Got my feet on the ground

Going back to work after the Christmas break was hard enough as it is and to be faced with the crowds going mad at the first day of the sales didn't exactly improve things.

But, as they say, if you can't beat them, join them, so that's what I did, although it was totally unintentional.

As I was battling through the crowds in the small shopping centre near my office - I needed to pick up something at the chemist - I passed the shop where, a couple of months ago, I'd spotted a gorgeous burgundy fake fur wrap.

Being used to second hand shopping, I baulked at seeing its price, possibly exclaiming "How much?" in the process. As the shop wasn't too crowded, I took a chance and popped inside. And there it was, reduced by 50%. Result!

Obviously, I had to wear it on Saturday to show if off, although it wasn't nearly cold enough for wearing fur, fake or otherwise.

I wore it with my belted Tweed jacket and my fluffy purple beret.

Underneath, I was wearing a vintage dress picked up at one of Think Twice's sales.

It's a fit and flare model with a cowl neck and the fabric has a busy Paisley print in muted colours. There's a variety of greens in it, as well as sky blue and peachy pink.

I added a lilac belt and a long, chunky, green necklace.

On top, a royal blue cardigan, on which I pinned a brooch with different coloured stones in earthy tones, which was charity shopped in Wales back in 2016.

On Saturday morning, we took down our decorations and dismantled our Christmas tree, putting them away in our basement for another year.

Then, after lunch, we did some leisurely charity shopping, and ended the afternoon with coffee and cake at our final shop, which has a rather nice cafeteria.

I have dozens of belts, the majority of them charity shopped for € 1,50 or less. At prices like this, you can afford lots of variety, so I always look out for belts in different colours and styles.

I always look out for cardigans too, this time picking up this pink one with black collar detail and black buttons.

The row of photos on the right show a vintage pink Paisley print skirt. It's handmade, and I love how they used a contrasting bright green zip!

Jos was in luck too, as he found a brand new shirt from Massimo Dutti for next to nothing.

On Sunday, we had another date with our favourite indoor flea market.

I'm taking you through what I was wearing first.

The long orange cardigan on the left was another charity shop find from Saturday. Although it worked really well with my outfit and I wore it in its entirety on Monday, I changed into a short bottle green cardigan for our outing, as I was planning to wear a short jacket.

Jos actually thought I was wearing a dress, and indeed, the skirt and blouse went unexpectedly well together, with similar geometrics going on in their prints.

I matched my brooch to the ladies on the blouse and after trying on and discarding several necklaces, I finally settled on this ochre yellow and gold one.

Have you noticed that the green stone of my ring matches the brooch lady's cloche hat in shape as well as colour? I only did when I was looking at the photographs.

It had turned bitterly cold overnight, so we did most of the outfit photos at home. I am looking quite pale and ghostly in them, which isn't helped by the fact that I wasn't wearing lipstick.

All ready to go with my green jacket, favourite scarf, orange beret and tights and dark brown vintage gloves. The burgundy handbag has a cross body strap as well, perfect for some hands free browsing!

On to the flea market, which wasn't as big as last month's, and not overly crowded. My guess is that most people were out sales hunting as most city centre shops were open.

It did mean we were able to see it all - we are usually quite cross-eyed by the time we reach the last two aisles - and we found quite a few treasures too!

Zooming in on the strangest oddity first, we picked up these feet with their varnished toenails, advertising a shoe brand, from a favourite stall. They are made of some kind of moulded plastic. The stall's owner (a follower of my blog!) bought them at a flea market back in the day when she used to work as a window dresser. Neither she nor I had any luck finding anything about them on the Internet.

Another favourite stall yielded this plaster head on a heavy stone plinth. She has joined the others on our spare room's mantelpiece.

More oddities! I was drawn to this sad looking wooden Scottie and was wondering about the indentation on his back, when the stallholder told me it was a pipe holder. I couldn't very well leave the poor thing behind, and was given a beautifully crafted and marked pipe to go with him.

The tin on the top right was a gift from the lady who sold us the feet, while the tin with the 1930s lady was issued by chocolate brand Côte d'Or to celebrate their 50th anniversary in 1933.

These vintage deadstock woolly hats were just € 2,50 each, so I bought three of them as I couldn't make up my mind. I already wore the green one to work this week.

There were some brooches too, of course, picked up at various stalls. With prices ranging from € 1 to € 7,50, my purchases didn't exactly break the bank.

Although I obviously love them all, my favourite is the wicker brooch embroidered with straw poppies. As it is also the most fragile one, it might only get the odd outing.

Which one is your favourite?