All work and no play

I'm painfully aware that I am being a dreadful blogger at the moment.

 

After all, bloggers, by definition, actually get their arses in gear and blog, no? 

Me, I lurk in the shadows feeling overwhelmed by the number of posts I have failed to comment on, and wondering when the hell I can take some photos for a post of my own.

Going dotty? I just might be...

 

 

1970s dress - gift from Tania

1960s Admyra jacket - charity shopped

Boots - retail (sale) 

 

 

1970s Miss Mary of Sweden dress and denim jacket - charity shopped

 

So that's what I've been wearing for a couple of days at least. 

Not much else has been happening apart from work.

There is plenty of colour on the rails at the shop...

and party frocks from the 1970s or 80s, take your pick.

Dressing the mannequins is like playing with life-sized Barbies (and Ken).

 

 

We've got some great sewing patterns...

funky homewares...

and something for the kids too.

But you know, as much as I love the shop and passionately want it to be successful, I have decided I don't want to work full-time. 

 

I want my life back. I miss my family, my friends, my blog. I want to sleep through the night, go to charity shops which aren't mine, cook better meals, I even want to clean the house. I want to sew, take photos, and get out in the garden.

 

 

There is colour going on out there too, and I hadn't even noticed.

 

 

So, as soon as the charity can recruit a shop manager, I will revert back to my role as deputy and part-time hours. Until then, blogging may be patchy, but I'm looking forward to a time when I have something other than work to write about!

Linking to Patti's Visible Monday, despite feeling decidedly invisible at present.

Hope all is well with all of you.

xxxx

Autumn in a frock

I bought this autumnal dress a year ago and fully intended to shorten it...

but a combination of laziness and shortage of time means it's still exactly the same length as when I first wore it...

Oh well - it's fine as it is.

1970s English Lady brushed nylon dress - local vintage market

Boots - Ebay

1960-70s pendant - gift from Vix

 We're back into the routine of work and school this week. 

I am still waiting to hear when my new job will start; the shop fitters are in but a manager has yet to be recruited, so I'm carrying on in my current post, but feeling slightly in limbo.

One of the challenges of the vintage shop will be making sure we have appropriate stock in sufficient quantity. As donations come in to the other 12 shops run by the charity, the expectation is that the staff and volunteers will put aside anything "vintage" to pass on. I think they might need some support to identify the right pieces, an issue which the organisation also recognise.

So here's a question for you; if you were a volunteer sorting through stacks of donations in a charity shop, what would you need to know in order to have a hope of picking out potential vintage stock? Most of the shops get a lot of donations; which is great, but it means they are dealt with quickly, and having to consult lists or look things up will slow down the sorting process. Any information I circulate will therefore have to be pithy and easy to recall and act upon, in addition to which I'm well aware that not everyone is as interested in that old shit (and I quote a shop manager) as I am.

So, here's my question; if you had to give some short sharp pointers for identifying vintage donations (including clothing, accessories, jewellery, homewares, kitchenalia, linens and fabrics, pictures, etc - it's so hard to make an exhaustive list), what would you say?

I have lots of ideas myself, but it would be useful to get some different perspectives.

 So while you mull that over (or alternatively, while you think bugger off and do your own homework, you lazy arse), here are a couple of recent vintage purchases I would gladly have in my shop;

a 1970s "Tara" design Taunton Vale storage jar, and a floral still life print of indeterminate heritage. Both cheap as chips, and both from charity shops.

And look what lovely Lynn sent me to wish me luck in my new job - my very own vintage angel!

Do you think she looks a bit like me?

And speaking of look-a-likes;

doesn't the stalk on top of the pumpkin we grew in the garden look rather like Baby Groot from Guardians of the Galaxy?    
             
  

 We thought so!

I might just be dancing myself later; I'm off to see ABC. 

Can't wait!

xxx

I know it's out of fashion and a trifle uncool

I've been both working and playing pretty hard of late. 

 

I like having plenty to keep me occupied, but I must confess I reach a point where all I want to do is curl up under a blanket on the sofa with a mug of tea, and catch up on the X Factor auditions.

 

I'm so rock'n'roll. 

Most of this outfit is newly acquired. 

I had an abortive attempt at buying some Lotta from Stockholm clogs earlier this year (they are cheaper than Swedish Hasbeens, and you can buy slight seconds at an even more reduced price). However, when I tried them out by wearing them around the house, they hurt my feet so much, I was glad to take them off. The foot bed was clearly all wrong for the shape of my foot, and although I got a refund without any trouble, I was sad at not being able to wear them.

 

So hurrah for finding these suede Gudrun Sjoden clogs in a charity shop for less than a fiver! I love the colour, and they are comfortable enough to wear for a day at work when I am on my feet for 8 hours. 

Excuse my rain-tipped toes.

Ooh, a leather skirt! Modern, but it's got a cool Seventies A-line vibe which I like.  

1980s jacket (part of a culotte suit), leather skirt, tights, clogs, and vintage Austrian crystal necklace - all charity shopped 

It seems appropriate to give a nod to the early Eighties, since I was reminiscing about my time at university again last Saturday. 

I attended a reunion event with these lovely ladies; we were all at university together, 1982-5.

L-R; Me, Sally, Rebecca, Claire J and Claire H.

 

We laughed and gossiped, caught up on what's going on now as well as reminding each other of what happened 30 years ago. (What's wrong with me, I seem to have forgotten so much!) Rebecca lives in New Zealand now, so it's a rare treat to see her, and Claire H is in London; the rest of us are still here in Sheffield. 

We danced to all sorts of music, but yes, there were some Eighties classics in the mix. Of course there were!

 

For once, I had to be sensible and was the first to leave as I was working on Sunday. 

There is a quarterly Farmers' Market in Nether Edge, the suburb where my shop is located, so we open on those Sundays to capture the passing trade. It coincided with the final day of our end of season sale, and all clothes, shoes and bags were £1. It was very busy; I loved it, and we made lots of money. 

It's been good to have a day off today, pottering in a damp garden with my cats.

Charlie is always the one causing bother; Minnie does not want to engage with him, especially when he's showing his arse. And who can blame her?

The girls co-exist in reasonable harmony.

I'll be joining the always harmonious get-together over at Patti's for the welcome return of Visible Monday. 

 

 Looking forward to catching up with you all!

xxxxx

Our happy place

Goodness me, a whole week has flown past and I haven't posted a thing. Life has been really busy with a mix of work, socialising, and kids' stuff, which is all good. It might be a challenge initially, but I'm sure I can find a blogging rhythm which fits with my new work schedule.

No looking back wistfully - onwards.

I bought this dress during a lovely day out in Nottingham last Saturday with my dear friends Vix and Tania.

Beautiful, aren't they?

I just love meeting up with these two sweethearts; we potter and browse and chat and laugh, there's always a comment or two from folk about what we're wearing, and the traditional Wetherspoons lunch is cheap and cheerful. Just like us.

Firemen, sweeper-uppers, and Vix. 

Her blog post about our day is here; she has better photos than me, I was useless and took hardly any.

We chatted to the lady from Sherwood WI who had been partly responsible for the yarn bombing. She told me that the conversation turned rather naughty while she knitted those leeks. Can't think why...

A Wetherspoons in an interesting building with a mobility scooter parked outside; ahhh, we're in our happy place. 

We're waiting patiently for out 'Spoons sponsored lunch. Or weekend away, whichever they would like to offer us. Now that would be a freebie worth having.

Tania and Vix lit up the city centre with vintage colour and big smiles. 

The My Sight charity shop had some cracking stock...

but unfortunately Tania nearly got stuck in that vintage beach set, the quilted velvet coat was just too plain and brown for Vix, and the Shelley's platforms were too big. Oh well.

 

I like the feisty quotation from Nottingham-born writer Alan Sillitoe; Once a rebel, always a rebel, and it's best to be a rebel to show 'em it dun't pay to do you down. 

And after a final pint and a natter, that was that. Our days out always go much too fast,

but we rarely go home empty-handed. 

These well-chosen gifts from Vix and Tan demonstrate the beauty of vintage/secondhand shopping - quirky individual pieces, both useful and pretty, which needn't cost the earth but make perfect presents.

Early 1980s New Looks of California cotton dress - £5, Sunshine Vintage Bazaar

Belt and bangles - charity shopped

Sandals - retail (sale)

I've done two days at work this week, and my brain is buzzing with induction and training information.

Yes, I'm just like this little fella, bumbling about but trying to do the right thing and remember it all.

Not much chance of that, but I'm doing my best, and enjoying it!

xxxx

Best laid plans

I have worn this dress many times, and featured it on the blog fairly often too.

 I love it, everything about it, and when the thin cotton fabric finally disintegrates, I will shed real, salty tears.  

This post from last year explains why the dress has a particular place in my heart as well as my wardrobe.

Thankfully, it's holding up well to repeated wear.

 1970s maxi dress - community fair

Necklace, bangles and sunglasses - charity shopped

Sandals - retail (sale)

Laughing - at Charlie, he was chasing a bee

I have a start date for my new job (the week after next), and I'm feeling that familiar combination of excitement and anxiety at the prospect of doing something new.  It will be fine, I know it will, but I also know I have a lot to learn, and I want to be good at it, now.

 I'm trying not to fast-forward too much. It's better to make good use of the time I have left before the toad, work, squats on my life again.

Time for charity shopping - I've found the usual eclectic mix of things this week.

 

Vintage suitcase - £4 (plus one Jess, free)

1970s Kathie Winkle-designed plates - 50p each

1970s blouse - £3

1960-70s Spirograph-inspired copper brooch - £2

1960s Dents long gloves - £1

1963 Penguin edition of Rebecca - 50p

Hush Puppy sandals - £3

1970s West German-made Tower weighing scales - £3

Pretty vintage fabrics - shall I make dresses, skirts or flares?

According to this 1950s tin, Oxo is refreshing and stimulating. News to me.

Now, I had plans for this blog post, and for this evening, neither of which have come to fruition.

I was all set to do my first ever link-up, on the theme of old faithfuls, favourite outfits, or new clothing crushes which could grow into the Real Thing. How hard can it be, I thought, to cut and paste the HTML code into a post? That's all there is to it...

Err, not so. For some reason, the blue button failed to appear, the link didn't work, and I ended up deleting the post and going to bed last night in a right old huff.

Despite encouragement and tech support from Patti and Kezzie, I ditched the idea. A woman's gotta know her limitations.

And that was only a minor irritation at the side of today's news that the Fleetwood Mac gig in Manchester has been cancelled due to illness, with no plans to reschedule. I am soooo disappointed. Simon's offer to get the kids to sing Don't Stop for me instead is, quite frankly, no consolation at all.

I bet it's Lindsay Buckingham who's poorly. Bloody diva.

 C'est la vie.
I expect we'll head out for a curry tonight instead.

And if you feel inclined to tell me about your favourite frock (or your favourite Fleetwood Mac song) in your comment, that will go some way to mollifying my downcast and frustrated heart. 

Have a great weekend!

xxx