Autumnal Vibes - My Week In Vintage

Oh, season of mists and manic leaf sweeping. With twenty-seven trees in our garden raking has become a full-time job of late but it keeps us fit and warm so I can't complain. Relentless it may be, there's no excuse to schlep around in scruffs, my boots may be vintage Biba but they're comfy and waterproof and always make me feel fabulous no matter how mundane the task.

WEARING: We're both charity shopped from head to toe!
V: Vintage 1960s psych maxi by Hilary Floyd of London & 1970s wool felt hat  J: Vintage St Michael lambswool polo neck, original 1970s pinstriped blazer, Jones the Bootmaker Chelsea boots, black skinnies

On Sunday we were trading at Moseley, our penultimate fair of the year. As the last two had clashed with Glastonbury & End of The Road, it felt like an age since we'd last set up our pitch on the stage, our regular spot.

Kinky Melon's pitch - Courtesy of Moseley Vintage Fair

We had a fantastic day both with sales and catching up with friends we hadn't seen for months. Organisers Graziella and Steve are taking a well-earned break from running fairs next year to concentrate on their Digbeth-based shop Moseley Vintage Hub which specialises in quality vintage, industrial, mid-century furniture and vinyl records. Find them HERE. 

The details: Vintage label, Indian brass earrings bought in Tamil Nadu in 2010, Vintage Egyptian Revival pendant in Lapis Lazuli & 9ct gold by Thomas Fattorini of Birmingham (part of a set, 50th birthday present from Jon)

I treated myself to this quilted, Indian block print waistcoat from Second To None - Walsall's legendary Walsall vintage shop - who also trade at the fair.

The next day I wore it with a Dollyrockers maxi which I bought from Second to None in 2009....

...and spent the day in Wetherspoons.

Details: Dollyrockers label, this week's nail paint, 1970s Sheffield steel choker.

We haven't been out hunting this week as Frank's not been well. At first the vet thought he'd been in a fight (which wouldn't be the first time) and had prescribed antibiotics for an abscess on his face but here's no improvement so he's got to undergo a biopsy tomorrow. It's somewhat fortuitous me finding the Droopy and Browns dress and Marni jewellery last week as the vet's bill is going to be astronomical. 

 Talking of Marni, here's the rest of it.

My Indian gauze Mayur dress served me well through Spring and Summer...

And today it's getting an Autumnal outing.

Close-ups: Dress details, Rajasthani earrings, my right hand!

Thank goodness for blogging. My head's all over the place this week, I'm so grateful to be able to focus my thoughts on pretty vintage clothes and distract myself by reading about my virtual friends' lives.

See you soon.

This Week In Secondhand Finds

 Bloody rain! Excuse the dodgy indoor photography, I wanted to show you this Droopy & Browns dress that I acquired this week before it went on the Kinky rails and the weather wasn't playing nicely enough for a garden shot. Droopy & Browns creations are increasingly sought-after and highly collectible and it's the first garment I've ever found bearing the label in over forty years of buying vintage clothes.

Founder of Droopy and Browns, Angela Holmes was one of four children, born in Darlington in County Durham in 1950. At 13, broken-hearted by her mother's death from cancer, she spent her time drawing elegant women in beautiful dresses. At 17, she found work as a chambermaid in Scarborough and met her soon-to-be husband, Keith.

The couple returned to York and, together with Angela's brother Jonathan, set up a market stall to sell her designs. In 1973, they acquired a shop in Stonegate, York, the very place Angela had watched her mother buying couturier gowns as a child. Inspired by those memories, she started designing even more extravagant clothes. By 1997, Droopy and Browns had eight shops, from Edinburgh to Bath, the flagship being in St Martin's Lane, London.

SOURCE

SOURCE

Nostalgic for the days when clothes were beautifully made, and lasted, Angela (a woman after my own heart) disliked the disposability of contemporary fashion, and its use of cheap foreign labour to produce poor quality items. She took an arts and crafts approach, overseeing every stage from design to retail, and employing craftsmen and women to make each garment individually. She worked in natural fabrics, designed and drew many of the prints herself, and had them dyed to her own specifications. Droopy and Browns' clothes were flamboyant and feminine, contemporary but with a historical influence and often with a theatrical twist.

SOURCE

Angela died in 2000, at the age of 50. Her brother, Jonathan, continued to run Droopy and Browns until the bank enforced closure in 2003.

 Unlike the vast majority of vintage clothes this dress, labelled as a 14, runs true to size so there's a series of clothes pegs positioned down my back holding it in place which is a shame as it's a wonderfully luxurious cotton & linen blend, fully lined and with pockets large enough to smuggle kittens. Hopefully she'll find the perfect sized woman before too long.

Here's what else I've found second-hand this week....

Clockwise from top left: English-made Harrington jacket; Crepe de chine duster coat; 1980s duck print bomber; Vintage Indian cotton midi dress; 1950s all-wool McGregor dressing gown; 1950s moleskin waistcoat; 1970s Jane Shilton leather shoulder bag; Super funky Canadian-made 1970s jacket; Vintage 1960s Daks overcoat; FabIndia Ikat maxi; Vintage 1960s Le Mans tartan racing cap.

On Thursday whilst rummaging in the clearance charity shop I spotted a posh looking box on the bric-a-brac shelf. As you know, I'm not particularly au fait with modern designer labels, but I'd heard of Marni and thought it might be useful for something. Upon further investigation I discovered that the box contained a rather nice piece of costume jewellery with a dust bag and the price tag, in Japanese yen, still attached.

Imagine my absolute amazement when, after doing a bit of Googling when I got home, I discovered that 65,100 Yen converts to £464.87 (HERE)

The crazy thing is that the lady behind the counter told me she'd got a few more pieces in the stockroom if I'd like them - so I bought the lot....

I've yet to input the prices of the other pieces of Marni jewellery into the conversion website, I'm still in a state of shock over the necklace!

We're trading at Moseley Vintage Fair tomorrow (see HERE) and it would be fantastic to see you if you're around. We've got some cool gear, I've even roped Jon into modelling some of it.

 You'll recognise several of the pieces I'm wearing from my own collection but one simply has to abide by the wardrobe rules (one in, at least two out) and, as you know, I have acquired rather a lot of good stuff recently.

See you soon!

Winterising My Wardrobe

Living in the UK there's no real need for a dedicated Autumn/Winter wardrobe, apart from the odd blip here and there, we never really experience the extremes of temperature my blogging friends in other parts of the world have to cope with. Despite the incessant rain, the past couple of weeks have remained a steady 17°C, pretty much the same as we had throughout August. Whilst my skimpier dresses and bikinis have been stowed away in the suitcase on top of the wardrobe in readiness for January's Indian adventures (which we booked last week - yay!) and the peep toe clogs & sandals packed away in my straw basket at the bottom of the wardrobe, with a bit of creativity there's no reason on earth why I can't keep wearing the rest of my wardrobe all year round. I love my vintage clothes far too much to mothball them for six months.

At the height of the summer I wore this 1970s Rumak cheesecloth dress, which I found in Oxfam, with clogs, sunglasses and a vintage straw basket.

Fast forward two months and I've added a 1970s deadstock skinny rib polo neck (eBay), my vintage lace-up boots and tooled leather bag (both car boot finds), a charity shopped wide-brimmed wool hat and a tooled leather belt from out of the three for £1 basket in the charity clearance shop. I bought the enamel Rajasthani earrings in India. 

I swapped this vintage Phool block printed midi with a trader friend the week that Slow Fashion Season kicked off back in June. 

Showing uncharacteristic restraint I decided to wait until I was back from Greece to wear it - which cheered me up no end.

I teamed the dress with an early 1970s Phool quilted block printed waistcoat (EyewoodWake Vintage), Aldo wool trilby hat (charity shop), a late 1960s Pakistani mirrored velvet bag (jumble sale) and the chazza shopped olive green velvet boots I acquired the same day, they seem destined to spend their lives together. I'm not a typical blogger in that I get no pleasure from wearing tights and I'll prolong the agony of having to wear the hateful things for as long as possible. I spotted a basket of brand new TopShop lurex lace-trimmed ankle socks in a charity shop last year and, at three pairs for £1, bought the lot. The lace trim is perfect for filling that annoying gap at the top of the ankle boots.  

This gauzy Indian cotton dress was a £10 bargain from eBay back in March and worn with clogs was a go-to dress for much of the Summer. On closer examination, it appears by the ginormous hem that she's actually a maxi dress but I'm keeping her midi length, I think she'd look a bit nightie-like if I mess around unpicking it.

This morning I've popped a bodysuit and a pair of leggings underneath and treated her to an exciting visit to the builder's merchant!

The 1950s leather bag was a jumble sale find and the lion buckle leather belt another bargain from the 3 for a £1 basket. The silver Turkoman earrings were a lucky eBay discovery as were the Doc Marten oxblood Darcie boots. I've been kicking myself not buying these boots when they were launched back in 2006, I've only had to wait 13 years to find a pair within budget! Of course the best thing about buying your Docs secondhand is that someone has already gone through the agonies of wearing them in so they're insanely comfy!

During Slow Fashion Season I made a decision not only to refrain from buying new clothes, which as like-minded women, I'm sure you'll agree wasn't really that much of challenge, but not to buy any new cosmetics, instead using up what I'd already got.

Talk about good timing. Just when the challenge came to an end my beloved Barry M launched their new 70% organic Green Origin nail paint, so I splashed out on three classic Vix colours.



Apart from wearing clothes, booking flights to India and embarking on a DIY project (more on that soon!) life's pretty much as normal as our life ever can be. Now that the festival season is over we can go back to buying our fruit and veg from the market - look at all this for less than £10! There were actually three cauliflowers but I couldn't fit them all in the photo....

We've found a few proper vintage gems in the chazzas. Last Tuesday BBC's Bargain Hunt did a feature on the desirability of 1950s Horrockses dresses (HERE) and the following day I found one in a charity shop, talk about a bizarre coincidence.

On Sunday we traded with the fantastic Pop-Up Vintage Fairs in London's super posh Hampstead. Both my late 1960s psychedelic maxi dress and Jon's Leon Patton 1970s wool blazer were charity shop finds during the week both of which we decided needed to be in our wardrobes rather than on the Kinky rails.

Photo courtesy of Pop-Up Vintage

The venue had changed since we'd last traded in Hampstead and our hearts sunk when we were told that we'd be trading on the fourth floor! Luckily the ground and first floors were below street level so the fourth floor was actually the second floor and with a ramp, two lifts and our trusty sack truck (bought after Jon injured his back last year) we were set up and ready to go in less than an hour and a half. Phew!

We had a fantastic trading day selling to vintage enthusiasts from as far afield as Canada, Australia, Japan, India, the USA, Italy and Spain and, of course, the Horrockses dress was one of the first things to go. We chatted to film makers, Helena Bonham Carter's next door neighbour, Johnny Marr's best mate and spotted a few celebs. As always I was thrilled to see these two incredibly stylish women and, as always, they found a few pieces to tempt them on our rails.

Thanks so much for all the 10th blogoversary wishes and all your lovely messages and emails, I promise to reply individually as soon as I can!

See you soon.

We Do Like To Be Beside The Seaside - A Weekend at Bexhill-on-Sea

This weekend took us to Bexhill-on-Sea where we were trading at a pop-up vintage fair on the seafront as part of the town's annual Great Gatsby weekend. Friday's journey down south, which should have taken three-and-a-half-hours, ended up taking six-and-a-half as it seemed like the entire population of the UK had also decided to drive down to the coast. Our scheduled setting-up time was between 4 and 6pm and we managed to pull up to Bexhill's seafront with minutes to spare. Fortunately our pitch fee included an already erected trade tent so all we had to do was unpack the van and sort out our rails before darkness descended. Our fellow traders had booked into local hotels but us, being us, had opted to sleep in the back of the van. As the only campers, organisers Maxine & Elliot handed over the key to the portaloo to Jon, introduced us to the overnight security guard and bade us farewell.

Set-up complete we headed off to Bexhill-on-Sea's branch of Wetherspoons, The Picture Playhouse, a splendid former Art Deco cinema built in 1921 and boasting possibly the best carpet we've ever seen in a 'Spoons. The weather was inclement to say the least and by the time we'd reached our destination it looked like someone had chucked a bucket of water over the pair of us, although after a few pints we'd stopped caring. We walked back to the van, ate cheese and crackers in bed and fell asleep listening to the torrential rain hammering on the van roof.

Photos courtesy of Pop-Up Vintage

By 5am the rain finally stopped and I was able to dash down the promenade in my nightie to use our exclusive toilet facilities (apologies to any Bexhill residents I may have scared in the process.)  Upon investigation of our stall we discovered that a couple of bags of stock had borne the brunt of the previous night's rain - including the headscarves and cravats that I'd spent an hour ironing on Thursday afternoon - arghhh! After packing away the offending items, putting a few finishing touches to our shop, a wet wipe wash and a mug of tea it was 10am and our pop-up vintage shop opened to the public.

WEARING: Young Mayfair chiffon maxi (me); Floral shirt, tartan drainpipes, Austin Reed waistcoat (Jon)
Photo courtesy of Pop-up Vintage

Trade was brisk and the crowd were friendly but don't be deceived by our appearance in this photo,  the sea breeze was a killer, my hair resembled a raggedy tangled nest and my eyes watered perpetually. By closing time we traders had been rendered insensible by eight hours of constant wind.

Pop-Up Vintage had secured the traders free admission to the evening entertainment in the marquee situated in the grounds of the outstandingly gorgeous De La Warr Pavilion, a grade I listed seafront masterpiece built in 1935 and one of Britain's first modernist buildings and, after a delicious Indian meal at Mowgli (HERE), we headed off to the swing dance event. Neither Jon or I are into dancing but we had a beer and people watched for an hour or so before heading back to the van.

On Sunday we opened at 9am and were thrilled to note that the wind had dropped a little - although you can probably tell from my hair that it was still pretty breezy. 

WEARING: 1960s Luvisca leisure shirt, Levis' Pantella shorts (Jon); Massive sleeved maxi and Sheffield steel pendant (me)
Photo courtesy of Pop-Up Vintage

I was excited to meet beautiful blogging pal, Betty, for the first time and we sat and chatted in the sunshine like we'd known each other for years. After bidding one another goodbye, I got back to work, chatting to visitors and making sales until closing time rolled (or blew) in at 6pm.

After we'd packed up the stock, loaded the van and bade goodbye to our fellow traders Jon tearfully handed the portaloo key back to Maxine - being the loo key holder meant we'd got to know our fellow traders really well as they'd all had to speak to us if they needed to pay a visit. We'd decided to treat ourselves to a night in a local bed and breakfast so we could explore the town's legendary chazzas the following morning. On arrival to our chosen accommodation we were thrilled to be told by Tony, the owner, that he'd upgraded us to a studio apartment - absolute luxury after two nights in a van! After a quick shower we headed back to 'Spoons (where else?) for a bite to eat and the obligatory pint or two. Well and truly knackered we were fast asleep in our wonderfully comfy cloud-like bed by 10.30 pm.

 The following morning after a slap-up vegetarian cooked breakfast at our B&B we had a stroll along Bexhill's wonderfully tranquil beach - a world away from neighbouring Brighton.

WEARING: Young Innocent by Arpeja maxi

And what of the legendary charity shops? Considering the amount of people who retire to Bexhill-on-Sea I'd hoped that the chazzas would be packed with cool old stuff but sadly the clothes on offer were of the modern variety with a large amount being the labels favoured by ladies of a certain age, Per Una and Bon Marche to name just a couple. Still, if there's vintage to be had, Jon and I will find it...and we did!

Clockwise from top left: 1950s Jantzen swimsuit; Vintage cream wool trilby; Christy Panama hat (currently retailing at £119); 1970s Peter Robinson quilted maxi skirt; Vintage brocade waistcoat; 1980s Adini Indian cotton midi dress; Also purchased (but not pictured as it's still on the washing line) was a 1980s Phool sundress.

Our journey back up to the Midlands again took us the best part of six hours and back at home we hit the ground running, doing two loads of washing (our gear, Friday's rain-sodden stock and the morning's chazza shop finds), watering the parched garden and hosing down the van. Today, we're unpacking the van and sorting out the stock in readiness for this weekend's Indietracks festival.

No rest for the wicked!!