First shop update of 2015 and Etsy vacation news!

1940s Cornflower Blooms crepe day dress

  All these vintage lovelies are now available in the shop! I'm so pleased to be able to offer these older pieces, especially the '40s dresses. They are both so beautiful in person!

1940s Scotch Buttons plaid skirt

If anything takes your fancy, be sure to act fast as the shop will be closing on Wednesday (7th January) at 2pm GMT until the beginning of February while I take a trip back to the West Coast (as I said in my last post, the to-ing and fro-ing isn't over just yet!!). I'm looking forward to sharing my American vintage hunts here soon!

1940s Wildflower Meadows sheer dress

1930s Velvet Noir evening jacket

Hello and a shop sale!

Hello! I'm back from a very, very snowy Portland and a very warm San Francisco. 

The shop is open again and I'm having a wee sale to celebrate. Everything is currently 20% off until Thursday! All items purchased in the sale will be shipped on Friday.

West Coast Wanderings V

Here are some more photographs from my time in America...and there will be more on the way. After two nights in San Francisco, we flew to Portland and were greeted with even more sunshine. There was definitely a softer, more autumnal quality to the sun than in California but it was just as pretty and uplifting. The trees put on a spectacular display of reds, oranges and yellows.

Mini neighbourhood lending library

We experienced two beautiful dusk-lit panoramas. On our first full day, we hiked up Mount Tabor to catch some fading light and look through the evergreens to Mount Hood. Then, the following evening, we visited the grounds of Pittock Mansion for a mirror-image view, back over the city.

The colours of the sky and full moon were incredible that night... but hard to capture on my camera!

West Coast Wanderings IV

These pictures are from the first two days of my trip away. We flew into hot sunshine in San Francisco so we spent most of our time outdoors, walking around The Mission district and taking a trip to Twin Peaks for a near 360-degree panorama of the city.

We also made the most of the clear skies by walking through Golden Gate Park - stopping off at the Japanese Garden en route - to see the Pacific at Ocean Beach.

The Japanese tea house in Golden Gate Park

Peace lantern

I'll share more pictures from my holiday in the coming weeks. I took so many, it will take a while to sift through them all!

Unfortunately, the American bits and bobs I mentioned in my last post did not materialise. The trip was so busy that I had no proper time for thrifting but I do have a pile of 50s dresses ready to list so, as soon as I'm back in the swing of things, I'll be photographing those and posting details here. In the meantime, I've re-opened the shop and there are lots of goodies available so take a little look. Shipping will be a bit delayed this week so please note that if you place an order between the 4th and 10th, I'll be shipping your parcel on the 11th. I'm really looking forward to getting back to work on the shop and adding new items soon!

West Coast Wanderin' III

View from Twin Peaks

Here's the third installment of picture posts about my time in America last year. This time it's San Francisco. I've visited the city a couple of times but only ever grabbed a few days here and there, either side of flights. I'd really like to stay longer and explore a bit more but I'm very grateful for the days I have spent there, zig-zagging up and down hills, gazing out over the bay, meandering through Chinatown, looking up at murals in the Mission.

Each visit, I've ended up pounding the pavements, taking pictures and trying to absorb as much as I can. San Francisco is such an atmospheric place with its pastel-painted houses and Mediterranean light and endlessly tall palm trees.

I really enjoy browsing the secondhand bookstores in San Francisco. My favourite was Dog Eared Books. I didn't explore many vintage shops during my days in the city, aside from a few stores in Haight-Ashbury. Unfortunately, they were on the pricey side and the area itself was a bit of a disappointment to me - it felt more like a tourist destination rather than a neighbourhood with  character and history. 

 

There were so many views and sights to enjoy but I think my favourite San Francisco memories are of the murals in Coit Tower (which has quite a fascinating history), antique amusements at the Musee Mecanique and our long walk through Golden Gate Park to the Cliff House.

 

I especially liked this little hash house and its 'Stinko' sign! It reminded me of Mildred Pierce.

The Camera Obscura and its view of the Pacific was magical... And even better remembered with snow outside the window!

West Coast Wanderin' II

Here's the second in a series of picture posts about my time on the West Coast of the US last year. I spent a few days in Washington State and a few days in San Francisco (separate post coming up!) but most of my time was spent in Oregon: the south east district of Portland, to be precise. I felt very at home in the city - rain, old record shops, friendly people, deadpan humour - it was almost like being back in the North West of England! The local neighbourhood where I was staying had lots of good nooks and crannies to explore...

As well as wonderful record shops that reminded me of home, Portland had incredibly good vintage stores. There's definitely nice vintage clothing to be had in England but you have to hunt quite hard sometimes. Older items have become more difficult to get hold of so often shops are left with all the scratchy synthetic leftovers that people don't want or they're disappointingly over-priced (for me, at least!). The shops in Portland all had lots of nice quality, reasonably-priced clothing and I was very tempted to go crazy! Fortunately my budget didn't allow that but I did end up choosing two dresses that I really liked, which I'll take some photos of for a future post.

Vintage A Go Go!

The swing coat I'm wearing in this final photo is the other item I brought home with me. It's beautifully made and really warm too. It has a union tag inside and I keep meaning to work out its exact date on the Vintage Fasion Guild site. The coat came from a lovely shop called Lulu's Vintage in the Downtown area. The owner was really friendly and had lots of nice items for both men and women.