My Grandma's Skirt

On Sunday we went to Salisbury for the day.  The last time we went there, it was back in March and it was bitterly cold so it was nice to go when the weather was much warmer.

Salisbury is a lovely old town with three Vintage shops - Foxtrot Vintage and two for The Vintage Quarter.  I had never been to The Vintage Quarter and was keen to check it out.  Their first store is actually located just outside of Salisbury Town Centre and isn't easily accessible without a car.  I had messaged the owner to make sure she would be open on Sunday and as she said she was, we made our way to the store only to find it was closed!  In fact, all three of the Vintage shops - despite advertising on their store fronts/ websites that they were open on Sundays - were all closed!!  I appreciate that some independent stores are unable to open on Sundays but in that case, they really shouldn't advertise that they do open.

Despite the lack of success with the vintage shops, it was a really nice day out.  I wore a skirt that my Grandma had in the 1950s.  My Grandma unfortunately hasn't kept many of her old clothes or jewellery from the 1940s - 1960s which is a real shame.  However, when she presented me with this skirt, I was beyond delighted!  She had previously taken off the waistband in an attempt to make it bigger but never got round to doing that so I needed to take the skirt into an alterations place to get the waistband put back on and made smaller for my waist.  It is the perfect skirt to wear at this time of year and I look forward to wearing it lots!

As you can see, the parasol is back!  I am making the most of every opportunity to use it this summer.

Skirt: My Grandma's from the 1950s
Shirt: French Connection
Black top: Topshop
Bag: Vintage from etsy
Parasol: Vintage from one of the traders at 'Crikey! It's Vintage at Killerton'
Shoes: Next
Necklace: Vintage from Dear Golden Vintage on etsy
Earrings: Vintage from a trader at Bows & Braces Vintage Fair

Beach fun

The weather has been super amazing the last three weeks.  I am a bit weather-obsessed in that I often check the forecast a few times a day but it has been so good not to have to consistently check BBC Weather on my iPhone or wonder whether I need an umbrella with me.

A few weekends ago, at the start of the beautiful weather, I went to Southbourne Beach.  Earlier in the day, I went to a few of the vintage shops in Boscombe before heading to the beach.  I am not keen on British beaches because they are always jam-packed during summer and I hate seeing people sizzling away in the sun.  I couldn't spend a whole day at the beach but we managed to find an area with a bit of space and had ourselves an M&S beach picnic.

As mentioned in a previous post, I had recently acquired a 1930s parasol.  It got it's debut at the beach and it was accompanied by my 1950s Kahala playsuit.  I bought this playsuit at Beyond Retro a few years ago and it fits amazingly!  It is one of my favourite go-to outfits in hot weather.



Playsuit: Vintage (from Beyond Retro, near Carnaby Street in London)

Headscarf: Vintage from The Vintage Parade Festival in Winchester

Parasol: Vintage from Crikey! It;s Vintage Festival in Exeter

Sunglasses: Ray Ban Clubmasters

Jelly Shoes: Office

Friday Night Jazz

On Friday night, I went to Rosie's Vineyard in Southsea to see FB Pocket Orchestra play.  They are a jazz band playing sounds from the 1920s and 1930s and I had seen them previously at The Vintage Parade in Winchester.

On this occasion, I wore a 1950s black eyelet wiggle dress.  I don't own too many wiggle dresses because I usually feel quite self-conscious in them and I am also not keen on purchasing this style online as you need them to fit just right around the hips!  This dress was purchased from This is Vintage in Boscombe.  It is one of two really good vintage shops in that area and I highly recommend visiting!

I am also wearing my new hat which I purchased from the Bows & Braces Vintage Fair, which I discussed in a previous post.  I just love it!  It fits so nicely and I would love to purchase more hats in this style.

I am also having difficulty posting links on this blog at the moment, there is an error page that comes up now and it means I cannot select text or even place the cursor anywhere, so apologies for not being able to provide links for what I've mentioned above.

Dress: Vintage (This is Vintage)

Hat: Vintage (Bows & Braces Vintage Fair)

Shoes: Vintage (The Festival of Vintage)

Bag: Vintage (Etsy)

Gloves: Vintage (Etsy)

Crikey! It's Vintage at Killerton

A few weekends ago, I attended the 'Crikey! It's Vintage at Killerton' which was held at Killerton House in Exeter.  The weather leading up to the event did not look good and I was not sure if we were going to go or not.  In the end we decided to make the trip which was a 2 and a half hour car journey.  Luckily, when we got there, the weather was ok and it did not rain though it threatened to do so!

The event was ok - I was quite disappointed with the classic car show as there wasn't that many cars there and the vintage fairground rides were for children only - not the ones that I had anticipated!  It did redeem itself by having a few excellent traders and I did buy 3 items that I love - a 1940s/ 50s brown bolero (I've wanted a bolero for so long!), 1950s pink and grey roses dress and a 1930s parasol (as seen in my last post, I have been desperate for a parasol and was so glad to finally purchase one!)

As it took place at a National Trust house, there were a lot of people there who weren't aware of this vintage event and I did get some eyebrows raised at my outfit. 

This dress is from Dethrose Vintage and I purchased it back in November.  After waiting about 10 weeks for it to arrive and a number of emails between me and the seller, I was given a refund in February.  Then in March I received an email from the seller to let me know that this dress had arrived back with her!  After 4 months of travelling the globe!  She asked if I still wanted it, which I very much did and I re-bought it and this time it did arrive at my house!  It is a lovely lightweight cotton 1930s/1940s dress and I love the cute geometric print on it. 

Enjoying an Elderflower mocktail from the Cocktail Caravan!

Dress: Vintage (Etsy)
Hat: Vintage (Vintage to Vogue, Bath)
Coat: Hobbs
Shoes: Office
Gloves: Vintage (Etsy)
Bag: Vintage (Vintage to Vogue, Bath)
Cardigan: Zara

War on the Line

A few weekends ago at the beginning of June, I attended the 'War on the Line' event held at the Watercress line.  I had always wanted to go to the Watercress line which is a steam railway line which runs from Alresford to Alton (in North Hampshire) and I figured it would make sense to go on a day when they are holding a 1940s event.

Although I see myself as a 1950s girl at heart, I do love the fashions of the 1930s and 1940s and do have some 1940s outfits (some of which have already been shown on here.)  The only thing is, with my short hair I can't do 1940s hairstyles any justice so I resided to wearing a headscarf on this occasion!

This is going to be a photo heavy post - it was a gloriously sunny day and so many people dressed up and looked fantastic!  I thoroughly enjoyed the day and would definitely go next year.



Me and Churchill!



I am wearing a late 1930s-early 1940s dress which I had recently purchased from Fab Gabs.  I have mentioned this Etsy shop before - it is beyond amazing!  When I found this dress, it was originally at the pricier end of my budget spectrum and I wasn't sure about purchasing it but when I woke up the next morning there was a 25% off sale so I bought it immediately.  You can say it was meant to be mine!  The dress does actually have a fairly big collar which I don't really like so I have tucked it in and I prefer this look.  What I love about this dress is the amazing swing skirt it has - it would be great to go dancing in!

The sunglasses were a last minute purchase from Topshop, so sadly not vintage.  I really want a pair of 1930s sunglasses but it is the kind of purchase that I wouldn't want to make online - some vintage glasses that I have tried on are really narrow so I am hoping I find one at a fair or shop some day soon.



I just love this lady's outfit (complete with gas mask box!) - and look she has a parasol!! At the time that I went to this event, I was desperately looking for a parasol and this would have been the perfect day to take one out as it was so hot and sunny.  I have since acquired a vintage parasol and it will be featured in some upcoming posts!



I just had to snap a photo of this 'vintage family' - I just love the girl's hair - so cute!





There was stuff going on at each of the four train stations and swing dancing was taking place at Alresford - it really reignited my desire to go dancing again!  I did do a Beginners Jive course at the start of the year but did not continue into the intermediate class.  It is something that I really want to do in the future and I am just working on persuading my guy to go with me!



All in all a great day out was had!

Dress: Vintage (Etsy - Fab Gabs)

Bag: Vintage (Vintage to Vogue, Bath)

Shoes: Vintage (Clobber Vintage, Bournemouth)

Gloves: Vintage (Fab Vintage, Winchester)

Headscarf: Vintage (free with some dress purchase from Etsy)

Celluloid necklace: Vintage (Etsy)

Sunglasses: Topshop