More Tales Of The City & Some Cowgirl Chic

The incessant rain didn't dampen our spirits when Nikki & I met up in Birmingham on Wednesday and we had a fabulous day wandering around the shops, being complimented by people who loved our style and putting the world to rights over pints of Birmingham-brewed Indian Summer ale and steaming plates of samosa chat in our favourite city centre hang-out, The Indian Brewery. 

With our long hair and mutual love of Indian textiles and vintage clothing, we're constantly asked if we're sisters, which I'm more than happy about. 

On Wednesday Nikki wore a Dilli Grey blouse, East tapestry coat and a vintage Anokhi skirt and I wore an All About Audrey dress, vintage Kashmiri waistcoat, some handmade green leather cowboy boots (a Vinted find) and my Mum's 1970s Mongolian lamb coat.

We did more socialising on Thursday when our friends Brendan and Lynne popped over for dinner. It was high time we took a turn at hosting, Bren's cooked us several delicious meals over at theirs (another household where the menfolk do the cooking). William was on his best behaviour and adores the present they bought him, this catnip tiger.

We were too busy catching up to take any photos. Jon went for a Spanish theme with tapas starters (garlic, chilli & lime marinated mushrooms, slithers of Manchego cheese and pimento stuffed olives), Spanish chicken casserole with Mediterranean couscous (with a meat-free version for me) and Fuerteventura fudge petit fours (made by moi using gofio, olive oil and unrefined sugar). 

William wasn't the only one with a gift, we were given this gorgeous houseplant in a fabulous pot and a pile of Montalbanos.

Whilst I can't be arsed with Easter, any week involving a public holiday is excellent for bargain hunting as most people seem to be elsewhere. Look at Thursday's splendid Lidl Waste Not box, a pineapple, a pomegranate, two mangos, six apples, six peppers, white cabbage, a cauliflower, two lettuce and an aubergine, all for £1.50! Bank Holidays are historically good for snaffling amazing stuff on eBay (and Vinted!) and for finding great deals on flights - expecting the majority of people to be sitting around the dinner table eating their roast lamb or doing family stuff, many airlines slash fares. As a child-free vegetarian orphan I know what I'll be doing this weekend.

Any how, back to Nikki. When we're out we're often complimented on what some people call our Cowgirl Chic. A quick look online and I reckon that the way the women of the Wild West dressed - minus the rifle & the horse - is pretty close to our style. There's gorgeous Michelle Dockery in the kick-ass female-centric Western series, Godless, with waist length braids and block printed blouses.

There's the villainous Jennifer Jason Leigh in the Hateful Eight wearing a Cossack hat and a battered leather maxi coat, beautiful Emily Blunt in The English with leg o'mutton sleeves, a statement brooch and a velvet waistcoat.

And the goddess of all Cowgirl Chic, Jane Seymour in Dr Quinn, Medicine Woman, wearing what looks like my entire wardrobe (including that posh VB doctor's bag I scored last week!)

Cowgirl Chic requires lots of unkempt hair, partially pinned, braided or secured in place by a hat. Clothes-wise it's battered leather and well-worn suede, indigo denim, corduroy and faded cotton prints. Blouses are buttoned all the way up often accompanied by a waistcoat and with a brooch or a scarf tied at the neck. Belts are tooled leather, bags are big and boots are tan, leather or suede and usually dusty. 

Thursday's outfit was a Dilli Grey needlecord maxi skirt worn with a vintage Anokhi blouse, a tooled leather belt, handmade in Ibiza (via Ebay) Gabo Gabo cowboy boots, a charity-shopped Rawhide coat, Monsoon fedora and my VB bag.

Friday's outfit was a Levi's shirt, vintage Anokhi maxi skirt, a tooled leather belt and an Egyptian Revival brooch. 

Today's outfit was a charity-shopped linen blouse (originally Topshop with the price tags still attached), a vintage Forbidden Fruit cheesecloth maxi skirt, a tooled leather belt and a 1960s Indian silk screen printed scarf.

Yee-haw! We're off out on the town tonight celebrating Liz's birthday kicking off with a few drinks in 'Spoons and followed with an Indian feast. 

See you very soon!