Showing posts with label frock. Show all posts
Showing posts with label frock. Show all posts

Tuesday 18 June 2013

Absolutely Fabulous

On Saturday night Mark and I went to celebrate Sue's big birthday at The Bull in Highgate.
We've only known Sue and Mark (of Gorgeous Jewellery) for a few months, so we felt very honored when they invited us to attend this special occasion. Leslie and Aiden were there too. It was really great to meet so many of  Sue and Mark's lovely friends and family.
 Frocktasia effortlessly blending immaculate ladylike with common as muck. Sod the champers, this old girl prefers pints of bitter ;)
The party was fabulous, Sue's son and Mark delivered brilliant speeches, Sue treated us all to an awesome poetry reading, they'd very generously made it a free bar all evening and there was gorgeous finger food, sweets and cakes for all to eat. A special playlist with all Sue's favourite tunes had been made up and after a few brilliant ales from the pub's very own micro brewery I was hitting the floor like my name was Dancing Queen.
I bagged the dress that I was wearing from eBay the other week, it's labelled 'Global' and I think it's probably from the 50s. This is a perfect frock for dancing in, so much lovely swishtastic fabric!
We had such a brilliant time and I feel so incredibly blessed to have met such wonderful people as Sue and Mark, they ROCK!

On Sunday morning, I had promised Leslie that we would be at Talacre Road by eight at the latest to help set up. At half seven the alarm went and I waded through a gloopy mist of dancing pink elephants to the bathroom, steeped my bedraggled body in a bath, applied a generous dollop of slap onto my festering features and proceed downstairs to peel Mark off the kitchen sofa. Neither of us could face the bus journey so a taxi was ordered and we arrived just in time to put up the 100 meters of bunting that Leslie had spent days making.
It took me a good few hours and a hair of the dog to get back to some semblance of normality.
Thankfully Leslie and I were stall neighbours and that was not only a joy but a blessing too cause all the things that I'd completely forgotten about, brilliant Leslie had remembered, like rain covers for instance.
I also got to borrow her deluxe rail again, what a star this fabulous woman is...
Friend of the Year? You bet! 
Mark had to shoot off at lunchtime to collect Barbara a friend from Berlin who was stopping with us for one night before heading on to Wales.

There were loads of fun goings on at the Carnival all day :)
No Dandy post is complete without mentioning my fabulous fellow traders, as always they rocked my socks off and filled even my hungover riddled mind with awe :)
I fell in love with London's History Recycled, the brainchild of the super talented Amelia Parker. She makes stunning and unique pieces of jewellery from fragments of clay pipe stems collected along the banks of the River Thames. How awesome is that!
Lionheart Stationers specialize in hand illustrated and bespoke stationary but also design beautiful handmade clothes. You can peruse their creative wares in their well stocked etsy shop
 Full Stop Shirts is a brilliant concept T-shirt company that create unique Tees designed to be a reflection of the wearer. Their 'Me-shirt' comes printed with a list of the wearers favourite things and can be ordered from their awesome website.
 I was chuffed to bits to be trading next to lovely Claire of Bright River and her fab fella. Not only was Claire selling her wonderful original photographs and art prints but she had also brought along a rail full of wearable goodies too, I was eyeing up a fabulous Bavarian style frock on her rail.
 Vicky of Dolly Plops was working flat out all day putting her face-painting and henna tattooing skills to good use.
DBUN Designs sell fabulous greetings cards and smartphone covers and behind this small company lies a very inspiring story.
We were blessed with some awesomely sharp looking carnival revelers too. Just check out this stunning chick...
Sporran handbag, simply ingenious!

We'd had a few light showers but in the afternoon the sun decided to make an appearance and there was much rejoicing. The rain covers could come off, the umbrellas put away and exchanged for sunnies.
With the sun came Jo who was wearing the fabulous frock that she picked up from the Frocktasia stockroom when she visited last week. Here she is with our friend Barbara from Berlin.  
I hope that Jo will be able to visit once more before she heads back to the US, we had such a lovely time hanging out the other day and I've still so much to show her ;)

 Some close-ups of Leslie's stall, featuring her awesome handmade scatter cushions that you can buy from her etsy shop and her brilliant vintage button bracelets...
Whilst we were all basking in the late afternoon sunshine these two super stylin' chickadees rocked up at my stall and bought a Frocktasia necklace each. Needless to say I was beyond thrilled, I mean come on, how awesome are these girls :)
Despite the rain throwing a wee spanner in the works early on in the day, I had a fantastic time at The Dandy pop-up and loved the fabulous community and carnival vibe. Once the sun peeped through the clouds everything was just perfect. The numbers swelled and people were eating, drinking, laughing, chatting, shopping, bopping and just having a whale of a time, it was brilliant! 
Yes, that's me having hair of the dog number two ;)
Mark and Barbara helped pack all my gear up and very kindly brought it all home and I stuck around to help take down all the Dandy decorations including the 100 meters of bunting.
I got home to a bowl of pasta, that I scoffed in five minutes flat and after a little catch up with Barbara it was straight off to bed for some much needed regenerative sleep.

I had an absolutely fabulous weekend, hope yours was just as good ;)
Loads of love,
Jennie
xXx



Wednesday 5 June 2013

Breaking the habit & learning to let go

A stop and start spring has taken a big leap into summer over the past few days and I'm keeping my fingers crossed this is a wee taster of what's to come.
It's been two years since I last wore this funky 70s frock & I'm just sitting here wondering why that is?! I love the amazing trippy print and the gorgeous colours. Here's the last time it had a proper outing...
It was my pressie to myself when I quit working at The Lamb and Flag when it was taken over by Fullers. They did offer me a job under the new management but with reduced pay, less perks and an enforced dress-code, I told them where to stick it.
The fabric to the top part of the frock is a little bit on the sheer side, hence me teaming it with my trusty waistcoats in both the get-ups. 
The waistcoat I'm wearing today is a traditional Austrian one that I snapped up from a charity shop several years ago, it's got a great fitted shape, the embroidery is stunning and even the buttons are brilliant.
I think that frocks and waistcoats were made for each other.
My suede waistcoat (that I wear all the blooming time) was bought from a vintage seller friend of mine.
 After I quit the pub two years ago, I undertook one almighty life laundry but I realize now that it wasn't severe enough. 
 We've still got too much stuff hanging about, so it is time for 'Life Laundry 2' and this time I mean business. No more hanging onto things that I know I'll never use, wear or look at again...be gone clutter, be gone!
So it would be lovely if the sun could stick around for a while so that I can use the balcony for sorting stuff out. I attacked a few boxes earlier that had been gathering dust under the daybed for past two years since I last went through them and that yielded a bin bag full of stuff and it also resulted in me getting sunburn on my shoulders and knees, I won't forget the factor 50 tomorrow ;)
I'll leave you with a few pics that I snapped in the park earlier of the growing goslings, look how their flight feathers are starting to peek through the fluffy down :)
So gorgeous!

To play us out here's Linkin Park, enjoy :)
Hope you are all doing grand peeps.
Loads of love,
Jennie
xXx


Saturday 1 June 2013

Happy Happy Happy

 My love for a Russian scarf print is well catered for in the fabulous frock that I'm wearing today. I bought it last year from a car boot sale and it was going cheap cause the elastic around the neckline was completely knackered. No bother for the likes of me, I've got elastic coming out of my ears. I also have an Everest like mending pile so it took me quite some time to actually get around to fixing it. Over the past few days I have made a brave attack on said pile and am happy to announce that it does no longer rivals The Shard.
 The frock is labelled Tootique and I think it's probably from the 70s.
 Check out the voluminous sleeves and the newly elasticated neckline ;)
70s scarf print frock, 70s jacket, 80s boots, soap stone & macrame earrings and handmade Turkish necklace.
The Egyptian geese appeared with their brood yesterday, they are so adorable. I just wish I could scoop them all up and keep them safe from crows and herons that like nothing better than to snack on a these little fellows. The parents do their level best to keep predators away but crows are persistent and cunning.
I'd better hit the hay as it's getting rather late and I've got a big day tomorrow...
The Dandy Lion Market will be celebrating its second anniversary today and it's going to be blooming grand. I'll be there with a rail full of fabulous & fun  frockery.

Here's Stevie to sing a happy ditty to make us all smile, enjoy :)
...and just because I love you all and want you to be extra happy this weekend here's another happy tune for your listening pleasure...
I wish you all a brilliant weekend :)
Loads of love,
Jennie
xXx


Friday 31 May 2013

Bring It On Home

I bought the frock that I am wearing today from Myrorna in Orebro a couple of years ago when I was visiting my folks in Sweden. The rose print reminded me of a huge Russian shawl that my mum had in the late 70s and that I used to pinch to play dress-up with. The maker of the frock is unknown but there is a label that reads 'Made in England' so I guess you could say that I brought it back home in more ways than one.
70s gypsy dress, 80s boots, 90s Moschino denim jacket, tights & necklace all second hand.
This Saturday Frocktasia will be peddling vintage and retro threads at The Dandy Lion Market again. This will be my forth time but the market itself will be celebrating its second birthday, hipp hipp huzzah!
If you haven't been yet then this will truly be a brilliant month to visit as Leslie's got a few surprises in store as well as another wicked line-up of fabulous sellers, you can check out the trader features on the FB page if you so wish.
Here's a sneak peek of  the cracking clobber Frocktasia will be bringing along on the day...
I will be bringing a few more bits but as Mark is working the weekend I've really made an effort not to overload as I'll be carting the stuff myself on Saturday morning. My small selection of menswear will be coming along too. Guys shirts with loud prints seem to be a winner at The Dandy.

What happened to the glorious weather, eh!
Can we have it back please?
Loads of love,
Jennie
xXx