Into The Blue

 

When I go for my manicures I never have a clue as to what colour I want, I just look at the chart and wait for something to leap out at me. On Friday I was drawn to Ink, a midnight blue, which inspired Saturday's outfit...

These are my second pair of Free People Jayde bell bottom jeans, offered to me by the same seller for a too good not to price of £6 (they currently retail at £109). These are a paler denim than the others and reminded me of the jeans the rockers wore in the 1970s so I went for a rock chick vibe, adding my vintage denim waistcoat and a 1970s gauzy Indian cotton blouse by Oasis Trading, bought from eBay for £3 back in 2018. 

On Sunday, still feeling the blue vibe, I paired my vintage knitted blue and beige maxi by Samuel Sherman with an All About Audrey wrap top picked up on Vinted last year. Rummaging through a biscuit tin of sewing notions I rediscovered my Art Nouveau Medusa belt buckle and stuck it on a vintage leather belt.

With a bag of books to drop off, we headed to the clearance charity shop at the top of town. We used to shop there every week but rarely bother these days so it's quite exciting when we do. 

We soon replenished our depleted reading pile (two for a quid). Having read two WWII themed books back to back, I started Elizabeth Strout's Oh William! shortlisted for the 2022 Booker Prize, its about a divorced couple embarking on a road trip after discovering a family secret, which I finished last night. I'm fancying Morality Play, a Mediaeval murder mystery, next. My reading habits are ecclectic to say the least! 

We found a few things for the stockroom, too: some contemporary but rather cool flower power flares, an English-made 1970s crisp cotton sundress complete with original belt and patch pockets, a 1970s St Michael blouse (I'm sure my Grandma had this!), a 1980s Cheongsam and a 1980s suede waistcoat (made in Great Britain).

On to Monday. I never plan outfits in advance and threw on a couple of old favourites, a Monsoon blouse bought from their sale in 2021 and a vintage Papillon wraparound midi skirt found on eBay in 2020. I wasn't sure if it was all a bit too muted but a lady asked if she could hug me as she loved my look so much and of course I said yes!

As usual the day started with a swim. I'd admired one of the regulars hairstyle last week and they'd very kindly treated me to the same hairband which really comfy to wear even if Jon says that it makes me look like Jack Grealish! 

 After our post swim breakfast in 'Spoons we did our obligatory charity shop tour and was thrilled to spot these beauties.

Moroccan babouches by Bohemia. Handmade in Marrakech, they're leather lined with leather soles and )according to the website) the retro floral cotton upper is inspired by the clothes worn by the hippie travellers who flocked to Morocco in the 1960s. These beauties retail at £48. They've never been worn, are my size and were priced at £1.50!

After today's Wii Fit workout I walked down to Ajay's to collect a Vinted parcel. Although it's fabulously bright and sunny, the wind cuts right through and I was very glad of my Afghan coat, which I took off for a photos to show off my Afghan dress because, despite it being in my wardrobe for over a year, although I've worn it a lot, I don't think I've shared it on my blog before.

At £6 I was half expecting one of those limp copies but it was the real thing, tapestry bodice and all. 

The most beautiful part of my outfit by far has to be this Qashqai carpet bag which was handwoven in South West Iran. (HERE's a similar one) It was listed on Vinted as "a hippy bag probably made by my nan" and priced at £3. I've drooled over these in museums! 

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Obviously, one thing leads to another and I end up down a rabbit hole researching the Qashqai. How beautiful are these women? 

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On the subject of Iranian textiles, here's a few more from my collection. Both of these bedcovers were charity shop finds many years ago. I've always wanted to visit the textile markets of Esfahan (Istafan) but I very much doubt there's much left of them now (HERE).

This enormous Persian rug was from my Great-Grandpa's family home in Stone, Staffordshire (the house is the one with the man himself standing outside).

 I was always told it was something special (it still has the original import labels attached) but Google has come to my rescue, it's from the latter part of the 19th Century and is known as a Malayer carpet, featuring typically Herati designs and colours (Herat being a city in Afghanistan). 

What??? I better tell William to stop sharpening his claws on it! 

Thanks for reading, see you soon!