January is like Monday, Only Longer.....

I can't say I've got a problem with Mondays but this month, with its dark and dismal days, really does feel endless. Thank goodness for good friends, swimming, quality TV, books and vintage clothes!

On Friday, I wore another of my vintage Dollyrockers maxi dresses with an original Afghan gilet and my stompy boots. The pool was really busy but despite having to squeeze in-between two of the regulars I still managed to do my mile in 42 minutes. After breakfast in Spoons we had a quick look around the charity shops.

We found a couple of things in the chazzas....a Quo battle vest (the only band we've been to see live and left a quarter of the way through the set!) and a rather slinky vintage '80s maxi dress (sadly, too big for me!) Jon also found some decent vinyl in the £1 box, Don McLean's American Pie and Bob Marley & The Wailers Exodus.

It was another wet day so, unable to take any Vinted photos, I replaced the zip in one of my dresses and read with William keeping me company.

After tea we continued watching the first series of British cop drama, After The Flood, which we'd started the previous evening. It's got an impressive cast including Lorraine Ashbourne (last seen in Riot Women) and Philip Glennister.

After we'd finished watching that we decided to rewatch the fabulous swords & sandals Ancient Roman romp, For Those About To Die. There's supposed to be a second series but I wouldn't be at all surprised if shooting the first one didn't bankrupt the production company, the cinematography is magnificent. 

A hungry William got me up early on Saturday morning, so after I'd fed him I made mugs of tea andwent bcak to bed, reading till gone 9am.

Remember this Shubette maxi dress adorned with mythical beasts? I bought it from a fellow vintage trader at one of the London fairs we used to stand at. I'd not worn it in four years so it was time to redress that. Obviously I don't hold with that nonsense of getting rid of anything you've not worn in six months.

After breakfast we headed over to Birmingham as we were meeting a contact with some vintage clothing to sell. As usual, we'd arranged to meet up at Steve and Graz's fabulous shop, Moseley Vintage Hub.

Un

 Be still, my beating heart....I absolutely love these vintage drawers, sourced from one of Birmingham's most iconic galleries. The drawers still contain slides of the exhibits.   

It's always a joy to meet up with our mates and were even more excited when Jen, Simon and their gorgeous boys turned up...we'd not seen them for six years. It was like a Moseley Vintage Fair reunion!

There's several pieces I really, really love but seriously need to part with a few things first so I can squeeze them into the house. Jon bought himself more vintage vinyl...there's always room for that! A 1980 album by The Ruts and a 12" pressing of Lene Lovich's Lucky Number which I bought (and still own) on 7" back when it came out in 1979.

Moseley Vintage Hub is open on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays and you'll find it at 1, The Basement, Bowyer Street, Digbeth B10 0SA (website HERE)

Unable to resist the lure of the clearance charity shop in Perry Barr, we popped in on the way home, snaffling a weird Adidas military style coat from 2015, an Austin Reed boating blazer, a 1990s Monsoon wool blend cardi and a pair of Clarks Originals "Desert Rain" boots with the £84.99 price tags still attached (Jon's thrilled with these!)

Later we watched The Electrical Life of Louis Wain, the often-heartbreaking true story of the Victorian artist who changed the way the public thought about cats.  What a cast...along with a voiceover from Olivia Colman, there's also Benedict Cumberbatch, Claire Foy, Andrea Risborough, Toby Jones, Siobhan McSweeney and Adheel Akhtar to name but a few! 

Although the pool was open on Sunday morning (the first time in ages!) we decided to go on Monday instead, spending the morning pottering around, wrapping & dropping off parcels and sorting out the stockroom.I wore a vintage Indian block printed maxi dress. It was yet another depressingly dark, damp & dismal day and the vibrant combo of red and royal blue was just what I needed to lift the sartorial spirits.

Here's the vintage job lot I bought from my contact on Saturday...

A Louis Feraud raincoat, a West Germany cropped velvet jacket, an Adini slip dress and a cropped suede jacket.I wish this super sharp black mac was my size, I love it! There's also a handmade gingham maxi dress, a Slumberland quilted gilet and a 1980s English-made taffeta dress with a net underskirt (I wore a near identical black one when I collected my A level certificates in 1985!)

I finished my Lady Hester Stanhope biography and started Dictator, the last of Robert Harris's Cicero trilogy. As usual, Harris's writing is superb, I was quite glad of a bout of insomnia last night so I could crack on with reading it!

We'd swapped our Sunday swim for Monday so this morning we walked down to the pool at 7am and was pleasantly surprised with how quiet it was after the madness of Friday.

I'd not worn this 1970s Louis Carling dress in ages and had forgotten how cosy it was. It's ideal for swimming days as it doesn't crease and I can take it on and off without undoing the zip, lazy dresser that I am!

After breakfast in Spoons, we had look in a couple of charity shops and got chatting to a lovely chap who got all nostalgic about the 1970s when we saw how I was dressed, telling me that he'd seen Roxy Music (amongst other bands) play Birmingham back in the day. Walsall has just been voted the most deprived town in the UK (see HERE). It might not be fancy but the people who live here are the best! 

See you soon!