight, The Dictionary of Ornament & Jan Morris's Pre-Raphaelite Women were recent buys from the £1 bin.

Lord Jon was rather taken with this framed, signed lithograph of a very Wintry Notre Dame. I bet it cost the owner a lot more than the £2 Jon paid.

Now hanging on the bathroom wall. 

I'm not the only one with new-to-me boots. Jon found these waterproof Rakim Utility boots on Wednesday. They didn't have a price label but the chap on the till said that they'd have to charge £5 as they're Doc Martens. He was more than happy with that, they've kept his feet lovely and dry this week.

Halloween isn't my thing and I absolutely loathe all that plastic themed tat that'll doubtlessly end up in landfill on 1st November but last year I couldn't resist buying this Liberty Hera print fabric pumpkin, handmade to raise funds for a local charity for the visually impaired. 

I dragged it out of hibernation and it's currently adorning the mantlepiece which I've dusted today (the crazy things you do when it's too wet to play outside!) 

Have a fabulous weekend and see you on the other side!

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