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!