Anniversary outing

The Mr and I celebrated 8 years of marital bliss last Tuesday, so being the thoughtful and caring wife that I am, I thought he'd like a look round a market and a load of vintage shops. Oh no, hang on...that's what I wanted, and he kindly acquiesced to my suggestion when I pointed out we could have curry for lunch and he could take his camera and get gritty East London shots. So, a romantic stroll around the grimy environs of Shoreditch it was.

I hadn't been to Spitalfields Market for absolutely ages, and was pleased to discover that although it was a Tuesday, stall holders were setting up and it wasn't just the shops around the edges which were open. There are some really nice pitches there, and the stall holders were all friendly. I bought this necklace from a charming Afghani man with a great sales patter, although I may have a go at making these myself - they're basically just scarf material stitched into a tube, and the material alternately threaded through and covering the beads.

necklace / hair band / belt

I also picked up these photo prints of vintage Vogue covers, which I'm going to put up in the bedroom. They also had photographs of local street art and landmarks, but we've been taking our own shots of those to mount and frame.

The best stall for me though was the one selling antiquarian books, especially given all my whinging about London vintage prices these days. I know that old books like this are probably not going to provide a pension, but the most I paid was £4, and that was for the Partridge's Children's Annual dating from 1922. The other hardbacks were £3 each, and all have their beautiful colour plates intact and the binding is in pretty good condition considering their age. A similar book would cost between £12 and £25 on Ebay. I kept expecting the seller to say that he'd made a mistake with the pricing!

 Blackie's annual is c1935

Partridge's 1922

Haven't been able to date the Kiddies' annual - maybe 50s?

I also picked up the book below for £1, it's the second part of a poetry anthology for children, originally published in 1906. I'm not sure when this little paper back edition came out - it was possibly a school textbox - but probably not much later, it includes all the press reviews from 1906, and was priced at 'threepence'. I'd love the hardback original one day, if anyone comes across it!

Like my dad and I, my eldest is a big fan of poetry, so it's been nice to be able to share some of the poems thought suitable for children 100+ years ago. It includes a frankly terrifying one called The Dreadful Story of Harriet and the Matches, which should possibly be read in schools round Guy Fawkes night:

"And see! Oh! what a dreadful thing!

The fire has caught her apron-string;

Her apron burns, her arms, her hair;

She burns all over, everywhere.

...So she was burnt , with all her clothes, 

And arms, and hands, and eyes and nose:

Till she had nothing more to lose

Except her little scarlet shoes;

And nothing else but these were found

Among her ashes on the ground."

(Heinrich Hoffman)

I also felt for the narrator of Little Girls - "If no-one ever marries me - / And I don't see why they should,/ For nurse says I'm not pretty / And I'm seldom very good" - and enjoyed A Boy's Aspirations, which listed a four year old's ideas for when he was 'quite old':

"I'll never go to bed until twelve o'clock;

I'll make a mud pie in a clean frock;

I'll whip naughty boys with a new birch;

I'll take my guinea-pig always to church;

...I'll never stand up to show that I'm grown;

No-one shall say to me, 'Don't throw a stone!'

I'll drop my butter'd toast on the new chintz;

I'll have no governess giving her hints!"

(Menella Bute Smedley)

The fashion and schooling may have changed, but the general defiance and mess seems to have stayed the same!

Anyway, enough of the English lit (my degree, sorry) and on to the shops! As well as being the old Jewish quarter - a famous 24 hr bagel bakery still survives, and is the best food for under a pound in the area - and current heartland of the Bangladeshi community in London, Brick Lane is also home to probably the largest concentration of London's vintage and retro shops in one area.

 Of course, a lot of what's on offer it is overpriced, but if you can't find what you're looking for here, you're probably not trying. Each shop has a different vibe, and some are certainly friendlier than others. Absolute Vintage is a famous one, although to my mind I'd rather work through a charity shop and hope to strike lucky than rummage in this place. So much of the stock is battered and filthy, yet they treat the customers as though they are offering them a rare glimpse at top secret couture designs for next season. There are signs everywhere warning you against filming, photography and even drawing; and I saw staff going through someone's phone to delete a quick snap taken of a bag. I'm sure plenty of fashion students come in, hence the 'no sketching' rule, but I can't imagine they clutter the place up that much, and surely are just the type of people who would be regular customers. I wouldn't be surprised to see 'No Looking' signs next time, and felt guilty using my eyes to, y'know, observe the merchandise. They do have a vast array of vintage shoes though, arranged by size, which is always handy.

Other good shops are This Shop Rocks, which had a 50% off sale, and a cluttered basement area with unsorted bric-a-brac as well as clothes  (I found something for my swap partner Amy here) and The Vintage Emporium and Coffee House. This has mainly antique clothes downstairs - Victorian to 1930s, including a selection of furs, if that's your thing - and a Coffee and Tea room upstairs, filled with antiques. Then there's Rokit, which is the polar opposite of Absolute Vintage, and has washed/dry-cleaned and labelled everything. Ok, you may lose the thrill of the chase somewhat, but they do have lovely stock, and the clothes prices aren't that bad really (although the jewellery is very over-priced). The staff are far nicer too! I found this late 60s Woodstock style top there, which may form part of my outfit for friends' 60s themed wedding in August. I've just mentioned a small selection of the vintage places, there are many more!

I'll share some more street art and graffiti pictures in another post, but here's some of the illustrations out of the children's books I bought. Most of the stories are equally charming, although it still comes as a shock to come across the odd story or rhyme featuring the unenlightened attitudes of the time. Obviously I don't want my boys learning certain racial slurs, so unfortunately they can't be for general reading. I'm still looking for prints to frame, but as these are in such good condition I think I'll scan them and print them rather than take them out of the books.

From The Golden Staircase, illustration for Wynken, Blynken and Nod

Illustration to a rhyme called 'Tangled' which made me laugh as it reminds me of my 3 year old

who's just been for yet another haircut.

Lakota x

PS. I've had loads of comments about people sorry to have missed the swap. If everyone's up for it, maybe we could do another around Christmas?

Linking up to Flea Market Finds

Magpie Monday

Thrift Share Monday

Nifty Thrifty Tuesday

Fruity...

Hurrah! At last it's stopped raining for a minute here in London and we actually have a gorgeously sunny day, so I'm finally able to use my latest find. This French pitcher and 4 glasses are probably from the 50s and are just perfect for fruit juice or Pimms and lemonade. [I know that technically the use of glassware isn't dependent on the weather, but they are particularly summery!]

Retro 50s juice jug and glasses - £5.50 from charity shop

This won't happen very often, but the set co-ordinates so well with my new dress, you lucky people are also treated to a rare picture of me pratting about in the  jungle garden pretending to be a 50s hostess.

Goodness darling, this lawn needs mowing before the guests arrive

Yes, I do have a head!

Fruit print dress - Clements Ribeiro Portobello via TK Maxx

sunglasses, bangles, earrings - charity shop

sandals - liberated from Mum's wardrobe

The earrings below are another thing I picked up locally this week, and cost me £1.95. I found one caught in with the clip-on earrings, and hunted for its partner until I found it caught in the back of a brooch in a basket of random jewellery. They have a screw back - which is a LOT more comfortable than most clip-ons - and I  guess they date from the 1920s or 30s. They're not precious by any means, as you can see one of the pins is rather bent, and the original gold toned finish on the beads had mostly worn off. This is probably not something to admit to doing with deco jewellery, but I 'mended' them by painting the beads with a bit of iridescent nail varnish [Chanel quick shine for nails, if you were wondering]. Anyway, I like them, and I hope whoever owned them originally would like to know they'll still be seeing nights out.

Hope you're all having a lovely weekend, wherever you are.
Lakota x

PS. If any of you skinny types are interested in the 80s Bernshaw dress, it's now on Ebay (sniff)

As usual I'm linking up to: Flea Market Finds

Magpie Monday 

Thrift Share Monday

Deco a go go

                                

My husband and I recently became the final people in the world to see The King's Speech (baby sitter shortage). I'm not sure if the Academy were specifically thinking of Mrs Logue's teaset when they handed out the Oscar for Best Picture, but it certainly gave a performance of rare brilliance during the few seconds it was on screen. I'd be hard pressed to pick a favourite vintage era - it depends on my mood - but I do love the 1930s. Just so fabulously decadent and glamorous. And so is this little set of four cups, saucers, side plates and a sugar bowl that I found for £4.50 at the Red Cross. I'm not really sure if it is original art deco - it's just marked Genuine English Bone China underneath - but it's hand-painted and looks the part. I'm not really a gold kind of girl either, so the silver gilding is perfect for me.

Elephants woven table runner from Thailand

I found this little deco cream jug at the same time. It's by Bell China , and perfectly matches my granny tablecloth of a couple of weeks ago.

Apologies for another short post, but I went out last night to a burlesque bar (in my vintage finery, natch) and am a little delicate following many cocktails and a 2am bedtime.

***Don't forget you can enter my giveaway over here. Three lovely prizes to win!***


For more Flea Market Finds, pop over to Sophie's.
Also linking to Junkin' Finds and Debbie's Newbie Party
Check out Magpie Monday and of course Thrift Share Monday
Linking to Nifty Thrifty Tuesdays at Coastal Charm
Born-again Crafter has Thrifty Thursdays and there are Thrifty Adventures over at Pill's Place

Why does it always rain on me?

I was tempted to title this post 'Soaking wet Booty' but chickened out after realising that I don't pre-approve comments and my blog is finally getting picked up by Google. I think anyone searching that term might be more than a little disappointed with this kind of junk in the trunk!

But at Sunday's boot sale I really did resemble a drowned rat.  I woke up to sunshine, but by the time we (me and my lovely friend Sarah at Home Made Gorgeous) got there the gathering clouds had opened and we got drenched. No umbrella and no shelter meant five minutes of exposure to the rain was no different to an hour, so we stuck it out for that long before seeking the sanctuary of the pub - and contorting under the hand-dryer in the ladies' loo in an attempt to dry our hair.

Unfortunately the crappy weather meant a lot of stall holders covered their stalls and retreated to their cars, so there certainly wan't as much choice as usual. China and glassware stands up ok to the rain (once emptied) but I wouldn't like to be the person who eventually bought the ancient Brevel sandwich toaster that had been left to the mercy of the elements. Also, those who did continue selling all appeared to be in a foul temper and were not at all open to haggling. One bloke launched into a positive tirade of bile when someone dared to offer him 50p for a brooch. Still, I did manage to come home with a few things in addition to a sore throat.

A silver plate butter dish, now redeployed as a dressing table trinket box. I love the aged look of the outside. £3.00

A couple of Poole Pottery jam pots (one 30s, and one 60s - I think). £2.50 each. I've still got loads of jam from last summer, and have just made marmalade [smug]
China spoon - 50p

3 1950s cockail glasses - 50p each.
1950s swizzle sticks via Mother in law

Child's mug 50p. It's cracked, but the bear's expression made me laugh.
 Sarah saw cute, I saw slightly perverse. That probably says something about us!
I might use it as a container for foil wrapped mini Easter eggs

I have some new clothes and shoes to share as well (hurrah!) but that's another post. I need to wash  l'eau de charity out of them first.

Linking up to these parties:
Junkin Finds Fridays
Thrifty Adventures
Flea Market Finds
Magpie Mondays
Thrift Share Monday
Nifty Thrifty Tuesdays
Newbie Party
Thrifty Thursdays

An interesting mix...

We had fruit salad for pudding this evening. I know, I know, hold the front page. But it gave me the opportunity to use some of my recent buys, and although they're all from different eras, I think they sit together perfectly.

The really heavy glass bowl was a charity shop find for £2.00, sitting unloved and dusty with various lonely pint glasses and cloudy pyrex on a bottom shelf. I'm not sure when it was made (similar things on Ebay are helpfully described as 'vintage') but would guess at the 1950s. I love the starburst in the base.

I have six of the little sundae dishes, which are helpfully so art deco that there's no doubt they're from the 30s. They probably deserve something more glamorous than some chopped satsumas. Finally, there's the fun and frivolous silver plated 'shell' spoons. At least, that's how I see them. My late Gran had a set, which I remember clearly from my childhood. For some reason, ice-cream or a banana split was a far more of a treat eaten with one of these. Anyway, I don't know what happened to hers, but when I found a set of six with a serving spoon at a boot fair, I was really pleased to pay £3.00. They might not be worth much, but I always think of her when I use them.