My Week - Buying, Reading, Making & Raising The Roof

Hello! How's your week been? Here's a bit of what we've been up to.

Last Saturday morning Liz's husband* Al needed some assistance with his self-build garage project so we drove over to theirs. While he, Jon and five of his friends raised the roof, Liz and I provided the breakfast sandwiches and the never-ending cups of tea.

*It still seems really weird to have friends with husbands, it sounds so grown-up and sensible!

I also gave Liz a lesson on selling on Vinted, did some sewing, popped down to the charity shop in the village where I found Liz a fabulous pair of suede ankle boots for £4, bumped into an old drinking/quizzing buddy I'd not seen in years and visited Liz's mum Hazel who's currently recovering from a hip replacement, before joining the lads in the pub for a celebratory pint.

 On the subject of pubs, it's been so cold this week that, in addition to our post swim breakfast in Wetherspoons Walsall , we've visited a couple of other branches for their excellent £1.04 endless cups of coffee to warm us up between charity shops. Not that we ever have more than one cup, we'd be swinging off the chandeliers! 

Above is The Avion, Aldridge, a converted Art Deco cinema.

Today it's been the turn of the Arthur Robinson in Perry Barr, named after The Birchfield Harriers' first Olympian and medal winner, who took part in the London Games in 1908. Let's just take a moment to admire the fabulous carpet, a swirly Art Nouveau-inspired beauty. Doesn't it match my dress & cowboy boots well?

And talking of charity shoppings, here's this week's finds for Kinky Melon's Vinted page or for next Summer's festivals. 

Crickit, Hamburg "Paloma" Chelsea boots (currently retailing at €185) & 2 pairs of Adidas trainers.

Vintage 1980s Cherry Red Docs, Hagar the Horrible tie & 1980s Kangol hip-hop beret.

Vintage 1980s Avant Garde novelty jumper, vintage 1980s acid wash embroidered Jazzino denim jacket & 1970s chiffon maxi dress.

1980s black leather biker jacket, WD:NY faux patent mac & green leather moto jacket

West African waxed cotton blazer, Indian-made cotton kimono & British Wool cable knit cardi

 

West African waxed cotton leisure shirt, Levis distressed denim jacket, vintage 1970s Dunn & Co tweed & corduroy jacket.

Pied a Terre, handmade in Spain, conker brown ankle boots and assorted vintage vinyl for the collection.

I've sold forty-seven items from my wardrobe on Vinted over the last month so it was high time I topped up my empty looking rails before I got accused of being a minimalist (ha!). I couldn't resist snaffling this dress from Vinted.It might look like a vintage Afghan dress but it originated from Urban Outfitters! It's a shop that's always worth investigating, it's not all retro 1990s gear for twenty-something hipsters.

 I'm wearing my new-to-me midi with my plum fedora (retail buy, 2016), leather cowboy boots, vintage Moroccan bag and some turquoise beads I had custom-made in Rhodes Town a few years ago. 

I've been so preoccupied with Vinted listings that I've not had time to pose for more than two outfit photos, here's the other one, worn on Wednesday, consisting of a 1960s hand-embroidered Indian cotton midi dress, a 50p Art Nouveau belt and my vintage Afghan coat (so many companies are doing repro versions of these lately, even M&S! Sorry, but nothing beats a proper vintage one).

I've done a bit more sewing this week, despite someone deciding that my sewing box would be put to better use as a bed. Cats are such idiots sometimes! 

  I don't know what attracted me to these curtains more, the groovy print, the £5 price tag or the amazing tag inside...Warwick Hospital Nurses Dorm.... along with a DHSS fire resistant information label. The Department of Health and Social Security was rebranded as The Department for Work & Pensions in 1988 so being at least 36 years old we can safely say that they're vintage.

And this is what I made, a midi length waistcoat using the same vintage pattern I used to make my Morris & Co. maxi waistcoat a fortnight ago.

And I couldn't not include that cute tag, it's a piece of social history!

Although I update the books I've read in my blog sidebar, I've not mentioned what I've been reading for ages. Dave, one of my swimming friends, lent me these two books earlier in the week. I'm currently halfway through Siddhartha and have set a few hours aside for Ravi Shankar tomorrow. I was a bit scared of starting Hermann Hesse's 1922 masterpiece but it's a really enjoyable and enlightening read. I never finish books I don't enjoy - life's too short for boring books.

I'm already excited about Gladiator II which we're planning on seeing at the cinema next week. I might have to rewatch Gladiator for the billionth time this weekend!

Have a good 'un!