Monday 31 July 2017

Trinkets and treasures

Friday the 21st of July was Belgium's National Holiday, so I had the day off, making it a very welcome extended weekend.

Much to our delight there was a flea market about a 20 minute drive from Dove Cottage, and as we woke up to sunshine and blue skies, we didn't waste any time getting there.

I was wearing the maxi skirt I didn't show you in a previous post, made up of two layers, a gauzy upper layer with a yellow, orange, lilac and green floral print and a solid yellow underskirt.

I racked my brains on which top to wear it with, as I have a chronic lack of interesting plain tops (sounds familiar, Goody?) and none of my printed ones did it justice.



In the end, I settled for a pale green open collared Tricel top. The brooch I chose was bought at our local flea market, and has a mottled stone in greens and oranges, complementing the predominant colours of the skirt. An orange belt, beads and ring, and green, orange and yellow bangles, completed my outfit.

On my feet, a comfortable pair of flat canvas shoes, which has seen me through many a walk in Wales. In the heat of the sun, my hat proved not to be just an accessory but a bare necessity!

We browsed and admired and soon made our first purchases: a hand made crocheted purse and its baby sister, meant to be attached to your handbag to hold a supermarket cart token. Cute and clever!



Always on the lookout for cheap 'n cheerful costume jewellery, I found several brooches and bangles.

We ran into Jos's youngest daughter, who inherited the collecting and flea market gene from her Dad!


I love the dress she is wearing.

The market was a good one, with endless stalls lining the playing fields, but of course, as usual, I forgot to take photos.

This Art Deco Bakelite ashtray was cheap as chips, so couldn't be left behind, even if we aren't smokers, and it wasn't in the best of conditions.



Speaking of Bakelite, we also found this object (right), which Jos remembered from his early working days. But does anyone know what it was used for?



We kept picking up little odds and ends until we got hungry and settled down in a shady spot to eat our picnic. There, we were spotted once again by Jos's daughter. One thing's for sure: there's no hiding when you are dressed in colour.



Fortified, we continued our treasure hunt, picking up this French stereoscope viewer, dating from 1956.



Then, Jos went wild at a stall selling deadstock flat caps!

Shortly afterwards, I found this gorgeous lined basket, which I will be using as my mending basket, and which came in handy for carrying all our stuff.



Rounding a corner, we came across a delightful stall full of temptingly displayed vintage goodies. As we were commenting on its loveliness, it dawned on us that we knew the owner, Ilona.

It's her stall I am posing in front of in the first collage.

Of course, we bought a couple of things from her!



There was a small Bakelite lamp, which is now throwing some light on the objects displayed on top of our 1930s cabinet.



This summer dress (left) is joining my collection (the dress on the right was bought earlier at another stall) and as there was a whole box of vintage buttons, which I can never resist, I bought several packets of them.



I also fell for a green, tan and cream necklace, which Ilona threw in for free! Thank you Ilona, if you are reading this! The others necklaces were found earlier at different stalls.

The dress I wore on Saturday is one of the first vintage dresses I ever bought and a firm favourite.
Actually,  I'm quite surprised that it didn't feature on my blog yet.



It's a fit and flare frock with a buttoned bodice and a notched collar. The print has a riot of differently sized circles in brown, orange and yellow.

Circles also feature in my yellow necklace and the round buckle of my yellow woven belt. If you look carefully, you can see I am wearing one of the brooches I bought the day before!


I added an orange red jacket (charity shopped) to which I'd pinned a yellow felt flower and sling backs in almost the same orange red, which were a sales bargain from a couple of years ago.

My plastic, wicker-look handbag was bought at Blender Vintage Shop back in 2013.

It should come as no surprise that we were off to the charity shops, although like Lynn I definitely do not need more stuff, as I already have more dresses than I can count.

Well, it's no use going charity shopping and not buying anything, is it?

This Kitsch Kitchen bag was € 21. If you rightly think that's quite expensive, then I should add that it includes the contents as well.



There was a shirt with a funky print for Jos, a couple of summery tops for me, and a pink belt.

Oh, and this gorgeous French silk scarf, which I'm quite a fan of!



That's it for now but do stay tuned here for the penultimate episode of my Welsh travelogue ...


28 comments:

  1. Oh that Maxi skirt is dream-like beautiful! I know I wouldn't have anything to match it, but you did a perfect pairing with it.

    You find the very best bangle that green marble-look one is a stunning colour. That's a great father/daughter at the flea market photo-you should have it printed and framed.

    I'm glad you finally showed us that last dress-it was worth waiting for. I'm looking forward to hearing about the rest of your holiday to Wales.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Goody! That green marbled bangle is my favourite, it isn't easy to find nice green ones. xxx

      Delete
  2. Your maxi skirt is beatiful, and I love the green bag too.
    That wicker basket will make a wonderful mending basket.
    The dress in the final photo is lovely and those orange shoes are gorgeous :)
    Looking forward to the next Wales installment. xxx

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you Sally. I guess I forgot to mention the green bag. It is surprisingly roomy for such a small one, and I often take it to flea markets or to go charity shopping. xxx

      Delete
  3. The bakelite item you were inquiring about...I believe it is used to seal envelopes. Put water in the reservoir, and roll the sealing part of envelope across the round/wheely thing to wet it. It's for when you have LOTS of envelopes to seal. I have used ones just like it here in the U.S. but they were white ceramic. Love your vintage finds. Love the thrill of searching for vintage too !!- Mary G. M,

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you Mary, and you're absolutely spot on about that Bakelite thing. It's also used for stamps, and at my husband's place of work they used it for wetting pre-glued tape. xxx

      Delete
  4. Your maxi is fabulous! Perfect for your sunny Friday - send some over to the UK, will you? It's terrible here!
    Love the flat caps and your pretty frocks and it's obvious from the photo that style runs in Jos's family, his daughter's dress is fabulous. xxx

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Vix, I knew you'd appreciate the maxi. I loved wearing it too, so it won't be the last time you'll see me wearing maxis. The weather's been letting us down too lately, not much sunshine to send over I'm afraid ... xxx

      Delete
  5. I love all of your dresses you're wearing and what you scored and I'm especially fond of that maxi skirt. I don't know why more people don't like them.

    I agree...it is very hard to go vintage shopping and come home empty handed. One can feel like a bit of a failure but you never seem to have that problem.

    bisous
    Suzanne

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Suzanne! Since I started blogging I got more adventurous with my outfits. I never thought I'd be wearing maxis. Now that I started, I can't stop and keep finding and buying more ... xxx

      Delete
  6. I am another fan of your colorful maxi skirt! And your very first vintage dress is so fun! Do you remember when you got it? I always admire your collection of bangles, belts and brooches - it seems you can make any outfit working by adding those accessories! It was fun to see Jos's daughter, fab dress too! My daughter is getting into thrifting this summer - we did a bit of it together in previous years, but now she seems to be more interested. It's fun to share hobbies with our families!

    Lots of love!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you Natalia. I bought the dress back in 2012. I haven't been wearing vintage for that long, you see. It took a major birthday to change the way I dress. I love accessories, especially brooches, and the lovely thing is they can be picked up quite cheaply! xxx

      Delete
  7. love that you styled the maxi so "non-hippy" - totally cool!
    and *the first" dress is chic too - fab colors!
    as always - great finds! especially the arm candy, the free necklace - such a beauty - and the french silk scarf......
    nice to meet jos´ daughter :-)
    xxxxx

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Beate. I didn't want to go totally hippie, which I guess is not me. I love it that Jos's daughter loves flea markets and charity shops as much as we do. xxx

      Delete
  8. Your maxi skirt is super, and I also really like your much-loved vintage dress. Sometimes it's the things we wear most that don't make it onto blogs; I guess we all think those things are so ordinary to us we forget most of our blogging pals won't have seen them.

    That stereoscope viewer is the sort of thing I wouldn't be able to resist. You got loads more ace finds there.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. We have a small collection of vintage viewmasters, some of them Bakelite, but we do pick up ohter viewers like this one too, especially as it was still in its original box! xxx

      Delete
  9. Love that maxi skirt! It's so bright and cheerful. I tried a gorgeous 1970s polyester maxi skirt on in a vintage shop recently. The pattern on it was so wild and psychedelic that I couldn't help but try it. It fitted me perfectly but it just felt so weird wearing something from that decade, like I wasn't me! xx

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I do get what you mean, Cate, and it would have been pretty weird seeing you in a 1970s polyester maxi. You have found your decade and you wear it fabulously! xxx

      Delete
  10. such a gorgeous maxi skirt, lovely colors!, and I understand that problem to find a matching plain top, it has happened to me too!. But you rock your ensemble, love your accessories and cute hat! and all those fabulous finds!
    And I also think that the bakelite piece was used to moisten stamps and envelopes. I remember they had them in the post-offices! such a nice piece!
    I love your bakelite lamp, so cool style!
    And so nice to meet your 'first vintage dress', it looks gorgeous and very versatile, lovely with the orange jacket and those yellow accents!
    You rock your accessories!
    besos

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Monica, and you are right about the Bakelite item. I'd never seen one of them before, but Jos remembered they used it to moisten pre-glued tape in his early working days ... xxx

      Delete
  11. The French scarf is divine!! Such a pretty print.
    I've seen similar rollers for moistening the back of stamps, for when you have a lot to do and your tongue can't cope!! X

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I fell in love with that scarf on the spot! And yes, the Bakelite roller was used for moistening stamps, and also envelopes it seems ... xxx

      Delete
  12. The french silk scarf is a beauty! I am rather fond of buttons too, I'd have a hard time leaving them behind as well. Looks like you had a super day
    x

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you Hazel! I have to go easy on the buttons, though, as the basket I am keeping them in is full to the brim! xxx

      Delete
  13. How cute are the Red purses? And I love the silk scarf. You can never have enough of those. Your outfits look really cool too Ann. I like the long floral skirt xx
    www.vanityandmestyle.com

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you Laurie. I agree that you can never have enough scarves. I have a boxful, all picked up cheaply in charity shops! xxx

      Delete
  14. 'What I bought' posts are my favourite kinds of blog posts! Yours are the best!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you Kezzie, I love sharing my finds and reading about others' xxx

      Delete