Tuesday 12 April 2016

Capturing the castle

Finally, finally, we had a full weekend of spring weather, with lots of sunshine, but still a bit chilly in the shade. Exactly the kind of weather, in fact, that allows the wearing of a suit with a lightweight jacket, so on Saturday my coat stayed behind on our hallstand.  


Not that I have anything against coats, mind you. Quite the contrary, in fact: I love a good coat, and I have a multitude of them, in different fabrics and colours. Needless to say that all of them are vintage and/or charity shopped!


























This jersey polyester suit was bought for the grand total of € 4 and is fully lined. It was only when I got it home that I discovered the belt in one of its pockets.

As the colours are rather muted, I wanted to make it look more spring-appropriate and chose a long-sleeved Tricel top in a gorgeous shade of blue as well as some tights in a slightly different hue.

The brooch is one of many bought from the “brooch lady”, a lovely 80-something lady with a collection of over 2000 brooches, which she is now selling at flea markets. At very reasonable prices, I should add.


























The colourful scarf, again featuring blue, was bought at a local flea market and the handbag was a charity shop find from several years ago. It is just big enough to carry my charity shopping kit.

Suit and top: Think Twice
Beads, boots, belt and bag: charity shopped
Brooch and scarf: flea market
Tights: retail (market stall)

The charity shop we went to is in a neighbouring town called Duffel, which allegedly is where the word “duffle”, as in duffle coat, is originating from. Although it was known as a cloth making town in the 15th century, neither the duffle coat (a British invention) nor the heavy woollen cloth it is made from, was actually ever produced in Duffel.


Whenever we visit the marvellous three-floored charity shop in Duffel, and the weather is fine, we combine it with a walk in the nearby park which runs alongside the town’s river.


























Adjacent to the park are the grounds and ruin of a castle called “Ter Elst”, which is said to be one of the oldest buildings in the Province of Antwerp.  

Originally dating from the 12th century, it burnt down and was rebuilt in 1584, then partly destroyed in 1914, after which it was left to deteriorate.

Even though it was bought by the town and has been a protected building since 1973, its towers seem to be leaning ever more precariously each time we visit.



The site is very atmospheric and the castle’s moat is a haven for waterfowl.

On our way back, we found a perfect place to display our charity shop finds, which were rather few this time.



First off is a plaster ware Mary and baby Jesus statue. Although we are not at all religious, we seem to be drawn to stuff like this over and over again. At only € 1,  how could we possibly leave this behind? Doesn’t baby Jesus's head, complete with a cute cowlick, look like one of those antique porcelain dolls' heads?


Hidden at the back of a shelf full of odds and ends was this small rack of hooks from the 1970s Emsa range we are collecting. It was very dirty and one of the hooks has broken off, but it was only € 0,50 and after a good clean it is already taking pride of place in our kitchen.


We also bought some items of a more practical nature (old suitcase and beauty case as well as a new-to-us throw) and spent a total of € 4,50, which actually isn't too bad, is it?




I hope that spring has reached you as well, wherever you are!




20 comments:

  1. It seems to me you have a seriously impressive wardrobe going on there! That's a great suit. €4 is madness as is €1 for the lovely Mary and Jesus plaster. You must have great thrifting powers! Xx

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    1. Let's say that "thrifting" is my middle name ;) I've got lots of stuff from the shop where I bought the suit. They regularly do sales, getting rid of their entire stock at crazy price. I should really do a post about it sometime. xxx

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  2. Beautiful suit-and lined. That's so unusual to have jersey material being lined.

    There's something comic about the way Mary is looking at baby Jesus...like she's going to give him a little scolding about something. Maybe I'm reading too much into it as a mother.

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  3. Beautiful suit-and lined. That's so unusual to have jersey material being lined.

    There's something comic about the way Mary is looking at baby Jesus...like she's going to give him a little scolding about something. Maybe I'm reading too much into it as a mother.

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    1. Thanks Goody. I hadn't looked at Mary that way, but you might be right. Wonder what Jesus has been up to. xxx

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  4. Yet more great finds! Your suit is lovely.

    Our charity shops are full of the same old, same old items with rarely a vintage item to be seen, but then there is a vintage shop in town, so perhaps it goes there first or is snapped up by them. I do see handbags in the charity shops but they're always £20 upward which seems steep when I have paid less than £10 for a standard bag elsewhere xxx

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    1. Thanks Melanie. There are whole periods, though, when we find absolutely nothing. The thing is to visit regularly, which we do. The handbags are usually €4-6, so that is not too bad. A couple of months ago, I found 4 of them at the same time in the same shop. xxx

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  5. Forgot to say, that castle is gorgeous!

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  6. Your suit has to be the bargain of the century, I'm very impressed.
    You can't beat a bit of tricel, I've got loads of it, some from charity shops and a whole bunch of cardies and jumpers bought in a job lot of eBay for £12.
    That's a great fact about Duffel, I didn't know that. I had a checked one over 30 years ago and loved it
    Lynn xx

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    1. I don't think you will be surprised to hear that I love Tricel cardies and jumpers too ;) I do not find them very often though and when I do it's often too big. £12 for a job lot of the stuff is very good. Now it's me who's impressed. xxx

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  7. I love Mary and Jesus even though I'm, like you, not at all religious.
    The suit looks smashing on you with the added Spring-like blue.
    Tricel is really popular here, I managed to get a huge deadstock pile of it from a fellow Vintage Village seller on Sunday for a knockdown price (filthy as it had been in storage for 40 years). It sells as soon I have it. xxx

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    1. Thank you Vix. That suit was a lucky find. Hope you did well at Stockport, apart from the Tricel deal. I'm trying to imagine what it must have looked like after 40 years in storage ... xxx

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  8. That's a fab suit, and the blue really livens things up.

    Is it possible to replace the broken Emsa shelf hook?

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    1. Thanks Mim. I'm sure my handy hubby will come up with a solution for the broken hook, but until then we're using it as it is. € 0,50 is really cheap for Emsa stuff, and I'd never seen this kind of thing before. xxx

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  9. Ooh, that castle looks so romantic, and hurrah for no coat weather! Fab finds as usual, (love the freebie belt in the pocket!) you do have an eye for putting together a great look! xxx

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    1. Thank you Claire! But that castle is nothing compared with the ones I've visited in the UK. xxx

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  10. Fantastic outfit! Those boots are such a classic, elegant pair. You can't go wrong with warm honey/amber-y brown. It's such a versatile, stylish shade. I love brown and blue together, too. I wear that combo a lot, especially during the colder half of the year. You rock the best colour palettes, sweet lady.

    Tons of hugs & happy mid-April wishes,
    ♥ Jessica

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    1. Thank you Jessica, you are so sweet. I love those boots which I've thrifted for just € 2. They're from a well-known brand here in Belgium as well. xxx

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  11. Ooh, what an atmospheric place. Your suit is beautiful too!

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