Summer time and the livin' is easy

I thought I'd give you a break from my Welsh adventures and do a good old-fashioned outfit post ...

Believe it or not, but going back to work did have its perks! As luck would have it, my favourite vintage shops, Think Twice, were in the midst of their sales, and prices were down to € 4 by the end of the week.

Just a quick browse in one shop yielded a bagful of treasures.

Think Twice are actually a chain of shops, with a total of ten shops in Belgium, three of which are in Antwerp, all within walking distance from my office. How great is that? I think you can guess where I'm spending some of my lunch breaks ...

The items they sell are ranging from the 1960s until the 1990s. Yes, I know. I hardly got my head around the fact that the 1980s are being considered vintage, but the 1990s? I beg to differ, but as the shops are being frequented by everyone from teenagers to pensioners, who I am to deny anyone their “vintage” pleasure?

While waiting for my turn at the fitting rooms, I overheard a mother and daughter duo (at a guess, I'd say the daughter was about 13) discussing the merits of a gruesome 1990s pink and white shell suit jacket. Shudder. Very big shudder!

The upside is that they are leaving all the wonderful 1960s and 1970s stuff for me!

Here is what was in my bag.

First up are these polyester tops and cotton skirt with ric-rac trim, all being shown to you by Angelica.

This maxi is definitely my favourite find!

I already own a green midi dress in the same pattern, which I am wearing at the end of this post.

As finally we were having some summery weather, I took the dress on its first outing on Saturday, combined with some cheerful accessories.

And look, I have even painted my toenails, which is quite a feat for clumsy me!

The sandals are Clarks Softwear, bought in the sales years ago. Aren't they gorgeous?

Although the dress is a size smaller than what I'm usually wearing, it was an almost perfect fit, except for the sleeves, the cuffs of which were quite narrow and were close to cutting off my blood circulation.

After giving it some thought, and almost writing off the dress as a mistake, I came up with the idea of making some slits in the underside of the cuffs. Now the sleeves fit like a dream, and nobody, except you of course, is any the wiser!













The green fabric peeping out from the pile is actually a 100% cotton Finnish tablecloth.

The final item is a gem of a summer dress in yellow and white, with a polka dot bodice. How could I possibly resist it?

See how our lovely Hydrangea is complementing the colour of the dress? The blooms only had a hint of colour when we went on holiday and this is what happened while we were away.

The gooseberries have ripened to a rich red colour and our honeysuckle has opened the first of its many heavenly scented flowers.  It's not all good, though, as it seems the slugs have been feasting on our Hostas! Now where did we put those slug pellets again?

So, what did we do on our first weekend back?

On Saturday, a round of the charity shops was on the cards, but pickings were meagre. Summer isn't really a good time to go charity shopping here.

Still, this is what we ended up with:

- A vintage Thermos replacement filler. Not bad for € 0,50 and exactly the right size for our tartan Thermos flask.
- A completely kitsch thermometer and barometer.  It's made from plastic and not wood, as you would think at first sight.
- A small JAJ Pyrex bowl. This pattern is from the 1960s and called Harvest. We already have quite a few items of this pattern, all picked up cheaply at charity shops.
- Finally, a cute cardigan from retro label Zoe Loveborn and a spotty scarf.

On Sunday, we fled our village (there was a fair going on complete with noisy attractions as well as cycling in the village streets) for some peace and quiet. We took a picnic to the beautiful Middelheim park in Antwerp, where we walked among works of art and cooled down in the shade of the trees.

Next time, I will continue my Welsh travelogue and take you to that seaside town as promised.