Gotta get through February

Although we have finally been blessed with a string of sunny days this week, the weather gods persisted in presenting us with yet another grey and dismal day on Friday before last.

We'd turned the calendar's page to February by now, bidding farewell, without any regrets, to the long and long-winded month of January. 

That's the first full month of Winter over and done with, but we're definitely not out of the woods yet! February might be the year's shortest month and may traditionally bring forth a handful of Springlike days, its feet are still firmly planted in Winter. 

This year in particular, I've been finding it hard not to give in to the downward spiral this imposter of a month often brings. I've been battling with fatigue, which I'm blaming on the chronic lack of sunshine, the nerve-wracking office move and the fact that my longed-for Christmas break was marred by that pesky flu.

Anyway, onwards and upwards! I've been topping up the Vitamin D levels on my lunch breaks this week and I've got a little trip to look forward to, which I'm sure will go a long way to make me feel right as rain again ... Although, on second thought, I'm not sure about the rain part!

But let's get back to the subject of this post, which starts with Friday the 3rd of February!

My non-office Fridays are without a doubt my favourite days of the week: a bonus day tagged onto the weekend, in which to wind down to a slower pace, and with a full three days of seemingly endless possibilities to look forward to. 

I love letting the mood of the day inspire my outfits, which is something that often falls by the wayside during my working week. 

That morning, however, I didn't even have to open my wardrobe and feast my eyes on its glorious contents. In fact, this groovily patterned shift dress had been waiting in the wings ever since I brought it home from Think Twice back in January. I had even already selected its companion, a chartreuse, purple buttoned cardigan charity shopped almost six years ago to the day.

Apart from my secretly matching purple opaques hidden by my boots, I opted for caramel accessories to match some of the dots in the dress's pattern. So, out came my mock-croc belt (retail), beaded necklace (charity shopped) and perspex ring from Rita's flea market stall. I've seen the brooch being offered as vintage on more than one occasion, but it is actually from H&M, where I bought mine brand new in the early noughties.

While Jos was doing his paper boy duties, I decluttered and reorganized my full to bursting make-up shelves and drawers. This wasn't at all what I had intended spending my morning on but as I'd been looking for something which at first I couldn't find, I realized that I needed to take matters in hand.

Note to self: avert your eyes when walking past the lipstick displays in the drugstore!

After lunch, it was time for a spot of wombling (like Claire, I'm pilfering the phrase from Lulu) in the form of a good old rummage at the charity shops. Surely, you'd be hard put to find a better way to get rid of the blues on such a dreary Winter's day.

As usual, we visited two shops, although we only struck gold in the first one. In fact, we hit a veritable gold mine!

First up was this labelless classic Prince of Wales plaid pussy-bow blouse, which I think is looking rather yummy with the cord skirt I dressed Angelica in. 

The greyish blue blouse with its side bow is by Brighton based label Pretty Vacant. Their website mentions that the label was established by a pair of Camden Market traders exploring the relationship between music and fashion. Well, I know which song I'll be humming whenever I wear it. In as far as you can hum a Sex Pistols song, that is. However, with its snow-capped mountains and cable cars print, I might switch to the hills are alive with ... No, you don't have to thank me for the earworm!

The solid two-tone blue and diamond patterned cardigan is yet another one from retro label Zoë Loveborn to join my collection.

Two skirts ended up in my basket as well. I believe the classic green and white striped and rope patterned one is somebody's very professional looking handiwork. It has pockets too!

The black and white leopard print skirt is by Essentiel Antwerp. Somebody apparently hadn't done their homework, as it wasn't on the posh labels rail, where it would have had a much higher price tag than the € 5,30 I ended up paying for it.

The bookshelves didn't disappoint either, as not only did I pounce upon another Philippa Gregory, I also grabbed The Victorian Pharmacy, which ties in with a four-part BBC series, showing how many products sold by high street chemists today can trace their origins back to nineteenth century formulations. There are even some remedies and recipes to try at home!

The book in the middle was found by Jos, and yes, it translates as The Magic of Radio and Television, and chronicles 75 years of Belgian public radio and television.

Saturday's weather was a repeat of Friday's, the 10°C indicated by the thermometer tempered by rain and wind. Definitely not the kind of weather to soothe our frazzled nerves!

While we were having breakfast, our washing machine, which had been making a bit of a racket lately, decided to up the ante, waking up the entire neighbourhood in the process. Too ancient to justify any repair costs, we drove to our preferred electrical goods shop in Mortsel, the nearest town to us, to order a new one. Yes, we are among those rare people who still prefer to shop in actual brick-and-mortar shops. The demise of the high street will certainly not be down to us.

The purchase, by the way, wasn't as painful for our purses as anticipated, as we were able to pay a large part in Ecocheques. These are vouchers most employees get here in Belgium at the end of each year, and which you can buy energy saving devices and all kinds of environmentally friendly stuff with.

My outfit was another one I'd had in mind for a while. Charity shopped last June, the turquoise skirt patterned with orange and blue birds perched on branches, had had to wait quite a while for its first outing, its felted wool fabric ruling out wearing it in Summer.

The thin knit jumper with its Mid-Century vibes is Zara by way of a charity shop. I'd worn it to the office somewhere in the Autumn and it was still airing on a hanger waiting for a second chance.

Adding turquoise accessories in the form of my birds-in-flight brooch, beaded necklace and chunky plastic ring was a no-brainer. My teal King Louie cardigan was layered on top.

In order to settle our nerves from the washing machine ordeal, we decided on another wee charity shopping trip after we'd had a late lunch, driving to the small shop in the neighbouring town of Reet.

I had hardly walked in when I spotted the Avon Lady Slipper soap still in its box. It still smells faintly of violets, but obviously I'm not going to use it. It has currently joined the Avon Looking Glass cologne I found at our local flea market a couple of years ago. Who knows, these might even be the beginnings of another collection ...

This navy crossbody oilcloth bag with its blowsy rose print might or might not join me on next week's trip ... watch this space!

My final find was this tiny 1950s vintage handbag from the Belgian L.H. label. I asked Jos to take a photo of me holding it so that you can fully appreciate its diminutive size! Isn't it cute?

The photo seamlessly ties in with Sunday's outfit.

I was wearing a favourite puff-sleeved and rose patterned jumper by King Louie, which I was lucky enough to come across in a charity shop. Not for the first time did I wear it with this vintage red and white striped Finnish made wool blend skirt. Why deviate from a match that is so obviously made in heaven?

I picked a green wooden necklace by the Belgian Les Cordes label, charity shopped in the Summer of 2020, and wore the forest green calf length suede boots with chunky rubber soles which were a naughty high street buy back in September.

I was loath to remove my pink beret as my hair needed washing!

Finally, let's have a look at the amazing brooch I pinned to my jumper. It's a vintage, gold-rimmed Lucite brooch encasing a posy of delicate garden pinks. 

Although there were plenty of sunny spells that day, we hardly left the house, as we had a couple of jobs to tackle, making space in our basement for the imminent arrival of the new washing machine.

The day's only outing took us to our garage to pick up the car and load it up with boxes and bags of donations to be taken to the charity shop on Monday. Well, it had to be done some time, and now was as good a time as any.

Meanwhile, I am counting down the days to our little break. We'll be off on Wednesday, but I'll be squeezing in another post before we leave. Hope to see you again then!

On the sunny side of the street

I promised you a break in the holiday posts, telling you about our flea market adventures instead. So, true to my word, here's a little update of what we've been up to.

In addition, I also wanted to show you some of the outfits I've been wearing since coming back from holiday.

Ever since our return, the thermometer has gradually been climbing  towards the high twenties, occasionally flirting with the 30°C mark, until last week we reached quite unbearable temperatures, into the mid thirties and more!

But let's not talk about that, and the resulting head-scratching moments in front of my wardrobe, yet!

Before it got really hot, I was able to give Gisela's frock an airing.

She'd sent it to me back in March, and I immediately envisaged wearing it on a day exactly like this one: a warm and sunny Summer's day, which unfortunately I had to spend at the office!

For one, it's a cool and comfortable cotton! Additionally, I love its fresh green stripes, its asymmetrical closing with the prettiest diamond shaped mother-of-pearl buttons and - last but not least!- its pockets! It is a tiny bit roomy on top, but that's actually a bonus in this weather. I cinched it in at the waist with a bright blue belt and chose accessories in green and the same shade of blue as the belt, adding a sailing boat brooch for good measure. My footwear are the green jellies I picked up in Chester!

Then, two weeks ago on Sunday, there was our neighbourhood's annual flea market. It was the second year we were participating, taking a pitch just outside our front door, rather than just browsing.

I'd been making use of every spare moment since returning from holiday, checking boxes and bags full of redundant clothing and ironing the most crumpled items, as well as looking through my wardrobe for any additional things I was ready to part with.

Doesn't that rack full of colourful frocks, skirts and blouses look enticing? They're just the tip of the iceberg and all I had space for, unfortunately.

I also put together a display (actually a pasta drying rack!) of necklaces and a box full of bracelets and rings.

On Saturday, I weeded out my vintage Barbie stuff, deciding to put most of my vinyl cases up for sale, and making neat packages of outfit doubles. I also included three vintage dolls. Apart from the boxed doll, a Fashion Queen dating from 1963-65, which I happened to have double, the two others were flawed rejects from my collection, which were eventually replaced.

Lastly, we dived into the basement (a mercifully cool place!) to look among the stuff we no longer use or display, for viable candidates to sell.

The day started early: we got up at 5.30 and less than an hour later, we were setting up our stall.

I made quite a substantial sale very early on, when someone picked up my most expensive doll, the  Fashion Queen, who came complete with her original outfit and three wigs on a stand.The same person also bought the two vinyl cases I'd put out on our table. I was being nice and threw in two outfits for free.

In quick succession, we sold our small wall hanging coffee grinder, a child's embroidery set in a cute vinyl case, and some other, smaller stuff, but apart from two blouses my rack of vintage clothes only seemed to be drawing the flea market equivalent of window shoppers.

My friend Ingrid and her husband paid us a visit, at which point I hauled out a behind-the-scenes box full of blouses for her to rummage through, which afterwards I left open at the back of our stall.

After a quick circuit of the market, things seemed to get going at last, with several ladies not only looking through my rack of clothes, but buying as well, often making multiple purchases. When people started taking an interest in the box full of blouses, I had the brainwave of putting all my remaining stock, consisting of several bags and boxes, outside for people to rummage through. Best decision ever!

Leaving Jos to hold the fort, I made two more forays myself, but it was really too hot to browse.

Nevertheless, I still found a couple of things!

This cat tin, a bit worse for wear but delightful none the less, was bought from a lady I used to commute with, who had a stall further along in our street.

I also picked up several necklaces, while the two brooches below were a gift from one of our neighbours, as a thank you for Jos fetching her her daily newspaper. He's got quite a fan base among the village's ladies of a certain age!

Finally, this deadstock pair of leather Salamander shoes found its way into my collection. I think they were well worth the € 10 price tag!

Back at our pitch, a young Dutch girl, who was visiting with her parents, was in seventh heaven after spying my clothes and, encouraged by her Mum, left with a huge bag full of stuff.

Meanwhile, it had become very hot at our little pitch and the garden parasol we'd lent from a friend was no longer adequate to protect us from the sun.

This antique parasol, which we brought back from a charity shop in Wells, Somerset, back in the early noughties, and which has been living in our hallway ever since, brought some solace.

Jos's daughter came along on her e-bike, and was kind enough to assist me when things became a bit mad.

Apart from my vintage clothes, which sold like hot cakes, I couldn't keep up with the vinyl Barbie cases, which almost sold faster than I could put them out.

Near the end, I hopped over to the stall across the road, where a nice lady was presiding over quite a large pitch all on her own. She'd bought a vintage bathing suit from me (this one here), and this is what I bought from her.

This vintage Avon scent is prettily packed in a bottle shaped like a hand-held mirror, with an actual mirror at the back.

I was unable to find an exact date but my guess is that it is late 1960s, early 1970s. The bottle is still almost full: I couldn't resist having a little sniff, and it smelled quite nice in my opinion. Not that I will be using it, mind you. I'll keep it purely for display.

In spite of the hot weather, the flea market was a success, so we will probably do it again next year.

I was tired (and sweaty!) at the end of the day, though! But, before hopping into the shower, I wanted to give you a proper look at the maxi dress I was wearing, picked up at one of the newly popped up vintage-per-kilo shops in Antwerp.

As it's buttoned all the way on the back, you either need help or be a contortionist to put it on!

I'd taken photographs of some of my favourite stuff so, the next day, while I was folding it all away, I made note of what was left.

I was surprised that these didn't sell:

Bright floral maxi skirt, floral St. Michael's frock and summery sailing boat skirt

On the other hand, it didn't take long for these three to go:

Before I leave you, I'll show you what I was wearing later that week.

This lightweight, lined frock, with its primary coloured abundance of flowers, was a gift from Vix. With so many colours to choose from, I decided to use as many of them as possible for my accessories.

Apart from the yellow belt, blue plastic ring and blue-strapped watch, all items are either vintage or new-to-me, from various charity shops and flea markets: blue plastic beads, yellow wooden bangle, orange carved plastic bangle, blue faceted plastic bracelet and blue and pink flower brooch.

Surprisingly, I didn't pick anything green ...

Oh, and what does one do when not out vintage shopping? Well, read about all its do's and don'ts in this fantastic book, a most wonderful gift from Lynn!

Taking my flea market frock to Patti's Visible Monday at Not Dead Yet Style!

Additionally, I am taking my blue and green outfit to the Modish Matrons linkup, joining Beate, Natalia and Tina for the first time!