Working, Wearing & Watching

Hello! Thank you for the comments on my last post, I'm glad sharing my freaky bathroom experience didn't make you think I was totally nuts. 

Too wet to leave the house, I spent a large chunk of Saturday shortening this vintage dress I bought a few weeks ago and obviously had to wear it to go charity shopping and visiting Liz & Al the next day. My £3 Agnes B cashmere maxi coat got a fair bit of love from the volunteers in the chazza. 

The wool fedora, originally from Reiss & with the original tags still attached, was an eBay buy six years ago. 

I love a Bernshaw dress, my silver halterneck, worn at almost every festival we trade at (bought from my fab friend Graz of Moseley Vintage Hub many years ago) & the white cut-out maxi I wore when I dressed up as Medusa at Beautiful Days are both vintage Bernshaw. It's still in business today, specialising in expensive evening /prom dresses.

Looking like a midget beside Kinky Melon regulars and all round lovely chaps, The Hairy Bikers. 

 

Worn with the dress were the £3 cowboy boots scored from the clearance chazza earlier this year, handmade earrings made from leather offcuts & bought from an artisan leather shop in Chania in Crete (2022) and a 1960s faux turquoise & copper pendant (£1, clearance charity shop, 2021).

With a dry day forecast for Monday, work on our roof finally kicked off at 7.30am. Leaving Jon to keep roofer John supplied with tea inbetween finishing off the Kinky accounts, I spent the day photographing and listing on eBay.

With a distinct Autumnal nip in the air I uploaded the remaining fake fur coats left over from the festival season. Its unusual not to sell out, but despite a few rainy days the temperature didn't really drop so we didn't sell as many as we usually do, not that I'm complaining, I'd rather stay warm and take my coats home than freeze my t*ts off. With the oldest dating from the 1930s we've got almost a century's worth of styles. 

It was the first time I'd worn these amazing vintage 1960s raw silk trousers - bought from a festival regular who spends her time sourcing stuff she thinks I'll like from the charity shop she works out (and I usually do!) They are fully lined so didn't stick to the thermal tights I wore underneath. My trusty M&S Heatgen polo neck was bought as a second from an eBay seller in March 2020.

 Along with the vintage Greek fisherman's cap on my head, I wore the horseshoe nail pendant scored for 50p a couple of weeks ago and the black suede studded Western boots from Beacon Centre for the Blind (£5). This week's nails are Barry M's Black Pistachio, which as the name suggests is an almost black shade of green.

Tuesday felt like the first time in ages we'd walked down to the baths and it hadn't been raining. The pool was really quiet and with no distractions (ie., chatting to the regulars) I did my 40 lengths/40 poolside pull-ups in less than half an hour. 

Over breakfast in Spoons I found myself agreeing to have a stall at a charity market one of our favourite bar staff is organising at the pub next month. God knows how my vintage gear will go down with the Wetherspoons regulars but at least I can drown my sorrows if I don't sell anything!

Today's outfit was a vintage 1970s Anokhi block printed cotton shirt & almost matching maxi skirt from the same era. I was showered with compliments by the Punjabi women at the baths, they love that I wear so many Indian textiles.

I've not worn my posh Masscob for Liberty, London velvet *Badim* jacket for ages (at just £20, an insanely cheap eBay find, it was still selling for £420 when I bought it). The jacket, skirt & blouse were all eBay buys in 2020, the Aldo hat, vintage beaded belt and ethnic earrings were chazza shop finds.

We walked home via the charity shops, picking up a couple of cool vintage bits of the stockroom and a couple of useful things for me - yes, another straw bag! This cute cross-body one was originally £28 from Accessorize (£1.99 from Compton Hospice) and a pair of Under Armour leggings, new with the £41.99 price tags still attached (also £1.99 from Compton Hospice). I love workout leggings, not just for exercising, they're brilliant in Winter as, unlike tights, they don't cling to my dresses.

I do like having a theme when I'm eBay listing. Today's was sequins and sparkle although trying to photograph some of it took a few attempts to get right, everything's so shiny!

In the absence of any recent adventures & some truly dreadful weather we've been watching lots of TV. The Other Mrs Jordan: catching The Ultimate Con Man is one of those jaw-dropping documentaries you can hardly believe is real; Enemy of the People is a riveting thriller series (if, like us, you regularly watch Finnish films and TV series, you'll recognise most of the actors) and the new series of Traces, co-produced by the brilliant crime writer Val McDermid, is just as good as the last one. 

We've got another day of rain forecast for tomorrow but sod that, I'm off to meet Nikki in Birmingham! I'll report back very soon.