Costa del cloud

Surprised to see me back so soon? 

I did promise to blog a bit more frequently, didn't I?! 

So here I am with my second blog offering of the year which (I hasten to add) will be significantly shorter than the last one (sigh of relief ).

Firstly I'd like to say thank you to the awesome peeps that took the time to leave such lovely comments on my last post, you all gave me a real shot in the arm after my extended hiatus. To be honest I hadn't planned to take such a long break from blogging but our move saw one week seamlessly glide into the next and before I knew it almost five months had gone by....it happens, that's life! Any road it is very heartwarming to feel welcomed back after a long break and it makes me feel even more excited about getting back into the saddle.

This week we borrowed a relatives's car while she's away working in London and we've been making good use of it. On Monday we swung past IKEA for their sale, on Wednesday we did a quick restock run to the storage place where we now keep the majority of our clobber and yesterday we drove out to the coast to snap some pics.

We stopped off in Largs for a poke of chips that we shared with the gulls...

According to Wikipedia (and my mother-in-law) Largs is a popular seaside resort on the Firth of Clyde in North Ayrshire, roughly 33 miles from Glasgow.

Like so many of our beloved British seaside gems it is probably much more exciting when visited during the summer months, yesterday it displayed a definite vibe of hibernation.

It made me think of a ' The Lightening Seeds' song called 'Sense', there is a line that goes "Feels like I'm living in a town closed down for winter"...it felt a bit like that.

Hanging out with the gulls on the shore, was definitely where it was at!

Yesterday was the first day in ages that it wasn't pissing down or blowing a hoolie, so I made sure that I was out of bed before noon so that we could go for a spin. We'd planned to have a photo session up in the Highlands over Christmas but severe dreich weather conditions scuppered those plans. Despite it being a wee bit nippy yesterday we still managed to shoot a couple of frocks with the stunning Firth of Clyde as a backdrop. I'll share this little photo session in the next post as I've yet to edit most of the pics.

We took some fannying about pics too...

Mark wore his favourite Pachamama top that I bought for him at the Holloway car boot sale.

My get-up:
Vintage 60s psychedelic print dress
Plain and net layered  tights
Faux-fur trimmed PVC coat
DM boots
Frocktasia bag
Necklace bought in Greece
Retro sunnies

No doubt we'll return to Largs in the summertime, perhaps even daring to bring a couple of beach towels, who knows?! 

Hope your weekend has got off to a fabulous start peeps.

Have a good one :)

I'll leave you with that tune that was spinning through my head yesterday...

Loads of love,

Jennie

xXx 

A Satisfied Mind

The weather here in London has been absolutely delightful of late and I quite literally live on the balcony at the moment. When it gets too hot out there I grab a blanket and hit the park as there is usually more of a breeze going on there. Yesterday I sat stitching little bags for my stall and today I was making love-beads for The Mini Festival this Sunday. I've sorted out my rail already and have even managed to complete a stock preview folder on my FB page. I'm feeling rather on top of things for once but it won't last, I'm far too much of a flapping flibbertigibbet ;)

I hadn't seen the geese for a few days but they were there again today. The youngsters are starting to look like adults now, soon I won't be able to tell the difference. All that downy fluff is all but gone. When I get a few spare minutes I'll do a timeline with some of the pics I've taken of them over the past two or so months. 

There was a lovely cooling breeze in the park today...

African wax print dress, Handmade Kenyan belt, earrings (all from car boot sales),  80s Pierre Cardin sandals (charity shop), 80s sunnies (eBay) & Handmade African necklace that was a gift from my beloved mother.

...that completely scuppered the outfit pics ;)

The only bad thing about this weather is that my hair goes all funny. I may need to attack it with another dose of Henna before the weekend, either that or hide it under a hat.

This is actually what the majority of my outfit pics look like...the ones that end up on "the cutting room floor" that is ;)

Last Sunday I treated myself to a rare trip to the car boot sales and it was as if the vintage gems had just been accumulating in my absence awaiting my return. I could have bought so much more but it was hotter than an oven and I was really starting to struggle with my bag. Everyone else is canny as a fox, bringing along  trolleys and even wheelie suitcases but alas not I. Anyway I had just about spent all my cash after bagging the lot below and I couldn't wait to get back home to put my feet up and relax on the balcony.

When is the best time to bag an autumn/winter coat?

On a baking hot day in the height of summer of course, when no sane person is buying them cause then you can usually take the haggle highway straight to bargain city.

I was over the moon to bag this gorgeous vintage 70s rust coloured chenille coat in near mint condition and this awesome ornately embroidered Moroccan burgundy velvet caftan gown...

This is the rest of my amazing-zing car booty looty... 

Vintage 70s psychedelic print maxi dress made in Germany and a wedding worthy frock labelled Pat Farrell for Fiona Dresses...

 Two stunning maxi frocks by Jean Varon. I'm starting to build up quite a collection of Varon frocks now...

 Two 60s/70s swimsuits, the psychedelic one is labelled Twenka and the floral one is by Berlei...

 Amazingly voluminous nylon ruffle petticoat made in the US. I've been after one of these for an absolute age and I bagged this from my vintage trader pal who was there to offload some of her awesome stock...

80s Liberty of London silk scarf that was lurking at the bottom of a £1 bargain box...

I can't wait to wear a couple of the frocks at some point. I am currently taking stock of all my vintage dresses and if you are interested in having a wee peek I have made a folder on my FB page entitled Frocktasia's Vintage Wonderland. It is no where near finished yet but I'll get there eventually.

I'll leave you with one of my all-time favorite singer songwriters Jeff Buckley, enjoy :)

Loads of love,

Jennie

xXx

There's not much Shroom in here!

The beautiful Rhododendron bush in the park has started its annual floral display and needless to say I was keen to get some pics taken with this stunning backdrop.

I even dug out a very special frock for the occasion  ;)

I call this my 'psilosybin doodling dress' cause the print looks as if it was drawn by someone who was casually doodling away whilst on Shrooms.

I bought it on eBay many moons ago and I love it but unfortunately the top part is a wee bit of a snug fit, that's why I like to team it with my suede waistcoat cause it keeps the buttons from straining. Like the other psychedelic print maxi that I showed you back in March it's a frock I'll never part with.

It is labelled 'Courtaulds Dicel' the latter being the brand name of the fabric rather than the maker I believe. When I googled the name I found Curtise wearing a spectacular frock of the same label, lovely lady!

Anyone else out there with a 'Courtaulds' frock hiding away in their vintage wardrobe?

 There is something really rather special about a frock with a hood, I feel a little bit mystical wearing it ;)

Vintage 60s psychedelic hooded maxi, 60s suede waistcoat, 70s boots, Handmade African earrings & necklace. 

Here's a close-up of that gloriously trippy psilosybin doodle print...

I wish you all a groovy weekend!

Here's Jefferson Airplane to play us out, enjoy :)

Loads of love,
Jennie
xXx

Rail full of the joys of spring

I'm very excited about this Saturday's Dandy and I've been working away on my rail all week. While we were up in Scotland I decided that I would theme my rail from now on to make it more cohesive rather than just offering up a random motley mix of vintage & retro threads. I've been very much inspired by the spell of gorgeous weather and the veritable explosion of greenery in the park. I'm bringing a plethora of flirty cotton dresses made for springtime strolls in the sun, chic retro frocks that are perfect for garden parties and BBQs and a whole bunch of festival worthy frocks & separates for those who want to sort out their festival wardrobe early.

Here are all the garments (bar the gents) that will be featured on Frocktasia's full of the joys of spring rail at The Dandy Lion Market on Saturday :)

 Close-ups of details, prints and labels...

If you're in the Kentish Town area on Saturday please pop in and have a wee natter and a rummage. There's a fabulous line-up of traders this month, most of which have a feature folder on The Dandy Lion FB page, so  you can check them out there if you so wish. There's even going to be a stall selling wigs, how cool is that?!

Happy days!

Here are a few pics that Leslie snapped at last months Dandy featuring me, my little stall  and some of my fabulous fellow traders :)

I'll leave you with a fabulous tune by SOUL II SOUL, enjoy :)

May the sun shine on your path and happiness fill your heart!

Loads of love,

Jennie

xXx

Priscilla Queen of the Glen

The second and last frock that we shoot in the glen was this extraordinarily stunning shimmering bronze taffeta creation labelled Priscilla of Boston.

 I'm guessing that it is from the same sort of fashion era as the QUAD frock I blogged about yesterday.

This frock makes me feel as if I've just sprung from the pages of a Jane Austen novel.

Fabulously bust enhancing empire line cut with delicate cream lace detailing to the neckline, adorable ruffle trimmed puff sleeves and a generously swishy skirt with ruffle trim hemline. The fabric glints and sparkles in the sun, fabulous! 

I bought this spectacular frock from a vintage dealer some years ago and have been hankering to photograph it in an equally spectacular setting ever since.

I was toying with the idea of taking it down to King's Bench Walk and doing a guerilla photo session but there are always so many people milling about in that area. Another nice spot in London for a photo session with a historical flavour would be the Pergola in Hampstead Heath. Neither of these places hold a candle to the stunning backdrop that the glen provides though and even if we did had a little bit of an audience on this occasion it's not as if people were walking in front of the camera as is often the case when trying to snap a few pics in London.

In the next post I'll show you the frocks that we shot by the Loch Leven shore. 

It was tremendously windy that day so only a few pics came out alright.

Thank you ever so much for the fab comments you left on the last post, you peeps ROCK!

I'll leave you with an amazing song by Wyldeck, enjoy ;)

Loads of love,

Jennie

xXx