Beach Days…

Brighton has become Barbados. Ok, perhaps not quite, but we certainly are experiencing one hell of a heatwave!

So like most of this seaside towns residents – when the sun hit, we descended to the beach!

Picnics, books and sun-screen in tow, we have happily wasted many an afternoon recently, some of which feature below! (Let’s take a folding picnic table bench to enjoy the picnic with friends and family!)

I finally got round to wearing a vintage Jamaican print shirt which I bought a couple of years ago, with the intention of using it as a beach cover up – however I thought it worked so well with my favourite summer shorts it made sense to wear it all day!

Not only do I completely adore the print (who couldn’t!) but it’s also very light and billowy – perfect for catching the odd fleeting breeze!

The shorts were an eBay find which I have worn every summer since I got them. High waisted and no bottom on show? Perfect!

My little straw cloche was from a vintage market in Henley – it’s perfect for keeping the sun off my face!

We also did the greatest of British challenges – and braved the icy waters of the English Channel! I am certain that no matter how hot it gets…This water never warms up to anything more than ‘heart-attack-inducing-freezing!’

The first few minutes are always horrible, but once you get used to it, and have taken the dreaded ‘plunge’ (immersing yourself up to your neck very quickly!) you soon find yourself swimming around as happy as a clam!

Becca and I having a wade to cool off…

However any notions of looking even remotely glamorous (in my new topshop bikini!)were quickly diminished when…

The wave struck! Ladies and gentlemen, my reaction to cold water…

Perfect beach snacking…

And drying off before the onset of pneumonia strikes!

I’ve also been documenting my beach days on my instagram account. From emulating scenes from Titanic on a beach mat, crabbing in Rottingdean and the maddening dilemma of choosing the right bathing suit, it’s been fun to capture this Summer and share it!

So there we have it! If you want to find me, you know where to head!

Also I’m having a little eBay sale which ends in a couple of days, the two dresses featured below are both available! So click on the link and go have a look!

And finally, thank you to everyone who entered the Betty Magazine giveaway in my previous post – I loved reading your stories!

The winner is Kailey!

Please email me with your postal address and your copy of Betty magazine will be winging its way to you shortly!

More soon,

Love Yours Truly, x

International Women’s Day

By Yours Truly, x

To all my female readers…Happy International Women’s Day! Three cheers for being a girl!

Obviously I am aware that I’ll never know what it’s like to be a man, or to operate in an ‘XY’ kind of way, but for the record, let me state – I love being a female!

I am fortunate enough to live in a country where I have freedom to be whatever kind of woman I want from one day to the next. I can express myself verbally and creatively in any way I choose, and I suppose if there was any day to count your lucky stars then today would be it.

Hat – Borrowed from Becca, Pintuck White Shirt – eBay, Taupe Mac – eBay

Tan Leather Belt – H&M, Stripe Necktie – Car Boot Sale

Gold Iris Brooch – My Nannas, Vintage Black Wool Trousers – Beyond Retro

Without being entirely aware that International Women’s Day was approaching (I had a vague memory of its date!) I coincidentally spent some of my free hours this week reading about some of the atrocities forced upon women and girls around the world, provoked by a link to this article.

The nature of these articles can quite literally make your heart ache, leaving you overwhelmingly sad for the mindless pain and torture inflicted upon girls as young as six.

My own memories of that age are nothing but sun-infused snapshots of happiness, with the knowledge I was safe and loved, content to play outside with my siblings.

Becca has convinced me – I’m definitely getting one of the hats for myself!

A campaign I have long supported and been moved by is ‘It’s a Girl’ a documentary film and thought-provoking organisation that highlights the female ‘gendercide’ occurring in India, China and other parts of the world.

It never occurred to me, and I doubt it has to many people, that simply due to the geographical location of my birth, and laws and society I was born into – my parents were filled with nothing but joy when their baby girl was born.

Not once was I considered a burden, or a costly mistake – there was no dowry lurking in my future, and I would have the same rights to an education, a job, a house, and any lifestyle choice I desired in my life as my elder brother.

That awkward moment it starts to rain quite heavily during your outfit photos…

Last year I took part in a photographic project by the very talented film-photographer Sophie Davidson. She created a zine called ‘Girls’ featuring nineteen young women (including myself) talking very openly, honestly and sometimes explicitly about how it feels to be a female.

The pleasures and hardships, the pros and cons, the biological idiosyncrasies that separate us (sometimes dramatically!) from the opposite sex.

The magazine is available for PDF download here. I really recommend giving it a read – it’s pretty inspiring stuff and I’m so proud to have been a part of it.

Channeling a bit of Annie Hall perhaps? I love the pin-tuck bib on this shirt!

For what it’s worth, my own views on what it’s like to be a woman (as I mention in ‘Girls’) is based primarily on the women that I consider inspirational to me.

Writer Maya Angelou, artist Frida Kahlo, singer and activist Joan Baez, actress and activist Mia Farrow – just some of the famous women who I feel an affinity with.

My incredible Mum, who provides me with unquestioning, unequivocal love, support and friendship, and has done the whole of my life. My little sister who in the face of adversities she faced last year, remained strong, elegant and so beautiful, with a ready smile and her unyielding capacity to care for others.

In determining who they were, I found they all had a common feature – their strength.

I painted on false eyelashes with my liquid eyeliner, a little more subtle that the full 60’s look! The lipstick is Rimmel 110 from the Kate Moss range.

I adore the female capacity of strength. The strength of love, courage and tenderness. The strength of power, both physical and mental. The strength of character, integrity and justice.

The strength that every Mother in this world has had to push another human into the world – I mean seriously! As someone who has yet to experience childbirth first hand…I’m in awe!

The full outfit – I am living in these trousers right now! They fit so well!

My white brogues are old ones from Topshop.

I’ll leave this post with the closing paragraph I wrote in Sophies zine.

‘My personal definition of being a girl is the ability to be a completely unique, multi-faceted person from one day to the next. Being a girl brings a magnitude of abilities which I think are so delicate and inexplicable. There are so many personalities and fractions of characters that I don’t think the modern girl could be described very easily at all.

And I suppose I rather like that.’

Now ladies, won’t you join me in a dance around the bedroom to this…!

Love Yours Truly, x

Ps. Photo credit – Becca Field

Pumpkin, Mushroom, Latte and Olive…

By Yours Truly, x

Good evening everyone!

First of all – WOW. I am stunned by the sheer volume of loveliness that you guys showed me for my previous post. I am so glad to feel I was understood, to have provoked conversation and to have found like-minded views out there!

So thank you to everyone who commented or emailed me, I really enjoyed reading your responses!

As some of you may know, I’m great lover of tonal colours! Brights are brilliant, pastels are pretty – but for me, it’s all about the tonal shades!

In this case, Pumpkin, Mushroom, Latte and Olive… Quite the feast for one outfit!

The navy wool skirt was a recent vintage find from Beyond Retro. On an afternoon off I strolled in for a mooch and came away with two fantastic wool pieces (the second shall feature soon!) this skirt being one of them.

I instantly loved the quality of the garment, the great fit, and let’s face it – I wear a lot of navy! Isn’t it weird how some days, quite unexpectedly you have a great shopping experience?

My nude body suit is an old Topshop piece, seen here with my vintage iris necklace, which previously belonged to my Nanna.

My olive green felt hat hails from Absolute Vintage on Brick Lane, and my mushroom cardigan and strappy tan belt are both H&M finds – I’m obsessed with this belt lately!

And can we just talk for a moment about how gorgeous the colour of these Asos heels is? Deep pumpkin orange, they look good enough to eat! Worn here with ‘latte’ coloured tights from Primark (they had such a great selection this winter!)

And finally, I thought I’d get a bit ahead this year and have the first (or what I’m sure will be many!) Spring clear outs!

I have a huge selection of vintage, Topshop and other bits and pieces up on eBay right now, if you fancy having a look HERE.

Items up for sale include this Topshop Boat Print dress…

Another Topshop number, this time in a pretty floral tea-dress…

A incredibly cute vintage 1950’s party dress…

And a sweet vintage high-waisted polka dot skirt…

All items end on Wednesday 20th of February… Good luck bidding!

(Overseas bidders are welcome, but please don’t message me for a postage quote unless you win the item – all prices will be in accordance to Royal Mail pricing)

More soon – Have a great weekend everyone!

Love Yours Truly, x

We Sailed Away On A Winters Day…

By Yours Truly, x

I’ve had this post up my sleeve for about a week now, and have been really excited to share it with you, as it felt like something new and different when it was being created, and that is exactly what I wanted for the blog this year!

Now as most of you know (or would have figured out by now) Joshua predominately takes my outfit photos on this blog. He would be the first to tell you he’s not a photographer, and yet time after time he willingly takes my SLR and captures beautiful images for me to edit to my hearts content and then share with you all!

I’m incredibly grateful for Joshuas patience and support when it comes to this blog, he doesn’t always ‘get it’ but he is always willing to help – long story short, I know I’m a lucky gal!

Now that being said, when the chance of ‘working’ with my friend Emma Speight a ridiculously talented photographer sprung up, I simply couldn’t refuse!

So on a cold winters day, with the icy wind and cloudy grey skies (when was the last time I saw a peep of blue?) we headed down to the Brighton beach front, and captured the following…

Emma works almost exclusively as a film photographer (you know – the real kind, with talent and an understanding of shutter speeds and aperture!) so using my Nikon, she felt a little out of depth!

However as a result of her playing around with settings, many happy accidents were produced. For a start…this gorgeous Wes-Anderson-esque golden glow!

It was also amazing to have a female photographer with an eye for ‘that wayward strand of hair’ or the smudge of liquid eyeliner….Joy!

And the outfit? Well this little number was something I treated myself to from Topshop! I spied it during some unsuccessful sale shopping, and after much of a hoo-hah about which size fitted best (I chose the looser fit so that I could layer it up with blouses and striped t-shirts!) I finally got it!

It’s unusual for me to buy something full price from the high street, (I normally wait for it appear on eBay) however I was not willing to chance it with this pinafore! It’s made from a lovely thick boucle fabric, and to me, is a wonderful combination of 1930’s school girls, ‘Madeline’ and 60’s beatniks.

I layered up the dress with my 1970’s cotton shirt from The Splendid Suitcase, H&M deep mustard tights (the love affair with this colour continues!) white Topshop brogues I found on eBay and a vintage red felt hat from one of the thrift shops in Brighton.

Emma chose the following setting…I know I’m repeating myself, but I love the Wes Anderson vibes! As a huge fan of his work, and as someone who was completely enamoured stylistically with ‘Moonrise Kingdom’…I can but try to re-capture some of his magic!

Taking close ups on a cold, windy day is hard! Your eyes stream and your make up runs! Though it has to be said, Emma suffered worse than I did – the trooper!

And finally, one more tribute to Wes…What post of this nature would be complete without a nod to Steve Zissou and his signature pose?

I hope you’ve enjoyed these pictures, I had fun creating them!

I want to thank Emma sincerely for all of her help and for being so relaxed about allowing me to edit them myself (something in my limited experience that is quite rare with photographers!)

I really recommend you have a look at her tumblr – she hasn’t put much online yet, but I know that she has some big projects in the pipeline (and fingers crossed we can collaborate again sometime!) which would be well worth checking out.

More next week, and let me know if there’s anything you fancy seeing – I’m still toying with the best way of creating a cosmetics post!

Love Yours Truly, x

Finding A New Life For Yourself…

By Yours Truly, x

Upon moving to Brighton a couple of months ago, I felt excited and nervous, elated and lonely all in the same breath. I’m aware the time I moved was around the time a lot of young people move to strange towns and cities to pursue their education.

And having done that before myself a number of years ago (seriously where is time going?!) I knew this time would be easier. For a start a lot of friendships had been forged in Brighton already, thanks to my constant commuting down here for weekends and mini breaks. I knew my way around town quite well and even knew some of the bus routes should I ever need to hop on one.

All that aside, it was still a change, and dear friends were still being moved away from, the familiar and the comforting becoming a two and a half hour journey away.

So now that I have settled into my new job, and my new flat (which I am beginning to love dearly!) I collaborated with a group of like minded ladies to set up a community of sorts, the details of which follow after my outfit!

As I probably mention every year – Autumn is my favourite season! I love how the sunlight looks at this time of year, the colours of the dying leaves and the requirement of layering up clothes!
My autumnally-suitable look was based around one of my favourite necklaces!
The hat is from Absolute Vintage – I think it’s a 70’s design though it can be tweaked quite easily to appear much older.

The rest of my outfit consists of high street finds! The H&M mustard cardigan that I love wearing with everything right now! An old Topshop skirt, and Pri- (cough-cough!)-mark t-shirt and thick wool tights.

And here’s a better view of one of my favourite necklaces! An eBay find, I couldn’t resist it’s child-like charm! I mean who wouldn’t want to carry around tributes to their favourite animals?

Right! Now back to the community of sorts! At the Blackbird Tea Rooms (my place of work) we have started The Blackbird Craft Collective!
Held every Wednesday in the beautiful tea rooms we get crafty with knitting, crocheting, sewing and many other types of creative goodness, all whilst enjoying a nice cup of tea and a slice of delicious cake!

We’ve had a couple of sessions so far, and I have to say, with my fledgling crochet skills it’s a lot of fun! The fact you can drop in and out of the conversation (depending on how your work is developing!) and nibble on cake too is perfect!

Emily showing off her first crochet sample! Might have a bit of a way to go on that scarf!

Kate was working on a sock monster!

Deep in concentration!

As I mentioned before, the sessions are held in the tea rooms on Ship Street, every Wednesday from 7pm to normally about 9pm.

This is my calling to all Brighton girls (and boys!) who fancy coming along! We would love to meet you!

And fear not if you haven’t got a crafty skill just yet – Kate, a member of staff at the Blackbird is an incredible knitter and would be more than happy to help guide you in the right direction (as she is with Chloe here!)

You can also use the time to repair any clothes which might need a bit of TLC – let’s face it, we all have some bits like this we never get round to doing!

The girls get stuck in….

So if you are fairly local to Brighton and you would like to join us, then please do!

For a mere £5 you can enjoy tea and cake of your choice, and while away some winter hours making new friends!

I’ve started a facebook group (literally just started!) so if you are interested then please join that, or if you have any questions you can leave them in the comment box below.

I hope to see some of you! The next session (because of Halloween) will be on Wednesday the 7th of November – though I will remind you all nearer to the time!

Hope you’re all very well,

Love Yours Truly, x

Meet Me On Albert Road…

By Yours Truly, x

Good evening!

Some days you just don’t feel like dressing up, or putting on make up, or even leaving your bed! For those sort of days, I keep this dress hung in my closet.

A basic jersey cotton, loose fitting and incredibly easy to wear – whilst this navy number may be a bit on the boring side, it is also ideal for those days when you just want to bum around town, then stroll to the cinema to see the new Batman film.

(Huge secret Batman fan here! To the extent that I squealed and wiggled with delight during an epic part of the film!)

So to accompany my lazy-day jersey dress, I wore a basic H&M peachy cardigan and some lovely mannish brogues I found on eBay.

And this little beauty!

I found this gorgeous boater hat whilst having a rummage in a vintage shop in Henley during one of my lunch breaks. For a mere £5 I would have been a fool to leave it there!

I think it must be a childs hat as it is quite small, and needed a few kirby grips to keep it attached (note to self – find some hat pins!)

To help the kirby grips I wore my hair in loose back-combed rolls to give the hat some sort of ‘base’ to attach to. This seemed to work despite the Brighton winds best attempts!

Ankle socks and brogues…My favourite summer combination!

Trying to find new ways to show off my accessories…Oh man do photos like this get odd looks from people walking past!

Now I feel so secretive whilst writing this post as I have so many things I want to share with you all (which I shall, all in due time!) but for now let me leave you with this delightful little package that I received earlier this week from the beautiful Kelly Marie of ‘A Harem of Peacocks’.

I could type for hours about Kelly Maries incredible sense of style, her impeccable taste, and just how bloody lovely she is! But instead I am going to simply state this. If you don’t follow her blog, then you’re really missing out! So go go go!

Anyway! Back to the package!

Imagine my delight when I opened the pretty little handkerchief to find this bundle inside! I spent a good few minutes just looking at each item!

And don’t get me started on just how ADORABLE those little girls are!

Thank you so much Kelly Marie! You made my potentially rubbish week a little bit sunnier!

And as for you dear readers, all shall be explained in the next post. So HUGE apologies for being a crummy blogger lately, and believe me – it’s going to get much, much better!

Good night!

Love Yours Truly, x

Fields of Gold…

By Yours Truly, x

I seem to be really struggling to keep my blogging regular lately! So apologies once again for the lack of action on here, hopefully this huge post will make up for it!

To celebrate our friend Joes birthday at the weekend we went for a country ramble towards Devils Dyke for a sunset picnic. It was just so beautiful everywhere you looked! Enjoy your picnic with folding picnic table, see the list of best ones at www.kidfriendlyhome.com/folding-picnic-table/

I’m wearing a very wrinkled H&M blouse (oops..living out of suitcases!) with my favourite ‘granny’ shorts which I found for a steal on eBay.

I like the fact that they are very high waisted and don’t show off any of my derrière. Is it just me or is there far too much bottom cleavage on show this week?

The 70’s tan leather bag was from eBay, and my cute little candy-stripe bow tie is a hair clip from Topshop!

I felt like I was perhaps emulating a C.W. Stoneking for this look!

This beautiful vintage hat I’m wearing was a cheeky little find on Sunday morning, as Margaux (of The Splendid Suitcase) and I ambled around Snoopers Paradise in Brighton, after enjoying a tasty vegetarian breakfast in the lanes (sorted my hangover out a treat!)

It’s an Austrian hat, and was originally a bright bottle green, but has faded over time to its current shade. I love the braiding and trims, plus it was an absolute steal at only £4!

The boys set off to try and find the perfect spot for our picnic…

A lovely chap who gave us directions cycling home…

After helping me with my outfit photos I had to get this snap of Josh – he had his afro trimmed down recently but let’s face it, it’s still much pouffier than most peoples hair! Nearly enough to block out the sun!

The birthday boy and his gorgeous girlfriend Emma…

I think it was whilst taking this photo that I accidentally leaned on to some stinging nettles…Bloody hell they earn their name!

Emma is a wonderful photographer who shoots nearly exclusively on film, and has a lovely documentary style to her work. If you’d like to see some you can have a look here (though I know she’s in the process of updating it!)

Beautiful poppies at dusk…

The classic group shot using the self-timer…

And the best out of about five attempts for a jumping photo! We called it a day after Joshua accidentally booted Joe in the face!

Isn’t it beautiful? What a perfect sunset!

I have lots more to share with you, and I’m going to make a real effort to get on here again sooner next time!

Love Yours Truly, x

Time For T…

By Yours Truly, x

Sunday was one of those peculiar days where you wake up a bit fuzzy-headed, the weather can’t make up its mind what it wants to do, and Monday morning is looming like a grand piano over your head…Fortunately the events of the day were sufficient enough to turn the whole situation around for me!

So I thought I’d share it all with you!

Still loving my 60’s beatnik babes as inspiration, I donned my faithful vintage bowler hat, with a basic H&M cardigan, and black fringed mini dress.

My socks even have fringing too! A cheeky H&M find! I love that the dress and socks both have such movement to them – it certainly makes dancing a lot of fun! I’m also really happy that the weather has now become that little bit warmer so that bare legs are an option again! Yay!

And here’s the whole ensemble, in one of the only photos where I don’t look like I’m about to be blown away (pesky wind!)

For the start of the day (after watching a few episodes of ‘Game of Thrones’ in bed – is anyone else obsessed?!) we had another peruse around the antique shops of Lewes, as most of them had been closed when we went the first time round.
Look at this amazing selection of goodies!

The rooms are a delight to walk through, it’s just such a pity that in general, I found it all to be quite over priced. Boo!

The Virgin Mary just hanging out with a stuffed boar…as you do…

I loved this little corner of one particular shop, there were ships in glass bottles leading all the way up the nearby staircase too…

I have always had a soft spot for these kitchen units, and now I keep seeing them everywhere!

We then headed home for a really exciting evening!

Our dear friend Tiago (the lovely chap we stayed with in Portugal) had his first EP launch, with his solo-project-turned-band ‘Time For T’

The EP is called ‘Dream Bug’ (artwork by Kim Crime) and hasn’t left my ears for a good three days or so!

Leading up to Tiago and his band (of which Joshua is the bassist) stepping up, there were plenty of acts to whet our appetites for the musical feast coming our way! I thought I’d share them all with you, as I love it when people recommend new music to me!

This is our friend Joe, who is also a singer in Joshuas other band (he does like to keep busy that one!)

Joe has a wonderful sound – which is often compared to James Taylor. If you would like to listen to his music, you can do so HERE. My personal favourite is ‘Seagull Song’

Ben Kitching (who also does spoken word) then performed for us, unfortunately I can’t find a link for Bens music, but if I do I’ll pop it up! For now though you can admire his red trousers!

Then came Mark Morgan, a lovely fellow – who although I’m acquainted with – I’d never had the pleasure to hear him play before. I really enjoyed it! You can listen to Mark HERE

And lastly, as Time For T were waiting in the wings, The Peppermint Beat Bandplayed a very energetic set for us. Some of you may recognise the chap on the right as Alec from The Splendid Suitcase.

And now…Time for T!

I know I seem incredibly biased, what with my boyfriend and friends all being members of this band, but I really truly love the music!

They are a talented six piece who perform jangly, energetic, cleverly worded songs with a bohemian easiness and enigmatic charm.

If you would like to listen or purchase Tiagos new EP you can do so HERE.

On a more personal note, I’m also quite happy with how the photos I took of the performers turned out. I hate gig lighting and so does my camera (a bad workman blames his tools eh?)

And for those of you who may fancy it, you can get a taste of Time For T, with this music video for a track off the EP ‘Been Waiting’ (warning…extremely catchy!)

Thanks for letting me share this with you all. I’m very fond of these boys and their music, so it felt right to show to you all too!

More soon, including the Vintage Nation photos!

Love Yours Truly, x

Pull Up A Chair!

By Yours Truly, x

Sometimes finding somewhere to take an interesting and aesthetically pleasing outfit photo can be a real chore! Other times you turn a corner and a little piece of forgotten street cries out to be included!

Such was the case for these abandoned chairs!

I’m wearing a cream polka dot dress by the spanish label Sister Jane, which I found on eBay. It’s really beautifully made garment with intricate little details, and a good quality fabric (nothing frustrates me more than a great design/print on bad quality fabric!)

I’m wearing it with my vintage bowler hat, a H&M cardigan and some ‘Amelie’ style brogues, that yet again, I found on eBay!

You’ll recognise the cream vanity case of course! It’s the only bag I bought to Brighton with me, so it’ll be appearing often this week!

Having a bit of a giggle as some pot-bellied northern man told me to ‘Get yet feet off them chaaairs!’

Of course he had nothing to do with the chairs, and rebel that I am (pffft!) I did a few more photos!

And one more featuring the beautiful swishy fabric…and my nine year olds legs!

Prior to my furniture storming antics, Joshua and I had gone for an ice cream date! I felt a bit bad not going to our regular place (we’re Scoop and Crumb fans normally) but since variety is indeed the spice of life, we decided to give the relatively new Gelato Gusto a try!

And it was well worth it!

Here I am looking very much like the cat who got the (ice) cream! Enjoying my Chocolate and Banoffee flavours. I know it’s boring to go for Chocolate every time, but I always feel I would regret it if I didn’t! The Banoffee flavour was gorgeous, with big chunks of toffee infused pastry throughout….Yum!

Joshua had Cookies and Cream (huge chunks of Oreo cookies!) and Banoffee too. He’s wearing a vintage velvet blazer and mustard tie, with a made-to-measure shirt (lined with vintage liberty fabric and with his initials embroidered on the cuff) and a Topman waistcoat…Dapper or what?

I particularly like the light ‘prettiness’ inside the parlour, and the fact they had really good music playing in the background (Ella Fitzgerald whilst we were in there!) It makes all the difference!

Even the doorstep was pretty! I tried to find out online what ‘Terry’s’ was, but no luck. Isn’t a pity that some of the mosaic got ruined? Or am I just being a nostalgic fool?

And of course, because I wouldn’t be a British blogger if I didn’t mention it… I hope everyone thoroughly enjoyed their Jubilee Weekend! It was so endearing to see everywhere covered in Union Jacks!

We’re off to see Moonrise Kingdom tonight, in an old fashioned cinema near where Joshua lives. I am THIS excited, being a huge Wes Anderson fan!

Have any of you seen it? Has it become your new favourite Wes film?

More soon,

Love Yours Truly, x

Roll Up! Roll Up! The Fair Has Come To Town!

By Yours Truly, x

Once a year, every year, Carters Steam Fair rolls into my hometown, bringing with it old fashioned delights from a simpler yesteryear.

I went down to visit on a Sunday afternoon with my friends Sophie and Nelson. As you will see, we had ridiculous amounts of fun!

I was wearing my (new to me) vintage nightdress with a sheer cape, tucked in to a vintage 1970s red skirt. My brogues are a new eBay purchase and the olive green hat is from ‘Absolute Vintage’ on Brick Lane.

I unintentionally (I promise!) ended up matching the scenery quite well! This night dress is fast becoming one of my new favourites, so expect to see it often!

We wandered around first to get an idea of everything the fair had to offer, which included rides, food, sideshows, games and bumper cars (which resulted in so much laughter I had tears rolling down my cheeks!)

They also had a coconut shy! I love the little signboards…

We then killed some time in the penny slots tent, where we played pinball games similar to those on this post, as well as having our fortunes told by a machine called ‘Old Betty’…It reminded me of the contraption from the movie ‘Big’ so I was very cautious not to make any wishes!

Here is Sophies fortune, which made us all laugh!

This is Nelson, who has been described by some as ‘The Daredevil Sensation of the Age!’ Aren’t the paintings on these rides beautiful?

(By the way, the little teddy just visible in Nelsons jacket was a prize he won – we decided to call it Carter in memory of our day out!)

And because I’m a big kid, and I can never resist a go, I jumped on the Merry-Go-Round!

As a testament to a life long affection to carousels, here I am about aged seven on a carousel in Bournemouth. As well as owning several pieces of carousel themed clothing (including this dress) I also dedicated my second year degree collection to carousel horse prints!

Thankfully Sophie and Nelson were more than willing to join me on the Carousel! Rather amusing considering we were the only adults on there who weren’t accompanying children!

It was incredibly beautifully decorated…

Enjoying some of the candy floss we shared (I always forget how sticky it gets!)

One of the transport vehicles for the bumper cars…with Elvis just keeping it casual!

I couldn’t resist….

I wish I had remembered my little camcorder, the music this contraption was playing was so nostalgic and wonderful!

We couldn’t think why anyone wouldn’t want to come to Carters Steam Fair…I mean…Why not?!

Hope you’re all having a lovely week, we’ve had lovely sunshine in the south of England this week so it’s been wonderful!

Much more to show you later on in the week,

Love Yours Truly x

Ps. If you are feeling particularly lovely, perhaps you might want to nominate my little patch of internet space for the Cosmopolitan Blog Awards? Thank you 🙂

Practically Perfect In Every Way…

By Yours Truly, x

In every job that must be done, there is an element of fun. You find the fun, and – SNAP – the job’s a game!

Who else was just a little bit obsessed with Mary Poppins as they grew up? It was one of my favourite films to snuggle down to on a rainy afternoon, and if I still had a VHS player it probably still would be! (Note to self – purchase the dvd)

I have on more than one occasion been compared (sartorially speaking) to the Nanny of everyones dreams. Including a sneering remark as I walked out of a Primark once (I never see anything I like in there so why do I still bother looking?!)

I can’t blame them though, particularly when I leave the house with an outfit like this…

I’d like to think I’ve mixed up some of the characters here actually. Whilst my glorious topper (a vintage find from eBay) definitely evokes Miss Poppins, I can’t help but feel that the princess trapeze coat, lacey stockings and smart white shoes are all very much Jane Banks!

The tights are H&M, and the rest is eBay! I’m starting to resent prices of items in shops as I know there are so many bargains to be had online! Just this week I fell in love with these Topshop trousers…Until I saw the price tag…EEP! Seems I’m alone on that one though as they’ve now sold out!

A close up of the beautifully tatty flowers…

It feels fun to wear an outfit like this, and even if some people laugh when you walk past – at least you’re raising a smile!

I’ll leave you with one of my favourite scenes from Mary Poppins… I mean seriously… THAT DRESS. I swear every drawing I created in my youth featured something similar!

As for Julie Andrews – there are just no words for how wonderful she is.

Hope you’re all having a lovely week – I have some exciting news to share this weekend!

Love Yours Truly, x

HATS

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