Odds and ends

This post is a collection of recent random musings/observations/purchases that don't really justify an individual post so basically I've chucked them together here, like some kind of horrible junk-filled charity shop in a bad area- sift through at your leisure.

Spotted in This is England

So firstly, I was watching one of my favourite films the other night- This is England. I know a few people who dislike the film and feel it's overrated due to the amount of acclaim it's received; I however love it for what it is and the film's concept appealed to me from the moment I first heard about it.

I'm really interested in the skinhead subculture (the harmless kind of course) of the 60s, having grown-up listening to my Dad's extensive ska collection, so love the soundtrack in particular; not forgetting all things mise en scène too- the fashion, the northern 1980s council estate setting and general direction by Shane Meadows.

I was re-watching the film in anticipation of the upcoming drama series, This is England: -'86- following the group three years on.

Anyway let's get to the matter at hand- I'm now thinking I could've definitely justified an individual post for this! So I'm at the point where our main character Shaun goes off to a shop with his Mum to get himself a pair of iconic Dr Martins, and I suddenly got a pang of deja vu.

I'm sure there's an easier, more technically-advanced method of getting an image of this point in the film but being pretty dense, I thought taking a picture of the TV would be the best option!

Looking familiar? No? Let me cast your minds back to this post.

So yeah, this was a pretty obscure shop I found in Kendal, Cumbria not too long ago. Maybe This is England's one of their faves too! No Dr Martins in sight here; although some of the gear in the shop wouldn't have looked out of place on the set at Shaun's house.

Burgandy? I'll have a glass of red thanks!

Remember my questionably attractive burgandy shorts I crafted from some vintage deadstock jeans? (see here if not)  Well, well, imagine my surprise at the discovery that they are in fact not burgandy, oh no, they are wine.

Yes wine, one of the new must-have colours for A/W if you take notice of that sort of thing. I believe I said something along the lines of 'they might look alright come Autumn'- did I predict it or did I predict it ey? Yes okay, one might argue that I could have easily looked through photos for the A/W '10 runway shows by the time I wrote that post; however being a mere mortal (and having a slight tendency to be lazy), I don't have time to trawl through pictures as soon as they're posted online, I usually just wait for the all-important September issues to hit the shelves to find out what's going on.

Don't look too shabby in this new climate do they?

No comments on my appearance please, your author was very hungover and in desperate need of a good shower

 A mosey around Settle

Ahh the small North Yorkshire town I call home. You may have cottoned-on to the fact that I'm back up here for a few days.

Firstly, as I mentioned here, I decided to go check out my main local charity shop (Age Concern- not yet making the switch to Age UK in these parts!) in my quest for a fur coat.

Now, with no disrespect, my local Age Concern has a pretty ridiculous policy on fur/ faux fur coats- in my opinion anyway.

Basically, the upstairs of the shop is quite unusual. It's quite an extensive 'dressing-up' area, in which clothes and accessories can be hired for around a pound an item- to the best of my knowledge.

It's a truly amzing place to be. Genuine garments from every era conceivable; some pieces being very quirky and rare. Heaven you'd think? Absolutely not.

Why? Because you can't buy anything! The staff at the shop are so committed to stocking this area, that any unusual, vaguely old wearable items entering the shop go straight upstairs- never to see the light of day again (unless of course they're hired out, which isn't all that often).

Tis a tragedy of shakespearean proportions. Just my luck then that EVERY SINGLE fur coat making its way into the shop is considered 'fancy dress'. One of the volunteers looked baffled when I explained that I wasn't attending some pimps and hoes affair, I actually just rather wanted to buy one. "You mean for everyday wear?" she questioned. Believe it or not sister, people sometimes wear these things for reasons other than jest.

Anyway, the volunteers are relentlessy loyal to their policy of not selling anything from the 'fancy dress' section and I was told that the only way I could have a coat is if, by some miracle, there were any that hadn't made that final journey to the top of the stairs. PRAISE THE LORD! behold, three fur coats hadn't yet been exiled to the top room. Unfortunately they were ugly, too big, too long and brown- Miss Fox didn't approve. And so it was that I walked away empty handed.

I also visited the 'All sorts Market' held at the Victoria Hall. I was just passing and thought 'all sorts' might include some fabulous bargains for me- it didn't, and I left 50 pence out of pocket from the entrance fee, boo!

As I was nearby, I also popped accross to the small weekly car boot to see my lovely Gran who has a stall there every Saturday.

I came away with these cool earrings:

They were 50p-a-pair. The black ones are clip ons and the gold ones are studs. Excellent additions to my collection!

Happy Birthday Nanna!

To round off an utterly thilling morning, it was my Great Nanna's 90th birthday- I hope I'm still throwing parties at that age (not that I'm likely to get that far at the rate I'm going).

She showed me up by quaffing champagne whilst I stuck to the J20s- suffering from the night before!

Wow that actually turned out to be a rather long post ey? Still, I've decided to keep it all together; I haven't the heart to uproot the different little sections, not after they've bonded and got to know each other- that's unethical.

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!

Car boot loot

It came to my attention today that there's a mini car boot sale right under my nose in my small home town of Settle!

I had always known about it but for some reason, going along never really occurred to me. Perhaps something to do with the locals...

Anyway, so I popped along to have a quick nosey around and man, was I glad I did!

I got all of this swag for just £3!!!







Now, I realise that I bought a little gold watch only the other day- but for 50p you can't go wrong can you? New battery in it and it's running perfect.

The bulk of my treasure is made up of various clip-on earrings (which I seem to be wearing more than those for pierced ears nowadays). Some of these aren't perfect but they were so cheap I got them anyway- the huge ones in particular are a bit scuffed on the pearl centre.

I particularly like the little black ones with flowers on- slightly more subtle than the others (which wouldn't look out of place in Kim Woodburn's jewellery box).

The chain is goldplated and I reckon it will look good layered with various other gold necklaces.

I really fancied driving off to a bigger car boot tomorrow but alas, I'll be working all day- the pitfalls of being a skint student (oh to have rich parents...). C'est la vie!