Judy's Affordable Vintage Fair

Once again I've neglected this-I've been reading to many and not writing my own! I recently went to Judy's affordable Vintage Fair- the first one in Maidstone and it was brilliant, I got there early and it was a little hard to find but once I was in there was an endless amount of vintage items! I bought 3 vintage blouses (one I'll be using as a jacket), a sparkly hair clip, a Christmas tin (which I adore!), glass baubles and a clothes brush which is a manicure set as well! It was a good day, there were lots and lots of stalls there, art of me wishes I'd bought some vintage Christmas crackers as well! There was also a beautiful tea room, with mis-matching china and amazing cupcakes! I'd definatley go again if there's one nearby!

And here are my buys...

Showgirl Knickers

I found this amazing set of 1950's Showgirl knickers, they are brand new in their box and there is one for everyday of the week (sadly they're missing Monday but who likes Mondays anyway!).

Be Mine- Tuesday
Forever Yours- Wednesday
I Love you- Thursday
Love N Kisses- Friday
Forget Me Not- Saturday
With All My Love- Sunday

I think they're so cute, the elastic has gone on a few of them but they're still in good condition so I may end up replacing the elastic- I think they're far to pretty to stay in their heart shaped box.

Sewing Box

Last month me and my parents went to Whitstable to an antique fair. I love Whitstable it's a cute little seaside town, unfortunately it wasn't very sunny and did rain a little so we dived for cover in the entrance of a disused shop and ate some chips! The fair was in Whitstable castle- which until recently I never even knew existed! I bought some wonderful things including 1950s green crystal necklace, two ocelot pelts and an old sewing box with contents! I have no idea what I'm going to use the pelts for! The sewing box is amazing, it needed a few repairs but the contents were beyond belief, there were packets upon packets of old new needles, threads, scissors, trims, pins- the list is endless. The needle packets were beautiful, its a shame that opulence has now vanished today.

Whoopsie

So it appears I've forgotten about this again which is very bad to be honest but in another way it's great- it means I have a little treasure chest of things to show you in the next few days, I'm going to try and do themes each time but that will probably fail quite quickly! First up is 'boxes'- a selection of things that I've bought recently with their original boxes and they are some of my favourite little things. I found these 1920s/ 30's garters on eBay, they are the most beautiful pastel blue and purple with a lovely pink backing and cute little bows- I adore them, they also have the orignal pins and buisness card/ receipt with them. This is probably one of my best ever useless purchases- useless because I will probably never wear them but I find them beautiful and can see myself getting them out of the box and showing everyone!






I also found in charity shop these lovely little hankies, as soon as I saw they had my initial I had to have them! Not bad for £1.99 and the box is amazing too!

Uncle Ted

Sadly my Great Great Uncle Ted passed away two weeks ago, last Thursday was his funeral in Kirkheaton up near Huddersfield- I'll be adding some photos of him and his life later but in the meantime hear is his eulogy which I guess he wrote and made one of his great nephews read.

I must begin by telling you that i am delivering this eulogy because Ted specifically asked me to.

Arthur Edward Doe.

“Uncle Ted”, “Ted”, these were the names by which most of us knew the man who was born into a poor but happy family on 20^th November 1919 in the small village of Hoo, in Kent, not far from Rochester.

Ted was the youngest of 8 children, although one sister had died long before he was born at the terribly young age of just 2 ½ years.

Ted had 5 older sisters who, by all accounts, doted on their little brother.

The eldest sibling was the only other boy, Phil, whom ted looked up to throughout his life.

I am led to believe that ted had a very happy childhood living in a rural idyll, although I imagine that by today’s standards we would regard it as pretty basic.

Perhaps you will get an idea of the sort of young man he was from this testimonial, written by his headmaster at the council school in Hoo on 10^th February 1934 when ted would have been 14, and probably about to leave school:-

“Edward Doe attended this school for 7 years. He was an intelligent, well-behaved boy and made good progress in his schoolwork.

He is interested in gardening and was in the school gardening class.

I think he will be a very useful lad in the garden”

That old headmaster seems a bit obsessed with gardening!

Ted told me many times how he had secured the promise of an apprenticeship with a local tradesman which he was very much looking forward to as he felt it would equip him with a proper trade for life.

However, his father had other ideas. Ted was imporatant to the family economyand his father had managed to secure him a post as “the boy” in the local butcher’s shop at 2s 6d per week more than he would earn in the apprenticeship, thus, at 14, Ted’s fate was sealed.

Ted always loved animals, not a great trait for a butcher’s boy!

One of his earliest tasks was to tend a lamb which had been delivered to the butcher for slaughter. Ted could not bear the thought of the lamb being killed and so let it free and endured the consequences for a long time afterwards.

His teenage years were apparently happy although pretty uneventful but ted was always anxious to try to better himself as can be witnessed by this testimonial from the principal of the Hoo evening school dated 25^th January 1939 when tTed was still only 19:-

“Arthur Edward Doe has attended evening classes at Hoo evening school ever since leaving the elementary school.

He has been very painstaking, and has taken a great interest in and has done exceptionally well in general elementary science. His science notebooks have been a model of neatness and clear arrangements and he is very earnest and conscientious in all his work.

I have no hesitation in recommending him for any position where these qualities are in demand.”

Obviously Ted’s characteristics, which we all knew, were apparent from a young age!

Of course, not many months after that testimonial was written war was declared and everybody’s lives were turned upside down.

Ted was called up and joined the Hampshire regiment on 5^th March 1940. He served with the Hampshires throughout the war until he was demobbed on 11^th August 1946.

Ted always loved his regiment and indeed he is being committed to his final resting place today wearing his regimental tie.

Normally, he did not like to talk too much about his war time exploits which saw him serve all over the world but he did delight in telling one short story, although I am not entirely convinced of its veracity.

Shortly before D-Day, Ted was medically examined and found to be not A1 and therefore not to stay with his regiment for the d-day landings. He was devastated, particularly when he was re-assigned to a rag tag outfit of other “unfit” soldiers. Ironically the “unfit” group landed in normandy on D-Day + 1 whereas the Hampshires did not arrive until some time later, according to Ted.

The final testimonial i wish to lay before you is from his C.O., Colonel Quinn, written in 1946:-

“Pte. Doe i have known personally for 2 years during which time he has proved the most reliable, hardworking and trustworthy man i have ever met.

Smart, and popular with his fellow men he has determination far in excess of the average person and can accept responsibility.

Doe is a cheerful and conscientious man whom I would recommend for any position of trust or responsibility.”

After the war Ted began a career in the laboratories at the local oil refinery, pursuing his interest in science mentioned earlier.

Then in 1948 while on holiday with his cousin Geoffrey in Bournemouth, he met the girl of his dreams, Clare Halliwell who was on holiday with her sister.

I think it must have been love at first sight because, most unlike Ted, as he was approaching the end of his holiday, he arranged an extra week off plus accommodation etc. So as to be able to spend more time courting Clare. That would not have been an easy achievement in those austere post war days.

Anyway, love blossomed, and despite having only seen each other three more times they were married on 7^th October 1950 in Eccles. They were virtually inseperable for the next 53 years until clare died on 3^rd November 2003.

Sadly, they could never have children, something which they both bitterly regretted.

As all of you here will know, Ted was a very devout man for his whole life and I am delighted to think that according to his firmly held beliefs, Ted is now reunited with “his Clare”, as he always referred to her, for all eternity.

You will be delighted to know that I am now approaching the end.

Marilyn Hinchcliffe is going to say a few words shortly, but before I go I must take this opportunity to say on behalf of the whole family how deeply grateful we are to all Ted’s neighbours and friends who did so much for him, especially since Clare passed away; thank you very much indeed.

And one final thought which I hope will not cause any offence to anyone.

Ted was not always an easy man, but he was always a character.

Thank you for coming and thank you for listening.

The Gift Dress

Being a gift dress is nerve wracking, you never know whether you'll be loved or hated and that time wrapped in beautiful tissue paper in a box waiting for her to open you was the worst day of my life.

She was a nanny to a lovely Russian family and she'd worked for them for years and practically became one of them. They were a rich family and had over the years they had bought her many small gifts for birthdays and Christmas', including a silver opal ring and dainty little wrist watch. I was commisioned as one of those gifts, the lady of the household picked my colour- a coral pink silk and insisted I had to stand out from the crowd and be at the height of fashion, so I was embellished with dozens of orange and pink rose like swirls with silver thread and silver sequins. I took a few weeks to make, I was sewn by hand and the lady came to check on me to make sure I was right. Then I was finished, I was given the once over by both the seamstress and the lady and they both agreed I was perfect and I was delicately wrapped in tissue paper and placed in a box tied with ribbon and there I sat and waited, waited to be opened.

Now during this time a million thoughts run through your mind, will she like me, will she pretend to like me, will she point blank hate me. Will I ever be worn or will I be 'too special' and only saved for very special occasions. Anyway the time came, I worked out quite quickly I was a birthday dress, she opened me and carefully removed the paper and she fell in love, I saw and felt it instantly, I was her dream dress!

That night she wore me to the theatre, a gentleman came with us and I felt that she loved him with an excitement and longing that I've only just realised was the feeling of true love. That night I saw the wonderful night life of London and for once the nanny let her hair down, there was dinner, dancing and then the show. After the show we went to a glitzy hotel where the gentleman lived, they kissed and giggled and she made him take me off so delicately and lay me on the floor and the next thing I knew we were leaving in the morning after a breakfast of eggs and toast and she was going back to her usual job. She wears me a lot and cares for me, I love being hers.

Here's a crazy thought

I loved 'The Secret Lives of Dresses' by Eric McKean so much in fact I've decided to write a secret life for each one of my vintage treasures, I'm no great writer- infact I remember in my 11 plus exam I named the underwater city in my story after a brand of vitamin C! But I'm going to see how it goes and this is how I imagine my dresses and what they've been through, hopefully they'll be good, if not I promise I'll stop!

The Black Sundress

That's me the beach dress-the one that's casually thrown on to go to the beach, you get there and the first thing you do is rip me off and throw me in the sand, leave me for hours to then throw me back on for the ride back home. Do you realise that sand gets everywhere? That being black leaving me in the sun for hours makes me boil? And your salty sweaty seaweedey skin stinks? And I definitely do not enjoy being crumpled up to be used as a pillow for your wet hair!

Ok, ok, breathe- I really must learn to control my temper but I just get so angry, first off I sit in the wardrobe for most of the year next to the most beautiful dresses that get worn all the time (except poor old Christmas dress) then it comes to summer and all I get to see is a couple of trips to the English Seaside. To be fair, the seaside is beautiful I just wish she cared for me more- I'm just a means of getting there, a cover up for the real masterpiece, the main attraction- the slinky black swimsuit or that dotted bikini she insists on wearing even though it makes her hips look huge. No one cares about me, I'm never complimented, you always spill icecream on me and guys are always pinching my behind, eurgh.

And here I've been for at least a lifetime now- in some box, in someones attic, I get pushed from pillar to post and back again, apparently I'm not 'cool' anymore, everyone wears 'kaftans' not dresses nowdays. Who'd of thought it- a time when a little black dress is no longer sufficient to even get you to the beach, I'm only good for taking up room in your dark dingy attic, even all my friends have been taken away to put on eBay, some come back and then they go forever, apparently it's the best way out of here. They take your photo, measure you, spray you with some fabric freshener and you're put up for auction, the highest bidder wins and then you're shipped off to some magical land with a fresh start with owners who care- and today is my day to shine.

How exciting I get to get out of the attic see the day light again, oh this is bizarre. She has no idea who I am- shoving me on some plastic hanger, this is going to be as embarrassing as those year book photos still in the attic- she could have at least have got the wrinkles out of my skirt and sewed up that button that's so nearly falling off and ahhhh a flash- that was bright! is this really how we get out of here? It's like a horror movie!

*****

That was the worst journey of my life, god knows where I've been, I feel like I've been thrown around for weeks, I'm crumpled beyond belief! Hopefully when she tears the brown paper off me my new owner will love me and adore me and I swear this time I'll love the beach- I don't care if you leave me in the sand- bury me for all I care I just want to be worn!


*****

She loves me, she loves me, she washed me (by hand!) hung me in the fresh air to dry, ironed out my creases and fixed my buttons. She even wore me the other day-and we didn't even go to the beach- I was the main attraction, me the plain old black dress, we went to town and went shopping and sat and watched movies and she didn't spill any icecream on me- oh I love her and she said she can't wait to wear me again!

New Buys

So as of the end of this month I'm banning myself from ebay, I'm a magpie and I buy anything shiny or pretty all though to be fair this month I've bought some gems. The first is my platinum and firestone ring (although this wasn't an ebay buy it was a little quaint jewllery shop buy), an art deco style (I'm not sure how old it is) purse- I've been on the look out for an old purse and as soon as I saw it I had to have it.




A Jantzen swimsuit which was a bargain as it was listed as just a 'vintage swimsuit' and it the description it mentioned 'the cute little diver badge' clearly the seller had no idea what sort of a gem she had!

I also got a 1960s button back blouse with a cravat to match my sequin trousers that I bought in the January sale, that I'm still yet to wear and I have a feeling it was the January before last I bought them! I can't wait to wear it as an outfit though, I feel it needs a posh dinner/ drinks occasion.

My most random buy this month is a 1956 potato sack dress, which is yet to come through the post, it's pretty self explanatory- it's a sack dress. I've heard that they're pretty rare, this one is uncut and I can't decide whether to cut it or display it as it is. I found this one on Etsy which is identical (other than the fact it's cut).

The Secret Lives of Dress

I've just finished reading 'The Secret Lives of Dresses' by Erin McKean and I loved it, it was a pretty easy going read and somewhat predictable story line but I didn't care how predictable it was as they writing was amazing. I won't spoil the story but it's centred around a vintage dress store in which the dresses are sold with 'secret lives'- the owner of the store has crafted stories told by each dress to explain where theyv'e been and why and what they've seen- from affairs to wedding days, it's brilliant and such a great idea. I have quite a few vintage pieces and the book is right- they're all tiny bits of history and they each have a story, I may start crafting stories for my dresses just to see how it goes as some of them do seem like they have personalities and great stories to tell.

All in all I loved the book and I love how it talks about clothing and the way women dress- read it!

At a Crossroads

So I'm at a crossroads, not a majorly life changing one but a big one in its own right. My wardrobe has reached the point where it is ready to become a vintage wardrobe. All I need to do is get rid of the modern things that are just not going to work- personally this is huge decision for me but I've come to realise there are millions (maybe not actual millions) of things that I don't wear and have been sitting in my wardrobe for 2 years or so now without being worn (there is one top I haven't worn since 2007!). I enjoy wearing vintage so much and I've decided that the majority of the clothes in my wardrobe will now be vintage or vintage style so a lot of other stuff needs to go. Thats the plan anyway- on Thursday I will be sorting through the contents of my wardrobe, the brand pieces such as Hollister, Gap, Topshop etc will probably be offered to friends first and if they don't want them I'll be selling them to a boutique in Rochester and all the rest will be donated to charity =) I'll let you know how it goes and take photos!

Birthday Buys

It was my birthday on Sunday and unfortunately since then I've been on a stint of night shifts so haven't been able to post anything. I had a lovely day, unfortunately I got sunburn the day before and was a little on the lobster side! I went to Rye with my parents, its such a beautiful little town with cobbled streets and antique shops- there was even a vintage shop in a cave! I didn't actually buy much in Rye except for some vintage cottons for my 20s dress as they looked as if they'd be a perfect match (I bought two slightly different orangey shades) and one was perfect, I just have to find some metal sequins, metal thread and pinky peach thread now.

Anyway for my birthday I got money and antique shop vouchers for Fieldstaff Antiques in Rochester so inbetween one of my night shifts I paid them a visit, I bought some long black suede opera gloves that go perfectly with my Dior dress, a cute silk dress and bolero which is very smart looking and I managed to buy a painting which I've wanted for ages- it was hidden in their kitchen which doubles as a changing room and I was told she's not for sale however the owner decided she wanted it to go to a good home, so she's now on my wall!

The Ideal Home April 1939

Here are some adverts from my 1939 Ideal Home magazine, look at the cost of houses! And there are some scary looking adverts in there- I'm sure I'll post more soon when I've had a proper read.

1920s dress

Today the postman bought the most amazing thing ever, it came in just a plain old box but inside was this little treasure....







A genuine 1920s peach silk flapper dress. It has a silk chiffon lining and has an amazing sequin and metal thread embellishment on the front and the back, and the plain cirlces that you see are also metal thread. At some point its been hung up so there are some tears to the lining and some stress to the silk and tiny holes on the shoulders, all the sequins are folded up probably due to their age and the item being in storage. As if the dress wasn't amazing enough it also came with a copy of a photo of the original owner wearing the dress. She is a very elegant lady and was apparently a nanny to a Russian family, who had this dress made as a gift for her. I can barely put into words how amazing this dress is, its stunning and so amazing that it has lasted this long in such amazing condition along with a photo of its original owner! I'm proud to own it in a strange way and I'm going to wear it as that's what it was made for but first it needs restoring. Like I said the sequins are all folded and it needs some repairs as there's a slit in the bottom as well and some of the beautiful embellishment need sewing back on so not to loose them forever but what a stunning piece and once I've unpicked all the sequins and made it show stopping again I'll post more photos.

Photos of London Trip

Parrot

Tonight my dad came home from work and said he had something for me that I'd always wanted, guess what it is and you can have it. Well to be honest there's a lot of things I've always wanted- a unicorn, a kitten, a vintage car... the list is probably endless however from the depths of my imagination I replied "a parrot" and I think I may just be a little physic as there in a box was an amazing little stuffed grey parrot with a lovely red and purple belly!

Dior

Here it is my beautiful vintage Dior dress! The person I bought it from it used to belong to their friend who used to teach piano and was given it as a gift from one of her students in Pimlico. It has two changeable belts so technically I suppose it's a 3 in 1 dress, one belt has a huge bow on which needed a little repairing, I picked it apart sewed the bow back on and then stuck it all back together and the second is just a plain belt. The dress is so beautifully made and has survived really well, although some of the lining needs stitching back up, it even has weights in the hem so the skirt falls properly. It smells a bit like old attics at the moment so I'm airing it, I think it must have been stored away for many many years. I love it and I'll never ever part with it. And here's some pictures of me picking the belt apart...

Rochester

Today the postman is my best friend, he had a rather plain boring looking cardboard box and probably didn;t understand my excitement as I took it off him as I knew full well that it was my vintage Christian Dior dress! It fits amazingly well and is beautifully made and I love it! At the moment it's airing but I'll put some photos up later. I went on a last minute trip to Rochester with my mum and we had paninis for lunch and had a look round the charity shops. I found some metal zips (which I've heard are in short supply) and some old hook and eyes- I love the packaging! I also found a Stratton "convertible" compact with its original box, cover, accessories and instructions, that has to be one of my best charity shop buys ever! And I also picked up a couple of books as I've run out of things to read so I have 'Atonement' by Ian McEwan and 'The Postmistress' by Sarah Blake.

London

Yesterday I went to London with two of my best friends- Cathy and Sophia, we had an amazing day, I don't think I've laughed so much in all my life! We were there for hours and did so much! We first went to Selfridges and had a wander round, we had cupckaes at Lola's cupcakes and had the most wonderful cheesecake ever and a mini red velvet cupcake! We also saw the Project Ocean exhibition with some amazing dresses and Lady Gaga's famous lobster hat. There was also a GIANT ostrich egg that I'd love to have, what an awesome breakfast that would be!



We then went to Topshop on Oxford street and I bought these amazing vintage style shorts by Tara Starlet and this cute little front tie shirt!

Summer Dresses and Rainy Days

Today has turned out to be wet and miserable so I've been doing my vintage browsing online (for a change haha) There's lots of things I like and many I love but so far I've only bought 2 things this month. The first is this cute little summer dress, from the cut and material I think it's 30's but I could be wrong, it's quite stained in places with rust and some water damage from storage I think but it's so pretty I think those things only add to the story of the dress. The second dress is a 1950s Christian Dior Hounds tooth dress, I haven't got it yet but it's on its way!

1920s and 1930s

I am currently LOVING the 20's and 30's although I'm not sure I'm "streamlined" enough for the fashion. I recently saw an amazing pattern book for sale on eBay, unfortunatly the postage from the US made it a little too expensive, however I did maybe save the photos so that I can share them with others and have them as reference.