New Old Clothes & Some Cat Chat

 

Welcome to my ever-evolving wardrobe! I love how it changes on a near-weekly basis. I've sold a huge amount of my clothes over the last few months so there's plenty of room for everything to fit into my wardrobe and, as the vast majority of them are cotton, I can wear them all year-round & don't need to do the seasonal swap-over like so many of my friends.

Here's what I've worn over the last week incorporating some new-to-me, recently acquired goodies.

This Indian cotton, block printed "Athena" blouse by high end label, M.A.B.E, was a 2024 Vinted buy, I made the skirt using a vintage Indian bedspread on my sewing day with Liz last week (see it HERE) and the vintage Moroccan belt was a £3 Vinted find. Well, a friend spotted it, alerted me via a WhatsApp message and I snaffled it seconds later. 

I made this maxi-length waistcoat last year using a 1971 dressmaking pattern and a pair of 1970s Morris & Co. Golden Lily curtains bought from a local charity shop (my choker was made with the leftovers). 

The vintage Ayesha Davar cheesecloth maxi dress had been in my wardrobe for years and was recently restored to her former glory by Jon & his dyeing skills. 

The dusky pink Indian handloomed cotton wraparound top is another recent Vinted find. One of my festival trading neighbours was selling these for £45 last Summer, this was £5.

 This 1969 Chelsea Girl cheesecloth dress has been in my wardrobe for years and has always been too long and too big - last week I washed it (possibly for the first time, I'm such a slattern) and now it's the right size and length. I know it's from 1969 as I was wearing it when I bumped into a lady who'd owned the same dress in her youth!

This reversible cotton kantha jacket was a charity shop find last week for £4.50. Kantha, if you're not familiar with the term, is an embroidery craft from the eastern region of India and consists of old clothes stacked on top of each other and hand-stitched to make a single piece of fabric. Recycling at its most stylish!

There's pockets on either side with wooden toggles on the printed side and coconut shell buttons on the plain side. In India you can pick these jackets up from chi-chi boutiques for around £50 but if you buy them from the likes of Toast or the V&A you can pay up to £400! 

This All About Audrey kaftan is so useful, it screws up to almost nothing, is relatively crease-free & has no fiddly fastenings making it perfect for wearing down to the swimming baths for my twice-weekly swim. Did I mention that we're using the big pool as well as the brine pool now? It's so much quieter in there enabling me to swim a mile in under 40 minutes - it takes me the same amount of time to swim 3/4 mile in the other pool (a combination of chatting to my mates and dodging the width swimmers!)

Stamped ROAM, I can't find anything out about this silver necklace made from what looks like replica Ancient Greek or Roman coins so it's likely a tourist souvenir. It was £3 from a charity shop last week. 

Quick, my friend & fellow blogger, Annie messaged me last week, there's a Naked Generation dress on Vinted for £12....seconds later and it was mine! I loved this since I spotted it on their website back in 2022 but couldn't justify the £175 price tag. Thanks, Annie!! 

As you'd expect from NG, the quality is fabulous. Three people stopped to admire it when I wore it at the weekend.

Remember the whopper of a crystal ring I bought for £1.50 last week? Well, this rather fab ring in the foreground of the photo was from the same charity shop (at the same price), no maker's marks on this one but it's another huge lump that fits my massive hands so I imagine it was donated by the same stylish person. 

Nothing new here, you've seen my All About Audrey cotton wraparound skirt and my vintage Ayesha Davar cheesecloth blouse before but....

Did you notice my eyewear? I've bought another couple of pairs of prescription sunglasses from Specsavers. I used to have them just for reading in the summer but with varifocal lenses I can wear them all the time without tripping over my own feet and with the graduated lenses on the square pair, I can wear them indoors without looking like I've had a heavy night. They weren't cheap but with my weird eye issues & crap eyesight they really are a game changer. 

Cat update!!! I always feel like somebody's watching me...I texted Jon last week. (Sorry about the Rockford earworm).

Yes, Gordon's still visiting us.

I was reading a comment from Louise in the Midlands asking if William's brother had moved in yet when I looked up and saw him sitting in the hallway. He's getting braver by the day.

When I come downstairs at 6am he's camped out on the windowsill waiting for his breakfast. He and William trill at each other (the chirrup cats use to communicate with each other in a friendly way) and over the last couple of days he's started miaowing at Jon & me. 

William's totally chilled about it all. He's like his mother, give us a bit of sunshine and we're happy.

 

Power Paws!! 

They're even hanging out together in Jacob's pen. 

It's our Never Had A Wedding Anniversary tomorrow, 33 years of unmarried bliss! I'm not sure there'll be much celebrating, after our early morning swim I'm off to the dentist for a root canal...wish me luck!

See you soon.

I Can See Clearly Now

What a difference a week makes! From coatless wanderings and al fresco dining we're back in our thermals with the wood burner blazing away. Not in the mood for posing in sub-zero temperatures, I've done flatlays of my outfits on the bathroom floor instead.....and, as you can see from all the old favourites, I'm still sticking with my capsule wardrobe.

Saturday: Lucky Brand dungarees, Clarks slippers and a Part II poloneck (all charity shopped) plus a me-made crochet cardi for a day of laundry, housework and a big blog catch-up

Sunday: Indian block printed midi dress (Dilly Grey), wool fedora (Monsoon) worn with Clarks boots, a vintage leather belt and bag (all charity shopped) for a trip to the clearance chazza and an afternoon of eBay listings.

Monday: Indian block printed maxi dress (Dilli Grey), tribal pendant (India), Reiss wool fedora (eBay), leather boots (Urban Outfitters) and a Nardelli snakeskin bag (charity shop) for a morning of charity shopping and an afternoon of laundry and eBay listing.

 Tuesday: Block printed Indian cotton midi dress (All about Aud) worn with Celtic & Co boots, cable knit bobble hat and charity shopped suede bag for swimming, a Spoons' breakfast and an afternoon spent in the garden taking stock photos.

Wednesday: Vintage Afghan dress & tooled leather bag (both ebay) worn with a merino wool polo neck, Timberland boots and a vintage belt (all charity shopped) visiting the dentist and assisting with a market research project.

Thursday: Vintage Phool dress (Second to None) worn with a recycled silk & hemp bag (Beautiful Days festival), vintage sheepskin hat and Docs (charity shop finds) to walk into town in a snowstorm, swimming, breakfast in Spoons and an afternoon of reading.

Friday: Vintage Collier Campbell for Liberty, London wool maxi dress, original 1960s Afghan coat, vintage sheepskin hat, tribals pendant and my trusty Doc Martens for a morning of charity shopping and an afternoon of repotting houseplants and wrapping ebay parcels. Hoorah for a balmy 3°C and some sunshine! (I'll try not to think about -6°C forecast for the Midlands later.)

Charity shop finds this week have included: Joe Bloggs 1990s Madchester-era denim jacket; 1970s pearl-trimmed jumper; Fred Perry cropped polo shirt; Hawkins tweed flat cap; Tommy Hilfiger Madras check shorts; 1980s leather trousers; 1980s Indian cotton kaftan; 1970s Sacs leather bag; 1980s suede Western-style waistcoat; 1970s green leather clutch bag; 1980s track top; 1960s Dhobi raincoat; Fratelli Talli, Firenze cossack hat; 1980s Nigel Rayment hat.

Brora alpaca jumper; 1980s shaggy handknit; Lambswool tank top; Ben Sherman official Team GB jacket (new with tags); 1980s workwear dungarees (new with tags); Weekend Offender rude boy button down; 1970s Oats, Hong Kong denim jacket; Farah bomber jacket; 1980s The Woolly Pulley all-wool jumper; G Star Raw denim jacket; 1990s Nike shell top; 1980s West German-made dagger collar shirt.

The keepers are these high waisted shorts (£2) by Australian denim label Abrand and this Zara "Safia" swirly mini dress with the tags still attached (£3). The Boden linen blouse (£3) was a charity shop find before we went away and the first time I'd tried it on. These new additions inspired me to have a massive trying-on session and quite a ruthless cull. I'm an absolute sod for buying potential summer clothes in charity shops. Honestly, I'd have to go on even more holidays than I already do to get my wear from all this strappy & skimpy gear I keep coming home with.

Here's this week's £1.50 Waste Not box from Lidl. So far we've had black grapes and bananas with Lidl's full fat Greek yoghurt for several breakfasts, I've baked a banana & Old Jamaica loaf, Jon's made a mushroom and pepper Punjabi tikka accompanied by aloo chat, we've roasted parsnips, potatoes and carrots to accompany a reduced to clear Lidl Curried Chickpea pie and I've made a mushroom, leek and Feta pasta bake.

The most exciting news this week is the arrival of my varifocals which I can wear all day. Talk about a game changer! No more scrabbling about in my bag to find my reading glasses every time I need to look at a price ticket, a text message or a menu and no more tripping up over my feet when I forget to take them off when I've finished with them. My Pupillary Distance (PD) is freakishly small (52) so I'm quite limited with my choice of frames but after some dedicated hunting I found two pairs matching my measurements and Specsavers glazed them with my prescription. 

UPDATED: Here's the link to the site I used, the company is in China but delivery took less than a fortnight and the quality of the frames is excellent.

The lower pair are reaction lens and that's another revelation - no more rummaging in my bag for sunglasses! I've worn my varifocals continually for a week (as per Specsavers' instructions) and they've been amazing, none of the problems with vision or nausea that many first timers report.

Have a fabulous weekend and see you on the other side!

The Distancing Diaries - 12th & 13th February, 2021

 Despite the cold I just had to run outside barefoot, clad in just a vest & leggings to capture Friday's blood red morning sky. I did my final Wii Fit workout of the week, filled the bathtub and utility room sink with water and gave the houseplants drink. With having the central heating on all week, the poor things were parched. After our breakfast Jon popped out to the post office, calling in at Morrison's on the way back for groceries.

I made a start with catching up with blogland and, when Jon got back, posed for a couple of photos before he dispensed with all his layers for the day and concentrated on sanitising the shopping & putting it away.

Wear:Sleep:Repeat continued with my Ritu Kumar midi dress, worn with a Wetherall of Bond Street wool cape bought from a charity shop twenty years ago, my me-made pompom hat, the beer mittens Liz had made me for my birthday and one of my eBayed Amor Lux Breton tops. 

The details: 1970s French high-heeled wellies (jumble sale), silver ball earrings (Shilpa Silver) and vintage Kuchi tribal necklace (bought in Jaisalmer, Jan 2020)

After our lunchtime noodles I gave the bathroom a good scrub and mopped the floor, continuing down the stairs. Jon helped me swap the plants over so each had their turn. I caught up with blog comments and had the rest of the pizza for tea. 

Later we watched the second half of the Shannon Matthews documentary we'd started watching the previous evening followed by Rebecka Martinsson: The Arctic Murders ( I prefer the dogs, Snoris and Tintin to the main character) and another episode of the Great British Pottery Showdown, accompanied by rum and cola. Despite the late hour I decided to mop the kitchen floor before bed. I do live life on the edge!

Jon was up first on saturday morning, he made tea and brought it back to bed where we lay and read until 8.45am. After he'd gone downstairs to put the sausages in the oven I stripped and changed the bed, loaded the washing machine and sat at the kitchen table painting my nails. We ate our sausage sandwiches accompanied by a mug of coffee marvelling at all the birds assembled on the feeding station and wondering where they all were on the day of the Big Birdwatch a fortnight ago! 

Another day of sub-zero temperatures meant I had more layers than a layered thing under my vintage Anokhi pinafore dress...I do have a waist normally, honest! Wear:Sleep:Repeat saw the return of Friday's Breton top and yet another wearing of my trusty sheepskin hat.

The details: 1960s go-go boots (car boot sale), vintage Indian silk screen print scarf & white metal earrings (both charity shopped), Barry M's Ginger nail paint.

I know I keep banging on about it but I'm really enjoying my challenge to rewear a garment from the previous day. In normal times I'd have worn my new-to-me purchases immediately but now they have to wait until I can slot them into my outfits. 

I photographed and listed some of the stock of vintage bags on eBay - longtime readers may recognise quite a few of these from my personal collection. Again I used the kitchen wall as a backdrop, I don't think I'd have had a face left if I'd taken the photos in the garden!

I haven't been further than the top of the garden for almost a week, I'm so excited about the arrival of milder temperatures in the next few days and the possibility of venturing further than the compost bin that I made myself a new pompom hat especially. 

My new specs made all the difference. Repairing my Anokhi jacket and crocheting are a lot easier when I can see what I'm doing.

A year ago today I achieved a lifelong ambition, to have beers in Mumbai's iconic Taj Mahal Palace Hotel and to run up and down the grand staircase recreating the scene from the Merchant Ivory film, Bombay Talkie. 

Although we've visited our beloved Mumbai a lot over the years we'd never been brave enough to try and get into the swankiest hotel in all of India, expecting the doorman to take one look at us and send us on our way but, in 2020, we took a deep breath, made our way towards the front entrance where the comissionaire raised his cap and waved us through.

They were the most expensive beers we'd ever had in our lives but they were massive and the snacks and the service were so good that we ordered another round.

After the Taj Mahal, Mumbai's Taj is the most photographed building in all India. We said that we'd make beers at the Taj, like bhelpuri on Chowpatty beach, shopping in Anokhi and watching the sunset over the Art Deco splendour of Marine Drive something we'd do every time we went to Mumbai - I hope it won't be too many years before we get to hang out in our favourite city again.

We've had a whopping great big tea tonight - a vegan Morrocan pasty, roast parsnips, peas, carrots, sprouts, Yorkshire pudding and roast potatoes - and I'm so stuffed I can hardly move. I might just be able to manage some rum!

Cheers, stay safe (and warm) and see you soon!