Angelica

I met Angelica at the tail-end of a flea market last Sunday. It was love at first sight. She's from Paris and quite elegant. We hit it off from the start so, as she was about my size, she came home with me. Her real name is Cléo, but she'd always been Angelica to me, even when she was still just a twinkle in my eye.

She was named Angelica after my paternal great-grandmother. Angelica, or "Zeleke" as she was popularly known, was an accomplished seamstress whom people came to from far and wide to have the latest fashions made.

She died in 1945 at 62 years of age, so all I know about her is what I was told by my dad. She had a son and two daughters, the eldest of which was my grandmother.

This is Angelica with her family. The little girl is my grandmother, who was born in 1910, and this photo must have been taken just before the First World War.

I had been looking for a vintage dressmaker's dummy for ages, but the ones I came across until now were frightfully expensive. So, to finally have found one this late in the day at an otherwise not very exciting flea market and at a more than reasonable price, is nothing short of a miracle.

She's a bit older than me, probably dating from the 1950s, and she came with her own original metal stand. She is in perfect condition apart from some wear and tear in keeping with her age. The only thing she was missing was the wooden finial at her neck, but my handy husband has already arranged a replacement (though not yet when these photos were taken).

Here she is modelling the suit (or as Angelica herself would say, the "deux-pièces") I found at the charity shop last Saturday.  As you can see, we have another thing in common: she does not like ironing either!

What else did we find at the flea market? Well, surprisingly, we did find quite a few little things.

There seems to be a French theme going on here, as I found a small stack of French magazines dating from the early 1950s (the oldest is from December 1951 while the most recent one is from July 1954). They don't really do magazine covers (signed, no less!) like this anymore, do they?

I also found some vintage buttons to add to my every-growing stash. This is being delved into regularly whenever I don't very much like the buttons on a vintage item, or whenever buttons are damaged or missing.

What else? A dark brown vinyl beauty case, which will join the others I have. They live on top of my wardrobe and are being put to good use storing socks, underwear, belts and the like.

There are also some cute vintage purses, two of them with Lucite closures, which I simply couldn't resist.

And finally, thee brooches, bought from an nice old lady who is selling her entire collection. I don't know how she can part with them, but at least some of them are going to a good home, where they will be cherished and worn. I usually buy a couple of brooches from her whenever I visit this particular flea market.

I'm ending this post with another picture featuring my great-grandmother Angelica. This one is helpfully labeled May 1930. Angelica is second from left, with her two daughters and (presumably) a neighbour. My grandmother is the girl on the right. Notice how the two girls are wearing identical dresses, probably made by Angelica herself.

Wishing you all a great Easter weekend!