I live in vintage ’80s jumpers at this time of year, and this pink and black one – picked up at a vintage fair in late 2017 – is still one of my favourites.
This year, I’ve been wearing it with my Christmas loungewear from Lucy Locket Loves, because it really picks up the bright pink stars in the pattern. Wide trousers are not super ’80s so I tuck them into slouch boots if I want to look period appropriate!
Today’s earworm playlist:
Blondie – ‘Hanging On The Telephone’
Wham! – ‘Last Christmas’
A slight diversion on a usual running route today…
…which made it a three-mile-plus run. Always good to get the extra distance in.
I’ve been feeling like my personal fashion style has changed again recently. When I reached my target weight in 2018 and had to buy a whole new wardrobe as a result, I went for a mixture of timeless investment pieces, which I knew would last me for life if I took care of them, and fun vintage finds, which satisfied my obsession with ’80s fashion.
I have not worn any of that stuff in months. My lifestyle, even before the lockdown, has shifted to that of a sort of active homebody – I get up in the morning and change into running gear, and after my run I go for my shower and then throw on a comfy leggings/t-shirt/jumper combo, because I know I’m going to be spending the rest of the day either on the sofa, doing housework, or doing a bit of yoga or Pilates. The numerous pairs of good quality jeans I bought two years ago are not comfy or casual enough for a spontaneous yoga session. My vintage ’80s stuff, other than my well-loved collection of cosy winter jumpers, is too fancy for lounging around the house. I have not worn shoes other than running shoes for over a month: I have two pairs in rotation for actual running, and one ancient pair that I use for going out to the garage or garden.
Even pre-lockdown, I rarely had anything to go to that required dressing up – nobody minds what you wear to Slimming World or ukulele class, and even poetry night is far from a formal affair. This year, I have only been out of leggings a handful of times – New Year’s Day, the LeBrock gig, a couple of family meals in February… and I think that’s about it. Most of my leggings cost £2 from Primark, but they’re getting a LOT more wear than the £50 jeans hanging in my wardrobe.
I’m not about to get rid of what I bought in 2018 – there may come a time when I’m interacting with the world on a regular enough basis that I might make the effort to wear something with actual fastenings again, although I expect it will be a slow road out of lockdown for me personally seeing as I’m appreciating the peace and quiet so much – but I don’t see myself buying any more investment pieces or filling up my bag at vintage fairs again for a good couple of years at least.
I may start spending slightly more than £2 on leggings though, seeing as they’ve been so good to me recently.
Today’s earworm playlist:
Hiroki Morishita – ‘Just Across This Mountain And We’ll Arrive Soon’
Nina Nesbitt – ‘Stay Out’
Nobuo Uematsu – ‘On Our Way’
Cast of The Muppet Christmas Carol – ‘It Feels Like Christmas’
Red Hot Chili Peppers – ‘Road Trippin”
Duran Duran – ‘A View To A Kill’
Gordon Duncan – ‘Sleeping Tune’*
*This has been an earworm today because Dad recorded a nyckelharpa version and put it on YouTube. Well recommended for the Scottish scenery pictures.
For various reasons I haven’t been able to get to a vintage fair for a couple of months, but today I finally had the opportunity again! Judy’s Affordable Vintage Fair was on at the Boiler Room in Newcastle, so I headed down to see if I could find a few things on my list.
I found the denim jacket I’d been looking for – I’m looking forward to customising it with my badge collection when I have some time (so 2021 maybe? 2022?) – plus a couple more cosy ’80s jumpers for the winter (only £10 each!). My work-from-home uniform at the moment tends to be leggings plus oversized vintage jumper, so I wanted to grab a few more. I’ve also been having a think about selling some of the clothes I never wear (both to make some space in my wardrobe and to make a bit of extra cash), so I’m going to be investigating sites like Etsy to see if setting up a small online shop would be worthwhile.
There’s a lot more vintage fairs on over the next couple of months, so maybe I’ll be able to squeeze in one or two more before the end of 2019!
As I may have mentioned once or twice this week, today I was able to go to a vintage fair for the first time since February! It was nice to walk through the doors of the Civic Centre again, hear the ’50s pastiche performers singing and look wistfully at all the delicious cake that I never have enough syns left over for.
I just bought one piece today, as I’m still sticking to my clothes shopping limit for 2019 after the post-weight-loss-free-for-all that was 2018. It’s something I’ve been looking for at the last few fairs but not managed to find until now – a comfy casual ’80s day dress. This one is perfect for winter as it’s made out of wool and sequins and looks like an ’80s jumper…except it’s a dress!
(The lady at the stall asked if I was going to take the shoulder pads out. Uh, NO.)
I also priced the denim jackets that were available, as that’s going to be my purchase at the next vintage fair – I’m looking for a good quality vintage jacket (preferably in stonewashed denim for that late ’80s vibe). The stalls today had all sorts available – some repurposed with designs on the back, some sold as original – so I expect there’ll be a similarly good selection at the next fair. Which is next weekend! I’m excited already.
There were two vintage fairs going on in town today – there was also a kilo sale going on at Northumbria SU – but as I’m limiting myself to just one or two pieces per vintage fair day at the moment, I thought it’d be a bit of a waste to go to the kilo sale, so I stuck to Lou Lou’s at the Civic Centre. One piece only today – adding to my vintage ’80s jumper collection!
It’s a good time of year for vintage fairs, so I should be able to collect a few more jumpers and other things over the next couple of months!
First vintage fair of the year! I’m restricting myself to no more than two items per fair in 2019, as I bought lots of clothes last year. This meant that today I only bought the things that really caught my eye.
I bought another jumper, ’cause I’m wearing my ’80s jumpers a lot at the moment and I feel like I’m cycling through the same three or four all the time. I also bought this pretty black top with flower embellishments on the shoulders and chain detailing on the neck. It’ll be lovely to wear with a black skirt for a special occasion! Or just round the house if I get bored of jumpers.
The Street Food Market is a fairly regular event put on by Judy’s Vintage Fairs. I didn’t have any of the food, because (a) all the food vans were outside in the cold and rain, and (b) they were all selling savoury stuff like pizza, and while I could have done with a cupcake or something similar, I’d already had my lunch so couldn’t justify pizza. I’ll maybe venture out next time they do one in the summer.
Saturday was a hectic day, but I managed to squeeze in a quick trip to a vintage fair! I brought Geth with me for the first time, having lured him in with the promise of cake, and so he was able to sit down with a big piece of cake and a cup of tea in a proper teacup while I had my quick nosey round the stalls. I also had a taste of the cake, which was a nice chocolate orange flavour. I’ve never sampled the cakes at vintage fairs before, ’cause I’m usually just in and out quickly with my clothes haul!
Just one piece bought this time – this lovely shiny blouse. I wore it out the same night for the Culture Club gig we went to!
Lou Lou’s is one of my favourites, so I’ll be keeping an eye on when they’re back in Newcastle.
Two vintage fairs on in Newcastle today, both kilo sales. I have discovered that kilo sales are my new favourite thing.
I managed to get eight items of clothing for the price I would usually pay for two or three at a vintage fair, so I feel like I got some great bargains today!
I went to Worth The Weight Kilo Sale at the Civic Centre first. I’d managed to get a limited edition free entry ticket when they’d advertised them on Facebook, which meant more money for clothes! I’d intended to stick to lightweight dresses and blouses to try and get my money’s worth, and for the large part I stuck to that plan, but I couldn’t resist one jumper. I do love an ’80s jumper! At £15 per kilo, my 1.4 kilos came in at £21, which is not bad for a jumper, two dresses, and two blouses.
I then headed over to The Vintage Kilo Sale at Northumbria Student Union, which turned out to be the right way round to do things – by the time I got there it was past noon, which meant both discounted entry (£1.50 rather than £3) and discounted stock (£10 per kilo rather than £15!). This meant that I only had to pay £10 for my exactly-a-kilo haul of two dresses and a blouse.
Both fairs had a really good selection of late 20th century vintage (’70s to ’90s, mostly), which meant that my ’80s vintage wardrobe has grown significantly today. I’m already looking forward to when the next kilo sale rolls into town, and will be keeping my eyes peeled on Facebook!
Vintage fairs are back for the autumn/winter! There’s another one I’m planning to go to next month, by which point I may no longer be strong/warm enough to resist the lure of vintage ’80s jumpers. I have plenty. I still want more.
I was sensible today, though, and didn’t buy any jumpers for now. Instead, I picked up two things I’d actually been visualising: a red blouse to go with one of this year’s Christmas outfits, and a jersey dress that will be nice and comfortable for ’round the house’ days, which, for a work-from-home type like me, is most days.
It’s very satisfying to be able to add a piece here and there to my vintage collection. Looking forward to wearing both of these!
Well, I did say February was going to be big for vintage fairs. Averaging two a week at the moment!
Today I went to the Vintage Pop-Up at Newcastle Student Union, put on by University Vintage Fairs. Like the one at Northumbria I went to last week, it was quite a small affair, but I managed to pick up another addition to my ’80s jumper collection:
Seeing as winter’s not showing any signs of going away yet, I’m going to count this one as a ‘sensible’ purchase!