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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!!!
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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?
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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.
Delphine is a beautiful dress, the embroidery is wonderful, crazy to find it for a fiver!! I love your Audrey dress, it goes well with the riding coat. It's been tipping it down here most days but I got out in the garden and repotted some houseplants, getting outdoors feels great! Betty x
ReplyDeleteThanks, Betty! I feel very fancy in Delphine! I can't believe it was £5! My houseplants are in dire need of repotting, I ought to get them done over the weekend, high winds and torrential rain permitting! xxx
Delete£180 down to a fiver . . . you would have been an absolute fool to pass on that one. And you do look gorgeous!
ReplyDeleteAs always, I enviously covet your riding jacket in a "turn your back and I'll swear the fairies nicked it" sort of way. Which is not nice, I know, but honest 🤪
There is a lot to be said for travelling somewhere that doesn't involve days of jetlag in each direction. It has taken me all week to deal with the hour we lost last weekend.
Thank you! Vinted has this freakishly accurate algorithm, I never search for anything, I click Recommended and try not to buy everything that comes up. It's the kind of dress people pick up and dismiss saying that they never go anywhere to wear it, I shall probably look ridiculously out of place swanning around in it in a laid back Greek village but I really don't care!
DeleteMy friend Nikki has a very similar East jacket to my Anokhi one, well worth searching Ebay for as they do occasionally pop up.
Isn't it strange how that lost hour makes so much difference? I've been reading till 11.30pm most nights this week, I'm normally spark out way before then! xxx
Beautiful dress- Greece has got to be in my someday list. I had a full day, full staff training yesterday. I e been trying to think who one of my coworkers reminds me of. Seeing her in person and instantly I thought, J looks like Vix! Now she has a few less inches of hair, no Indian kafkan dresses or block prints, but you could be twins.
ReplyDeleteYou would love Greece, Sam. Promise me you'll go there one day.
DeleteI'm intrigued by your coworker, they say everyone has a doppelganger somewhere! I've discovered a couple of distant cousins in the USA, maybe we're related! xxx
Delphina looks very special and beautiful, it suits you well.
ReplyDeleteI also like the porcelain doll head, it's good at the window, a great place.
Have a nice evening Vix
Thank you! I've got a thing about one shoulder dresses, they seem so sophisticated and glamorous. The doll's head is very strange, i couldn't resist it!
DeleteHave a lovely weekend. xxx
Fab outfits and lovely chazza finds; you do find some wonderful things. I love your green cowboy boots and the Delphine dress is beautiful and so summer holidayish. I can most definitely see you on the beach and and out about in Greece wearing that!
ReplyDeleteI've been looking for a string of hearts plant for ages - never thought of B&Q. We did buy a bleeding heart plant for the garden this week; another one that's been on my wishlist for ages.
Have a lovely weekend,
xxx
Thanks, Vronni! As soon as that dress popped up in my Vinted feed I loved it, I nearly passed out when I saw the price and kept expecting the seller to cancel the sale. I can't wait to wear it in Greece!
DeleteB&Q sell some gorgeous plants - I love just wandering around their houseplant area even if I don't buy anything. I was surprised that my String of Hearts was half price, there didn't look to be much wrong with it. They're normally £10 - which isn't too bad compared to some of the hip florists' prices.
Hope you have a lovely weekend, too. xxx
Love your embroidered dress, Vix! X
ReplyDeleteThanks, Jess! xxx
DeleteHow lovely to see you in gorgeous vintage dresses.
ReplyDeleteThose green leather cowboy boots are fabulous.
You're always so stylish!
I'm not surprised your fellow swimmers were surprised with your long hair.
It's impossible to estimate someone's hair length under a cap.
I do love long hair. Pre-Raphaelite vibes and all that.
It's great when people rock short hairstyles too and some ladies look best with a pixie, but I hate to see women cut their hair only because everyone is doing it.
I'm familiar with the myth of Delphine. In fact, I thought about it while I observed the trees on island Hvar. I thought how tree branches indeed invoke human forms and limbs.
Delphina dress is a beauty. Perfect resortwear. White suits you!
Thanks so much, Ivana! I do love cowboy boots. I was worried I was going to wear out my patchwork ones and was delighted to find a well-priced pair so I had an alternative.
DeleteI really like being incognito in the pool, it makes me get into the zone and concentrate on my swimming.
Funnily enough there's a trend called "The Anti-Bob" which supposedly is a reaction to the popular short-hair and bobbed styles that are really popular at the moment. Much as I love a bob, a pixie or even a buzz cut on some women, they just aren't me. I think you're either team long hair or team short hair.
I've just read your blog and you're right about those tree branches on Hvar! xxx
Gawjus, as Babs (La Streisand) would say! That doll's head is spooky! Got my hair cut last week after growing it for four years, to counteract the thinning. Not working so far but I think it's hormonal but let's not go there! Xxx
ReplyDeleteThanks, love! I hope getting that cut does the trick and your hair grows back thicker, with any luck the hormonal change will just be temporary. xxx
DeleteLiking the All About Audrey dress. It's not a colour I wear, but it looks lovely on you!
ReplyDeleteI'm also loving the doll's head. Great idea to use it as a tea light holder!
Your new dress is perfect for Greece. Try not to get chased by any Greek men. We don't want you turning into a laurel tree! :-D xxx
Thanks, Claire! I was tempted to go for the amber one but I'm always drawn to green at this time of year. Those dresses don't look like much on the website but they're surprisingly lovely (you do need an underskirt tho').
DeleteI don't fancy being turned into a tree, I'd hate to be outside all Winter! xxx
What an absolutely stunning dress, not to mention a complete bargain! You know my views on summer clothes, I'm buying them all year round. Fantasy shopping, at least in the UK. I see the papers are predicting a heatwave next month. I hope the buggers don't jinx the weather 😀
ReplyDeleteSince you put me on to Vinted, I'm checking it every day. The 'Recommended for you ' is by far the most accurate I've come across on any shopping site. Xxx
Thanks, Annie! I'm with you on the fantasy shopping - dress for the life you want and not the one you live! I missed the heatwave predictions, I'm constantly getting those clickbait articles from the Birmingham Mail pop up threatening "10 inches of snow at the weekend" - where do they get these headlines from?
DeleteRecommended for you is so accurate, it's hard not to buy everything! xxx
That dress was an absolute bargain!! But I have to say I'm disappointed, for some reason I thought Delphine was going to be a cat!!
ReplyDeleteI wondered if anyone else would think Delphine was a cat! I'm holding out for another one to turn up and heep William company! xxx
DeleteI'm glad I'm not the only one who's still a bit befuddled by that lost hour!
ReplyDeleteThose green leather cowboy boots are stunning, and the outfit you wore with them is my favourite, although as always I'm loving all of them.
I guess I would have snaffled that demonic-looking ceramic doll's head too and would have found it a place in the jungle garden.
As for Delphine, she couldn't have been more you! xxx
I hate this hour change. I swear its darker this morning than it was last week!
DeleteI couldn't resist the lure of green cowboy boots and was thrilled when they turned up and were absurdly comfy, some can be like wearing tonne weights on your feet!
I did put scary in head in the garden but she was a bit lost, she's annoying William on the windowsill now! xxx
Gostei das suas postagens. Vou seguir seu blog. Siga o meu também.
ReplyDeleteUm beijo.
Obrigado pela visita, vou dar uma olhada no seu blog! Muito amor. x
DeleteThat resort wear dress is fabulous, however, I hope you don't end up with your booby out on the beaches of Greece, like the dresses namesake! It really does look fabulous on you. The circular economy is indeed a fabulous thing! I'm so fickle that my tastes change all the time, it's nice to be able to just buy something reasonably cheaply to fulfill my current whim, rather than having to make major investments every time. It also makes my wardrobe so much more interesting. Have a great week Vix. xx
ReplyDeleteThanks, Louise! Goodness me, maybe that's why the dress is called Delphine, it's got a tendency to slip down and reveal all! I shall have to watch my step.
DeleteSecond hand shopping is such a great way to experiment with new styles. I'm the opposite, my taste in clothes is pretty much constant so secondhand shopping enables me to buy more things in the styles I love which can be a problem when you've got almost identical jackets, dresses, skirts, hats, waistcoats and blouses in triplicate! xxx
Please stand under a pink flowering cherry tree at once in Delphine!
ReplyDeleteThe lost hour thing is awful - all of my not-working-as-they-should-be things are raging and it is exhausting.
I'm sending bag after bag of clothes to the hospice shop - the clearance charity shop has become my nemesis - too, too much stuff has come home with me (and I'm a selective shopper).
Feeling overwhelmed but grateful to have so much stuff that I love.
Elaine Anon xx
I shall endeavour to track a blossom tree down and pose by one, Elaine!
DeleteI swear these mornings are getting darker and darker, they weren't too bad last week, now it's like waking up in a cave.
Those clearance shops are fatal. I've started being a bit more discerning but it's so hard, I can't resist the lure of an embroidered cotton blouse or a sturdy leather boot - or a pile of paperbacks. We both try to donate a reciprocal amount back to the shop every week. I love getting those Gift Aid letters telling us how much our donations have raised for cancer research, it makes me feel very worthy!
I love having so many beautiful things, too. An hour spent tidying my wardrobe with a mug of Pukka tea and 6Music playing is absolute bliss. xxx
Delphine is gorgeous, and yes, now that I notice it, you rarely wear sleeveless tops! Your clothes are always so lovely - I pore over your outfits every time, as well as your latest vintage finds.
ReplyDeleteI have to tell you, your note about you and Jon yelling "Sheeps!" made me giggle - I've been known to holler that too, and of course, I yell, "Squirrel!" whenever I see one.
Thanks, Sheila! For years I went bare-armed, come rain, shine or snow. As a teenager I was often picked on for having skinny, double-jointed arms - I used to show them off to prove that I couldn't give a damn about what anyone thought of my looks. I did go through a couple of years of hating my arms (isn't it weird how we can get fixated about such things?) but I think I'm over that now!
DeleteI'm exactly the same about squirrels, too! xxx