Karen Millen and Other items -wardrobe challenge

I keep saying my wardrobe challenge is winding down to zero yet keep buying more clothes! I have, however, been keeping well away from the strange sellers who are trying to flog a New Look blouse (worn and a few threads hanging off the front) for FIVE pounds. OK, maybe that makes me sound a bit of a tightwad but I often nip into New Look and when you can buy the same item for £5 or less in the sale why on earth would you pay that amount at a Booty? It makes me wonder if they think once its been worn by them its develeoped celebrity status - you know, like Elvis's shirt?

So, I avoided buying items of clothing until I was at the point of walking off the field. As I was casually dragging my trolley I spotted a young couple sat at a stall in a rather odd position in the field. Where they'd parked their car was out the way of most of the other sellers and they had very few people walking past. I made a beeline for them and found that their entire stall was piled high with clothes and I started to browse.

In the end I spent £10 on clothes, including £5 (original price £120) for a fabulous silk Karen Millen dress (bringing my wardrobe challenge to £60).

Pure Wool pullover, an angora long sleeved cream top (not pictured), a Miss Sixty t-shirt (not pictured).

This dress which I'll use over leggings

A vintage inspired tea dress which is really nice on and I've already worn with my denim jacket and a pair of flatties.

And finally another vintage inspired item in this red spotty blouse

All off the same seller for a tenner!

Oh, and before I forget.... off yet another stall as I was leaving I picked up a Charm Necklace and bracelet made of polished stones for £1.

Each locket opens up to allow you to put photos inside and the little dog is made of glass.

Saturdays Boot Sale Thrifting finds

Its funny how a theme often seems to run through my thrifting day.... Some days I strike it lucky on my wardrobe challenge, other days its books, some days its china and other days its pictures. Of course there are also the barren thrifting days where nothing makes its way home with me and I'm haunted by stacks of 'Big Mouth Singing Bass' and Martina Cole novels.

Anyhow, last weekend I went to two interesting Boot Sales and both days had a theme running through them. Different themes for each day and I made a host of wonderful finds. In fact some of these finds were prety special and they are going to have a post all for their very own but more of that later.

For now I wanted to show you my Saturday finds. The theme for saturday seemed to be paintings. Now if you've read this little blog in the past you'll know that I have a soft spot for original paintings and I've been lucky enough to find both water colours and oil paintings for only a few pounds each in the past.

I haven't found any great pictures for a while though. Well, I did find a pretty small watercolour of a mother and child walking down a tree lined dusty lane but when I asked the price I was in for a shock. The seller, a man in his twenties trying to put on the lordly air of an experienced dealer, told me that since it was 'an original watercolour and from the 1950's' he was expecting at least 40-50 pounds for it. Now I don't know what TV show he's been watching but watercolours from amateur unknown artists don't sell for such high amounts at a car boot sale on a windy field.

I left the man to it. If he sells it good luck to him but I certainly wasn't going to entertain it for that price . The DH always says why didn't you tell them he'll never get that? To which I always reply, well there might be some sucker out there who will pay daft money and why should I waste my breath arguing when ten to one the same thing will appear at the next boot sale I go to for 50p?

Anyhoo, last Saturday one of the first things I found was a watercolour painting and I went on to find several more and ended up bringing home three pictures altogether. I really loved this watercolour of thatched cottages along a village street. This could be one of my fave pictures ever and it only cost £3.

A second watercolour came from a middle aged man selling several watercolours painted by his aunt who exhibited on a regular basis at a local gallery in a posh town not far from me. I bought this one of a local country hall and the artist had copied a much older painting of the hall from several hundred years previously.

I've been in this Hall as its open to the general public and its a pleasant place to visit.

I should have taken a close up of this one as in the foreground there are figures mowing the lawns with sythes, ladies on horseback, a cat chasing geese and a dog chasing the cat. This was £3 but that also included a smaller oil painting by the same artist.I'm looking forward to finding a new frame and mount for this one as paintings always look much better with a proper mount.

I did spot several more watercolours. An interesting one of a harbour, one of Angelsey and one of a group of harvesters in the late evening. I dithered over them but decided to stick with what I'd got.

Hmmm, what else did I buy? Oh yes there was a lady with a huge 4x4 selling off designer goods Dior, Jaeger etc and the crowds were gathered around looking for bargains. I briefly toyed with buying two pairs of Dior shoes for a fiver but decided they were too pointed and I'd either snap off my toes or break my neck.

I did buy two bottles of perfume to use on an everyday basis for £4. The Versace Blue Jeans is for the DH and (don't laugh now) Paris Hilton is for me. Actually it's quite nice, well the dogs don't complain when I'm wearing it.

Lastly, I rescued another bullie beanie baby for 50p. I've got about 7 of these now and thinking of starting my own welfare society for abandoned and unwanted beanies. One look of those sad beseeching eyes and I'm handing over my money.

Next post I'll show you my wardrobe challenge update. Yes I know, I said I didn't need more clothes and would stop at £50 but honest these were nice things and I failed to resist the bargain. Besides, its nearly the end of Boot Sale season and there's going to be a dearth of bargains til next year.

I've gone all Laura Ashley!

I do love Laura Ashley but sadly rarely can afford to purchase her larger items of furniture - they are so expensive! At least for someone who likes a discount bargain or as they say round here, 'sommat for nowt'.

Actually, I've never heard anyone say that in RL but I understand the sentiment.

Anyhoo, when I spotted this suite by LA on ebay and classed 'as new' I made the DH put a bid in (that way he couldn't just blame me if it arrived and was horrendous) and was happy to find I'd bought it for my initial bid.

Of course, I couldn't leave it at that and found myself putting in an offer for this armchair as well. It's supposedly for the lounge and not for the parlour and was put in here temporarily while we shuffled the old red sofa around - trouble is it looks at home in there! Hmmm.

The curtains are new and from Dunelm Mill, they are by Dorma and are called Sugar Plum. A very pretty pattern of pale pink roses on a white background and you can get bedding to match. These are currently on sale and I'm afraid I couldn't resist.

I've also done another shuffle round of furniture since I took the photo. I've moved the dresser into our vestibule and covered the top with the Cath Kidston oilcloth and I'm using it to display all my bullie bits and bobs.

In the drawers I'll store gloves and umbrellas and am planning on lining the bottom cupboard with cheap oilcloth and using it to store shoes. We always take our shoes off in the vestibule (we have a no shoes in the house rule) and I was sick of tripping over discarded shoes as I walked through this area. Makes sense to use a piece of furniture to store things in don't you think?

Can you love a dress?

Last weekend I only bought a couple of clothes items. Well, three if you include this spottie nightie from Next (50p). I was really chuffed with all three, the nightie ,even though its a size 8's, fits really well.

The grey Owl t-shirt was only 20p and I just love those goggly button eyes.

I've been looking at handmade crafted Owl items recently which was the main reason I picked up the t- shirt, and of course, when told the price I had to have it. 20p! Chuffed with that one.

The last item is something I'll only occasionally wear and the DH hates it. Its a pure silk dress (labels cut out so I can't see the maker) in gorgeous tones of sea green, ocean blue with highlights of white horses cream. As soon I looked at this dress I thought 'MERMAID'.

However, it needs to be altered. I really don't suit high waisted flowing styles. I need fitted garments to stop me looking like a shapeless blob and at the moment this lovely dress is too high in the waist and too short in the shoulder straps, giving me the expectant mother look.

I'm thinking of buying ribbon and creating new straps? What do you think? Will it work?

I think that if I can lower the bodice with longer straps - dropping the waist - it will suit me much better (making sure I sew up the bust line a little - haven't got a lot up there but what I have I don't want spilling out). Normally I wouldn't dream of paying £3 for a Boot Sale dress but the colours, texture and the fact it's silk drew me to it like a magnet.

Any ideas of what to wear it with? Do you think I could dress it down as well as up?

Hmmm, three pounds seventy... I suppose that's not a lot for all I got. (But I just hate spending £3 on one item - tight wad that I am ;-) )

Catch Up On Car Boot Thrifting!

I seem to be behind with my posting of last weekend's finds.

I didn't buy lots of clothes but I did buy a couple of things that I really like and will blog about them next time. It was an odd booty; lots and lots of sellers and not many buyers and what buyers there were few bought. A lot of the sellers were complaining about the lack of sales yet many of the regulars were still dragging round the same old stuff and no doubt wondering why they couldn't sell it. Felt like telling them to half their prices and they might be in with a chance. Back in May I spotted a lovely wren (bird) ornament, no marks on the bottom, and asked the seller the price - £10. It's still on his stall with the £10 sticker firmly attached, my guess is it'll be making an appearance next season.

On one of the very first stalls I came across a stack of vintage Ladybird books dating from the 60's. The lady selling told me they had been in her attic for years and that they were all in very good condition as 'my children look after their things'. She said this very firmly and my guess is they'd have got a slap round the head if they'd dared. It looked to me as though they'd hardly been opened. I bought the lot for £4 which I think works out at around 15p each.

There's a great selection of famous people from history. And they have so much information in them! I never knew Napoleon married Josephine (an older rich widow) and then divorced her in order to marry an Austrian princess for political reasons. I haven't read the others but I will do - seems I'm late getting an education LOL.



Then there's the informative books about aircraft, railways and Pirates. (The top post picture comes from the Pirate books)


I'm not really interested in Football or cricket or the scouts but will probably read the London one.


The Dh has already read the fishing book and we had a laugh looking at the old cars and trying to remember if we'd ever seen one.



27 or 28 books for £4. I'm quite chuffed with the collection.

It was one of those days where you pick up a lot, look at it, ask the price and put it back down again. However, when I asked the price of these Next Bath Bombs and was told 20p they went in my bag. I've been using them regularly since last weekend and think I'm down to my last one.

There's nothing like a bit of bling to attract the eye and this diamante watch certainly has plenty of bling! 50p and needing a new battery (I've still got a drawer full so that was no problem) it came home with me.

Finally, I bought two more necklaces for 50p. The one below I feel comes from the 60's/70's and has a super long pearl chain.This one is newer and its difficult to show in the photo but it also has two roses in the centrepiece.

Not a huge haul but combined with the wardrobe items it wasn't a bad way to spend a Sunday Morning.

ReVamps!

I bought this gold mirror for £1 or £2 earlier this year. Its been sat upstairs in the spare bedroom since then waiting for a miracle to occur. Last week I decided that the time had come to do something about it, a touch of paint and a little bit of distressing and I had a new mirror for my craftroom.

I took the mirror back a little in the raised area to show the gilt underneath and then strung this length of pearls over the top. The pearls I found in a little bag amongst a huge pile of sewing stuff I bought from a local jumble for £1 and spent an hour re-threading them. I don't for a moment think they are the real thing but they are nice heavy beads and probably date back to the 50's.

Do you remember my chair?

Its been in the living room with two old cushions chucked on it for a good twelve months. I took the plunge, bought a seat pad, cut it to shape and then sewed a cushion cover for it. The fabric I used came from a single duvet I picked up in a charity shop for 50p (I used the rest on my ironing board).
It certainly isn't perfect but it not only looks better but its a 100% more comfy to sit on!


Another paint job I've been meaning to show you was this little clock I picked up up the Matalan sale for £3. I really wish I'd picked up two now as when I went back a few days later they had all gone.

I was browsing through the Laura Ashley catalouge and spotted a clock similar but in white so my clock got a face lift!Isn't it surprising what a dash of white paint can do!

Wardrobe Challenge Update

This post is all about the little challenge I set myself a while ago to buy a new wardrobe of clothes for £100 or less. You see, at the begining of this year I lost nearly 20lbs after buying a new set of bathroom scales(maybe you've had that sinking feeling of climbing on the scales and seeing the numbers registering in your brain for the first time? Surely it can't be only me who lived in denial?)

Anyway, the weight came off and the size 14 clothes fell off me. Time to buy more clothes. Now I can afford new clothes, I'm not a pauper or completely desperate but out there is a wonderful source of good quality clothes called Secondhand. A very cheap source of clothes. Why pay top dollar when you can buy for less? Clothes in shops have been tried on so all clothes have been worn to some extent.

The challenge is to find the bargains. Great makes and good styles for pennies.

I'm always off to the Car Boot Sales so I decided to start digging in those clothes piles to see what I could find. Luckily I'm a size 10/12 and that means my size seems constantly available around the sellers. I've been lucky enough to even find underwear shops that have closed down and are now selling off their brand new wares at Car Boots sales so even found underwear complete with tags(which I wouldn't buy secondhand!)

I've had great fun not only bringing in the new clothes but also going through my wardrobe, picking out the sizes too big, things that have gone a little bit grey, worn items etc and slinging them all. (Well the good quality items went to the Charity Shop and the grotties into the rag bag).

Anyhow, last weekend I hit lots of stalls selling clothes in my size and spent slightly less than £15, even managing to find a pair of cargo pants and a Next organic cotton T for the husband. This brings my total spent to slightly less that £50 and I have lots and lots of clothes - far more than I started with.

First of all, not all clothes are shown and I'm sorry I got over excited and forgot to iron them before I took pictures.

I bought two white cotton T's, vest and short sleeved 50p each. Always great to have white cotton t-shirts and I loved the cherry motif on the vest.

Then I bought this Per Una top for £1 as I knew it would look nice under the 50p River Island knitted cardi I'd bought on the previous stall.

I found a lambswool Per Una cardi in autumnal colours for £1. (Why does the right arm look shorter than the left? Weird how my phtos turn out sometimes LOL)

A fancy designer purple top (£1)which has managed to come out looking like a dishrag but, honest, its really nice on.A candy striped Next top for 50p.

A brilliant pair of Gap jeans (£1) which I bought without looking at the size and nearly fainted when I saw they were a size 6 and fitted. Then realised they were USA sizes making them a 10's. Phew, thought I'd lost tons of weight during the night and had turned into a stick insect without realising it. :-)I managed to find two pairs of combat style trousers (£1)which I tend to wear while booting or walking the dogs.These bottoms are adidas and were 50p. I also bought another two pairs of velour type trackie bottoms for 50p each. I use these for slouching around the house during the evening in.

Its ages since I owned a denim jacket. This one came off a lady selling a whole bunch of clothes from boutiques. Most were far too dressy for my casual lifestyle and would never be worn but I took a chance on this decorated denim jacket - probably drawn to the rose motif on the front pocket. It only cost £1.

Lastly, off the same lady I found this reversable coat from a German designer - Olsen? Sigmund Olsen or something similar. Its a size 12 and a bit big for me but its easily the warmest jacket I've ever owned. £2

There's a tale behind this jacket. On the care label it says specialised clean only. Which to me means ' stick in the washer on a wool wash'. So I took it and everything else I'd bought outside and began to do my washing.... (oops, edited to add that by outside I mean that my washer and my dryer are both located outside my house in an old fashioned washhouse - I didn't take it to the river or use a dolly tub in the garden)

When I came to wash this coat I couldn't find it.... I looked behind the units - No. I went back inside in case I'd taken it back in with me - No. I stood around scratching my head wondering if I'd gotten Old Timers and had put it in the fridge or something equally as crazy...

Then I spotted one of my dogs lying cosily in his basket with a smug grin on his face. He'd only spotted it, dragged it off the counter and then into his nest where he'd took objection to three of the buttons and chewed them off!

He wasn't happy about losing his new blanket and I wasn't happy about losing my buttons but I'm glad to say the coat looks as good as new with three vintage replacements.

Weekends finds and a bit more CK chat

Thanks everyone for all your comments regarding my Cath Kidston shopping fiasco. Knowing there were so many CK fans out there I was a little wary of blogging about my bad experience yet it seems that I'm not the only one who feels a little disappointed on close inspection of her wares/service. Is it a case of 'being a victim of her own sucess'?

In opening so many shops is she in danger of losing that special something that set her apart from other retailers?

Thanks for the link that was left with comments.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-1205665/The-REAL-domestic-goddess-How-Cath-Kidston-conquering-world-floral-polka-dot-designs.html

I found this a VERY interesting read.

I'm still debating whether or not to complain to head office. I'm not a big complainer (is that an English thing feeling embarrassed about complaining when you recieve bad service/inferior goods?).

However, I feel really put off buying other items from her after my poor experience. I do love her prints but other things are not as good. The bags I bought via the net are lovely and I can't complain about their quality but I have to say there was a lot of cheap, badly made tat in her shop and it sort of opened my eyes to the veneer of fakery. Ooops that doesn't sound very nice does it? But I'm glad I'm not the only one to spot it and feel dissatisfied.

Anyhow, lets get back to my weekends thrifting....

I did exceptionally well on my Wardrobe Challenge, spending nearly £15 on clothes and thats a whole lot of clothes when most items were 50p each! It takes the tally up to nearly £50 of my £100 challenge and now I have lots and lots of clothes and don't need any more. (Unless I spot something gorgeous of course). So apart from footwear I now have a complete new wardrobe for slightly less than £50. I'll post full details and photos of my new clothes on the next post as I wanted to show you the other treasures I aquired at the weekend.

Thanks to Victoria at Vintage Tea I now have an interest in vintage Ladybird books! 20p each is the price I paid and several of these are from the 60's.

Half the pleasure of collecting something is doing the research on each book and series. I never realised that many of the wildlife pictures in these books are done by the famous artist Tunnlicliffe for instance.

Here's a great link for dating old ladybird books

http://www.ladybirdflyawayhome.com/index.htm

I found on another stall this gift pack of Soap and Glory and gave her a pound for it. I love these products and am looking forward to the darker winter nights when I can have my own Pamper Nights!

I don't know why the following picture has come out looking so grey. It was a lovely sunny day when I took this photo. I found this crocheted lace edged tablecloth for a pound and yes it is joining my other vintage linen collection.

A household hints book for 30p. Some great tips in this one.

The hand made wool rug below was probably made from a kit. It is brand new and never been down on the floor - I guess by the time it was finished the person making it was sick of seeing it! For £3 I snatched it up (and no I didn't haggle, I paid up and fled in case she changed her mind)

Lastly I bought two Laura Ashley candlestick lampbases at 50p each. The shade belongs to my bedside lamps, I just robbed it for the photo and to get an idea of shades that will match my base.

I spotted lots and lots of great stuff at the weekend. Normally I'm not that keen on vintage bevilled edged mirrors but I saw two beauties and I saw a really nice dressmakers dummy which now I wish I'd asked the price of. The trouble was by the time I saw it (and it was right at the opposite side of a huge boot sale) I was loaded up with a trolley and THREE carrier bags and just the thought of lugging it back for miles and miles made me feel sick.

But that's the next on my wish list. A dummy. (to display my clothes LOL)

Cath Kidston- the good and the bad...

Well I told you I went into Liverpool and promised a run down of my little trip into Kidston Land. It wasn't quite what I expected, especially after reading other peoples accounts but I thought it only fair that I gave you a truthful account of what I experienced on my visit.

The shops is situated down a sidestreet; a lovely spot with big leafy trees and I thought the shop front was very pretty to look at from the outside. I especially liked the baby blue plant pots and the red door.

As you walk through the door there is a big glass display to your right filled with droolables. Check out the front window!I could hardly wait to get inside!

I walked through the door and a smiling shop assistent called hello and my MIL shamed me up by saying, "Its not me who is obsessed- its her!" Er, thanks MIL!

So I browsed and hummmed and ahhed while the MIL also browsed, occasionally taking sharp intakes of breath when she looked at the prices. I must admit that place is expensive.

There is a gorgeous red shooting star bag currently in the sale (£18) which I dithered over for a long time; in fact I still dithered over it until..... Well, I'll explain later .

This is what I did buy...

I bought a pin tin. The new version was not yet stocked and this was the last one of the old version that I could find. There were also no Button tins left in stock and several other items I asked about were out of stock :-(

I took two samples of wallpaper and did ask for a sample of the top one with the blue background but yep, you guessed it, none in stock. :-( I was, however, pleased I asked for the samples (I wanted to wallpaper one wall in one of my bedrooms) as I now prefer the bottom Chintz design rather than the bigger rose.

Love this design so bought a keyring and also two packets of tissues.

And this.....

Which unwrapped looks like this

Oilcloth for a future project I have in mind.

In fact I'm rather unhappy about this oilcloth and now I'll explain why. I asked for 1/2 metre and the friendly shop assistent opened out the cloth to cut it and found that there was only a short piece left on the roll. My MIL who used to work in a fabric shop piped up, "Oh there's less than a metre so that'll be classed as a remnant won't it?"

She was ignored.

The shop assistent measured the piece left over and looking at me said, "68 cms. So there's enough for you."

MIL pipes up again, "Surely you aren't going to cut the left over piece off are you?"

The assistent explained that if it was up to her she'd give me the piece but as it was over 10cm she had to cut it off and charge for it. Anyhow, she made a cut with the scissors and then ripped the rest through. I thought she'd gone a bit jagged with the tear but didn't look at the fabric as she wrapped it up. To be honest I was rather surprised that its Cath Kidstons policy to squeeze money from the last few inches of the roll. As my MIL said later, she'd never been in a shop selling fabric that had ever done this before. Maybe it was this element of stingy-ness that stopped me from buying the red shooting star bag? It doesn't look good for a shop to do this.

Anyhow, when I got the oilcloth home and looked at it I wasn't pleased to see that as its the policy to rip the cloth instead of cutting it both ends of the cloth is cut askew and its going to take some fiddling/cutting to get the pattern straight. Oh, and one side measures 52cm wide and the other 57, more to fiddle with I suppose but I really am disappointed that the cloth wasn't cut straight in the first place.

So all in all I'd give my CK visit 4/10. Maybe it was the time I visited but there were lots of items out of stock, not all the autumn items had arrive (although it states on the window they had), I was surprised that they cut off the last few inches from that roll end (in a desperate attempt to make a last £1) and my 1/2 metre of oilcloth is badly ripped at both ends. Its too far for me to take it back as well :-(

I still do like some of the Cath Kidston's designs and will make a few purchases in future but after this experience I've sort of taken a step back from being obsessed (as the MIL kindly put it).

Ferry Across The Mersey

Yesterday I arranged a trip to the port of Liverpool.

Its years and years since I last went to Liverpool, in fact I'd say the last time was in the '80's when my Mum took me as a kid to visit a private dentist there. For a brace fitted (yuk).

Anyhow, being a country girl at heart I hate big cities but there was one reason to visit this place which you may or may not guess ;-).

So, a trip down Nostalgia Lane was organised with my M-I-L and at 10am we caught the train at our local station (about 2 miles walk away from me) and we set off on our day out.

First place to visit was of course the Cath Kidston Shop (in another post - the full details no holds barred ).

We then had a wander around the shops. Aren't there some great designer clothes shops there? Too expensive for me and some were very Footballer's Wives! But all the sales assistants in every shop I visited were lovely, friendly and very welcoming. Besides some 'stuff' bought in the CK shop I only made one purchase, a pair of denim effect leggings out of St John's market so it wasn't really a very expensive day out.

For lunch we bought sandwiches and sat on the quayside next to the Liverpool Museum that is due to open 2010. Behind us was the iconic Liver Building. With the bird standing guard over the river Mersey.

We sat and watched the ferries collecting the eagerly waiting people and sailing across the river to New Brighton. Many years ago my Dad and his brothers used to go to New Brighton on day trips, with potted meat sandwiches and a bucket and spade. They thought this was the height of luxury during the school holidays - being from farming families my grandparents found it impossible to take long holidays and had to 'make do' with odd day trips.

I think this speedboat belongs to the Coastguard. Can you see the huge ships in the background?

Finally, here's a picture of the bird boxes I spotted high up in a big tree in Liverpool city centre. I wonder how many people have spotted these in School lane as they rush to Cath Kidston's shop?

Tempus Fugit - Time Flees

Oh I've been a lazy blogger recently. That sounds quite a nasty insult doesn't it?

"Hey YOU! You Bad Blogger!"

I've had lots to post about (cept finds - the booty was rained off -sniff) so where do I start...

Hmmm.... How about the fact that last week I, or rather We, celebrated our 19th Wedding Anniversary (yes, yes I was a VERY young bride). Nineteen years.... I could have just murdered him at the begining and I'd have been out and free by now.

I searched the web for a nice photo to celebrate what we look like...

There was this one...

But it looks to me as though they are going to attack each other with their chins. Either that or his false teeth are going to fall out. Notice the darling way he is crushing her hand so that she can't escape? There's something shudder-worthy about that picture.

Nope. That picture doesn't represent our 'wedded bliss' (excuse me a moment while I choke... must have been the word bliss that done me in ;-0 )

Then there is this picture.

Isn't it sweet? Maybe we are like this loving couple? Then again there is a fence between them and the guy is wearing a wig. Take it from me, its never a good sign when a man in a wig starts chatting you up. Its highly unlikely he wants your body he's more likely interested in your dress.

Nope. Fraid that there's only one picture that safely represents us. Or should I say me?

Ahhh, well, I did say we'd been married nineteen years didn't i? Check out the ' me' below.