Not a knitter

So I said in my last post that I would show you what I got when I went op shopping the other week. 

I got this knitting booklet even though I can't knit (well not properly anyway) because I really like the cardigan in the bottom left. Maybe I'll have to learn to knit just so I can make a cardigan.

I bought this booklet for the pretty 1940's pictures. I love the dress on the left.

The nightie and peasant top on the back are great too. I don't really much care for the kid's clothes. The inside of the booklet just shows you how to smock so those pictures aren't that exciting.

This 1960's smock type top (which er...needs an iron) is not really in my colours but I like the style. It's homemade and has a wee metal zip at the back neck. I might take in the darts a bit because it's a little big.

This dress isn't from an op shop (I wish I could find things dresses like it in op shops). I got it from the Vintage Cupboard, a vintage store. The owner very generously gave me a discount because it had been in the shop for a while and it fitted me well.

I love the cornflower print.

Here's a sneak peek of a dress I just finished. This is the back neckline. I made my own bias binding to use around the neckline and armholes because I couldn't find a matching colour. The print looks black when you put navy blue near it but when you put black next to it, it looks navy blue. 

Recent Finds

I haven't been op shopping much lately but I managed to get in a quick fix one lunchtime a couple of weeks ago.

I found this old necklace with glass chillies on it.. I'm kind of a wimp when it comes to eating chilli so maybe it's false advertising to wear them around my neck, but I don't care because I really like it.

I also picked up a few patterns. I will probably never make the pattern on the right, but I couldn't not buy it.  

I didn't op shop this one, but it's too awesome not to share. I bought this 1940's jacket on Trademe for $5.50. It was described as a linen/cotton blend but it's wool (I'm not sure how you get those two confused). It had a few of what looked like rust stains when I got it and was pretty scungy. I washed it three times. The water turned brown and then dark purple, but it came out clean in the end. The stains are gone and it looks way better. Of course, I won't be able to wear it for ages because it's too hot but, in the meantime, I'll just stare lovingly at it and hope for cold weather.  

Sixties Stripes

I'm not really into Christmas shopping or Christmas sales, but I did make a point to go to my favourite Salvation Army's Christmas Sale last Friday evening. A sale at an op shop is my kind of sale. For $9.50 I got the dress and bangle I'm wearing below and two tops.

 The dress is modern but it looks really 60's. I took the hem up about an inch because the proportions just looked slightly wrong with it longer.  

Pockets!

Dress: Op shopped
Bangle: Op shopped
Tights: Kmart
Shoes: Op shopped

Op Shopping Finds

I haven't posted in ages because sometimes life just gets in the way. Anyway, here are some things I've bought at the op shop in the last couple of months.

This dress (which my mum actually bought me), was handed to me by someone in an op shop because they thought I looked like someone who was into 'retro stuff'. I certainly am, kind stranger.

I think it's from the 1940's or early 1950's, but the hem has probably been shortened at some point. It doesn't look much here but it fits perfectly.

As an added bonus, the wool that it's made of was from Salt's Mill which I visited when I was in England. It's cool to think that this dress that I found in an op shop in Christchurch was made 60-70 years ago with wool from a mill on the other side of the world that I visited this year.

My mum also found this. She actually showed it to me because she thought I would laugh at how ridiculous it is, but um...I thought it was cute. I got the last laugh, though. When I got home I looked it up online. It originally sold for $285. I paid $6.  

I bought this (probably) '70s makeup case because I use them to store things like gloves, scarves and hats in. I don't love the colour but the shape is nice.

This wool coat was from an op shop in Petone. I have a similar red one, but the green one fits much better. Since I took this photo I've taken off the fur collar and put another one on because the original collar did not feel nice at all.   

Shiny, shiny, shiny

It's been raining here in the last couple of days which means that I've finally been able to wear the red vinyl raincoat I bought at a charity shop in the UK. I took these pictures quickly during a break in the rain. 

Beret: Op shopped
Raincoat: Sue Ryder charity shop, Haworth
Dress (peeking out under the coat): Trademe
Shoes: Hunters and Collectors

The weird expression on my face is because I'm overcome with excitement about the pockets, obviously

P.S. I'm having a stall at Anissa Victoria's Vintage on Saturday from 12pm to 3pm at the Sandridge Hotel, 30 Huxley St.

Black and Gold

After my last post complaining about how expensive the op shops have become, here I am wearing one of my favourite op shopping finds ever; a 1950s/60s beaded, lambswool cardigan. I bought it about three years ago for $5. I found another one at the same time (they must have belonged to the same person) with black beading. Sadly, that one is too big for me, so I gave it to my mum.  

Sunglasses: My grandma gave them to me.
Vintage Dress: Oh La La Vintage in Haworth
Vintage Cardigan: Op shopped
Bakelite Bangles: Etsy and Ebay
Bag: Two Squirrels Vintage
Shoes: Hunters and Collectors

Recently op shopped

Op shopping has been pretty rubbish lately, or maybe I'm just becoming more discerning as it's becoming more expensive. I'm shocked by some of the outrageous prices I've seen in the last few months; $12 for a faded and stained 60s hat, $50 for a matted faux fur jacket, $2 for a zip (I can buy them new for less than that), $30 for a typical '80s dress that you could find a dozen of at any op shop. These aren't fancy, clean charity shops like I saw when I was in England, these are musty, junky op shops. Don't get me wrong,  junky ones are my favourite kind of op shop, but the reason I love them is because of the thrill of finding a bargain hidden under all the rubbish. Anyway, enough of my complaining, here's some relatively cheap stuff I op shopped recently. 

This blue pom pom hat is cute and it only cost $1.

This '60s sewing pattern also cost $1. The lady on the front has been partially beheaded, but is still keeping it classy with her gloves and handbag.

I know, I know, it's another blue hat. I was actually going to sell this at the vintage fair, but then I tried it on and really liked it. It was $2.

This vintage bag is my most expensive purchase. It cost $10. I didn't really want to pay that much, but it's really nice.

Petalhead

 This dress is one of the ones I bought when I was in England. It's homemade and has lots of lovely little details. It has bra holders on the shoulders. They are pieces of ribbon with snaps that fasten around your bra straps so they don't show. It also has two zips; one in the side and one at the back neck. I often forget to do the back one up because I'm not used to having two zips.

Dress: Saltaire Vintage Fair

Belt: Op shopped

Tights: K-mart

Shoes: Hunters and Collectors

Bag: Ménage a Trois Vintage

Headpiece: Op shopped

Cardigan: Op shopped

I love the bow and the bust gathers

 The vintage headpiece is one I op shopped recently for $2. It makes me feel a bit like a flower pot or something, but I like it.

A basket, a couple of bags, and a hat

I don't know why I look sad

It seems I am incapable of seeing any sort of cane, straw or wooden bag without buying it. I suppose it's not really a big problem when most of the six or so I have were under $10. My most recent purchase was this wooden clutch bag from the Sumner Street Fair last weekend. I think they were popular in the 70s. 

The only bad thing is that you can see what's inside it so I'll have to try and stop my usual practice of shoving receipts, tissues and other random rubbish into my bag.  

Vintage dress: Trademe
Belt/ribbon: Craft shop
Vintage shoes: Op shopped
Tights: Primark
Hat: Vintage store in Saltaire
Bag: Sumner Street Fair

Also from the Sumner Street Fair is this old hairdryer case. It still had the hairdryer inside but I've taken it out so I can use it as a bag. I don't know what I'm going to do with the hairdryer though. I already have two other 60s hairdryers because they come in such cool cases. I op shopped the hat sitting on top recently. I think I might have a hat buying problem as well.  

The colour is darker and nicer than in the photo

This basket was op shopped at the same time as the hat. I'll probably use it as a handbag because it's a really good shape.  It's sort of deep but not too big.

Lotsa Hats

Hats are one of those things that are slightly annoying to travel with. They take up quite a bit space and you have to be careful they don't get crushed. This did not stop me coming back from England with four new (old) hats. 

I should really have taken the plastic wrap  and tape off my hat block before I took photos

I bought this cocktail hat in a charity shop in Ilkley, (I think). I have no idea of its age but I think it's the 'youngest' of the ones I bought.

This juliet cap-type hat was from a vintage shop in Saltaire. It doesn't look like much here but I really love the way it looks on.

Front view

I got this one at the same vintage fair in Saltaire (yes, I bought lots of stuff in Saltaire), that I got the two dresses in my last post.

Side view

I love the bows at the sides.

My favourite is this black pillbox with the red top. My aunty got it for me for Christmas. It's from Circa Vintage in Harrogate which is a lovely shop.

Some things I bought

Here are some quick photos of some of the things that I bought in England. This isn't all of it. I also bought back four hats and some other stuff that I will put in another post.  

I bought this dress and the one below from the same seller at the Saltaire Vintage Fair. The Fair was in a hall, and even though they only had about half the number of stalls they were meant to because of the snow, they had lots of great stuff. Most things was reasonably priced as well.

The person who was selling these dresses had written the bust, waist and hip measurements on the price tag which was helpful because sometimes it can be hard to tell if something is worth trying on or not.

These vintage buttons, from a shop in Haworth, were the only sewing related thing that I bought the whole trip. I avoided going into fabric shops because my stash is pretty big already and I don't need to add to it. The sunglasses were from Primark for 50p. I feel guilty about getting stuff from Primark because I usually try and avoid buying new things.

I got this bag in the same charity shop in Haworth that I bought the raincoat below.  

This is a close-up of the raincoat that I was wearing in a photo in my last post. Before I left for England I actually made a raincoat from laminated cotton (I'll do a post about it eventually). I realised once I'd made it that it would be impractical to take because it's quite heavy and would get creased in my suitcase. Luckily, I found this one not long after I got to England. I've always wanted a red 60s style raincoat so it was perfect.

Green Day

So, I have returned from my six week holiday in England. I had a great time seeing my relatives, trying as many Quorn products as possible and going to almost every charity shop in North Yorkshire. Today I wore a dress that I bought in England. It was from a vintage shop in Haworth called Oh La La. They had some fabulous stuff but I only got one dress because I didn't want to buy too much too early in my trip.

Photo taken by my aunty

Here I am standing in front of Oh La La wearing a raincoat that I'd bought just minutes before at a Sue Ryder charity shop.

The raincoat came in handy because it rained and snowed quite a bit while I was there. It's been a bit of an adjustment going from the snow in England to the heat of summer here in New Zealand.

Dress: Oh La La
Cardigan: op shopped
Keds: op shopped
Socks: Columbine
Bag: op shopped
Sunglasses: Vintage shop

The bag and sunglasses are also from England. I bought the bag in a charity shop in Harrogate. I wasn't sure I would be able to bring it home because of it's size, but at £2 I had to get it. Luckily, I managed to fit it in. The sunglasses were from a vintage shop in Saltaire that I can't remember the name of.

Loose change buys a lot at the opportunity shop

Sometimes it pays to look through three boxes of awful 1980s and '90s patterns at the op shop because you come across these for 20 cents each.

This one is my favourite. I love the drapey bit at the side. I also like that the woman in the middle looks like she's gazing lovingly at the woman on the right and holding onto her dress.