Reader Requests

We've finally waved goodbye to the incessant rain and instead have the kind of Winter conditions I'm happy to live with, bitingly cold but brilliantly sunny. The kind of weather that it's easy to dress for - thermal leggings and Nordic socks hidden under my maxi skirts and stompy boots, polonecks, Indian quilted jackets and bastard massive sheepskin hats. 

Despite the sub-zero temperatures the pavements were ice-free when we walked down to the baths for our twice weekly swim at 7.30am this morning. Under my vintage suede jacket I wore an early 1970s Anokhi partially quilted jacket, my Dilli Grey block printed maxi skirt and one of my trusty sheepskin hats bought for 75p from the Salvation Army over a decade ago.

This silver moss agate (?) pendant was in the tin of tribal treasures Jon bought me for Xmas. The silver snake chain was 200 rupees and bought from a flea market in India about 10 years ago.

William's fur goes all static- y, a sure sign the weather's icy cold. 

This vintage Ritu Kumar for Monsoon dress has featured on the blog many times in the four years I've owned it. I wore it on Saturday and Sunday. Yes, I repeat outfits! 

Another treasure from of Lord Jon's tin of treats this moldavite pendant. I bought the silver Rajasthani hoop earrings from Beautiful Days in 2022.

Beth asked for a close-up of my bag....a £2 Vinted bargain!

 
And on the subject of requests, my friend Kezzie asked for a close-up of the leather and Gore-Tex Clarks' walking boots I wore to Wightwick Manor on Friday. They were £3 from the clearance charity shop just before Xmas. Not the sexiest looking things in the world but warm, waterproof and comfy! 

We found a few bits in the charity shop on Sunday. A vintage mohair & wool newsboy cap; a vintage linen shift dress; a 1990s German-made needlecord blazer; a vintage embroidered tunic; 1970s Kangol angora trilby; an organic cotton top by fairtrade brand Omnes with the £39 tag still attached (now in my wardrobe); Vintage Pola of Finland boucle jacket and a 1980s black leather waistcoat. The paper label attached to the Omnes top can be put in soil and it'll grow into a plant - how cool is that? 

My William Morris radar is always at its most powerful after a visit to Wightwick and I snaffled this Morris & Co makeup bag from the 50p basket.

As we had a few appointments (the annual boiler service and a tradesman popping round to give us a quote) Monday was a working from home day. The vintage blouse is a new addition to the wardrobe, an under-a-fiver Vinted buy described by the lovely seller as "Beautifully embroidered Chinese blouse, This was bought for me by my parents on a trip to Hong Kong in 1976. Sadly I didn't like it at the time and never wore it! But I kept it over the years and now, of course, it's too small." 

Unlike the seller, I'm the same size as I was as a teenager so it's perfect for me!

The details - Afghan earrings (eBay, 2020), Banjara 1940s dowry belt (bought from Anjuna Flea Market in Goa, 2001), Kuchi hair decoration (Jon's box of delights!)

On the subject of requests, reader Sarah asked if I'd share a photo of our bookshelves. The Billy bookcase on the landing is groaning under the weight of both fiction and books about Pre-Raphaelite & Surrealist art, mythology, travel, ceramics, gardening, rock music, vintage cars, tattoos and photography. Despite donating most of the fiction (with the exception of Mick Herron) back to the charity shop after we've read it, most of the shelves are two books deep. 

Here's my collection of vintage fashion and craft books which live on top of my haberdashery cupboard. I bought those 1930s Art Deco penguin bookends from a Walsall jumble sale when I was 21.

We've owned most of these 1960s "kitchen sink" novels, Agatha Christie thrillers and James Bond books since we were teenagers. Theses are currently shrouded in cobwebs and piled up in the corner of the middle room, waiting for one of us to do something with them.

My Dad collected these Penguin Classics as a young man (and I've added a few more to the collection). The articulated monkey was made in Germany in the 1930s and was my Mum's as a child. They live in the glazed cupboard in the middle room.

Below is what the middle room looks like when its tidy (taken from a photoshoot for Your Home magazine back in 2015 HERE)

Here's the cook books. They live in the glazed cupboard in the kitchen.

Here's my current read, recommended by We Need To Talk About Kevin author, Lionel Shriver. Set during the English Civil war, its an astonishing tale of violence, madness and forbidden love and, as this week's History of Royal Fashion module is The Stuarts, it couldn't be more apt.

I'm very excited about snaffling a couple of members only tickets for the premiere of Poor Things this evening at Walsall Light. 

I never read reviews before going to the cinema but I love Mark Ruffalo and Willem Dafoe and the trailer looks brilliantly bonkers. 

 

See you soon!