All around my hat

With still one day of our weekend in Bruges to go, I wanted to give you a break by reporting you about last Saturday's flea market.

The rain clouds which had dominated our little sojourn had evaporated by the time I had to go back to work on Wednesday. Typical, isn't it? But we were in luck as when the weekend rolled along we were back to Summer weather and it was as if nothing had happened.

Saturday was a glorious day and perfect for our first outdoor flea market of the year.

In our haste to get going, we forgot all about outfit photos, and I had to recreate Saturday's outfit on Sunday, with photos taken in our garden. Yes, that's the assault of greenery you can see behind me!

But let's get back to the flea market first. I'd taken my compact camera with me but even if it was dangling from my wrist for most of the time, hardly any photos were taken, as I was far too busy browsing.

I started out wearing a lightweight turquoise jacket but after lunch (I'm sure you won't be surprised if I tell you we'd brought a picnic) it was stashed away as it was getting quite warm, but with a welcome breeze preventing it from becoming too hot!

My white wicker handbag was charity shopped for next to nothing, and it was with some glee that during one of my lunch breaks this week I happened to see a similar one in Mango retailing for just under € 50.

If you look carefully, you might notice the change of hats! Initially I grabbed the hat I wore all through last Summer, a plain one which I'd customized by adding a hair band. You can see a close-up of it here.

But then I fell in love with this little hat which was on display behind one of the market's stalls. As luck would have it, it was my size, so not only did I buy it, I spent the rest of the day wearing it too!

I was wearing a maxi skirt with blue and yellow flowers interspersed with blue, green and black diamonds and stripes on a burgundy background. I bought it back in Autumn and this was actually its first wear. The blouse with its floppy pussy bow and psychedelic floral print in yellow, orange and white, has been in my wardrobe for at least two Summers. Both came from Think Twice.

The straw belt was a high street find and very comfortable to wear as it's got some stretch in it.

I was complimented quite a few times on my outfit and at one point I overheard one of the stall holders, who must have been English, exclaiming to his neighbour: look at how well turned out she is - and her husband's the same! I liked that last part the best, and obviously Jos was very chuffed when I told him.

Only minutes into the flea market my eye was caught by a cup painted with the most exquisite flowers on an otherwise quite uneventful stall at the end of a row. I picked it up to have a better look but then thought the better of it as we do have quite enough solitary cups already. Rounding the corner, I saw a bag full of assorted tableware, with not only a second cup but two saucers and two dessert plates as well, both in a quirky octagonal shape.  For € 5, there was no way we were going to leave these behind. The porcelain is quite thick and sturdy and made in Italy.

Shortly afterwards, I zoomed in on this pair of suede and patent leather Hotter shoes, still in good nick, and in a lovely burgundy, almost plummy colour. They were a size 5 (I usually take a size 4 to 4 ½) but they were a perfect fit. Even better, they were only € 2! 

Some Googling revealed that the model is called Valetta and when I Googled that I came across a blog post from 2012 from Mim! It's a small world, isn't it?

Continuing on our rounds, we happened upon a stall we immediately recognized as Ilona's. She's one of our favourite sellers, with a stall full of the most wondrous stuff, from which we never come away empty handed.

This time, a green ceramic deer and two tiny Scottie dogs caught our eye.

The Scotties are mounted on magnets which, as magnets are wont to do, pulls them together, while at the same time they start chasing one another when one of them turns tail.

Aren't they the cutest pair ever?

Doesn't the green deer look familiar? Well, it did to us, putting us in mind of the green deer lamp we bought at the castle back in April.

We thought that they could be friends, and here they are, living happily ever after on our mantelpiece.

Then there was a stall selling vintage and retro clothes, where I picked up two deadstock vintage frocks in pristine condition. Quite a rarity these days, especially at flea markets!

The first one, in blue Trevira with a diamond pattern featuring dainty rose buds, came with a self fabric belt with a slide buckle. 

There's no label in this pretty frock, which has a print of tiny squares in different blues, green, orange and white, with a solid white collar and cuffs and a tie belt. I'm sure it would look equally good or even better with a belt in one of the print's colours.

Sunday was spent at home and in the garden, doing nothing much. I'd taken a tumble down the stairs on Saturday night, leaving me with a bruised left arm and painful muscles in both upper arms, so I was sort of licking my wounds!

Anyway, it looks like we will have a bumper crop of gooseberries this year. I don't think we ever had so many. I do hope they will have ripened to a rich red and be ready to eat before we're off to Shropshire mid June.

Before I sign off, I wanted to show you two of my garden favourites, which are currently in full bloom, Allium (I think they are  Allium aflatunense, which is the most common type) and Aquilegia 'Nora Barlow' with its double pink blooms with white tips, resembling pom poms!

Watch out for my next post, in which I will regale you with our adventures on our last day in Bruges!

Meanwhile, I'm taking my outfit to Patti's Visible Monday at Not Dead Yet Style!

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?