We passed upon the stair

If I were putting together a list of words to describe my wardrobe, it would have to include vintage, 1960-70s, dresses, maxis, print, colour, and cheap.

That's not exhaustive, but you get the general idea.

This dress does a good job of combining all of the above.

A towelling maxi dress in quintessentially early 1970s colours and print, which fits perfectly, and cost £2.50.

 I'd say the whole outfit comes in at under a tenner, including shoes and accessories (all secondhand). 

Now, who else remembers all the orange, yellow and brown around in the 1970s?

I amused myself by browsing Google Images for examples, of which there are many when it comes to home wares (these were all from Ebay and Etsy).

But it occurred to me that I have plenty of my own 1970s kitchen kitsch - just look!

J&G Meakin Studio coffee pot and cups

Baret Ware biscuit barrel and cake tin

Alfred Meakin plates

Kathie Winkle for Broadhurst Ironstone bowls

Apart from the coffee pot, which is for decorative purposes only, everything else is in regular use.

And of course everything was bought in charity shops for not much money at all.

1970s C&A maxi dress - Baklash in Nottingham (bought on a delightful bloggers' day out)

Sandals - Ebay

Sunglasses, belt, necklace, and most of the bangles - charity shopped

Here's another of my 1970s maxi dresses in exactly the same colours.

Kati at Laura Phillips maxi - gift, bought in a vintage shop in Brick Lane, London


It's too warm for any of these.

Mmm... That's better, boys.

 Now, I'm not sure what was going on here...

but you could be forgiven for thinking that I'm waiting at the bottom of the garden for my allotted partner at a wife-swapping party, circa 1974.

So where is David from No. 57?

 Ahh, here he is; I do like a man in orange.

I've no evidence that this dress is from 1974, but I have decided it is, so there.

 And David and Lulu agree!

xxxx

                                                      

All sewn up

It took a while; I've been threatening (but failing) to do it for ages, so I am delighted to reveal my new self-sewn dress.

  At last!

 The pattern...

 

...is from 1978.

Which is probably the last time I made anything from a pattern.

We learned how to make a skirt at school, and I made a few, but never progressed to anything else. We also had to make an apron, which we then used in cookery lessons.

My Domestic Science teacher, Miss Griffiths, was terrifying, and frequently rolled her eyes at my poor efforts (although not as much as the even more alarming Miss Williams, the PE teacher.)

So here you go, Miss Griffiths - this piece of Sheet Chic is for you!

(Alas, Miss Williams' derision put me off sport for life, and not even 35 more years will rectify that.)

The proper sewists amongst you would probably pull a face similar to Miss G, circa 1977, if you took a closer look, but hey, it's a first attempt. I've never done facings or darts before, it took two attempts to put the zip in correctly, and I had to take the bodice in for a better fit.

I find the technicalities tricky, I am not neat or skilled, and I clearly have difficulties with curves and ease.

But I made myself go slowly, press as I went along, follow the instructions and not wing it, and leave it till the next day when I felt myself getting frustrated at my mistakes.

And I really did enjoy the process.

Dress - made it myself (I can't tell you how proud I am to be able to say that!)

Cardigan, bangles, flower and necklace - charity shopped

1960s shopper - vintage fair

Sandals - Ebay 

It's entirely possible that this dressmaking malarkey might become addictive; as soon as I had finished, I wanted to start another project. 

So I did.

1960s pattern - a gift from Vix.

 Cats. 

Always so helpful.

We'll see how this one goes. 

Spring in outfit form, I think.

Nina and I popped to the local vintage market after her swimming lesson today; the bribe of a piece of cake helped maintain compliance.

I'm almost as skilled at parenting as I am at sewing.

 My only purchase was a 1970s maxi dress, £5. 

But I enjoyed browsing.

 Smug? You betcha!

Hope everyone has had a great weekend.

xxx

Mix and match

I seem to have spent the last couple of days being highly ineffectual.

You know, faffing about; doing a little bit of one thing, then a little bit of another, but not finishing anything or doing any of it very well...

I'm all distracted and pathetic and pre-menstrual. 

And moany, clearly.

Sorry.

 

 

But all is not lost; my quiz team, the Ladies Purse, are convening tomorrow night to display their intellectual brilliance. Or their dismal ignorance, it could go either way.

 

And I am going to see Lloyd Cole on Thursday, so I am very excited about that.  

 

Do you know Goody who writes Eat The Blog?

She's funny.

 

And she observed here that some strange magic happens sometimes, and one's bosom looks bigger in certain photos.

Like here;

jacket on, boobs barely noticeable;

jacket off, knockers ahoy.

 

 

 

 Now you see 'em, now you don't.

Knockers is Goody's word. It makes me laugh, because I am foolish and have the sense of humour of a Carry On film. 

 

I can practically hear the Benny Hill music playing, can't you?

I'm enjoying all the textures going on here, and the little opal pendant which I found for a couple of quid in a charity shop. I was only looking at the chain actually, I need to replace one which broke, but I like opals so I'll keep the necklace as it is. 

 

1950s Scottish tweed jacket, 1970s tank top, sunglasses, necklace and bangles - charity shopped

1970s maxi skirt - vintage/collectables shop in Matlock

1950-60s tapestry bag - vintage shop in Birmingham

Blouse - jumble sale

Boots - retail (ancient)

 

 

I am also happy to muddle up my vintage styles and decades; I'm no purist, and if a 1970s tank top and maxi call out to be paired with a 1950s jacket, who am I to argue?

Just don't shop me to the vintage police.

 

 Thank you for all your very sweet comments on my last post. Gawd knows I don't want to be a Mummy Blogger, and you are kind to put up with the kiddy pics.

Claudia liked her birthday card, but is determined not to listen to any of my words of wisdom regarding personal style...

 

I've got Nina (Littlest) at home tomorrow because of the teachers' strike, and she is angling to do something special, mainly so she can rub her older siblings' noses in the fact that they have to go to school as usual.

I predict that cake will be involved, and yet more faffing about.

What does the rest of the week have in store for you?

xxxx

Springing into action

What a glorious day it has been, warm and sunny with bright blue skies.

I have been caught out, unprepared for sandal-wearing, with unpainted toenails and legs which remain in their winter state. Unlike Sandra, I haven't yet attempted the Great Spring Deforestation, but that's the beauty of a maxi, isn't it?

No one need ever know!

Does any combination say 1970s more than brown, orange and yellow? 

I love this dress, and to be able to wear it without a jacket in March is a delight.

1970s Kati at Laura Phillips maxi dress - gift from Patsy 

Bangles, necklace and sunglasses - charity shopped 

Sandals - retail (sale)

 

On Thursday, in considerably cooler temperatures, Joanne, Sue and I headed to Chesterfield flea market.

Sue and I adored the vintage Soviet posters...

we admired the usual eclectic mix of items for sale...

 

...and chuckled at the man who was diligently looking at every single porn mag in the box under this table. I wonder if he bought any, or just enjoyed perusing them for free?

Oh good grief, I do not need any more vintage china.

 

But the 1950s sandwich plates were so pretty (50p each) and the set of 1960-70s Meakin serving plate, 4 dinner and 4 side plates was too fabulous to leave behind (£3).

Another 1960-70s Sheffield steel pendant caught my eye too (50p).

 

The seeds were free, a gift from Sue.

Yesterday, after a visit to a local jumble sale (nothing remarkable to show you, just some clothes for the kids, and a handful of books), Littlest and I went out for a wander, which inevitably included cake. 

She demolished that white chocolate and raspberry cake in seconds flat, and pronounced it excellent.

Then she posed winsomely for the camera. The enormous bandage on her finger is totally out of proportion to the injury, she did it herself and has a taste for A Big Statement.

Our cherry tree is springing into life.

Life is good!

I'll be linking up with Patti as always for Visible Monday; see you there!

xxxxxx

On the wing and open wide

I wish you could have seen me yesterday, whipping up angel costumes at a furious pace! My sewing machine has never rattled along quite so quickly, there's nothing like a deadline to stop me from farting about...

Anyway, I made them, all 10 of the little darlings, complete with vintage lace trim round the hems and sleeves. Naturally I delivered them to school this morning without remembering to take any photos, so you'll just have to take my word for it, and make do with this vision of 70s chic instead.

This is another of my £2.50 Baklash buys, a 1970s dream from C&A. Does any colour combination speak of the early 1970s quite so well as brown, orange and yellow?

Because it's the first of the month (or it was when I took the photos), it's time for another Hat Attack over at Judith's. I'm going; why not join us?

Still learning to love that profile... Getting there, I'm getting there.

The dress is that annoying not-quite-maxi-enough length on me, but I was pleased to discover a big turn-up so I'll let the hem down, when I remember...

As it is, I rather liked wearing the dress as a long waistcoat/tunic kinda thing over trousers...

...a bit like this, only more towelling, less woolly rug. 

1970s C&A maxi dress - Baklash vintage shop, Nottingham

Top, belt, trousers, bangles and hat - charity shopped

Boots - community fair

Necklace - gift

I'm no great believer in karma, but after I had sweated over my sewing yesterday, look what arrived in the post today.

I won Patti's giveaway, a beautiful silver branch necklace by Blue Nile.

It's gorgeous, thank you, Patti - now we're necklace twins! Whenever I wear it, I will think of you.

And speaking of the ever-hospitable and oh-so-stylish Patti, she is having her usual get-together for Visible Monday, so I'm taking my bold 70s print over there. It's well nigh impossible to be invisible wearing this dress!

Hope your weekends were fabulous, like your good selves!

xxxxx