Hooray for Hollywood

It arrived! My latest (and not so secret)  Etsy purchase.

I thought I would come clean with John and tell him about it (especially as he collected it for me from the Post Office this morning). BUT......I did not come clean about the other two items and unfortunately for me, the label listed all three on the outside of the packet!  I had hoped his poor eyesight might miss it. No such luck.

This is Jess the owner of the shop on Etsy - Volkerwandering. I have bought a few vintage bits from her now as she sells some gorgeous pieces.

It's a typical 1950's-esque Hollywood style dress. I am so pleased with it. My friend Harriet has just looked at it though and said "and where are you going to wear that?......" She has a point. It's is not the kind of outfit one wears to the corner shop but I am determined to find an occasion. Maybe a Valentines meal...if I am lucky. I fear I have some brownie points to make up yet. 

It's a lovely silky material with an accordion pleat, long skirt which are always really flattering (much more than box pleats). 

I found a sketch (on the right) of this style in my Fashion Source Book that details pretty much every design through the ages and it's shown under the lingerie section for 1947. I do remember seeing old Hollywood starlets wandering around wearing this style of dress in films, as an overlay to some slinky underwear. I am sure Elizabeth Taylor would have done so! 

Another gorgeous dress with a similar style. Not mine I hasten to add! 

Seeing spots....

Hey All......

Another week over and I have a Saturday off which is nice. Back to work tomorrow though so it's a super short weekend. As per usual, I like to pack a lot in so it's been a busy day of walking the wolf, teaching French and this afternoon ma belle fille and me popped out to the shops. I am conscious that because of the cold weather, I have been living in jeans lately so I wanted to stick on a dress. And the one I picked was this spotty number. It's an old Laura Ashley dress that I bought from a charity shop while I was at uni a couple of years ago. When I first met John, he lived above a Charity shop in Fishponds so naturally, any free moment was spent downstairs.

I love spots and wrap dresses really suit my figure. They are are so flattering. 

This lovely bag is one of my (many) favourites. John bought it for my birthday last year from Ted Baker. I don't normally want for anything that expensive (Louis Vuitton aside) but I remembered that he had some unspent vouchers for a shopping centre so I planted the seed and let him consider it. Thankfully for me, the thought of actually coming up with his own present was too stressful so he jumped at the chance to use his vouchers and tick the fab husband box. Lucky me.

"Bling kit" in a trinket

How cute is this? My friend Dannie found this for £1 in a charity shop on Gloucester Road in Bristol and she is going to use it as a little trinket box for her windowsill. I think it looks like a little mini Moroccan tagine that when you open the lid, gives you lovely scents of slow cooked lamb. 

Or maybe that's just me because I somehow never stop thinking of food. 

Purple Rain

Hello.....

My lovely sister in law has had a lot on her plate recently with her husband being ill now for quite some time. Last night was a rare occasion where she was on her own for the evening so we took the opportunity to take her out for a drink and cheer her up. It was one of those impromptu evenings where we had only planned to get some shopping, a night out was not on the cards but it turned into a really nice evening. I am glad we were able to make her relax for a couple of hours and get home just before the hailstorm hit.

I quickly dug out a dress from the archives at no.45 and off we went. I "re-found" this dress the other day when sorting out the bag of clothes for the charity shop and was so pleased when I did. I don't tend to wear a lot of purple but I do like this dress. I don't know why but there is something a bit science-fictiony about it. I bought it for £4.50 from the RSPCA charity shop in Weston-super-mare.

I have no idea how I remember all these useless facts......

There is no label inside so I think it is hand-made.

Not the best pic in the world. I blame John's beer ridden hand.

I love this necklace. I bought it at the Bath Christmas Markets a couple of years ago and it is definitely one of my faves. 

Gucci Girl

Hello.....

This is my lovely friend Natalie modelling a Gucci scarf (no less!) that she found in a local charity shop. She has a very kooky sense of style that means she can easily pull off that kind of look. I just look like a washer woman with any kind of scarf in my hair!

That said, it has got me thinking of all the hats that I own but never wear. It's such a waste, I love the idea of a hat, I just never seem to actually put them on. Maybe I should resolve to change that. Tomorrow could be that day. Maybe.

Best Ever Find !!!!

Ok ladies....here it is. My best ever find (to date), and something that I have wanted for donkeys years......black leather trousers! I was being a bit hopeful by putting them on my covet list earlier this month so I still can't believe it really.  I was in the Downend St Peters Hospice charity shop on Thursday (as previously admitted), and this has got to be the star find.

They were £20 which is a lot BUT they still had the tags on for £250!!!!!! I think the shop must have missed that little fact as I know that they keep the really good high-end items for their site on eBay, So I was extra lucky. The volunteer was just putting them out on rail when I spied them. Apparently a lady had brought in a whole bag of unwanted items from the gorgeous Karen Millen, most of which were too big for me (thankfully) but the trousers were a perfect size 12. Sitting down in them is somewhat of a challenge but hey, who cares! 

They are so soft and fully lined. 

Yet again the wolf wants centre stage. I was just playing around with different tops to wear with them. This is a kimono style wrap top from none other than Sainsburys supermarket but it is so huge (and that is a size 8 which I certainly am not!), that I put a belt around it. Although I will probably wear them out mainly for a night out, I like the idea of wearing them with a really chunky sweater and boots for the winter months. I don't want to dress them up too much and look like an old 1970's throwback! 

And just to prove its not all take take take, I have sorted out a big bag of clothes to go back to the charity shop. Recycle and replenish that's my motto. That's the only way I can sustain the wardrobe space!

Mum's the word....

Hey All......

I have just spent my day off in Weston-super-Mare visiting my mum who's seriously under the weather at the moment. She had a fall at work and has been suffering ever since. She is on week 3 at home and I think cabin fever is starting to set in. So I popped down there in an attempt to cheer her up. I was determined to take her out for lunch (avec walking stick) and get her out in the fresh air and I am happy to say it was mission accomplished. And as irony would have it, whilst waiting for her prescription at the chemist, I spotted a charity shop across the road!

It was perfect. 10 minutes to kill....it was just handed to me on a plate.

But, I was there to visit my sick Ma' so I thought it only right that I got her a little something. And I found this......

She loves turquoise so it seemed meant to be. I would never have popped in if I wasn't waiting for her meds (we all know that's probably not true). Not only that, but it came with free medical advice! The volunteer in  the Weston Hospice  shop was very chatty and after explaining that the necklace was a gift for mum mum and why, she even shared some great suggestions for mums complaint, after years of suffering with the same thing! Genius. 

 

This little lady is mum's cat, Willow. 

As luck would have it, this little beauty called out to me also. £2.50 and brand new. I have posted before about my love of these type of bags so I won't go on.  I just love em'. 

 

And as for this young man......Busted! I gave him an extra long walk this morning to wear him out before going to see mum and I turn my back for 5 minutes to hang the washing out and this happens. Caught (again) on the bed.  I blame Doggie Day Care. She has beds for the dogs to lie on in her garage so he thinks it's ok! 

To be fair though, with that face....he pretty much gets away with anything. And what's the big deal, it was John's side of the bed.