What's New, Pussycat?

With my recent Vinted earnings burning a hole in my pocket and a pile of empty coat hangers in danger of taking over the bottom of the wardrobe I decided to treat myself to a couple of new (!) things.... 

My first buy was this Indian block printed cotton wraparound skirt from fabulous Brighton boutique, All About Audrey, in tarragon green and black. It's the perfect match with this art silk wrap top, also from All About Audrey (but purchased second hand via Vinted) and the olive green leather belt I bought from an artisan leather shop in Santorini in 2023. The Clarks olive green leather boots are also new, reduced by 70% in their end of season sale and, as you'd expect from Clarks, absurdly comfy... I've walked 15 miles in them so far!

Nothing new about the outfit I'm wearing today, unless you count my newly-dyed roots, courtesy of Jon. This is a rare glimpse of my hair in its naturally straight state. If I wasn't off swimming in the morning I'd have been tempted to try out this box of tricks I picked up in a charity shop earlier....

This is how your hair is supposed to look after you've used it. I'm not sure if mine will end up quite that good but at 50p it's no big deal if it doesn't! 

Talking of charity shop finds, here's what else I've bought in the last few days...

This Benefit Brow-Zing brow shaping kit was still sealed when I bought it this morning. I used to swear by this product until I had semi-permanent eyebrows inked on back in 2005 (and touched up in 2011). My eyebrows have since returned to their original sparse, barely-there state - the curse of being a natural blonde. I've been using Barry M's Brow Wow pencil for the last couple of years so I'm excited to reacquaint myself with the Benefit kit. I'm not sure how much it is these days but I know its a lot more than the £1.99 I paid for it.

I'm always scrabbling around for travel sized containers before I go away and these pretty silicone ones, which come in a clear pouch with some sticky labels to help identify the contents were a snip at 25p!

I bought the twin of this vintage Egyptian scarab bangle from a jumble sale when I was 11 and wore it well into my 40s, I've no idea what happened to it and was delighted to find a replacement for £4.

Jon & I love Satya Incense and were really pleased to get a box of twelve for £2!

My Teapigs/Pukka tea always tastes better in a snazzy mug. This kitschy cat in a kimono mug still had the original store tags attached - an unwanted present?

Be still my beating heart, a vintage Kashmiri (I think!), hand-embroidered jacket! Roll on Spring so's I can wear it!

I'm always looking for the perfect jumper and I think this is the one. Its an alpaca blend, cropped and with fabulous flared sleeves and fits into my wardrobe seamlessly. 

Enough about me - here's what I've bought for the Kinky rails. A J Crew cowboy shirt, a vintage handknit fisherman's jumper, a cowboy hat, a 1980s Italian leather belt, an original 1960s psych print sunhat and a Thai surfer shirt.

 

A 1960s cotton sundress, a Peruvian Connection organic cotton midi and a 1970s pinstripe suit by Jackson the Tailor.

1980s colour block jacket, 1990s rayon maxi skirt, Italian linen fringed top, vintage embroidered hat, 1970s German leather cap.

 1980s Ciro Citterio novelty print gents shirt, handmade granny square waistcoat and a 1970s bed jacket.

After finishing The Familiars on Saturday afternoon I scrabbled around the bookcase and stumbled upon Woody Guthrie's Bound For Glory which must have been on the shelf for at least 10 years. Bound for Glory tells of Woody's childhood and of his travels as a hobo riding the railroad across America. An amazing human who saw beauty in everything he encountered. It was so good I read it in a day. One of the most significant & influential figures in American folk music, Woody Guthrie wrote over 1,000 songs during his tragically short lifetime, with his work focussing on socialism and anti-fascism - in these worrying times a revival is well overdue.

I follow Insossidade on Facebook, a page For the ones with soul. For the ones with tempers. For the mistresses, mad women & poets. This montage popped up this morning, they are photos taken by Woody of a neighbourhood cat in NYC in 1947. 

I started The Old Drift by Namwali Serpell, it had a rave review from Salman Rushdie and started off well but the second part went weird & nonsensical and so I abandoned it (life's too precious to waste on the wrong book). I bought the square ring with the brown stone from a charity shop in 2001, it's marked Made in Denmark on the back.

 A few years later I was flicking through a vintage magazine and was amazed to see an identical ring being worn by George Best's Danish girlfriend, Eva Haraldstad in this photo from 1969. The bracelet was a 21st birthday present from some work mates, 37 years later and my taste in jewellery remains the same!

This was my view when I was doing the Downward Facing Dog this morning and, as I spent yesterday morning doing housework, it was clean and uncluttered enough to share with you!

I also polished some of my glass. I Google Lens-ed this photo and discovered that the Victorian bronze in the centre, which I always believed to be called The Boy, David (after the biblical slayer of Goliath) is actually a Grand Tour souvenir, known as Julius Caesar as a Boy. He's been part of my life since 1971 (he was in the parental home when we bought it), it seems weird to start calling him Julius now!

Thanks for reading! I'm off on my travels very soon. I'll see you in March!