The East End Thrift Store

Last weekend the Boy and I decided to give the East End Thrift Store a visit. Its been over a year since we last went and we weren't disappointed. What was once a loft room stuffed with junk is now a showcase of their best vintage finds. Downstairs you can still find amazing bargains for £10 - and if you're looking for a snowman or reindeer intarsia jumper btw this is definitely the place to go - but upstairs is now like an Aladdin's cave of clothing delight.

I tried on that yellow, blue and red jumper and was about 30 seconds away from buying it before shoppers guilt (and my mothers voice) kicked in and I reluctantly put it back on the hanger, so if you were the lucky person who bought it - good on you!

 We then ventured to Brick Lane to have a look in Beyond Retro and some other stores before I declared myself to be 'vintaged-out' much to the Boy's amusement and we headed back west to the more 'modern' world of Topshop. Not before however seeing this bendy bus completely mounted on the curb and making a horrendous mess of trying to reverse.


A good day all round.

Eltham Palace Art Deco fair

Decided to have a mother daughter day on Sunday and what better way to spend it than going to an Art Deco fair at a gorgeous 1930s mansion. As neither of us could drive (me - no license; mum - bad arm) we threw ourselves upon the mercy of the Bromley bus system and miraculously it came through. 

Two uneventful bus journeys later and we found ourselves at the beautiful Eltham Palace. A settlement that can be dated back to the 1300s and once counted Henry VII as a resident, only the great hall is still present from those times. In its place is a spectacular residence built by some very rich people in the 1930s and boasts an enormous dome, wood panelling and general Art Deco amazingness. No surprise then that they decided to hold the fair there.

After perusing all the (very expensive) offerings, and being stopped from buying some 1940s satin and lace shorts (someone might have died in them according to my mother) we decided to tour the house then finish the afternoon with a spot of cream tea. Lovely.

Saturday adventures

Sometimes its fun to just go wherever the will takes you. The boy and I decided to have an adventure yesterday and drive out into the Hampshire countryside. We drove through all manner of examples of the great English pastoral, thatched cottages with wisteria (Range Rovers out front - of course), perfect cricket lawns and then naturally we saw a fair amount of stately homes.

Funny really how in the middle of a village in West Sussex you can find fashion inspiration. This particular village was an homage to the antique industry with almost every shop peddling their bygone wares. The first one we went in was full of wonderful (and wonderfully odd) pieces, but these gorgeous shoes really caught my eye.

Made in the 50s in Sweden (the tag said so) they were in mint condition and super tiny, my heart did a little skip. Unfortunately though, they were too tiny for even my size 3 feet so I had to let them go. A good thing really, as even though we were in the middle of nowhere they were pretty vintage shopper savvy, with a £50 price tag. Although for shoes that were almost never worn I'm sure I'd be parting with much more in London!

I also found this very fetching handbag for only £14 - an unexpectedly good day for fashion. Maybe its time to buy some Hunters and head out to the sticks.

A foray into vintage...

I know all the cool kids and true fashionistas wear vintage, in terms of style it's a sign of an ability to look backwards in order to move forwards (or some other such nonsense). Vintage clothes are a complete mystery to me, they smell funny, they're all polyester and leave a film of dust on your hands after touching them.

Whilst frequenting an all-you-can-cram-in-a-bag-for-a-tenner vintage sale at the East End Thrift Store, I was sorely disappointed with the piles of dusty, smelly clothes on offer. A room piled high with junk not even the store could sell, the smell of B.O was overpowering. Leaving the sale empty handed, I was pleased to discover a very nice store downstairs.

Other girls I spied had found what can only be classed as treasures, things that looked amazing without needing any alterations at all. Polka-dot dresses, denim shorts, mini jumpsuits and not one of them was itching from the secondhandness. I was inspired to dig around, something I often can't be bothered to do, and I found the little gem above. With only two strange looking stains and boasting the usual 100% polyester on the label it felt like wallpaper, but looked very cute. At only £15 I almost regret not buying it. Perhaps you get used to the itchy sweatiness after a while...