Haworth 1940s Weekend 2012

I spent this weekend walking up and down very steep cobbled hills in the lovely Yorkshire village of Haworth, which was holding its annual 1940s weekend. The whole village is decked out in Union Jack bunting and sandbags, the residents decorate the outside of their homes and the charity shops bring out all the vintage treasures they have been stockpiling! Vintage cars, military vehicles and wartime reconstructions lined the streets providing plenty for us to look at.

I had organised a trip over for several ladies on the Saturday, and although they all enjoyed it and found some great vintage buys, it was very stressful. The crowds were enormous, it was like a city shopping street on Christmas eve, except worse because nobody was in a rush to be anywhere. My sister also had her daughter in a pram, and found it very difficult to get around. I didn't get a chance to take any pictures that day, because if I had stopped to extract the camera from my bag I would have been knocked over, and the scrums in the vintage shops were shocking, there were elbows and snatching hands everywhere!

Today (Sunday) was a far more leisurely affair, the village was still busy but the crowd seemed more courteous and far less jam-packed. I risked taking the dog with me, and despite an incident with an unfriendly Jack Russell and my poor Scamp getting exhausted from walking up and down hills (he is fifteen, after all) we had a good day, he didn't get stepped on by anybody and enjoyed a picnic in the park with us.

Here is what I wore today, my new jumper knitted by my mum from a 1940s pattern. You can buy this pattern from Bex at Subversive Lesbian Anarchic Femme, available here in her etsy shop, although my mum sized it up, made the sleeves in the rib rather than cherry motif as the cherries took forever to knit, and omitted the collar.

Here's another pic of the outfit, with some chaps dressed as members of the Home Guard. Why am I doing that with my face, you ask? Well, the guy on the left of the picture is squeezing my bottom. That's why. How rude!

 

This duo were playing on the bandstand in the park, she sang a lovely rendition of La Vie en Rose.

Now, onto the vintage purchases! There was so much to choose from. Haworth has two gorgeous permanent vintage shops, loaded with *actual* quality vintage and antique clothing and accessories, not the 80s tat that shops in the city pretend is vintage. There was also a vintage fair in the church hall, and several curio and charity shops in the village which were loaded with lovely items.

 

Lovely teal mini suitcase!

I have been looking for a small suitcase or train case for ages, to store bits and bobs in at home and for when I go away for a few days or to stay at my boyfriend's at Christmas. This one is in great condition and such a pretty colour!

The lining looks good too! Inside is a pair of fully fashioned stockings I got in one of the charity shops. They are Aristoc Harmony which are quite late (I'm guessing 60s?) but were apparently some of the best ones made prior to the hosiery industry's takeover by ghastly crepey brown tights in the 70s.

1930s Uranium glass dish and spoon from the hospice shop

Another piece for my uranium glass collection!

1950s folding coolie sun hat! This is a flat shape with a popper so it can be easily packed in a holiday bag, made from some sort of straw or string, which folds into a cute cone-shaped sun bonnet.

Babycham deer!

A Babycham plastic fawn! I have eight Babycham glasses and collect fawns too, so he fits in with two collections. This is about 6" high and cost just a few pounds due to the damage on his ear. I saw one of the 4" ones in worse condition priced at £35 in Manchester the other week.

WWII Navy Sweetheart Pin

WWII Navy sweetheart pin. This is about an inch high in total. It is pretty grubby but is made from enamelled silver, it just needs a good clean!

On the way home we were behind this tiny old car! The right wheel was rather wobbly, the window flapped open whenever they turned a corner and it could only manage 20mph due to the hills.

Here is the bad part about this weekend...

Arghhhh horrendous sunburn! It's just on my right forearm and there is a touch of it on the back of my neck, this happened during the ten minutes of bright sunshine we got during the day - time to break out te factor 50 sunscreen for every day, I think. So sore and itchy!

I have succumbed! Bakelite goodness.

I smell the beginnings of a new addiction... smells vaguely like formaldehyde. I had hoped never to fall prey to the dangerous craze that is collecting vintage bakelite bangles, but having seen the huge, beautiful collections of bloggers such as
Brittany and Holly, I decided that no respectable vintage jewellery collection could be complete without them!

Bakelite jewellery isn't something that pops up too often in the UK, and online prices are high, so this is a rare treat for me. My only other bakelite possessions are some buttons and buckles, and two adorable Scottie dog napkin rings which belonged to my grandmother.


This beauty is currently winging its way to me from Canada after Aerospace Boyfriend fought bravely for it on eBay. He details my triumph here on his blog, which contains many fine examples of why he should probably always listen to me.


My beloved Scotties... I love the colours and the little differences between them.

Birthdays, with beautiful things and added trepidation.

So, in nine days I will turn 26. I'm not really looking forward to it... it will signify the beginning of my 'late' twenties, the end of youth. The horror!


I am looking forward to the actual day though, my friend Fiona has kindly booked the day off work so we can spend the whole afternoon trawling the local charity shops, then in the evening Aerospace Boyfriend and I have a table booked at Bistro 1847, Manchester's swanky vegetarian and vegan restaurant where I went for a delectable meal just before Christmas with Miss Matilda, her fiancé and Old Fashioned Susie.

I was also thinking about having a party at home, but whereas I imagine my parties to look like this...


...the reality is it'd probably end like this...


...so I will probably just organise a trip to the Chinese buffet with a few friends like I do every year when I invariably leave my birthday plans to the last minute.


Mmm, buffet.

I've already received my presents from Aerospace boyfriend, look at my gorgeous little birthday chaps!


On the right is Herschel, I haven't got a name for the green and white fella yet.

So, onto the birthday dreaming... there's no way I'm getting any of these things, and I can't afford them myself, so do feel free to buy these things for yourselves to remove the temptation of my etsy watch list.

This vintage plus-sized stretchy knit dress from that purveyor of all things enviable Butch Wax Vintage... if her stock is that good, her personal wardrobe must be absolutely phenomenal!


I would team it with these chic 1950s black velvet or these delicious black satin stilettos (I want them both so much!), a mini beret and my black catseye sunglasses, then I would pretend to be a glamourous French spy, conducting lascivious affairs in order to extract top secret microfilms from the Russians.



Next something more cutesy... this rare pink lucite adorable swan brooch, and this useful vintage seahorses sweater guard, for holding cardigans oh-so-frivolously round the shoulders.



This one is sort of a necessity... I've now been going swimming (almost) every Wednesday evening for a year, swimming a mile each time, and my swimsuit is shot. It's a plain black tankini I got when I was eighteen but never wore, I took the tags off it last January and this January it is full of saggy, see-through patches where the chlorine has broken down the fibres. What I really want to replace it is one of these gorgeous swimsuits from For Luna, endorsed by the legendary MGM aqua-spectacular star Esther Williams whose engrossing autobiography I recently read.


The 'All For Eve' lipstick by Daniel sandler, which is vegan and supports research into women's cancers.


Miss L Fire Tahiti sandals, perfect for Summer, with a practical low wedge heel and in colours I actually wear!


These amazing Irregular Choice Chinese satin wedges... because you can never have enough glittery red shoes! Plus they fit in perfectly with my current Oriental obsession... I'd wear them with a devastating cheongsam and swan about covered in lotus blossoms.


Oh how I wish these adorable bastards were vegan, curse you Irregular Choice and your continued use of dead cow skins! I NEED red shoes with little plastic bluebirds all over them! Especially seeing as my feet have shrunk for no apparent reason, so I'm now a size five-ish instead of a six-ish.


My other big wish is a proper musical saw, I'm finding that I can make a lot of very exciting spooky noises on my vintage woodsaw, but it's proving impossible to coax a real tune from it. Aerospace boyfriend has a video on his phone to prove this... it features me doing a very tortured double-chinned violin face, and he insists on showing it to everybody.


...and that's about it for the things I desire but can't afford... that and everything on my Amazon wishlist.

Birthday shenanigans will no doubt be documented here in a couple of weeks, until then I shall continue to live in dread. Toodle pip!

New hair and vintage specs!

I finally got my hair cut! I've been wearing it covered up under a scarf for months, as one side was shoulder length and the other side was slowly growing out from where I shaved it, so once it reached about three inches I decided to go for the chop for Summer. Here it is! It's so short, I'm really not used to it.


I also found out a while back I need glasses for reading and computer work. The 1950s frames are from a US etsy seller, and I had them reglazed at www.specs-by-post.com who were the cheapest I found for lenses which included the anti-reflection coating I needed.

This is the picture I took to the hairdresser, the lovely Claudette Colbert, I had admired her hair ever since I saw 'Let's Make it Legal'.


I think what I came out with is actually quite a bit shorter on top, something more like this but even shorter:


Also, as a rule I never roll upwards at the sides when setting my hair, but the hairdresser did. I'm worried it looks a bit too Pat Benatar!


I've not needed to do anything with it yet, but I'll have a go at a different curling pattern tomorrow.

A Stash of 78s!

On Monday I had to go to Burnley for a dental check-up. I hate going there by bus - the only reason I usually go back there is to visit my mum and stepdad, when we go by car and I don't have to be exposed to the rest of the town. But - there is one upside. If you know where to look, there are cheap vintage gems to be had.


I got these 78RPM records from the open market. The stallholder had lots of old books, antique and vintage tools and product packaging, DVDs including some great old movies, and a selection of records. I first spotted this Little Richard record below - my favourite rock 'n' roll musician. I asked the price expecting it to be close to the £10 mark, and was told "two or three pounds each". Well, being the cheeky chapette that I am, I took away six of these beauties for my £10.


Look at the great 1950s graphic on the sleeve of this one! The sleeve doesn't match the record, it's a Columbia one whereas the record inside was produced by Mercury - but these sleeves were usually added by the record shop anyway as the discs were delivered in plain packaging. Most of the sleeves are from local Lancashire record shops in the 1950s, and I was told that these are often bought by collectors of local history who frame them and don't care about the record inside - I wasn't having that, these are going to be played and enjoyed.


The tracks are:

Fats Domino: Blueberry Hill/I Can't Go On
The Platters: You'll Never Never Know/It Isn't Right
Bill Haley: Rock Around The Clock/Thirteen Women
Bill Haley: R-O-C-K/The Saints Rock 'n' Roll
Little Richard: Lucille/Send Me Some Lovin'
Everly Brothers: All I Have To Do Is Dream/Claudette


This is a lovely old deco safe that resides in my dentist's waiting room. I love the little painted square pattern around the door.

Sewing Plans - 50s Blouse

A while back I got this printed cotton from the bargain bins at my usual fabric shop. It's a Robert Kaufman fabric, they make lots of retro inspired prints and I loved this atomic/tiki style. Unfortunately it was a one-off scrap which is only two metres long and has a one-way print, so not enough to make a dress from.


Instead I'm going to make a blouse - something lacking in my wardrobe and which I need to go with jeans and pencil skirts this Summer.


I love the winged collars and turn-back cuffs of these 1950s designs, and plan on making my design similar. Both of these pics are from Etsy, can't remember where.


If you fancy a cute retro blouse but don't want to make it yourself, Vivien of Holloway have a rather dashing design, as modelled here by the lovely Fleur De Guerre.


I shall be on the lookout for some cute (and cheap) vintage buttons too.

Fabulous Mid-Century Geisha Lamp!

I received some money from my Dad and our friend Paul for my birthday, and after some thought this is what I bought! I'd seen her in a shop in town years ago but could never afford her... well this weekend I went down there and snapped her up! Managed to haggle some money off too, I am cheeky.

So, without further ado, I present Anna May!


I think she's supposed to be a geisha but I'm not sure, as she's not wearing a proper kimono and could actually be Chinese rather than Japanese. She's the mid-century Western idea of an Asian woman... hence, I named her after the fabulous Anna May Wong... a stunning silent actress who due to her 'exotic' look and a hefty dose of typecasting played just about every Asian girl of the 1920s - 30s.




I've actually done a bit of work on her here. If you look closely at the centre of her right eyelid, you might be able to detect a slight change in texture - this was a chip in the paint of her eyeshadow and eyelashes which I've restored. I just used acrylics and am happy with the result.


Here's her light fitting... it's working and I really want a spectacular fibreglass shade I've seen on eBay which would look just like a parasol for her, but alas it's too expensive... I might make a shade or maybe just put on a small red tasseled one.


She's also missing a hand, which apparently is extremely common with this lamp, but having never seen another I don't know if it's true. I'm going to make a replica which will just slide into the hand-hole rather than being permanently affixed, and make her look complete. If anyone knows what her other hand is supposed to look like, please let me know!


This is the mark on her back - any info on a maker or date would be appreciated!