Meet Delphine

It's been a weird old week, having not only a Bank Holiday to contend with but the clocks going forward, too. I'm not only a day behind but I'm still befuddled by that lost hour - although I always set my alarm clock, it's very rare I'm in bed when it goes off, I've usually got up long before the bell rings. The weather's continued to be all over the place and today it's been so warm that I've walked round to the postbox in just a dress and sunnies. I bumped into a lovely blog reader on the way there. Hello, Amrit!

In-between deluges I've managed to pop outside and photograph lots of stock for eBay, leaving Jon to crack on with the decorating. We've also squeezed in a morning of charity shopping and found some decent bits and pieces.

Clockwise from top left: 1960s Rembrandt satin midi dress; Y2K Mansharey leather parka; 1980s woven grandad top; 1950s Swallow suedette jacket; Pyrus, London silk midi dress (which retailed at £295!); Y2K leather gilet; 1980s St Michael cotton knit sweater; 1960s Devold of Norway wool jumper; 1970s cotton sundress; 1970s Tarramina, Harrogate cottagecore midi dress; 1980s leather waistcoat; 1980s Penny Plain Indian block printed maxi dress; 1980s Pringle of Scotland golf jumper; 1980s novelty Native American print leisure shirt.

Here's what I've been wearing this week.....

For our charity shop expedition on Wednesday I wore this spring green All About Audrey Indian cotton maxi dress along with my Indian block printed riding jacket, now in its 5th year. I've hardly worn it this season but still love it just as much as the day I spotted it hanging up in Anokhi's flagship store in Jaipur, Rajasthan. 

These vintage green leather cowboy boots popped up on Vinted's Recommended For You page the other day, you might have spotted them when I posted a few photos of my day out in Birmingham last week.  

On Thursday, for swimming and breakfast in 'Spoons, I wore a charity shopped 1960s Miss Peck for Polly Peck maxi and, as it was raining (again!), stuffed my hair in my (also charity-shopped) River Island newsboy cap, which Jon likes to call my Gimp Hat. (Bev Dixon, Johnny Vegas's long suffering personal assistant has the same cap, as seen in Channel Four's Carry On Glamping)

Despite swimming twice a week for over two years, most of the regulars have only ever seen me in my sporty swimsuits and swimming caps. I surprised two of my fellow swimmers outside the Gala Baths this week, they had no idea I had so much hair!

Today I wore a vintage Mayur gauzy cotton midi dress with my recently charity shopped blue suede 1960s go-go boots and a pair of vintage 1970s deadstock French sunglasses (bought from Moseley Vintage Fair over a decade ago) to pop over to B&Q (DIY superstore), I know, I lead such a rock'n'roll lifestyle!

Leaving Jon to look at strips of wood and packets of sandpaper I headed off to the clearance shelf, snapping up a Ceropegia Woodii (String of Hearts) and a Callisia Fragrans (I think!) for half price. That demonic-looking ceramic doll's head was 50p in a charity shop the other day. It looks great at night with a tea light inside. 

Back at home there was an exciting parcel waiting for me.

Resortwear, something I'd never consider wearing during my twenty-odd years of bumming around India on sleeper trains and long distance buses. Not only am I wildly happy about no longer losing our precious holiday time to the fog of jet lag but I'm absolutely loving being able to swan around in white clothes (wildly impractical in the heat & dust of the sub-continent) and flashing a bit of upper arm (a cultural no-no away from the tourist hotspots). Although I've probably got enough pretty holiday dresses to keep me kitted out long into my dotage, how could I say no to this amazing dress?

This is the Delphina by Pampelone, a company specialising in resortwear. It was ethically made & hand embroidered in Bali & it originally retailed at £180. 

How much did I pay on Vinted? £5!!! 

Source

Here's Delphine (or, using the English version of her name, Daphne) being pursued by Apollo in JW Waterhouse's 1908 Pre-Raphaelite masterpiece, Apollo and Daphne. Whilst running from Apollo's advances, the beautiful water nymph, believed to be the daughter of either the River Peneos in Thessaly or the Ladon in the Peloponnese, was transformed into a laurel tree, the sacred tree of prophecy and ritual cleansing. What could be more appropriate for a Greek holiday than a dress named after a Greek heroine?

I did have a holiday wardrobe clearout over the weekend and listed everything on eBay before I had chance to reconsider, which is just as well as I've snaffled another secondhand bargain which will be winging its way to Walsall very soon! Don't you just love the circular economy? 

Thanks for reading! Have a fabulous weekend & see you on the other side.