Peekaboo spring & Wig Wednesday

I bought the vintage-inspired frock that I am wearing today from a car boot sale, it's labelled Monsoon Fusion.

I've never bought anything new from Monsoon, come to think of it I can't even remember ever going into one of their shops. That's not to say I don't like the look of their clothes cause I do, it's just that their prices have always been a little bit prohibitive for the likes of me. Thank goodness for second hand :)

The Monsoon signature style is very folk-inspired often with embroidery and embellishment, what's not to love?!

Labelled UK18 it's way too big for me in the chest region but when teamed with my trusty suede waistcoat, no problem :)

Spring is still playing peekaboo hence the tights and boots. I was actually regretting not putting on a jacket, it was a wee bit chilly today....bonkers!

The Rhododendron is now in full bloom, I'll give it one more week before moving on to another backdrop. It is very beautiful, the flower clusters are reminiscent of those fabulous vintage petal swimming caps.

I bought a "new" pair of sunnies from the car boot sale yesterday, check these bad boys out...

They are from last years MauStein x Asos colab collection. Sunnies in this collection retailed from £45 to £70 a pair, I paid 50p for mine.

Whilst on the subject of collaborations...

When I met Sam, the founder and amazing driving force behind Tangled Wigs at the last Dandy Lion Market, she asked me if I'd be interested in taking part in an event that she was planning for Wig Wednesday on behalf on CLIC sargent cancer charity.

Charity fundraiser, wigs, frocks, hair- and make-up professionals, music, cocktails and the dolly box...of course I want to take part, I mean who wouldn't?!

You can get in on the action too by popping down to Barrio East, 141-143 Shoreditch High Street tomorrow Wednesday the 22nd May from 5.30pm until 11pm. You will be able to raid my awesome Barbie themed rail, try on a wig and have it professionally styled, there's even a professional make-up artist there to make you look even more beautiful than you already are. After all the primping and preening you also get to step into the dolly box to get some photographic evidence of your fabulousness...

I know it's Wednesday and apparently we shouldn't have fun on a school night but rip up the rule book for once and come down and grab a cocktail or five, this is going to be a hoot and a half and what more it is for a darn good cause :)

Huzzah for Wig Wednesday!

Hope you are all doing great peeps :)

Loads of love,

Jennie

xXx

Love is stronger than death

After we returned from Scotland a few weeks back we resumed our daily jaunts up to the park. Sadly the condition of Lilo the goose (the angel-winged bird that we had been feeding throughout the winter months) had deteriorated drastically during our week away. Needless to say I logged another query with the RSPCA and also contacted a local wildlife rescue center for advice. They told me that if I could bring Lilo in they would get their vet to treat her and then re-home her with a wildfowl sanctuary. I spent a sleepless night going over in my head how I would borrow my neighbours pet carrier, catch Lilo, jump in a taxi and whisk her off to the wildlife rescue center. However it wasn't to be, we made several trips up to the park loaded with seeds, water, blanket and a pet carrier but we never saw little Lilo again.

I don't like to think that she's gone from this world, she was a tough cookie and despite her handicap she survived a particularly grueling winter. I hope that someone else contacted RSPCA and got them to act on the query, or that somebody did what I was planning to do and took her to a vet or a rescue center.  Mark & I were by no means the only people that looked out for her, she had stolen many hearts in the park, so maybe one of those other people came to her rescue. It's a hopeful thought that makes me happy and one that I think is worth clinging onto.

I just have to sing the praises of a dude on youtube called Scott Coddington, he catches geese by hand and removes fishing line that has been tangled around their legs or captures injured geese to take to the vet. He's amazing. Here are two of his youtube clips...

What an absolute gem of a man, he deserves a medal for his kindness.

Despite Lilo not being there anymore we still make our jaunts to the park.

It may sound all hippy-dippy but our little daily park stroll and wildfowl interaction restores my inner peace.

Speaking of hippy, how do you like my hand knitted poncho?!

No, I didn't knit it myself, I'm absolutely useless with knitting or crochet needles. It was bought from a charity shop a few years ago and it has a rather sweet label that reads "From fleece to finish by Norma McCall". The yarn that Norma used/made is absolutely amazing, the colours are like a rainbow of mottled pastels.

I've actually nicked a dress off the Frocktasia rail today, isn't she a beauty?!

It's an Afghan frock that has been shortened. Most of these dresses reach well below the knees but I think this is a far better length for let say a muddy summer festival, would look swell with the quintessential wellies too. This frock will be back on the rail for my next market.

Hand-knitted poncho, Afghan dress, layered tights, 70s boots, Balinese earrings that were a gift from gorgeous Vix

This is my friend Mr Grey...

We hit it off straight away when I told him that I'm not a fan of North Face. He is so incredibly gentle when he eats the seed out of my hand and he even lets me stroke his chest from time to time.

Mr & Mrs Grey only have one little gosling...

A week ago there was a pair of Canada geese with ten goslings but apparently this breed of geese are well known for forming gosling creches. From what I've seen the average gosling number to a pair is around three. These three get a daily dose of healthy seed from us, with any luck it will prevent them from getting angel wing in the future.

The ferocious winds that have been battering London over the past few days have finally abated but it looks as if the blanket cloud cover is here to stay for a wee while longer.
The sun will find a way to break through eventually and when it does I shall be ready with my picnic basket and barefeet...there's a patch of grass underneath a blossoming lilac tree in the park with my name written all over it ;)
Here is 'The The' to sing us out with their beautiful song 'Love Is Stronger Than Death', enjoy :)

Happy Friday beautiful people...
May the sun shine on your path and happiness fill your heart.
Loads of love,
Jennie
xXx

Not from the Dirty Thirties

This seventies frock echoes a much earlier fashion era, with its elegant floor-skimming length, adorable ruffle sleeves and shoulder button trim detailing, I'm thinking the thirties.

These pictures are from a Swedish dress making magazine dated 1934.

Here are two thirties dress pattern pics, found on pinterest.

I know that reproduction vintage fashion can sometimes be an apple of discord for real vintage aficionados but the only thing I have a problem with is when sellers (on-line in particular) are not straight up about how old a garment actually is and even remove labels in an attempt to disguise the fact that what they are selling is a dress from a High Street store bought last year, that sucks!

I've had this frock for years but I only recently rediscovered it hiding in a storage bag up in the loft. There aren't that many mystery bags left up there now, I'm slowly getting on top of  the hoard.

 Yay & there was much rejoicing! 

Vintage 70s does 30s maxi frock, Handmade Sami art necklace, 80s Pierre Cardin sandals, soapstone earrings & umbrella.

I did get a couple of bemused looks as I was feeding the birds by the boating lake earlier but personally I think this frock is just fine to wear for a stroll around the park, teamed with my cropped denim jacket it looks almost casual ;)

Yesterday Mark and I went to check out Muswell Hill Market as our lovely friends Sue and Mark were trading there.

Mark , Sue, Mark & loadsa gorgeous jewellery :)

Sue makes her own funky jewellery and Mark has a very  keen eye for beautiful vintage costume jewellery with a particular penchant for fabulous vintage brooches.

At the last Can't Buy Me Love market Jet mentioned that I may want to consider doing a stall at the Muswell Hill Market at some point and after seeing it yesterday I think Frocktasia will hopefully be there next month with a rail full of fabulous frocks and other gorgeous goodies, so watch this space peeps.

This venue scores high on one very important point,  it is virtually door to door on the W7 bus route, so even if Mark is working on the day I can very easily make it there on my tod.

Ideally I'd love to do at least one market a week.

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

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

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

Come Together at The Dandy

Last Saturday saw another fabulous day at The Dandy Lion market.

Thankfully Mark wasn't working so he could come with me this time.

I was faffing so much in the morning trying to decide what shoes to wear that I forgot to bring my "bag of bargains" and a cracking bag it was too. I'll bring it to the next Can't Buy Me Love outing :)

Anyway it wasn't as if we were short of stock...

I was absolutely thrilled to find that my stall neighbour was Tangled Wigs...

It is a well known fact that I am a bit of a wig-o-holic and meeting Samantha who runs Tangled Wigs was a real treat. She's such a lovely woman and I was truly inspired to hear her story of how this business venture came about. We were talking about doing a wig & vintage colab in the near future and needless to say I'm very excited about that.

 Leslie had managed to get another fabulous mix of traders in this month. I am so in awe with all these creative and super gifted individuals I almost feel like I'm cheating rocking up with my frocks.

I guess my gift is unearthing vintage gems but it's not really on par with David Harker's artistic talent or the brilliant creativity of  Bespoke Binny...

There is nothing better that an African print fabric in my book, they are just so amazing!

Speaking of amazing check out photographer Marco Dall'Omo and his Simply Complicated stall or how about the brilliant Alfie Gallagher and his wonderful collection of illustrations & graphic art, also available to buy from his etsy shop.

 Leslie was wearing an amazing 70s frock & here she is in front of her rail of Wunderbar Vintage loveliness and chair full of one-of-a-kind scatter cushions that can also be bought on etsy... 

The funky Catillest Design is run by the very talented Cat Neligan who is "a web designer by day and an illustrator by night". On her stall she was offering up an awesome array of  cool Tees, prints, tote bags and zines.

Then we had regular Dandyites Sue & Mark with their Gorgeous Jewellery stall. Sue and Mark will be trading at the Muswell Hill Market next Saturday & I will be popping up to see them if anybody is interested in chumming along? This month they were trying something a little bit different by adding a few vintage bags, gloves and shoes to their stall besides their awesome array of  vintage and handmade jewellery. 

Here's  Erik on leafleting duty outside The Oxford, well done that man :)

Irfhan Mirza is the creative genius behind Dead Gent Clothing who makes funky hand finished pocket Tees and tanks.

Sharing the downstairs stall with Irfhan was Love Vintage run by a groovy chick & fellow collector of beautiful vintage things. When she told me that this was her first market outing I was very surprised cause her display was stunning, she's obviously a natural.

I was very happy to see the lovely Luisa Cotardo returning with her beautiful & romantic words & roses stall...

Another returning trader was The 3R Crafts with her lovely smile & awesome upcycled wares...

I was also chuffed to bits to see the return of gorgeous fellow Swede Camilla and her funky Mind The Book stall :)

My other stall neighbour was Narcissus Design who specialize in handmade unique antiqued and patina mirrors. Last but by no means least we had a lovely lady with a one-off stall selling some of her collected vintage gems.

This was my favourite mirror by Narcissus Design, it can be bought from their etsy store...

I hope I haven't missed anybody out this time but if I have give me a virtual poke in the ribs and I shall edit the post accordingly ;)

The next Dandy will be on Saturday the 1st of June and if you are interested in keeping abreast with future trader line-ups you can do so on The Dandy Lion FB page.

Big thanks to Leslie for making it all happen, to Aiden & Erik for making the place look smashing and enticing the peeps through the doors, to all my fabulous fellow traders and to the awesome browsers, chatters and buyers that rocked up on the day.

Next month sees the two year anniversary of this fabulous market and I think that Leslie may just have a few tricks up her sleeve for that one so watch this space ;)

Hope you all had a cracking weekend?!

Loads of love,

Jennie

xXx