North West Wanderings II

With autumn arriving, I wanted to share a couple of photos from the start of an unusually sunny summer. Back when the sun was just starting to shine, I took a daytrip by train to Chester. I wandered along the river, in front of The Rows and through the ancient ampitheatre, where a Roman foot soldier was giving a guided tour and workers munched on sandwiches among the remains.

I spent a small part of the day thrifting and found a 1970s dress, which has already sold and made its way across the sea to New York. It's funny to think of the journey it has made!

The ruins of St John the Baptist's Church

Me looking awkward in front of the camera!

Around the yard

Some photographs I took around the yard last weekend...

I took advantage of the sunshine to take lots of pictures for the shop... although I won't be using all of them. Here's a bag I thrifted and photographed... and then decided to keep! Whoops!

But no matter how tempting the other items were, they WILL be making their way into the shop. Even this beautiful green and gold taffeta dress will be up for sale soon. Expect an update any day now!

Erwin Blumenfeld

 

I wanted to share these beautiful images by Erwin Blumenfeld. A couple of nights ago I watched The Man Who Shot Beautiful Women, a documentary tracing Blumenfeld's life from his early experiments in Dadaism and friendship with George Grosz to his fashion photography in the 1950s. I really like the surreal playfulness and visual experimentation of his photographs, which Blumenfeld retained even when he was working on commercial assignments. He started taking photographs in earnest in the 1930s as a way of enticing window shoppers into 'Fox Leather Company', the clothing shop he ran in Berlin. I think these images of his female customers - abstracted figures and experimental close-ups - are my favourite of all Blumenfeld's photographs.

 

Spring Travels

I'm back from my trip with a few photos and lots more Spring pieces to add to the shop. I didn't have much time to look for things while I was away but after getting back on Saturday, I walked to the post office to ship an order and had quite a bit of luck on my way home. Listings will be up in the next few days!

 

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.

 

West Coast Wanderin'

Following on from my last post about Honey Talk, here are some photographs from my stay in Washington State. The San Juan Islands, just off Seattle, are one of the most beautiful places I have ever visited - a strange combination of evergreens and driftwood with different views at every turn. Lots of sandy shores, mountain panoramas and dark forest...

Seashore finds: a driftwood tent...

and washed-up balloons

Choosing these pictures brought back happy memories this afternoon, especially with flakes of snow drifting outside the window. The weather's suddenly turned very chilly here but I've used the cold snap to choose and wash new items for the shop. Lots of nice '80s and '90s items for the next update I think... Then I'll be rewinding to the '50s after that. So expect more soon! And I'll also share some more photographs of my travels (and American vintage finds!) in future posts.