Psychedelic salad days

This is my favourite time of year, everywhere something is bursting into bloom.

Little fluffy bundles of joy are melting the hearts of children and butch builders alike up at the boating lake. The park lawns that were a waterlogged mess a few weeks back have regained their zest and are now like a lush green carpet perfect for walking barefoot on. Flowers fill the air with delightful scents and the suns warming rays are lifting city confined souls everywhere. I feel wave upon wave of positivity washing over me as life regenerates once more.

Vintage 70s psychedelic jumpsuit, retro woven suede belt, Moschino denim jacket, Handmade African necklace and bangles, Hush Puppies sandals, retro sunnies, soap-stone heart & macrame earrings.

I bought the jumpsuit that I am wearing today from the Battersea Boot Sale. 

Being a print nerd I succumbed to its psychedelic charms.

My lovely mum bought me this fabulous handmade African necklace from Tradera (eBay in Sweden)...

Psychedelic prints have a good energy about them, they are the print equivalent of a sunny day in my opinion.

I'm really excited of how everything has just Tigger bounced into life again over the past few weeks. 

Right now I feel like I need to sweep my body clean with lots of green goodness to rid myself of the toxins that have built up over the long winter months. I'm dusting off our juicer and getting psyched up to take on the park in my running shoes, all good stuff!

 I promise I won't bore you with endless pictures of our salads, maybe just for a few more days ;)

I hope you are all feeling energized and happy peeps :)

Loads of love,

Jennie

xXx 

Feels like summer

When Mark left at quarter past five this morning I grabbed the duvet and went to sit on the balcony to watch the sunrise. Next doors lilacs are just coming into bloom so the early morning air was delightfully fragrant. I lay down on the duvet closed my eyes and listened to the birds twittering away. Three hours later I was awoken by the blazing sun that had by now risen well above the rooftops. I made a cafetiere of coffee and enjoyed it sitting in the glorious morning sunshine. 

Ganesh Tee, Tie-dyed cut-offs made from a pair of hubbies old jeans &  70s slip-on sandals.

Today felt like the first day of summer :)

I'm not sure what's happening with my hand in this picture, it looks as if it is momentarily venturing into a parallel reality, either that or it's been afflicted with tourettes?!

The ever smiling postie delivered my EFR card this morning. I am now officially qualified to save your life, bandage you up if you fall off a ladder and do a whole heap of other useful stuff ;)

Mark and I decided to go over to our "summer diet" today, so there will be salads aplenty over the coming months. I have also stocked up on Tahini so that Mark can start making his amazing bean dips again, yum!

 Today's salad: spinach, kale, rocket, watercress, chicory, parsley, chopped baby tomato & pinto bean mix relish served with fresh Turkish bread from the shop around the corner.

I'm getting very excited about summer...how about you?

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

Wipe the slate clean

Welcome to the third and last installment of the Highland photo sessions.

First off a vintage 70s lurex extravaganza labelled Richard Shops that I bought on ebay last year.

The reason to why I decided to bring this frock was because the colour reminds me of slate and Ballachulish is an old slate quarry village. The shore is absolutely covered with the stuff and I just thought it would go well with the dress. I'm actually quite pleased with how these pictures turned out. I love how the surface of the loch is like a softly rippled mirror for the sky, the combination of grey slate and the rust coloured seaweed, it really appeals to me.

It was absolutely freezing cause it had been raining all day and the sun only decided to make an appearance in the early evening. The wind was still strong and I was having real problems with my wig.

 I got so frustrated with having to spit synthetic hair out of my mouth every few seconds so I tore it off in a huff, scaring the pants off an elderly dog walker in the process.

The last frock we shot isn't actually a frock at all but a theatrical skirt and top set.  I bought it a couple of years ago from a freelance costume designer who was clearing out her clutter at a car boot sale. I couldn't believe my luck that day I can tell you, it is absolutely stunning and tremendously well made.

Incidentally this was the ensemble that we tried to shot in the glen, the one that filled up like a tall ship sail.

Mark had warned me but I was adamant to give it a go anyway. I don't like to be beaten but on this occasion the whipping Scottish gale force winds whooped my ass.

 Here I am struggling to keep the skirt down and looking rather miffed ;)

Photo sessions in The Highlands are fun to do but they do present challenges that's for sure. When we did our session last September the weather was very good but then we had  to contend with the midgies and this time we were just a little bit unlucky with the weather...third time lucky?! Who knows? 

That's all folks!

I hope you've enjoyed these posts as much as I enjoyed creating them.

To sing us out the stunning Icelandic band Sigur Ros, enjoy :)

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

Glen of Weeping & winds

As mentioned in the previous post Mark and I headed up to Glen Coe for a wee photo session while we were up in The Highlands.

I had hoped to use the same spectacular backdrop as we did last September but gale force winds howling through the glen made it quite impossible, my skirt filled up like a tall ship sail and my wig was threatening to make like a bat out of hell down the hillside.

So we drove a little further down the glen to the car park at a view point so that I could get changed in the boot of the car without risking going arse over tit in the soggy heather whilst lacing up my granny boots.

Needless to say the people that were there had their eyes out on stalks when I stripped down to my scanties to frock up, not the kind of thing they'd expected to see in a tranquil Scottish glen I bet but rather than driving off in a indignant huff to report me for indecent exposure the cheeky wee sausages started taking photos of us taking photos instead.

The first frock we shoot was a present from my sister Jessica a few years ago. It's labelled QUAD and is from the late 60s or early 70s. I love everything about this frock, its alluring bust enhancing cut, the virginal white lace sleeve trim and the deep blood red velvet. Wearing it makes me feel as if I should be in a classic Hammer Horror movie being seduced by Christopher Lee or Peter Cushing.

The wreath that I'm wearing is one that I made from some magician's rope and a bunch of lace off-cuts that I bagged at a car boot sale a few years ago.

It was a saving grace on the day cause it stopped the wig from flying off.

The evening before we took these pics I somewhat overindulged on my all time favourite ale FRAOCH made with heather and bog myrtle. It is the best tasting ale ever but unfortunately it gives me a rancid hangover, och!

Anyroad it's not about my face, it's all about the frock, behold her splendor ;)

We only managed to shoot another frock in the glen and then we did another little session by the shore of Loch Leven but I've decided to split the sessions into three posts rather than one epic one.

Hope your week has got off to a fabulous start. I'm slowly getting round to catching up with you all and I apologise profusely if I haven't made it round to yours yet. I was a bit scuppered today after having to perform emergency surgery on my cactus that I've had for years, damn you root rot or perhaps more to the point damn me overzealous waterer of plants. Hopefully it will be fine, fingers crossed.

I'll leave you with a hauntingly beautiful Dougie Maclean song covered by Deanta, enjoy :)

Loads of love,

Jennie

xXx