New Old Clothes & Some Cat Chat

 

Welcome to my ever-evolving wardrobe! I love how it changes on a near-weekly basis. I've sold a huge amount of my clothes over the last few months so there's plenty of room for everything to fit into my wardrobe and, as the vast majority of them are cotton, I can wear them all year-round & don't need to do the seasonal swap-over like so many of my friends.

Here's what I've worn over the last week incorporating some new-to-me, recently acquired goodies.

This Indian cotton, block printed "Athena" blouse by high end label, M.A.B.E, was a 2024 Vinted buy, I made the skirt using a vintage Indian bedspread on my sewing day with Liz last week (see it HERE) and the vintage Moroccan belt was a £3 Vinted find. Well, a friend spotted it, alerted me via a WhatsApp message and I snaffled it seconds later. 

I made this maxi-length waistcoat last year using a 1971 dressmaking pattern and a pair of 1970s Morris & Co. Golden Lily curtains bought from a local charity shop (my choker was made with the leftovers). 

The vintage Ayesha Davar cheesecloth maxi dress had been in my wardrobe for years and was recently restored to her former glory by Jon & his dyeing skills. 

The dusky pink Indian handloomed cotton wraparound top is another recent Vinted find. One of my festival trading neighbours was selling these for £45 last Summer, this was £5.

 This 1969 Chelsea Girl cheesecloth dress has been in my wardrobe for years and has always been too long and too big - last week I washed it (possibly for the first time, I'm such a slattern) and now it's the right size and length. I know it's from 1969 as I was wearing it when I bumped into a lady who'd owned the same dress in her youth!

This reversible cotton kantha jacket was a charity shop find last week for £4.50. Kantha, if you're not familiar with the term, is an embroidery craft from the eastern region of India and consists of old clothes stacked on top of each other and hand-stitched to make a single piece of fabric. Recycling at its most stylish!

There's pockets on either side with wooden toggles on the printed side and coconut shell buttons on the plain side. In India you can pick these jackets up from chi-chi boutiques for around £50 but if you buy them from the likes of Toast or the V&A you can pay up to £400! 

This All About Audrey kaftan is so useful, it screws up to almost nothing, is relatively crease-free & has no fiddly fastenings making it perfect for wearing down to the swimming baths for my twice-weekly swim. Did I mention that we're using the big pool as well as the brine pool now? It's so much quieter in there enabling me to swim a mile in under 40 minutes - it takes me the same amount of time to swim 3/4 mile in the other pool (a combination of chatting to my mates and dodging the width swimmers!)

Stamped ROAM, I can't find anything out about this silver necklace made from what looks like replica Ancient Greek or Roman coins so it's likely a tourist souvenir. It was £3 from a charity shop last week. 

Quick, my friend & fellow blogger, Annie messaged me last week, there's a Naked Generation dress on Vinted for £12....seconds later and it was mine! I loved this since I spotted it on their website back in 2022 but couldn't justify the £175 price tag. Thanks, Annie!! 

As you'd expect from NG, the quality is fabulous. Three people stopped to admire it when I wore it at the weekend.

Remember the whopper of a crystal ring I bought for £1.50 last week? Well, this rather fab ring in the foreground of the photo was from the same charity shop (at the same price), no maker's marks on this one but it's another huge lump that fits my massive hands so I imagine it was donated by the same stylish person. 

Nothing new here, you've seen my All About Audrey cotton wraparound skirt and my vintage Ayesha Davar cheesecloth blouse before but....

Did you notice my eyewear? I've bought another couple of pairs of prescription sunglasses from Specsavers. I used to have them just for reading in the summer but with varifocal lenses I can wear them all the time without tripping over my own feet and with the graduated lenses on the square pair, I can wear them indoors without looking like I've had a heavy night. They weren't cheap but with my weird eye issues & crap eyesight they really are a game changer. 

Cat update!!! I always feel like somebody's watching me...I texted Jon last week. (Sorry about the Rockford earworm).

Yes, Gordon's still visiting us.

I was reading a comment from Louise in the Midlands asking if William's brother had moved in yet when I looked up and saw him sitting in the hallway. He's getting braver by the day.

When I come downstairs at 6am he's camped out on the windowsill waiting for his breakfast. He and William trill at each other (the chirrup cats use to communicate with each other in a friendly way) and over the last couple of days he's started miaowing at Jon & me. 

William's totally chilled about it all. He's like his mother, give us a bit of sunshine and we're happy.

 

Power Paws!! 

They're even hanging out together in Jacob's pen. 

It's our Never Had A Wedding Anniversary tomorrow, 33 years of unmarried bliss! I'm not sure there'll be much celebrating, after our early morning swim I'm off to the dentist for a root canal...wish me luck!

See you soon.