This week I have mostly been buying hats!

The title of this post reminds me of a character in the Fast Show from the 1990's, very silly but Jesse's diets made me laugh!

The collection of hats date mainly from before the 2nd World War.

Some of them even have their original shop tickets

Aren't they wonderful? My vintage mannequin is certainly enjoying trying them all on!

This coming weekend I am selling at the Exeter Flea market on Saturday, then at the Shepton Mallet Flea market at the Bath and West Showground on Sunday. I plan to bring a selection of these to both fairs. Hope to see some of you there?

And on the Washing Line this week......................

A selection of newly acquired textiles this week includes a David Whitehead pair of curtains, "Mosques" design, slightly damaged, but still plenty of fabric to work with.

Funky French Children's fabric called "Billy Boy", love the colours in this one! Still on a Children's theme are these 1970's Action Man curtains.

Lots of vibrant 1950's colours and some great graphics.

The piece below is towelling, the colours being as crisp as the day they were new, over 50 years ago.

Another towelling item, this time a pair of much loved (and slightly faded) Swan design bathroom curtains.

Rose design bedroom curtains, also dating from the 1950's.

Lastly a snippet of a large bolt of dress fabric. It is hard to put a date to this, but it is certainly very eye catching. Most of these items will be coming with me to the Vintage and Handmade fair in Chipping Sodbury on Saturday. Open from 10 am to 4 pm. Hope to see you there!

Sun.. shells and shutters

Today Flossie is sporting a 1940's blouse and the cutest shell necklace. Both destined for the Ashley Hall Fair in The Assembly Rooms in Bath this coming Sunday. Opens at 9 am and finishes at 4 pm.

I will also take along some of these pretty vintage children's pinafore dresses from France. I have several, so will also be taking some to the Dairy House  next week.

I will also be taking this "shell bunting" (if you can imagine such a thing!) Some very patient person has threaded shells with string making a very unusual decoration for your home, garden or beach hut! 

These beauties are also destined for the Dairy House. I would have loved to have kept them.. just to have them propped in a room or conservatory would be great feature, and a real talking point.

The mangle cloths are another great find this week, some of these will be coming to Bath, and the rest to the Dairy House next week.

As you can see I am making the most of the sun for the photo-shoot, so now back to the ironing! Have a great weekend.

Meet Flossie and Barbara....

Last week I spent a few days in France searching for new stock in preparation for the busy months ahead.
In a particularly dusty Depo Vente I found myself in "Mannequin Heaven". I was so over excited that I sent a text to Niki as she shares my passion for these rare beauties. Sadly my camera wasn't working, so I took some photos on my phone. So far I have been unable to upload them as somebody has gone off with the cable!

After some deliberation I bought this one, she was cheaper that the rest and missing her limbs - so easier to transport. As you can see she was a little worse for wear, but I could see potential....

Today I have spent a pleasant few hours with some poly-filler and youngest son's Warhammer paints (that will teach him not to lose the cable for the computer!)
I am fairly pleased with the restoration, and have named her Flossie as that has always been our nickname for a particularly formidable owner of a Depo that we have visited over the years.

Barbara on the other hand is English (I think) I have had her for ages and not had the time to restore her.

Once the Polly filler was mixed up, there was no stopping me! Her nose is still a little lacking in shape, but a light dusting of silver paint has hidden most of her blemishes and returned her to a more sleek and haughty former self.

The Day I Nearly met Kirsty!

This weekend I have been selling at the Shepton Mallet Antiques Fair. It has been a tough one as the rain was  a major obstacle on Friday (setting up day). However after a few hours, the tent was looking cosy with yellow floral curtains lining the sides of the tent, piles of pretty textiles stacked on shelves, china and glass grouped in colourful arrangements....

It was obviously eye-catching as the people who were organising the filming of a new TV programme approached us and asked if they could film on our stand. As trade was very quiet, we agreed and waited for the arrival of Kirsty Allsopp and the crew.... I know some people do not approve of the way TV programmes abuse the Antiques Trade, but in this case Kirsty's enthusiasm for Vintage Textiles can only be a positive thing for those of us involved in this field of the business.

The long afternoon ticked by, and the rain fell harder and harder. It got to the end of the afternoon and almost time for the fair to close. I braved the elements and went in search of the film crew......

They were running behind schedule, and wouldn't get to us for quite a while, so I made my apologies and told them that we had to get home and so wouldn't be available after all.

However, I did give the lovely helpful girl with the clipboard all my details and flyers for the MANY textile fairs that are taking place over the next few weeks, so who knows, I might get my "15 minutes of fame" one day!

Hope you all had a good weekend! xx

Farewell to a special person

This lovely photograph is a lady called Cynthia Wheeler MBE pictured in 1940 when she was just 15 and a volunteer for the Red Cross. It was a harrowing time for a young woman and she would tell me how she used to write letters for the injured patients. From that time she has worked tirelessly raising money for the British Red Cross. In her latter years she was forced to give up her post in the medical equipment service, but still worked from home to raise funds. She was a great knitter and in recent years has made dozens of beautiful knitted colourful berets for me (taken from a 1940's pattern that I found for her) and covered hundreds of old fashioned wooden coat hangers with knitted covers in a fantastic range of colours. These hangers have protected my delicate stock of vintage clothes. They have been admired and purchased by buyers for companies such as Cath Kidston.. and several were even used in the wardrobe on the set of Nanny Mcphee! Everything I have purchased from Cynthia has been enjoyed and passed on to my customers, and of course Cynthia donated all the money to the British Red Cross. Sadly, this wonderful person passed away this week.  I will miss my visits to her home and our little chats about the "state of the world" (and of course the nursing profession!)

Heartfelt Photo shoot

Today was an exciting day for me. I was able to go along to watch a vintage fashion photo shoot for the newly opening Heartfelt shop in Watchet, Somerset. Appropriately it took place at a station on the West Somerset Steam railway.

      Pale silver/grey 1940's dress, with the model longingly looking out for the next steam train..........

   This1940's hat worn at a rakish angle.... and (below) 1950's net with tiny velvet bows.....

Another vintage dress, blue/grey in colour and probably
dating from the late 40's or early 50's....perfect for a prom.

Stunning full length black dress with sequinned bodice teamed with Ostrich feather wrap...

                                Designer dogs?

With thanks to Martin Hill photography.com who allowed snapshots to be taken while he was working. A really nice guy and highly recommended... and thank you to the West Somerset Railway for allowing the photo shoot.

If you click on this link  you can watch the fab video that martin has put together.. it is amazing!