Frock on Friday - Can't buy me Love

Woo, it's windy today. I'm meeting Mrs. H for lunch later, and then I'm on to an interview this afternoon, so that's all something to look forward to.


Shoes - Primark; Dress - Monsoon

Something odd has been happening to me over this past week. I set about a bit of a decluttering mission, and kind of had a bit of a Eureka! moment. You may remember earlier in the year I shared with you my extensive handbag collection? Well, I had all of the bags out (and yes I had added more since then) and as I was agonising over which ones I could bear to get rid of, I thought, what on earth am I doing? If I never bought another item for 10 years I would still have a constant supply of bags, shoes, dresses and so forth... and it's wrong! What on earth has driven me to waste so much money on all of these material possessions?

I wasn't brought up with this frivolous materialism I have to say, but when I got my first full time job I seemed to go mad, and now my idea of fun is shopping. I've totally missed the mark, and as I look around at all the things I have I wonder how many experiences it's all robbed me of? How many holidays have I missed out on because I didn't have the money? How many concert tickets could I not afford to buy? How many nights out have I had to decline because frankly I've spent all of my money on things. It's no way to live, and whilst I know I am going to find it so difficult to change the way I am, I do need to change.

In the end over half of these bags have ended up on the pile to be sold at this weekend's boot sale. Some of them have only been used once or twice, or even not at all... so why did I buy them? There's loads more on the boot sale pile too, and still there is yet more that will be finding its way to charity shops and car boot sales over coming weeks. Items I have worn once or not at all, things that have never been used and should never have been bought. Don't get me wrong I'll never get rid of everything, stop shopping at all, and never make any more clothes (or post more outfit shots)... that's just not me, but I need to remember that those aren't the important things in life. The things that make life rich are the experiences you enjoy, the life you live and the people who you love and who love you back.

*Don't forget to enter my blog giveaway, there's still a day left
** Hello to all of my new followers, I'll be stopping by your blogs just as soon as possible.

Inaugural Blog Giveaway

I always said that when I reached 100 followers I would do a blog giveaway, but me being me it's actually got to 127 followers before I've got around to doing it. Sorry.

So, I have a little stash of goodies here for one lucky winner.

• Vintage evening bag;
• Butterick sewing pattern from the 1960s (cut but all present)
• Jacqmar vintage floral scarf;
• Some thin brass bangles;
• A turned wooden pendant;
• A pretty glass gem vintage brooch.

In order to be in with a chance of winning you must do the following:

1. Be a follower of this blog
2. Leave me a comment in the comments section of this post and tell me one thing you like most about this blog, and one thing you like least about this blog? When I say one thing you like least, I mean constructive criticism not trolling, thanks!

The giveaway is open to you whatever country you live in, and will run until Saturday 30th June when I will put all names into a hat and draw one at random.

Good Luck.

Corsets and CanCans

Friday night we had bought tickets to go to the Corsets UK burlesque show in Leamington, with Mr and Mrs R, the Dr and Mr W and 'Kenneth' as Mrs R likes to call him. It was held at the Assembly, which is a lovely venue, once you've negotiated the many one way systems and car parks of Leamington that is.

Anyway, I wore 'that' green dress, my Irregular Choice shoes and a fascinator complete with little veil. Hubby looked particularly dapper in his vintage suit, I thought.

When we got there we were struck by two things about the whole set up, one was it seemed very professionally done. There were meeters and greeters, people to take your photograph as you went in, a free glass of champers on arrival, and spectacles such as fire eaters, stilt walkers and scantily clad fellas (these things are usually always about the scantily clad ladies, so it's nice to have some scantily clad fellas too). The second was that the audience had generally made a great effort in getting dressed up. I've commented before on how burlesque can be a real mixed bag and sometimes it's an audience full of jeans and T-shirts, but the majority of people had tried really hard this time, which is nice.

Anyway, the show didn't start until about 9ish, but from then on it was really fantastic professional performances, there were singers, pianists and of course dancers. Hubby's main criticism was that there wasn't any comedy (or actually any strip tease) but this was a tremendous dance show and for someone like me who loves musicals and costumes and the whole spectacular of it, I thought it was fabulous.


How cool does she look?

They ended the show with a modern take on the CanCan, which was great, and then the DJ set up ready for an evening of boogying. For us all though it was time to go home, but we'd had a really good night out... and I'd got to wear that green dress too.

Can Can

 **excuse the quality of some of the photographs, the conditions were dark.

Chocolate, Chocolate Everywhere

Yesterday was a truly fabulous day. For Christmas our very good friends Mr. and Mrs G bought us all a voucher to go to Somersby chocolates, in Nottingham, for a introductory chocolate making workshop. We're all chocolate lovers, and really what could be better than learning how to make our own?

So, yesterday morning we drove up to Nottingham, meeting Mr and Mrs G up there, excited for our morning of playing with chocolate. The course was great fun, first we learned how to make fantastic molded chocolates with quirky designs and transfers on them. Me and Mrs. G were very precise with our designs making beautifully artistic creations.


My chocolates



Me making my molded chocolates

The chaps made what they described as functional chocolate lol. I'm only kidding, all of our chocolates were fab. and while they were chilling, we made smaller chocolates with flavoured oils and spices. It really did excite me, and I left the workshop clutching not only the chocolates I had made, but a chocolate making starter kit. I think these home made chocolates would make fantastic gifts for people. I have a couple of birthday's coming up, so who knows?

Hubby's chocolates

Anyway, after the workshop, hubby and I bid Mr and Mrs G adieu and set off into Nottingham town centre. The last time I was there was in 2009 at my graduation, it hadn't changed a great deal although a couple of my old haunts (vintage shops) were closed down, which was ashame. 

Shoes - South (via eBay), Bag - Vintage; Dress - Vintage 1940s

We had a lovely lunch in Franky and Benny's and then took a meander around town, before heading back to Coventry with our booty of chocolates.


Lunch in F&Bs

It was a really fantastic day out, and I can't wait to put my chocolate making kit to use.

Frumpy to Fabulous in Under an Hour

Do you remember this suede skirt?

boots - debenhams, skirt - ebay, shirt - Hamnett (was hubby's), vest - H&M,
Sunglasses - Givenchy

You probably don't because the last time you saw it, it looked like this.


Same boots, same skirt, different skirt

The thing was, it didn't feel fabulous, in fact the length and weight of all that suede made me feel really frumpy. The skirt was tossed into the eBay pile, which was where I had previously scored it from for about £2. Anyway, the other night I decided I still wanted it, but I wanted it much shorter. I measured it up to the length I wanted, and simply cut through the suede and the lining. Suede doesn't need finishing off and the lining I cheekily hemmed with some wonderwebbing which I found in the bottom of my sewing box, the whole transformation took me less than an hour.

Now, it's fabulous, don't you think? I couldn't wait to wear it out with a bit of cowgirl denim and suede vibe, it was perfect for yesterday's hot weather, and I paired it with this necklace which I got from Godiva festival a few years back, and which is far too underworn.


Necklace from Godiva Festival

I'm definitely pleased that I opted to hack this skirt up, rather than sell it on. Now, what to do with all that spare suede.

Holy Wall

Sometime ago, so long in fact that I can't remember where or when it was, we visited an antique/ vintage homewares shop that had a fantastic display of Christian paraphernalia on the wall. Since I do have some Christian pictures and other items like crosses, fonts and icons I was inspired to do something similar. I already have the 'wall of black and white family photographs' and the 'wall of mirrors' but I was struggling to spot a suitable space for my Holy Wall.

Then it hit me, above our stairs is this fairly uninspiring bit of wall, housing only a crucifix that I bought from a church sale for about 20p about 20 years ago (even as a 10 year old I had an eye for a bargain), and two fabulous religious drawings by hubby.


That's the wall of black and white photos reflected in the picture



So far, I've added another couple of items that are in my house, but from now on I'll be keeping my eyes open for nice Christian pictures and artefacts to adorn the Holy Wall.

I suppose it's not unlike Vix's fabulous wall of random. So when I've got some more bits on it, I shall show you again.

Rain, Rain go away

So I know, I start the majority of my blog posts with some sort of commentary on the weather, but once upon a time I dreamed of studying Meteorology and becoming a storm chaser, so I won't apologise for my obsession with the weather.


Rain showers at Leamington Peace Festival

 Anyway, I digress, the weather has been particularly dreadful this weekend. Saturday was appalling, so aside from visiting rellies I was resigned to a day spent listing things for sale on eBay... got to start getting some holiday pennies together.

Sunday was marginally better, we managed to get out early, taking the dogs to a car boot sale. It was okay, but I suspect the weather had dissuaded a fair few of the traders. Despite that I still managed to get a few bits including some vintage evening bags for 50p each and a fabulous stash of bangles.


Vintage scarf - 20p, vintage evening bags 50p each, ladybird brooch £1,
Hair clippers (for pru) £2, floral blouse £1.50, bangles 10p each

 Later in the afternoon we took a quick jaunt to Leamington Peace Festival, which was very muddy. I've had requests for bigger pictures, I hope my looming mush isn't too much for you in extra large size. 


Boots - Doc Martens, Jeggings - Primark; Blondie t-shirt - House of the Gods
Bag - Jones the Bootmaker, Leather Jacket - Gift, Vintage scarf - DVF via ebay;
Hat - Royal Navy

 I found some bargain compacts to add to my collection, a fabulous spring loaded lipview, a new belt and a fab 1970s maxi dress/ Kaftan which has something of the Demis Roussos about it. 


Maxi dress - £4.99, lipview - £3, Belt - £1, 2 compacts - £4 each

 We managed a quick catch up with a bewellingtoned Roisin and Nic before dashing off to get home having narrowly managed to dodge the rain in various tents. It's such a shame, it's usually so hot for the festival that I've even had sunstroke before, and it certainly makes the difference.
The rest of the day was spent chilled, enjoying roast dinner, c'est cidre and fixing one of the vintage dresses I bought last weekend. I have a few exciting things to look forward to this week, as well as a few jobs to apply for, I hope you've all got fun weeks ahead too.

You'll need a bigger boat

What a funny old day it was yesterday. One minute sunny, the next teaming with rain. The one constant was the driving wind, which meant despite the odd sunny patch, I still took my outfit shots inside for fear of being blown away. So, this was what I wore to go see Jaws, which was fab on the big screen.


Boots - Office sale, Tights - CK, Suit - Joules (gift);
Blouse - Principles via charity shop

I love this suit, but often forget about it, which is ashame because it's perfect for this sort of meh! weather. The only problem is, I've broken the catch on the skirt, and I can't figure out how to fix it, so for the time being I'm improvising with a pin.

Talking of pins, I have a couple of these Tara brooches. This isn't my oldest one, this was a gift from someone years ago when they went to Ireland, but I have a fabulous one with Connemara marble in that was my Mum's when she was a little girl doing Irish dancing.

I think I've wore those boots once since I bought them, much to hubby's dismay. I think he's waiting for me to do what I usually do with some shoes, admit defeat and sell them on eBay, but they're too beautiful to part with. I think my problem is two-fold. The enourmous heel (despite which they are pretty comfy) and I just don't know what to wear them with really. What would you wear them with?

Frock (and a fella) on Friday

The last time I wore this 60s style minidress was to fly to Dublin, and that holiday was so busy that I didn't get a photograph of it.

Boots - Debenhams; Leggings - Next; Dress - gift;
Bag - Paul's Boutique (gift); Leather Jacket - Gift; Breton cap - Royal Navy

So, when I wore it recently to go for a wander around Stratford-Upon-Avon I was determined to get a photo for you guys, see I think about you. The print, which you can't really see, is hundreds of little Matryoshka dolls.

Of course, hubby wanted to get in on the act, so you have a bonus fella on Friday today... he's working his 1970s 'Persuaders' look... which I have to say I really like, what do you think?

We're off to the pictures tonight to see the digitally remastered Jaws, and then I don't really have any huge plans for the weekend. We'll just see where the feeling takes us I think. Have a great weekend. I'll leave you with the original 1975 trailer for Jaws... watch it before you go swimming.

Wanderlust

It's so easy sometimes to look at other people's lives and to compare them with your own. I think too, that if you read lots of blogs there is a real temptation to look longingly at other people's homes/ wardrobes/ social lives etc etc.

My particular weakness of late is travel. I keep reading about other people's fabulous jaunts all over the world to India, Florida, France, Peru and so on, and wishing I could win the lottery and plan that round the world trip. Whilst looking through some photo albums though, I realised that actually it's really wrong for me to feel like this, what I should be doing is remembering the tremendous places that I HAVE been to.

Anyone who is a regular follower of my blog knows full well how much I love to get around the UK on holiday's and daytrips. I think we have a really rich landscape and I love to see what's on offer. I do like a jaunt into Europe every now and again though too.


L-R; Lake District, Stonehenge, Whitstable, London, Portsmouth, Lyme Regis

My first ever trip abroad was to Paris with my Mum. I was still at uni, and instantly fell in love with the place. I don't know if that was genuinely because of its beauty, or because it was my first foreign holiday. Either way, I still count Paris amongst my favourite cities... it's a cliche, but I don't care. 

Photo from Paris, pre digital camera

Once I'd started working it was time for a weekend appreciating the astounding architecture of Barcelona.



I wore those pirate boots until they literally fell apart



It wasn't too many years beyond that, in 2007, when hubby was whisking me back off to Paris, where we got engaged.

Then, about a month later I was off to Italy where I took in the sights of Pisa, Florence and the Tuscan countryside. It was July and Italy was experiencing a heatwave, as soon as you moved you were covered in sweat and I'll never forget it, it was the hottest place I've been in my life.

That same year (yes that was a busy year) hubby and I were off to Germany where we stayed in Cologne and also visited Bonn and Dusseldorf.


Cologne Cathdral

After a big gap in international travel, we returned to Germany last year on our epic road trip to Munich for Oktoberfest.

My 30th Birthday in Munich

Most recently we enjoyed a fabulous weekend in Dublin visiting relatives and seeing the sights.

So, okay, it's not like I've travelled far and wide, but I've probably been to more places in this country than your average man in the street, and I've also been blessed to have visited some beautiful other countries too. Some people may never have had the opportunity to do that in their whole life time. There aren't any amazing foreign holidays on the agenda, but I'm sure that when the country emerges from the grips of recession and I actually get a job again that these things will be within reach again. In the meantime, I have my many happy holiday memories to keep me going.

Hear my song.

This weekend is what I would describe as a total mish mash. We had plans, but they were somewhat sporadic, but despite that I've found it pretty enjoyable.

Friday I took it in my head that I would finally get around to using the candle ends I've been saving in a tin, and a cup and saucer which I had in my cupboard in order to make a tea cup candle. I had to nip out to hobby craft and get some wick and wick holders, which were surprisingly cheap, and apart from that I had everything in the house I needed to make it. I was so pleased with how it turned out, although somewhat surprised at how much wax it takes to make one candle.

That evening we were going to my Mum's for a DVD night to celebrate her birthday. I brought the candle with me as an additional pressy, and she was really pleased with it. We watched a film called 'Hear my Song' about an Irish tenor called Joseph Locke. It was a fabulous film, we all loved it, and loved all the apple pie we scoffed too.

Saturday I opted for a potter around town, mostly to look at the charity shops. In general they were pretty dire, however I did find a glorious navy polka dot Nicole Farhi silk scarf for a piffling £1.49... so at least I didn't go home empty handed. Oh, and I also found hubby a pair of 1970s cufflinks.


Detail on 1940s dress; 1940s dress £10; 1950s lace dress £10; Nicole Farhi Scarf £1.49
Zodiac Scarf £1; Welsh Tweed 1960s dress £10

 Today has probably been the most busy day of the whole weekend. We had to go to Cardiff to pick up step-daughter, having finished her first year of uni. Of course, we had to have a wander around the town centre, given we won't be there for maybe another 3 months, and to my joy my usual vintage haunt was having a mega sale. There was a £10 sale rail where I managed to bag an original 1940s crepe dress, a 1950s homemade lace dress and a 1960s Welsh tweed dress (you know I love the welsh tweed), I also got a fab zodiac scarf for £1 (excuse the photos, this is all straight out of the bag, creases and all).

Boots - Debenhams; Tights - Calvin Klein; Dress - Jasper Conran;
Bag - Paul's Boutique; Jacket - Vintage (part of suit)

After a lovely meal, it was time to fill the car up (and full it was) with all of step-daughters belongings and head on home. So all in all, a fairly laid back, but very fun weekend. I'll leave you with a clip of Ned Beatty as Josef Locke to play in your week.

It is with regret....

Folks, I have decided to close down the website http://www.bebopaloulouvintage.com/

Over 2 months ago I proudly built the website from scratch, and launched it 2 months ago. I was really pleased with the google analytics results, the invites to trade at the Clothes Show and via ASOS Marketplace, but the truth is that the website is just not profitable.

I don't know, perhaps this time of terrible recession wasn't the most ideal to launch such a venture. I've always been serious about returning to salaried work though, and I expected that once I'd launched the website it would kind of look after itself while I concentrated on looking for a job that pays the bills. That's just not the case though, there are loads of items that I just can't find the time to upload because it's just so time consuming, and it's hardly fair to expect hubby to given he has a full time job anyway. It's not just the website, it's the marketing and everything else that's involved, and as any fan of the apprentice will know, it's prudent business practice to recognise when something isn't paying off and let it go. That time has come, and I really don't want to invest any more time in it when I really really need to double my efforts on finding gainful employment again.

I've learned so much just in setting it up, not least that I can turn my hand to anything, including building a website, which I had never done before and that I'm not easily phased by mammoth tasks. As with everything in life, I look on this as a learning experience and have pride in myself that I made it happen. I also thank all of you readers, twitter followers and the tremendously supportive network of friends and family that I have because you were all great, and believed in me too.

You can always look on the bright side with this, it's the end of the BeBopaLouLou blog posts... although not the end of my love affair with all things vintage. I'm working on closing down the website, so will hopefully have that all in the bag by the end of the week, and the facebook and twitter accounts shortly thereafter.

My view is that it's better to have tried this than to have forever wondered, what if?

A day out in Lincoln

*Picture heavy post*

Well folks, I hope you all had a fun Jubilee and the bank holidays that went with it. Hubby is off work this week, so we'll be doing some fun, relaxing and nice things. I had some fillings today, which wasn't so fun or nice, but yesterday we had a lovely day out at Lincoln. Since the weather was changeable I went for a 60s look in one of the dresses I bought in Dublin.


Shoes - Clarks outlet; Tights - Primark; Dress - Vintage;
Bag - Paul's Boutique (gift); Sunglasses - Foster Grants

 Being interested in all things architecture, I've long wanted to see Lincoln Cathedral. To be honest, I'm not sure why we hadn't been before because it took us much less than 2 hours to get there... although there was very little traffic on the road and I'm sure that helped. When we did arrive, it wasn't sunny, but it wasn't raining either, and from the car park we parked up in you could see the towers of the cathedral, and they were certainly awe inspiring.

We arrived shortly after 11am, and were a bit disappointed to find the majority of shops on the first street closed, including what looked like a pretty good vintage shop. Nonetheless, we made our way to cathedral, and into the grounds. It was phenomenal with the beautiful carvings and stained glass windows.

Hubby in the grounds



Inside



In the grounds there was a horse drawn carriage which you could take a ride around Lincoln on, and the most beautiful houses which lay directly opposite the cathedral. I wonder at what price that view comes.


Opposite the cathedral



After we'd stopped at one of the many tea rooms in the courtyard, we made our way down a winding cobbled road that was filled with independent boutiques selling everything from handbags to matryoshka dolls. It was fabulous, and there was a beautiful set of matryoshkas that I regret not buying.

Further along there was the steepest road I've ever seen in my life, aptly called 'steep hill' again it was cobbled, and lined with fabulous independent stores. Mostly they were closed, again another vintage shop that we had to peer through the windows of, but there was one little antiques shop at the bottom of the incline that was like a treasure trove and was open. We bought so many little bits there, including a new cocktail tray with the queen on, and a 1953 Coronation utility knife. I can't use it because it's so rusted up, but I bought it for display because I like it. If anyone knows how I can clean the rust off it?

We carried on into the main town where we found lots of charity shops, some vintage shops, and my personal favourite, a house clearance shop. Between them all I bagged a fab lizard brooch, a Holland scarf and some lovely blue beads. We also bought a Parson Russell Terrier ornament that reminds us of Alfie. He's now in the cabinet with our Airedale ornaments that remind us of Pru.

Town centre

After grabbing something nice to eat, and having a very cursory glance around the rest of the town it was time to make our way back to the car (and back up steep hill). Lincoln is a much bigger city than we had realised, and I think we only scratched the surface of what's there, so we most definitely want a revisit at some time in the not too distant future, and hopefully when the vintage shops are open. I can't believe we haven't been there before.

Canal in the town centre

We arrived home completely exhausted, but having had a wonderful day out.