Thursday 28 June 2012

Weird weather, Mary Poppins, and the Perfect Man

Hot and sunny yesterday; humid, thundery and wet today.

The British summer continues on its unpredictable course, making the decision of what to wear each day just a little more challenging.


There's a short sleeve maxi dress under there, and I started out with my trusty denim jacket on top, but I found this little Gap jacket on a stall at Chesterfield flea market this morning, and rather liked the Victorian riding outfit vibe.



I have been on the lookout for ever for a vintage carpet bag I could afford. Today was the day!


Love! Handmade carpet deliciousness with a gold frame, cute clasp, and bamboo handle. 
At £15, it was more than I usually pay for anything, but the stall holder reduced it from £20, and it's less than I have seen them for elsewhere. 




These photos were taken at around 11.30am. You'd never know it, it looks so dark and dingy.

I feel a bit like Mary Poppins today, with my umbrella and carpet bag.



I love the original Mary Shepard illustations. And the books are so much better than the Disney film.


I was out last night at our local pub quiz, doing badly as usual.
I've mentioned before that we bring our own prizes to share among our team, since we are clearly never going to win the jackpot...

I won...


... this fabulous 1970s cocktails book, just the thing to inspire me to fill my 1970s glasses.


I donated, but managed to win back (the rules are complex, I won't bore you)... 


If any of you single gals out there would like an Instant Inflatable Perfect Man, just let me know! I've got to warn you though, he's a little on the short side...

I love the Please keep packaging for future reference instruction. 

So if it turns out he does go to the pub and plans stuff without you, and gets drunk, and he stops cuddling and understanding you, you can presumably get a divorce refund.

Other scores of the week (to add further credence to Vix's assertion in her recent post that there are still bargains and vintage goodies to be found in British charity shops;

1950s Peggy Page polka dot dress (£5) and Liberty print cotton tiered gypsy skirt (£3.25)


And one other find...



The lovely Vintage Bird Girl featured her collection of these plastic-covered card sewn boxes (what a thoroughly inelegant description, she calls them hanky boxes) in this post, and I commented at the time that I had never seen one before. Then what do you know, I stumbled across this in a charity shop. 

It's so true, you never know what you're going to find next, just keep looking and prepare to be surprised. 

A motto for life perhaps!



Now the sun is shining again, the hem of my dress is drying, and Four Seasons in One Day is playing on my internal jukebox.

      xxxxx

37 comments:

Vix said...

Where do I start? You do look like a sexier version of Mary Poppins in that divine outfit. The jacket is a stunner, I've been struggling with interesting jackets for now, my usual denim/leather ones look too drab and wintery, that's perfection over the frock.
That bag was well worth breaking the £10 budget, what a beauty with that bamboo handle it is!
Your finds are fabulous and proof that there's still treasure to be found. That Liberty skirt is particularly GORGEOUS!!!
Inflatable man, he's not like he is on the packet, is he? Different hair and more wrinkles and rather a scary cleavage. I think you should get your money back!
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Melanie said...

Your jacket puts me in mind of my bottle green velvet jacket which looks very much like some sort of Edwardian riding jacket, I adore it! Yours is fabulous and goes so well with that bag.

Melanie said...

I love this Mary Poppins/Victorian riding outfit vibe! It's the perfect way to cope with rain-exuberant weather. You are a vision. Most excellent carpet bag as well.

Of your finds I like your plastic man the most. But, duh, he has clothes on! And there are probably no sticking out bits! I had been dreaming of having a plastic man when I went to a local lake so I could ride him over to the other side, like a dingy... Just as well.

Sarah Jane said...

I love this outfit. I particularly like the Victorian style jacket and carpet bag combo. The weather today has been quite oppressively hot. Although we have had some sunshine inbetween rainfall. Love your chazza buys, particularly the box.

PS. Thank you for your lovely comment on my blog xxx

Jaki Morris said...

I adore that bag! Luckily for me my Godmother is an antique dealer and I have my name on a wonderful doctor's style bag! Just got to wait for her to pop her clogs!

I adore that look on you today. Hope you haven't now been washed away in the floods.

Take care

Jakix

Unknown said...

Im so glad you said Mary Poppins because before i even read your post just seeing your photo you reminded me so much of her and once i saw the carpet bag i was singing "just a spoon full of sugar helps the medicine go down the medicine go down" lalala ;-))One of my favourite films ;-)) Love your jacket love the bag and you look fantastic. Love the polka dot dress to. Brill bargains today. I did chuckle at the inflatable man it will make someone very happy im sure ;-)) dee xxx

Unknown said...

Im so glad you said Mary Poppins because before i even read your post just seeing your photo you reminded me so much of her and once i saw the carpet bag i was singing "just a spoon full of sugar helps the medicine go down the medicine go down" lalala ;-))One of my favourite films ;-)) Love your jacket love the bag and you look fantastic. Love the polka dot dress to. Brill bargains today. I did chuckle at the inflatable man it will make someone very happy im sure ;-)) dee xxx

karensomethingorother said...

I love your new carpet bag, Curtise. It's so pretty! Your outfit, complete with new fabbo jacket is very sharp as well. I have to admit I was trying to peek around you to see all that is growing, and try to name it, but that's because I'm a garden FANATIC.

I heard that the weather in England has been very, very wet and miserable. I only heard this second hand though, because even though everyone is here on vacation, and they're all in fun mode, I am trapped in the house with THE PLAGUE.

Kaffesoester said...

For the first time since I was in Australia have I seen another plastic-covered card sewn box like the one I bought down there, and yours is so beautiful! I got mine in 2003 so it's been a while!

Your Mary Poppins jacket is such a great find - it looks like corduroy? And if you ever regret buying the bag I'll be happy to buy it from you! It's gorgeous! But only the bag - not the plastic man!

Louise Mc said...

I love carpet bags, what a fab find. I'm on bag rations however after a recent epic clearout, so I'll just drool from afar! Isn't this weather crazy? I do love the tiered maxi skirt too. Xx

VAL said...

Haha I was thinking exactly that 'Mary Poppins' and then scrolled down and saw you had said it yourself. Fabulous fabulous, now, tell me, can you do that tidy up thingy where the room tidies up on its own? That would be handy.
V
xxx

Max said...

What great finds, love the cut of the jacket and liberty, woohoo (it(must only be a matter of time now until you bag a biba!) x

mispapelicos said...

Your carpet bag was well waiting for, ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. I love it!!!
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Anonymous said...

You look awesome, and I'd let you feed me anything on a spoon!

I've always loved the carpet bags too. They're very rich. You found a keeper with that jacket.

Rose&Bird said...

I'd pick you as a nanny any day! Love the jacket and the bag was obviously meant to be yours! Mad weather here as well - threatening a thunderstorm one minute and bright sunshine the next.

thorne garnet said...

cute little box. Wonder how you make them? We had a very rainy weekend (Thanks Debby!) The coming heatwave is calling for temps in the 100+ range! Wanna trade?

The Small Fabric Of My Life said...

Fabulous carpet bag - the phrase suddenly took me back to Eccles College circa 1984 when we were studying the Carpetbaggers in A Level American History.

Una said...

That carpet bag is so cool. I never thought to read the original Marry Poppins books. I'll I have to find them for my kids.

Krista said...

Oh my goodness Mary Poppins wishes!!! I think this is a friggin great look on you that jacket and hat make the whole outfit a head turner! The bag Curtise the bag wow it's lovely and so big most I find are pretty small but this is a really nice size at at 15 a steal.

Where does one begin with that perfect inflatable man? Hilarious! Gives back rubs for hours needs to be on that list and some others that are inappropriate for print.

Your recent score of that polka dot 50's dress and the hanky box truly does show there are bargins to be bagged!

I hope I get to see you soon! Here comes the sun...
XXOO
Krista

Vintage Bird Girl said...

The maxi Queen strikes again. Don't you look like a super stylish Mary Poppins! That bag is an awesome find. And yay to finding a hanky box!!!! So they aren't just an Aussie thing. It is such a pretty one, a delightful example that I would have snapped up to add to my collection. I could see that polkadot dress on Em from Vintage Sweetheart. That liberty skirt is fab. I do hope the weather starts to turn on a brighter summer for you. Wishing you a wonderful weekend. Xx

Vicky Hayes said...

Life is hideously manic here at the moment but I have to make time to come here and have a good old screech of laughter before getting on with it. Great idea to bring your own prizes to the pub quiz and I love the Perfect Man especially the idea of him straying from the path of Perfection. Just a TINY bit disappointed there was no picture of you flying with your umbrella... surely it would've been simple to have rigged up a wires and pulley system?! Thank you for your whackiness Curtise. Vicky x

Miss Simmonds Says said...

weeping with jealousy over the Liberty print skirt, then realising I have one and a dress at home. Still weeping over the sewing box and the 50s dress! You lucky thing! The carpet bag is great, if you really love something and can afford it, then get it!

Anonymous said...

Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious!!!
I love this outfit, I'm crazy for the Mary Poppins style and I confess that yesterday I was about to do a themed post about her and I spent my evening watching her pictures!! The jacket and the bag are amazing, I love the prints so much!! And your finds are great too!!! I adore the polkadots dress!!! You are "pratically perfect in everyway"!!!
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Unknown said...

I really like this look on you! very different! I have never seen a carpet bag, there are a lot of tapestry bags, but like i said i never encounter a carpet bag ...anyhoo , it is sensational!

I am so in love with the the peggy page dress, God! you got good stuff on your side of the world!But of course there is E-Bay, right?


Sorry about the rain, we got our share at the beginning of the week but now it will be hot and sunny for the next 3 days! It is again a long weekend here, Canada Day!

Take care lovely

Ariane xxxx

citizen rosebud said...

First off I loved Mary Poppins as a kid. Read the whole series. Couldn't care less about the Disney film. You look superkalifragile-istic!

I want that polka dot dress. What a treasure. And Liberty prints- I found a vintage Liberty print skirt and was surprised to see it marked for 3.99 in a shop where Target brands are listed for $12. Score!

Speaking of, that carpet bag! Worth. Every. Penny.

Forest City Fashionista said...

What a gorgeous carpet bag - well worth paying a bit more for, I'd say! You do look like you would sail off with the next gust of wind. I really like the jacket, and I adore the "Peggy Page" dress, although I'm not sure if it's the dress or the label I'm in love with. You and Vix keep taunting me over here with your awesome charity shop finds!!

Fiona said...

Hi Curtise,

What a fab Mary Poppins you make, loved the film as a child but how bad was Dick Van Dyke and the dodgiest cockney accent ever! Your carpet bag is gorgeous and worth paying a little bit more for if you LURVE it and you would've kicked yourself if you'd gone home without it. Had a giggle at the 'perfect man' met one just like him a few years ago who was languishing in the hold of the aircraft I was despatching. He'd have made your eyes water tho' xxx

Sara said...

HELLO, GORGEOUS!!! :D A maxi w/ a denim jacket is one of my favorite combos, and you are rocking it to perfection (of course!)...I AM WILD FOR THAT CARPET BAG!!! It's so incredibly wonderful. One of the very best I've seen! So glad it found you, love. Have missed you! XOXO

Pull Your Socks Up! said...

Practically perfect in every way!!! Can we tidy the nursery together? On second thoughts, how about we play dress-ups and scoff an obscene amount of cake?!! Oh I absolutely LOVE your new bag and jacket so, soooooo much!!! They look like they were made for each other and I certainly don't think you overspent on the bag - they're impossible to find, it's the perfect size and the fabrics are gloriously rich!!!! Ooooooh I love your new 50s frock too - YUM!!!! I wonder if Mr Plastic changes the loo roll. xxxxxx

Vintage Sweetheart said...

I think I would pay almost anything for a bag that stunning. Sometimes you just have to pay a little more for an item that gorgeous. I love your Mary Poppins tribute. I've never read the book I should though because I adore the movie and I've seen it performed live. xx

The Style Crone said...

This outfit couldn't be more beautiful and perfect for a rainy day, umbrella and garden included. Send some of you rain our way! What finds you have provided for us on this post. I am especially fond of your carpet bag and the lovely hanky box. It looks to me that charity shops rock.

Lynn Hasty said...

First, I love Mary Poppins. :) I am so happy to have happened upon your blog. I agree with you 100% -- wear what you love and don't worry about what people think. Life is just too short! Love the carpet bag! Oh my!

Cheers!
Lynn

Anonymous said...

The bag is a wonderful find! And the only thing keeping you from giving off a Mary Poppins bag is that you're not flying across the sky. The jacket is perfect with the outfit. Would have to see the inflatable man blown up before I'd be tempted to claim him. ;)

Annie said...

I'm definitely finding the weather a challenge, but you've nailed it in that gorgeous jacket, hat and brolley.

The carpet bag is fabulous, worth every penny of £15, and such a good size too.

You perhaps won't be too surprised to hear of my admiration of the 1970s cocktail book. Hopefully you'll post some recipes/pics in due course!

As for Perfect Man, I notice they don't promise he won't leave the loo seat up or hog the remote control. Hmmmm...

Enjoy the rest of the weekend.
Love Annie xxx

Unknown said...

Ooh I LOOOOVE this outfit! The jacket and maxi combo is WONDERFUL and I LOOOVE that beautiful bag - it is SO YOU! The polka dot dress BLOWS MY MIND and I love those hanky boxes too - I've never found one though I do have a bathroom bin one and have had them as shopping baskets too! You look just beautiful in these pics, amor! SKYPE??? Love you to BITS!

Sarah xxx

Vintage Coconut said...

That carpet bag is immensly great!
*WOW*
I also like the floral jacket.

doradadama said...

I adore this Mary Poppins victorian horse riding biatch look!
That bag is dively gorgeous carpet bag.
I love the hanky box, so mesmerizin.