Sláinte

As it is Burns Night we were going to have veggie haggis , neeps and tatties for tea but when I went to turn the light on in the kitchen the blasted striplight blew. I didn't fancy cooking by candle light so instead we traipsed off to the pub to have our din-dins. I've really started enjoying going to pubs again. In London you'd get very little change back on a tenner for two pints but at our local watering hole a pint of ale is a mere one pound fifty. Complete and utter pie-eyedness is well achievable for less than a twenty spot. I think Rabbie Burns would have approved.

Faux-fur trim PVC coat (local discount fashion shop)
Fluffy snood (99p Stores)
70s crepe and lace blouse (market)
90s Harris Tweed tartan shorts (market)
Plain & lace layered tights (charity shop & Aldi)
Doc Marten boots (car boot sale)

Last Thursday Mark and I spent three hours at the storage unit picking out an array of fabulous garments that will be gracing our rail at the Little Birds Market on Sunday the 9th of February. 

I also designed a new logo for Frocktasia and ordered some new business cards from Vistaprint.

We are both getting very excited about our launch into the Glasgow vintage market scene. I'll definitely do a "sneaky-peek post" as per usual but it won't be until a few days before the market. 

I've also started selling on Asos Marketplace. So far I've only added a few items and it's all stuff that I already had photos and descriptions for. As a wardrobe shop you are allowed to add up to a hundred items for free and Asos only take a 5% commission on sold items. I was just getting a bit fed up with eBay and fancied trying something different, we'll see how it goes.

It's been a busy and productive week. I'm feeling very upbeat and excited about the future. Life is good!

On our way back home from the pub we stopped off at Aldi's to stock up on some more drinkies. At a bargain £1.35 a pop...I don't mind if I do, thank you very much!

Hope you are all having a fantastic weekend.

Loads of love,

Jennie

xXx

Naughty Valentine

Some people follow trends and hanker for the latest lust-have but I tend to intermittently obsess over fabrics.

I bought this 'Miss Jeannie' dress on eBay a few years ago when I had a huge thing for all things lurex.

This fabric certainly isn't everybody's bag with its often quite raspy texture but that is one of the main reasons to why I love it so much...

its raspy and spangly qualities is what does it for me :)

There is also something rather space-age about lurex that really appeals to me.

At the post office earlier the cashier asked me if I was wearing red because of Valentines day...as if!

Roses, chocolates and champagne

 Last table booked down lovers lane

Twice the price, sans ambiance

Will expensive gestures induce romantic trance

A pricey card with a contrived poem 

Because on February 14th you have to show them

Thanks but no thanks, Mr Valentine

I think I'll just choose a different day to express mine

Vintage 20s tux jacket, 60s lurex dress, 90s mesh top, lurex tights, fishnet knee-socks, tartan  print boots, sequin beret & 90s silver sun earrings.
If you do happen to be a fellow lurex lover then I've got a stunning floor-length 90s bodycon dress up for grabs in my eBay auctions, go check it out, it's got more cosmic girl sass than you can shake a stick at ;)

I was in two minds about sharing this next pic but then I thought to myself...

"Jen, since when did you become such a prude"? 

For Valentines day 2001 I wanted surprise Mark with "naughty"card. 

This was back in the days when digital photography was still a bit of a rarity and most people (me included) had to traipse down to snappy-snaps to get their photos developed.

So I took some near naked pics wearing just some self made nipple covers and a barely there thong.

Was I worried about handing my film in?

Thankfully, the local chemist that I used didn't have an in-house lab 

so I was spared any blushes when I went to pick up my little envelope of saucy pics.

I bought some heart shaped stickers placed them strategically and the card was all sorted.

Needless to say my beloved was thrilled ;)

This of course begs the question...

If you were to become famous tomorrow, have you any reason to fear the scandal rags?

Lot's of love,

Jennie

xXx

Burns Night

Tonight is Burns Night and as an adopted Scot I am celebrating it with gusto.

Veggie haggis, neeps and tatties for din-dins and even a small bottle of  malt to follow.

In honor the man I decided to wear a bit of tartan today...

Vintage 20s tux jacket, vintage 50s blouse top, vintage 80s Ralph Lauren tartan trousers, vintage 80s suede hiking boots (still dirty from when I helped mum do her kitchen up over a year ago, tut-tut) & a sequin beret (that looks a bit like a Jimmy hat when teamed with my hair) to add a bit of quirky glam to the proceedings.

When I bought these pants last November I couldn't do the zip up but now they fit like a glove, I love loosing inches without even trying. 

Maybe I'm burning more calories trying to keep warm, eh?

It's frigging fridging here in London!

(pics sourced on Google images)

Scottish comedy at its best...

Have a great Friday night folks!

Lot's of love,

Jennie

xXx

The Highlander

This time last week we were on our way up to Scotland. 

At the midway stop hubby and I sat and pondered over how many times we'd made that journey and all the times that we'd said we'd never take the night bus again.

Yes, we say that next time we'll be smart and book in advance and get a "cheap" train fare but it never quite happens like that cause we always leave it that little bit too late and therefore we always end up going by the dungeon on wheels that is the Megabus overnighter. 

Maybe we have slight masochistic tendencies? 

I mean why else would we put ourselves through the ten hour  nightmare of  torturous neck stiffness, raging restless legs, excruciating arse ache and coffee that tastes like it has been sieved though a pair of grotty old pants?

 Not to mention the fact that when you finally reach your destination you feel as if you have been travelling all scrunched up in a suitcase like some contortionist from a  freak show and it takes a good couple of days to get back to normal and then you have to do it all over again to get back home, och!

My neck is almost back to its "crickless" old self  but it has to be said that I actually recuperate faster from jet-lag  than I do from the dreaded Megabus-lag.

Next time we are planning to go up north I will superglue a note to my forehead reading... 

"BUY TRAIN TICKETS YOU SILLY BAG".

I've finished editing all the photos that we took in Glen Coe last Saturday morning, some are for the shop but these ones we took just for fun...

I made a little slideshow for my folks that you can take a wee peek at should you wish to, it's less than a minute long and it's just a few more pics than the ones above...

The song is by a really talented Danish singer songwriter called Allan Nordkvist, you can listen to the song in its entirety here...

...it's awesome, I really love his voice!

That's it for today folks, hope you are all doing grand and feeling dandy :)

Friday is here...HUZZAH!

Lot's of love,

Jennie

xXx

The Haggis Hunter

I finally managed to bag a new camera just before we headed up north for the weekend.
As someone who takes customer service very seriously I have to say that I was utterly appalled with  Jessops.
Not only did they have me road-running throughout London all of Wednesday afternoon but when I came to pick up my "new" camera from the third shop on Thursday morning, I found that they had in fact stuck a shop display camera back in its box and tried to palm it off as new.
I just shook my head..."-mate, would it be at all possible to get a brand NEW one in a sealed box"...the dude realized that he'd been rumbled and got me another one.
They might have got away with it, had they cleaned the lens cap and replaced the battery pack seal before sticking it back in the box.
Apparently this sort of practice is not uncommon so if you are buying a new camera always make sure you check it out before you leave the store.
I mean don't get me wrong, if I had been offered a reasonable discount on the display camera, I may have considered taking it off their hands but if I'm paying for a new one then I expect a new one.
Anyroad...Jessops may suck rotten eggs but my new camera ROCKS!
It got its first proper outing in the Scottish Highlands over the weekend.
I've been wanting to shoot some of my own designs for ages and Glen Coe creates a magical backdrop.
We headed out in the early morning hours so that we could have the hillside all to ourselves...if you don't count a gazillion midgies that is.
Everyone was saying...
 "You're doing what tomorrow morning...where? You are going to get eaten alive! The midgies will have you for breakfast!".
It wasn't too bad to be honest, thankfully there was a slight breeze blowing through the glen so we managed to shoot for an hour before they started getting to us.
It was very early and a tad nippy to say the least and although I tried my hardest to stop it, my face was all too keen to bear witness to this.
However as per usual we took a mother load of photos and some came out not too shabby.

I brought four kilts but we only managed to shoot one of them. I wanted to get the other stuff done first and by the time we got around to the kilts the midgies were biting and we had to pack up and RUN AWAY!

Vintage kilt, 90s mohair jumper, tights, DMs, Frocktasia 'Dear Darkness' chiffon rose headdress, bangles galore & etno-earrings.  

For me tartan is an autumn/winter style perennial, it just feels right at this time of year.

I tend to team my tartan with stuff that make it a bit more punk than prim...

DMs or a pair of battered lace-up hiking boots, a washed out band Tee or a shaggy mohair jumper.

Tartan inspiration...

Audrey Horne from Twin Peaks looking prim, two pics from a grunge laden 90s Marc Jacobs collection and Liv Tyler wearing a cute mini kilt in the 'Empire Records' movie.

Fan-tartan-tastic!

I'll leave you with a tartan OTT look from the Frocktasia archives...

'THE HAGGIS HUNTER'

Take care y'all!

Lot's of love,

Jennie

xXx