Part two

In my last post, I mentioned that I'd continued my charity shopping day onto Skipton- here's the buys!

(Slowly beginning to catch up with these posts now)

I'd been on the lookout for a tartan scarf for a while, and managed to get this checked one (not quite the style I was after, but I like it) at the Cancer Research shop for £2.50.

The little gold rose brooch was about 75p, I think, and is from the Martin House Children's Hospice shop, where I also got this book:

I'm still at a loss as to why I bought it; I can't, and have never attempted to knit, EVER.

I think my love for anything brash and 80s, ridiculous jumpers in particular, might've influenced the decision. 

To be fair, I would like to learn to knit; bit late for a New Year's resolution though, maybe next year.

I also picked up this great cardigan which has fast become one of my favourites.

 

I actually saw this in the window whilst the shop was closed over Christmas, was so chuffed it was still there.

The decorative bit on one of the batwing sleeves is quite unusual, with little applique flowers, beads and pearls sewn on.

And I can't tell you how soft it is; in the window I thought it was mohair, but it is in fact angora and lambswool- so cosy! It was only £3 too.

More posts to come, lots of new stuff!

Foxy

x

I'd forget my head if it wasn't attached to my neck...

As I've been talking about for a while, I was going to party over the weekend- or so I thought.

Yes, the bash I was so looking forward to wasn't on; why? Horrific weather? A tragic accident? Nope, I'd got the bloody date wrong.

Turns out it's happening this coming Saturday; not sure how I missed that after reading the invitation at least five times.

Luckily, it seems an angel from work has agreed to save my life and cover my shift this week, so my little mistake should be rectified.

Seeing as I had advance train tickets that couldn't be refunded I thought I may as well have a nice little weekend in Yorkshire.

There wasn't much going on (just for a change), but a quick look at the local rag revealed that there was some music fair on at the nearby town we'd planned on visiting.

So off me and the boyf popped to Skipton.

We wandered into the town hall aimlessly, strolling past the admissions desk without paying (sorry, genuinely didn't see it). I enjoyed the fact that there was a 'student' price for admission, even though there's probably no more than ten in the area.

There was a lot of vinyl at great prices. There were boxfulls of records for just 50p!

I picked up these two Blondie 7" singles for just £1 each.

Backs of the singles. This one has 'Die Young Stay Pretty' as the B side- one of my faves!

Shamefully, I don't have a record player (not in use anyway) but I bought them mainly for the sleeves- and of course the fact that I love Blondie!

I thought they might be nice to frame; though I wasn't very impressed that the Atomic single had been written on!

I of course found the time to have a quick nosey in a charity shop, just after my cinnamon latte at the new Costa ( a bit of a sore point with some locals!).

I was lucky enough to pick up this amazing gold picture frame from the St. Martin's Children's hospice shop for a mere £2!

It came with this embroidered, rather grand looking French chap, who I initally thought was old Willy Shakespeare before my fella quickly dismissed my suggestion- shows what I know!

I don't know how I'm going to get him out though, as the frame is held together with nails! Which I didn't notice in the shop.

Wholly bargainous though, as peeling back the price sticker revealed that the frame was initially on sale there for £10. The frame is really great quality too- the label on the back shows that it originally came from a bygone local picture framing shop.

I plan on framing my new (but old) French fashion magazine. Though the frame's a little big for it.

I might do what I did with this other charity-shopped frame which was too big for its intended photo.

I think it really adds character to this otherwise dull picture of me and the fella in formal attire! I used some gorgeous textured wrapping paper from Paperchase, which was expensive at £2 a sheet, but I had some left over.

Chris, who hates charity shopping with me, was chuffed to pick up a working 1998 Nintendo Gameboy Colour with a game for £5 in the St. Martin's Childrens' Hospice shop too; it certainly kept him quiet on the train for a bit!

Charity shop crawl

On Friday (would’ve posted then but absence of my camera prevented this) I ventured out to my local town of Skipton for a heavy session of charity shopping.

Skipton is hardly the Northern capital of style, although it was once crowned ‘Britain’s Best High Street’ (the how and why evade me), but it is however the mecca of charity shopping.

Okay, okay I may be exaggerating ever so slightly, but for such a small town it really does pack in its fair share of charity shops- I found about eight!

Navigating ones way around this maze of infinite treasure troves was a task I wouldn’t have wished upon Christopher Columbus; I, however, managed to hit them all (I think) before my 2 hour short stay car parking expired- score.

I might further explain that while 2 hours is rather a long time, the sheer amount of rooting, searching, rummaging, scanning etc. required in this activity is extensive; plus I needed to get a new mascara and the time I chose to pop into Rackhams (that’s House of Fraser to me and you) happened to be the time that the bloody fire alarm decided to go off and I was kicked out for a good 15 minutes whilst the staff and fire brigade created a suitable farce.

So, back to the matter at hand; I started out at what appeared to be a new addition to Skipton’s charity shop repertoire- Greyhound Rescue. This shop is fairly small but has some good quality bits and bobs in stock.

I spotted a necklace and clip-on earring set which I loved for £3.50. The set is gold with what can be described as peach-coloured droplets attached. These are pictured with a belt below.

Next, I visited Scope- one of Skipton’s larger charity shops. It is here that I made my favourite purchases of the day. The first item which caught my eye was these vintage Levi orange tab jeans.





They’re a perfect fit, a high 28 inch waist and just what I’ve been looking for to cut into shorts for my upcoming holiday; although it almost seems a shame to dismember them. For only £5, I don’t mind so much.

I’m not sure how old these are. Orange tabs were introduced in the sixties but they definitely aren’t as old as that! The care label doesn’t mention shrinking either which was typical of the older ‘shrink to fit’ styles. They are 891’s and the care label reads ‘891 0216’ then ‘367540 0598’ if anyone has an idea of the age please let me know!

I also bought these great vintage sunglasses for only £1.50- They came in handy too because it was a scorcher outside and I’d forgotten mine!





Another new (I think) charity shop I found was the Martin House Children’s Hospice which is on the high street.

I thought this one was great for household bits, the upstairs area is large and holds a wealth of kitchen and other household goods as well as larger pieces of furniture, mirrors, large picture frames etc. The menswear section is also upstairs.

Nothing really took my fancy, other than this navy, white and gold belt, pictured with the necklace and earring set I mentioned previously. The belt was £3 which isn't bad considering that it's leather.





Other shops I visited were Sense, Oxfam, British Heart Foundation and not one, but TWO Age UK shops!

If it’s vintage jewellery you’re after (and if you’re in the area of course) then I found Scope and Martin House Children’s Hospice to have very well stocked desk cabinets- don’t be afraid to ask them to unlock it so you can have a good look!

Martin House Children’s Hospice and Sense were good on household bits and bobs. Sense in particular had two very old cameras which I was tempted to buy but I doubt I’d have use for them! I’m sure someone into photography would find them interesting though.

Vintage clothes seem to take a fair bit of digging out in any charity shop. Increasingly I’m finding that they’re overstocked with cheap, mass-produced modern clothes from brands such as Primark and George.

Note to the volunteers- we love the old stuff, bring it out to the shop floor!

Bargain hunting in Yorkshire

Okay, so I bought some vintage shoes merely days ago, but I couldn’t resist these...


I found these whilst doing a spot of charity shop trawling round my ends (Skipton, North Yorkshire), while I was around for the Easter holidays.

Skipton, whilst dire in almost every other sense, is brilliant for picking up a bargain. I spotted 7 charity shops today, and that was just in the immediate town centre!

The trouble I find with charity shops nowadays is that they are filled with modern throwaway fashion.

Where once there were many treasures to be uncovered from old relatives’ wardrobes, they are now stuffed with last year’s George and Primark junk.

However, whilst sifting through accessories in Help the Aged, I came across the red shoes. They are St. Michael (Marks and Spencer) and although I’m unsure of their age, they have a very distinctive vintage shape- both the curve of the foot hole and the short chunky heel.


They also have the typically narrow styling of a vintage shoe; though amazingly comfortable!

The leather is soft and in good condition. The heels and soles are immaculate; they look as if they’ve only been worn once.

Red is also probably my favourite colour and I’ve been on the lookout for some nice new additions to my shoe collection- so I was chuffed (especially for £2.99!)

I also picked up this cute floral scarf from The British Heart Foundation charity shop for £1.75.

It’s made from a silky material- unfortunately not the real deal (polyester according to the label) but nonetheless very soft!
Printed on the scarf is its designer’s name- Franco Laurenti. Not knowing anything about this designer, I did some quick internet research.

I found that he is an Italian designer and all I could find from him were scarves- so I guess he’s an expert! All the scarves I could find for sale were either listed on ebay (as vintage in most cases) and on specialist vintage websites.

The scarf smells a bit funky in its current state but this will be remedied with a quick wash or failing that, some Febreeze!