Thursday 1 May 2014

The Festival of Vintage in York - when I go shopping crazy (by my standards)


This weekend I, with TheVintage News, made my way up to York from Brighton to cover the Festival of Vintage.  I'd been to the Epsom edition of FOV last year but sadly didn't have any money then so was unable to pick up any goodies.  This time however, I'd put a little money aside so I could splash some cash (in the end I spent less than £70 but I felt giddy with extravagance nonetheless!)

Rather than tell you about the event (you can watch the newsreel when it comes out for that) I thought I'd show you a few of the things I bought.
Oooh, what could they be?

As some vintage fairs (especially ones as large and well curated as FOV) can be quite overwhelming with the sheer amount of nice stuff on offer, I decided to give myself a list so I actually bought things I wanted!  My list consisted of: a dress to wear for my birthday night out (where I will also be judging a twist competition, you know, as you do), a handbag, a novelty brooch and some cream gloves.  As you can see below, I did pretty well!
From instagram, where all the photos live...

The main thing I wanted to find was a dress for me to wear for my birthday next month.  I found an amazing English-made suit by Meredith Couture (and originally sold at Alexandrine Couture in Nottingham - nice to get some vintage that's not from America!).  I think it's late 1940s or possibly early '50s but I'm not completely sure.  It's a velvet halterneck wiggle dress with a matching hip length jacket.  The burgundy velvet is complemented by some cream lace around the collar, pockets and the neckline of the dress.  From the same stall I got a cream beret which as luck would have it, matches perfectly with my new outfit...
 
I assure you my nails have gold tips and (for once) aren't chipped
 
I've been needing a new handbag for a while, I only have one and it's bright red so doesn't go with a great deal!  I found this gorgeous cream one from Raiders Vintage, I just love the shape - the crochet ties in nicely with the suit (I can see an outfit forming...)

I saw a (quite expensive and not really worth it) fan brooch earlier in the day and thought, 'wouldn't it be nice to have a fan brooch, considering I make fans'.  And lo and behold, I found this one which was even nicer.

As I was just as I was about to leave, I spotted a plastic box full of bullet bras (at Dreamdate) and was lucky enough to find a black Triumph beauty in my size.  I think it's probably '60s, Triumph changed to Triumph International in 1959 but I can't find out anything more about the exact model (Exquisit Plast. anyone?)

And just as an aside, after I'd interviewed the lovely Anastasia from V&OAK magazine, I was flicking through the latest copy and I saw not one but three pictures of one of my fans!  I painted it a few months ago for Naomi Thompson and Liz Tregenza's upcoming book (another in the hugely successful Style Me Vintage series) and had forgotten all about it so it was a lovely surprise to see it in print.
 

 It was lovely to meet some of you in York.  Who else was at the Festival of Vintage?  Did you pick up any bargains?

And a gratuitous shot of my mug

*I did a photo shoot today wearing most of my new purchases, I'll post a link as soon as they're ready!

No comments:

Post a Comment