What a way to make a living

What do Cary Grant, the Visible Man and I have in common?

We can all be found in St Luke's new charity shop specialising in vintage, of course!

 

 

I am loving my time in this shop - it's just right for me. 

I'm working full time, we're still building up our team of volunteers, and there are lots of things to tweak and adjust and develop. I'm waking up in the small hours of the morning with ideas and plans and Things To Do. I'm knackered, but I'm so happy to be there. 

1960s black/metallic dress (shortened by me accompanied by much swearing, it was tricky to preserve the shape and the pattern at the hem while sorting out a previous poorly-sewn remake) - charity shopped

Boots - retail

 

Gotta love a job where wearing flamboyant vintage clothes is not only acceptable, it's positively de rigeur. 

 

I'm being a terrible blogger at the moment - parachuting in with a me me me post, having failed to leave any comments on your blogs for days on end. I will rectify that soon, I promise, but right now I need my bed and I have yet another list to write for tomorrow...

 

(I'll just pop over to Patti's to join the Visible Monday gathering before I go.) 

See you all soon!

xxx 

Reasons to be cheerful

It's been a beautiful day today. It was a pleasure to walk to work this morning without a jacket.

 

 

1970s Debroyal maxi skirt - vintage fair

Cardigan, top, shoes, bangles and 1960s vinyl bag - charity shopped

Sunglasses - retail

I do love my charity shop days; today, I've rearranged the bric-a-brac display to my satisfaction, sorted and priced all manner of objects from vintage tea sets, glassware and kitchenalia to linens and clothes, and shaken my head over the sad state of some donations. 

 

I've chatted and laughed with customers, and put the world of charity shopping to rights with my fellow volunteers and our lovely manager.

Yes - a good day. 

Another good day was had by Claudia and I on Saturday.

I texted her while I was at the hairdresser's to ask her if she wanted to meet me in town afterwards.

 

Claud: Why?

Me: Err... Cos I love you. And I might buy you something.

Claud: What time?

Cheeky bugger.

Two dresses from a charity shop and a pair of shoes for school later, and here we are in Mooch Vintage. It's Mama's turn! 

 

The shop has moved to larger premises since I took the gang there on our Bloggers Day in Sheffield last year. But proprietor Wayne remains as friendly as ever; he didn't object to me taking photos and taking ages to select a few frocks to try on, and talked strong colours and prints with me and the virtues of Converse with Claudia.

 

 

Colour and sparkle...

 

taxidermy, some with accessories...

Japanese beauties...

and the Perfect Bag, but it wasn't for sale. Which was probably just as well, since I might have been tempted to bankrupt myself in order to buy it, I loved it so much.

 

 

What I did purchase from Mooch was the 1970s white print dress on the right; the blue/green pleated 1970s beauty on the left was a half-price bargain from Freshman's vintage boutique.

 2 dresses + 2 dresses = happy mum and daughter.

Freshly coloured hair makes me happy too.

I'm vaguely aware of how shallow that makes me sound, but honestly? It's true and I don't care who knows it!

I'm terribly late for Visible Monday but Patti is such a generous hostess, I'm sure she won't mind. I hate to miss it!

xxxx

Get Kinky

We Brits are a stoical lot; we may moan endlessly about the weather, but we don't let it stop us doing anything.

Tania and I weren't about to allow the rain to spoil our fun, we had shopping plans for Saturday which included dropping by to see this Kinky pair!

Lovely Vix and Jon, the hardest working vintage sellers around, were in Nottingham for the Fayre on the Square. 

Shopping really doesn't need to be a serious business. 

The Kinky Melon Retro Boutique rails were full to bursting with colour and print and vintage grooviness; the clothes and the company couldn't fail to put a smile on your face.

 Lyndsey and Steve of Boomerang Vintage and Retro had a pitch too.

We shook our heads at the fact that the little green cabinet with the sliding doors was originally one of a pair, but a customer only wanted to buy a single unit. How could anyone bear to split them up?

Poor Tania, I kept insisting on taking her photo whenever she tried anything on...

She even looked beautiful in those 1950s floral Diddyman hats..

 

which is more than can be said for me in these red leather trousers in Baklash.

Oh we did laugh! Another timely reminder of why I rarely wear trousers, but worth trying for the amusement factor.

Grumpy Lion says step away from the leather pants, just step away...

 

Tania's gorgeous cape came from Kinky Melon.

After lunch and a browse of some of Nottingham's charity and vintage shops which flew by all too quickly, I headed home to meet the family for dinner at Smoke Barbeque.

We were celebrating Owen's 11th birthday.

The kids were very taken with having their drinks in jam jars.

Sooo... what did I buy in Nottingham? 

This fabulous 1970s Berkertex maxi dress was a Kinky purchase...

as was this 1970-80s Wallis cropped faux fur jacket. 

I found this 1970s disco-tastic Spinney top in a charity shop.

(Excuse the creases, I haven't washed it yet.)

1970s Berkertex maxi dress - Kinky Melon's Retro Boutique

1980s jacket - vintage shop

Ankle boots - Ebay

Necklace and bangles - charity shopped

Striped bangle - gift from Fiona

Love that scooped back, and the rainbow stripes on the sleeves.

I'll be taking my Kinky frock to join Patti's Visible Monday. 

 

Now, it's just possible that a plan was hatched to meet up again very soon...

I wonder where these chazzin' pixies will go next?

xxxx

Well, we drank champagne and danced all night

The Sheffield Antiques Quarter is pretty much on my doorstep, and I am enjoying watching as various vintage/retro businesses spring up in my local area. 

One of these is a shop called Vintedge. 

There was a competition recently on their Facebook page, in which customers were invited to post a photo of their favourite purchases from the shop. 

I posted this;

 

 my 1970s cotton sundress, bought from Marie at The Queen's Drawers, one of Vintedge's traders.

And I won! 

 

The prize included lunch for two at the Electric Candlelight cafe, so my friend Joanne and I wandered down in the sunshine this afternoon, and enjoyed our food very much..

 

I also received £10 to spend in Vintedge, and it was no hardship at all to browse the shelves and rails to find something lovely. 

 

 

There are fabulous fabrics...

 

crockery and home wares...

 

 

gifts and art work...

 

and of course there is plenty of vintage clothing.

 

 

I tried on a few dresses...

 

(a bit too small, a bit too big...)

 

but eventually decided on this 1970s cotton maxi dress.

 

Perfect!

Thanks very much to Sally at Vintedge and Paul at Electric Candlelight for being so friendly and generous. 

 

 

 

I love my new frock.

 

You don't need me to tell you to support your local independent traders and secondhand sellers - I'm preaching to the converted, right?

 

 

 

 

I'll be keeping everything crossed for darling Vix at the Vintage Awards tomorrow.

 

 Hope everyone is having a great week!

 

xxx