Sale!

Hello lovely, lovely people.

I'm selling off my 50s gear on Etsy.

10% discount to anyone who reads my blog. :-)

Sunday Sale and Social - part 2

Hello my lovelies.  I hope you are all feeling better than I (stuck indoors with some kind of virus...ugh).

Anyway, I just wanted to remind those of you in London that the second Vintage Mafia/Love Shake sale and social is happening this coming Sunday.  We even made Time Out's top 5 things to do!

The Love Shake is a gorgeous little retro diner close to the vintage hub of Brick Lane in London's East end.  Myself and the girls will be selling our wares from 4pm to around 7pm and this time we have a guest seller, the lovely Redlegsinsoho who has some amazing frocks for sale.


Personally, I'm a little short of funds this month thanks to vets bills, a broken oven and just generally being a spendthrift, so I'm reducing my prices hugely.  There might even be a Swirl or two...if I can make myself part with them.

We have clothing from the '40s to the '80s, some top quality repro,  vintage bags, shoes and jewellery.  Come along and treat yourself, or even just join us for a milkshake or a hot dog.

What better way to spend a Sunday afternoon?

Birthday presence

I have to say that this year I have had the best birthday of my life so far!  My actual birthday was Friday 12th but I met up with almost all of La Maf on Thursday for art gallerying and dindins.

We went to see the very amazing Glamour of the Gods exhibition at the National Gallery, featuring some of the most stunning Hollywood portraiture from 1920 to 1960.  It was an absolute treat, especially the side by side pictures of Messrs Brando and Dean..I didn't know where to look. *fans self*

The exhibition is on until 23 October and I highly recommend it.

The girls spoilt me with a collections of amazing gifts - bakelite bracelets, a fakelite brooch, vintage buttons, gorgeous old knitting needles and a Stitchcraft I don't yet have plus a lovely roll of make up brushes to complement the course I had taken earlier that day (more about that later this week).  Just look at my present haul!  I swear I've never had as many presents before.  Thank you angels!

We then had a lovely dinner, and I broke my very strict diet.  Omnomnom.

To top it all off I went home to find a huge bundle of yarn had arrived.  I can strongly recommend Yarns4Less, excellent prices and amazing service.  Look at all my lovely, lovely yarn!

Marlon liked it too.

On my actual birthday my very dear friend Naomi took my out for dinner and wine, it was lovely.

Saturday was my birthday picnic - I met my chums in the park at 2:30 and we stayed there supping boozes and eating cake for a good long time, with the survivors heading back to mine for a party that went on until after 4am!  I'm still suffering the after effects today.

Here are some fairly civilised pics the amazing Ms de Guerre took in the park:

And here are the bottles left in my flat the next day....oops:

It was so lovely to spend the day and night with so many of my very favourite people!  Thank you all for making my birthday truly smashing.


I should write more eloquently, put more links in, crop photos etc - but I'm STILL hungover, so I'm using that as an excuse.  Sue me.  :-)

I'm off to have a bath and an early night, I'm getting on in years now you know!

New knitting books!

Morning all!

Just a quick post here to share with you some new knitting purchases I made.  The first is one of those marvellous things, an 80's book of vintage patterns.  Some of the pictures are a little blurred, I'm still getting used to my new camera so apologies!

 Blurred but just look at that scarf set, ha!

 I might actually make this one.

A proper "Herbert"

I also picked up this original 1939 knitting book from Amazon for just £5.  Amazon is a great and cheap source of vintage knitting books - always much cheaper than eBay or Etsy where the same publication is being sold for over £20!

 I just love this book, 1939 is probably my favourite year for fashion so I cannot wait to get started on these, though I'm not sure I have the patience to knit that incredible dress!

Seeing red

'Allo there

Sorry I've been quiet lately, I've got stuff to write about but am lacking the motivation to do so for some reason.

So, to update you on my goings on, this last week has been marred somewhat by the riots across London.  I'm not going to talk about why I think it happened or what people could do - that isn't my interest - but it has affected day to day life somewhat.  My home is right in the middle of one of the main riot areas, the air smelt of fire and was full of the sound of helicopters, sirens, breaking glass and angry shouting.  I've been through two riots in my life - the first in Harringay when two men were shot on my doorstep following a clash between two local immigrant groups and the second this.  I have to say this was more frightening as I was on my own.  I even had the cat box and a suitcase at the ready.  Ugh.

Still, in true Blitz spirit, the country has rallied and by the time I woke at 9am my local area had been cleaned, the only signs that anything untoward had happened were scorch marks on the roads where the burnt out cars had been and the occasional smashed window. 

In the absence of anything useful to do locally and a medical appointment taking up my afternoon time I head over to Islington for a little vintage pottering and managed to find myself an amazing little birthday present in the shape of a red gabardine 40s skirt and a red and white hat of a similar age (but which I think would work well with both late 30s and 40s looks).

Look at these lovelies:

I have a lovely blouse that will work so am just hunting for suitable shoes and perhaps I'll knit a little navy cardigan too.

I'm thinking these shoes from Rocket Originals:

Happy early birthday to me!