Frocktasia on the road

Yesterday was a big day for me; it was the first time I took Frocktasia on the road and left the comfort zone of my home office and computer screen behind.

It's kind of strange that someone who has spent most their adult life working in hospitality, should be at all nervous about the face-to-face aspect of selling at markets but quite frankly, I was bricking it!

For years I've been the bighearted barmaid who's always ready to have a chat about anything to anyone but for some bonkers reason when it came to doing the very same thing for myself, punting something other than beer, I felt as if I was facing Everest.

It's some sort of weird-ass personality paradox going on here I'm sure.

However, I cannot remain a home-office strummer if I want to become a proper frockstar, I have to grab the scary bull by its horns and override my inexplicable hang-ups.

Yesterday was the first step in that direction and a step well worth taking!

I'm such a fusspot worrier so I got about half an hours sleep the night before. 

Here I am setting up in the morning and being quite nervous about it all... 

I should have brought more knick-knacks to dress my table as it did look a little bit bare.

I'm going play around with table dressing at home before the next outing... 

There are certainly a few things that I will be doing differently next time.

I ran out of time (read: was struck down by a bad case of bone idle laziness) before I could mark up all my items individually, so I just went out and bought a packet of neon star labels and divided my stock into four price categories (£3/£5/£10/£20).

Next time I'll do something like this instead, it looks a wee bit more professional...

Some of Jet's lovely vintage blouses.

My stall neighbor, the lovely Leslie is a real professional when it comes to setting up an inviting stall I think you'll agree... 

 Leslie is a regular seller at the vintage jumble but she also organizes The Dandy Lion Market at The Oxford in Kentish Town on the first Saturday of every month.

I'm popping along to check it out next week if anyone is interested in coming along?

Leslie makes fabulous scatter cushions and hot water bottle covers from recycled vintage fabrics and clothing...

Here she is tempting me with an awesomely groovy vintage blouse that

I would have snapped up in a heartbeat if it wasn't for the fact that I was under strict instructions not to buy anything...

The Boogaloo is a really cool pub and even though yesterday wasn't exactly heaving customer wise we still had a fab time. There's a DJ playing all day, you can get some seriously scrumptious looking cake and of course beer...who ever came up with the idea of having a vintage market in a pub should be given a medal!

 Some more of my fellow jumblers and their fabulously dressed stalls...

 Besides Leslie's poppy print blouse, I would have loved to buy that stunning green and gold caftan...

 Mark was kind enough to come along and hung around all day to give me moral support, what a star :)

Speaking of stars, I had a very special visitor...

Lovely Sara from Hello The Mushroom popped in with her friend Iain and that really made my day. 

Even though we've never met before I felt instantly at ease, she's got a smile like a thousand sunbeams and it was a real shot in the arm that she came along. 

I hope that we can meet up again soon for some bloggy charity shopping  perhaps?!

Sara has got an amazing blog that I couldn't recommend highly enough, it makes for great reading and she takes delightful photos too, a perfect mix in my opinion, if you are not already a follower, you are missing out!

So you may very well be wondering if I will be able to retire on my takings of the day...

Nope, but it was the perfect gentle start to my face-to-face selling career.

I met some really lovely people and I now know what I can improve on until next time cause there will definitely be a next time...hopefully very soon :)

Today I slept in until late & then we popped to the park to feed Lilo.

I think she recognizes my voice now, cause when we arrived she was down by the pond drinking but when I called for her she came running up to us waiting for me to bring my baggie of seed out. She eats straight out of my hand and she's not scared of me at all. Every few days I bring the birds some finely chopped fresh greens too, they absolutely love it.

Here is today's ensemble:

Vintage 50s velvet jacket, 60s maxi dress, two pairs of tights, 90s skirt  (worn as underskirt as it was decidedly Baltic out there today), 90s velvet boots, velvet gloves, sequin beret & spiderweb print scarf.

I hope you've all had a fab & funderful weekend!

I'm off to check out what you've all been up to on your blogs now...see ya!

Lot's of love,

Jennie

xXx

Pond life

A few days ago I ventured to the park to feed the birds without hubby and whilst there I had this feeling that I was being watched.
I looked around and right enough a little further along a man was sitting intently eyeing me up from his car. 

Sometimes when people are staring at me I give them a quick wave to put them off but there was something about this fellow that made me feel as if that would have been the completely wrong thing to do, so I just decided to ignore him. 

After I'd finished dishing out the seed, I lent against the pond railings & just hung about for a few minutes to see that Lilo the goose was getting a feed.

Then all of a sudden the staring man was standing next to me and it was quite obvious that he hadn't come to see the birds.

I felt quite uncomfortable cause for some reason the park was really deserted and this dude was sending out some seriously dodgy vibes.

Then he asks me... 

-"Are you working?"

My first thought was "what kind of silly-ass question is that" before it dawned on me that this bag of human detritus was actually asking if I put out for money.

I was like...

-"You've got to be kidding me mate, I'm just here to feed the birds".

If there had been other people about I would have gone absolutely apeshit but I was alone with this creepy sleazeball,  so I was very happy when he skulked back to his car, got in and drove off.

This is the second time in my life that I've been mistaken for a prostitute, or more to the point the second time that some grotty wee man has chanced his arm.

First time it happened was in back in '92 when I was on my second InterRail. 

I was fresh off the overnight train from Copenhagen to Berlin and was sitting with my huge rucksack at Bahnhof Zoo when this transparently pale man with a bright ginger mustache approached me.

Although my German left a lot to be desired it soon became clear that he was offering me accommodation in return for sexual favors. 

I was totally bricking it after that encounter and thought that all the men in the station looked like total pervs, not the best first impression of a city it has to be said. 

Thankfully I met a couple of nice English boys later that day and traveled with them for the first two weeks, which made me feel much safer.

Question time...

Has this ever happened to you?

 How did you deal with the situation?

Everything is ready to go for the vintage jumble, all I have to do now is try to get some sleep with a belly full of butterflies, wish me luck ;)

On Sunday I'm planning to just kick back and catch up on my blog reading, I'm looking forward to seeing what you've all been up to.

Have a fabulous weekend peeps!

Lot's of love,

Jennie

xXx

Vintage jumble sneaky peek

The past few days I have been very busy preparing for Saturday's vintage jumble at The Boogaloo.

We don't have a car so it's a case of whatever we can cart, can come!

This amounts to about a rails worth of frocks, a bag of miscellaneous clobber, a suitcase of handbags and knick-knacks and a box of boots and hats.

It should be enough for the virgin run, I'll be taking notes for future reference.

My clothing rail is one of those cheap ones from Argos that falls over when you hang anything on it unless you've got it tied to the wall; needless to say this felt a little disconcerting. 

I've had daymare visions of my rail tumbling over and smashing up someones stall,  a floor covered in a holy mess of vintage frockery, broken teacups and cupcakes and me getting an almighty kicking from an angry fellow jumbler in a pristine vintage frock and victory rolls.

I was considering going out and investing in a sturdier rail but then hubby came up with a brilliant idea.

Up in the loft we had two mic stands and they are now acting as the base of my el cheapo rail & it is steady as a rock, fingers crossed it stays like that...

I still have to price-tag  all my stock, that's what I'll be doing tomorrow.
The prices will range from £3-£20 and I'm also planning a £1 bonkers bargain box too.
Here's a sneaky peek of some the stuff we'll be bringing on Saturday...

 Some close-ups...

If you see anything you fancy why not pop along and see me on Saturday, have a good old rummage and come away with some fabulous bargains...

This was today's ensemble:

Vintage 40s floral print silk dress, mesh underskirt, cropped lurex jumper (AGAIN!), crushed velvet booties & tights.

Goose update: I'm very pleased to say that our feathered friend (now known as Lilo) has returned and seems to be a whole lot perkier.

Cue the happy music :)

Have a wonderful Friday peeps!

Lot's of love,

Jennie

xXx

On the Buses

I am most definitely a cloud spotter, one of my favourite things to do in the summer is to wander up to the park, sprawl out on the grass and just lay there for hours watching the clouds drift by.

Today we went along to Selfridges to listen to Gavin Pretor-Pinney who is the founder of The Cloud Appreciation Society. 

The hour long talk was both entertaining and enlightening but I would have loved for it to have lasted longer. I think Mr Pretor-Pinney would be the perfect dinner party guest cause he is funny and engaging in equal measures.

The talk was free and if you could guess the different cloud types featured in the presentation, you were given a little badge.

After the talk we browsed the book section of Selfridges but perhaps needless to say we didn't buy anything.

Years of car boot sale buying has made it quite impossible for me to pay more than a fiver for a book, unless I'm buying it straight from the authors website or amazon.

Selfridges' prices are simply not compatible with my thrifty nature but it's nice to have a wee look.

As we were making our way back home we came across two old buses and a whole heap of bus enthusiasts taking pictures of them.

Such a retrotastic backdrop seemed too good to miss out on, so we joined the throng of "bus spotters" and quickly snapped a few pics ourselves :)

H&M tiger stripe coat, vintage 60s Chinese sign print dress, vintage 50s booties, layered tights, self-made necklace, velvet gloves and my Stockholm syndrom wiggy-woo.

I do have a black and white setting on my camera but these pics had the effect added on PicMonkey.

I think B&W is the perfect tool for enhancing the whole retro vibe.

We had to be super quick when taking these photos cause the "bus spotters" weren't really that interested in having a dolly bird in their pics ;)

Hope you have all had a wonderful weekend.

Lot's of love,

Jennie

xXx

Roots & dust rats

Over the past few days the weather has become wonderfully mild and today it was decidedly spring like.

Mark and I went for a long stroll along the nature trail via the pond.

My goose friend was nowhere to be seen, so she has either been picked up by the RSPCA or she was just hiding from us. 

This area is riddled with city foxes that could quite easily make a meal out of a flightless goose, so I'm really hoping nothing bad has happened to her.

I've started preparing for next Saturday's vintage jumble, so far I've only got to the picking out what to bring stage and I've still got heaps to do but I'm really looking forward to hopefully spreading a little bit of vintage joy to the punters :)

Vintage 80s jacket, Warehouse tweed shorts, mesh tank, 90s leotard, lurex cropped jumper, Indian wrap, layered tights, Steve Madden boots & knitted bobble hat

I've been meaning to dye my hair since we got back from holiday in January.

The mousy brown regrowth is evident and there's a good peppering of grey hairs coming through now.

Every time I go to put henna in my hair, I think...

"I really can't be arsed with this now" and end up not doing it.

I'm still very much in my winter lull, where 'mañana mañana' becomes my mantra.

However being sick for a few days also fairly knocked the wind out of my sails.

Hopefully this spell of mild weather will make me feel a bit more motivated to keep up appearances and perhaps even do a bit of urgently needed house cleaning.

Have a fantastic Sunday!

Lot's 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

Voodoo child

Back in the days when I was a mere pocket-sized person, growing up in a small backwater village in the south of Sweden, I roamed free from early morning until dinnertime with very little adult supervision.

My little pals and I would run wild in the local forest, which proved to be the best playground a child could ever wish for.

We climbed trees, splashed around in the stream, built huts and played elaborate games. 

I didn't have many toys but to be fair the ones that I did have mostly gathered dust indoors, I was far more interested in playing games.

We were pirates, spies and troll hunters.

When I was five a playground was built just outside our house and we all thought it was the bees-knees until we realized that we were surrounded by "playground police".

Annoying adults sticking their oar in every five minutes, directing play and making up stupid rules that we had to abide by.

Needless to say we soon abandoned the spanking new playground and went back our beloved forest, where we were left alone to do as we pleased.

These days I still enjoy playing games, dress-up related ones in particular and sometimes when the "playground police" aren't looking I go for a wee spin, spin, spin on the merry-go-round :)

I bought this floral lace dress from a car boot sale ages ago. 

It was a dreary pale blue colour, so I decided to give it a dye-over & revamp.

I began by removing the inside lining and the zipper.

Then I dyed it twice, first with pink and then with purple.

My inspiration for this colour combo was the heather covered hills of the Scottish highlands.

Because the lining has been removed it is pretty see-though, so I prefer to 

team it with my trusty spanx pants and a leotard.

The necklace is also one of my own creations, made from deconstructed necklaces and bits and bobs that I have picked up on my travels.

The coat I'm wearing was bought in the January sale of 2000.

Mark and I spent NYE 1999 at my sisters in Copenhagen and while we were there I spotted this awesome faux-fur tiger stripe coat in H&M.

I fell head over heels with it but at £80 it way way beyond my budget. 

Then in January we moved to Glasgow and I had an interview for a job at the Sauchiehall street centre; t'was a horrible interview with a snooty biatch. 

On my way out I passed H&M and out of the corner of my eye I spotted a tiger striped sleeve sticking out from a rail, I ran up to it and found the coat in my size for £15, not only that I also found a matching mini skirt for a £5.

I didn't get the job but I did get my amazing "rockstar" coat for a mere £15, magic!

H&M coat, revamped lace dress, 90s lace leotard, 80s boots, self-made necklace, 80s deadstock tights, gloves, mohair hat & wiggy-woo

 Goose update: despite my recent bout of something akin to the black death (or maybe it's just the man flu that has jumped sex), I have been making regular trips up to the park to see how our poorly feathered  friend is getting on. The RSPCA has been in contact with me and have asked me to monitor the bird and get in contact if its condition deteriorates.

Here's a little Hendrix to funk up the start of your week...

Thanks for your lovely 'get well' comments peeps, after spending the majority of the weekend in bed, I'm feeling much better now.
Lot's of love,
Jennie
xXx